Obituary: My oldest professiinsl Friend / Tragic news

A few hours ago I received the  tragic news of the passing away my oldest professional friend who was dear to both Annikki and me - Mohammad Noorani of Mumbai.

Mohammad (far right) and me (second from left) at a party
in Mohammad’s house in Leverkusen, Germany, in 1964

In 1964, when I went to Leverkusen in Germany to do my internship at the Farbenfabriken Bayer Rubber Research centre, I was greeted by an Indian, Mohammad Noorani, who was assigned to take care of my programme. 

Mohammad was a leather technologist who had shifted to the field of Rubber Chemicals. 

MRF Ltd. was one of the largest buyers of Rubber Chemicals in India. My uncle, K. M. Mammen Mappillai, Chairman and Managing Director of MRF Ltd.  thought it appropriate for me to be trained in Bayer for my professional life in India. 

I had just completed a year at the National College of Rubber Technology in London and needed to be exposed to the ins and outs of industrial rubber processing and research.

It was a training that changed my life in many ways, being supervised by Mohammad, as he took care of both my education and my social life and also ensured I could play hockey with the Bayer Leverkusen hockey team. He also took time to teach me German.

Mohammad was not a complete stranger because, as a student, I had been an addict to the writings of his brilliant journalist elder brother, A. G. Noorani, who wrote a powerful political column in The Indian Express. 

I was greatly moved to meet and become a friend of the younger brother of my favourite Indian journalist.

On my return to India in 1969, our friendship continued as Mohammad was given the responsibility of looking after MRF Ltd. as a customer. 

As soon as he landed in Madras, he would make a beeline to our house with small gifts for Annikki and the children. 

Later, during his visits, we would always have a private dinner.

When Nirlon launched its nylon fabric for tyre reinforcement, it was Mohammad who made sure that MRF Ltd. was given the topmost priority amongst the tyre producers in India. He set up private meetings with the Directors of Nirlon so I had all the information at my fingertips which I was able to communicate with the purchase and technical team in MRF. 

In 1973, my father was stricken by pancreatitis which took him to the doorstep of death. I had flown in from Madras for the final farewell.  

I told Mohammad the situation. 

Mohammad told me that Bayer had developed a new drug for pancreatitis and he would bring it immediately from Germany for my father. 

My father recovered from this very dire situation.

Later, I introduced my old school friend, Viney Sethi to Mohammad and they became fast friends. 

Mohammad's wife, Sartaj, is the daughter of a Hyderabaadi Nawab, who worked for the Indian Railwdys. He was also a professional dog breeder who trained Doberman Pinschers as guard dogs for the railway yards. One dog could do the work of 10 people! 

Sartaj was a classmate of my sister. Elizabeth in Cathedral and John Connon School in Bombay.

Sartaj'a elder brother, Zafar Hai, was one year my senior in St. Stephen’s College, Delhi. He is a film and art director. Zafar went on to be the best short film director in India, producing films for Air India and other leading companies. 

Through Mohammad I also got to know another of his brothers, Mushtaq, who was managing a leading hotel in Bangalore. 

After a distinguished career in Bayer India as the Head of the Rubber Chemicals Division, he became the Editor and Publisher of the Indian Rubber Journal. Mohammad made the publishing of rubber news something which is his legacy to India.  

Photograph by Farzana Contractor

I was fortunate to speak with Mohammad a few weeks ago when he was discharged from hospital after a severe illness. He sounded terrible on the phone. His ever prevalent love still came through the phone lines. 

Ever since I have been saying a prayer for this dear friend.

Mohammad and Sartaj have been very private people.

I did come across one artcle, A Royal Repast,  by Farzana Contractor in a magazine called The Upper Crust, which defines what a wonderful, accomplished and distinguished couple Sartaj and Mohammad have been. 

I had my treasured photograph with Mohammad in Germany from 1964 (which graces the top of this obituary), but had no subsequent photos of him in my extensive photo archives.

Mohammad has been the finest example of a gentleman that has ever crossed my path. He was a fun person with an enormous sense of humour. He was always smiling and was an extremely loving caring personality.

Mohammad: 25th June 2023
Photo courtesy Viney Sethi

I will miss Mohammad deep in my heart. 

Our deepest condolences to his entire family.

I hope our Lord will bring comfort to his family members, his wife, Sartaj and their two children, Aida and Tabrez.

May our dear Mohammad rest in peace.

Risto Uimonen: Raise your blinds!

The other day, the Oulu local newspaper, Kaleva, carried a small news item covering a book by Professor Heikki Patomäki of Helsinki University on neoliberalism. The contents of this book follows rather closely that of David Henry’s book “A Brief History of NeoLiberalism”, which can also be referred to as Reagan Conservative Economics.




“The freedom of neoliberalism is the glory of unfettered, free market economics and the rights of corporations and financial institutions over individuals and governments. It's the freedom to fully exploit resources and workers.”

A couple of days later, the Chief Editor of the Kaleva, Risto Uimonen, wrote a scathing attack on the book, its contents, and also Professor Patomäki. Risto Uimonen was of the opinion that there was no evidence of neoliberalism in Finland and that Professor Patomäki was jousting with ghosts.

It is our opinion that Risto Uimonen is sitting in his Kaleva office room with his blinds drawn down. All he has to draw up those blinds that overlook the Höyhtyä Shopping Center on the other side of the road. If he looks out of the window he will see the backs of two offices, one which is closed while the other which is thriving by taking over the work of the office which has been closed.

There was no major outcry when that office was closed. It was the former Post Office which served a very large area in our neighbourhood as it had inherited much territory since Post Offices in various local areas had been closed.

It is strange that not even the Unions representing the workers of the Post Office were allowed to raise concerns about the handing over of their jobs to a private organisation, the R-Kioski, which is one of the cartels which skins the backs of ordinary citizens with its ridiculously high prices for day-to-day commodities.

This is one of the first steps in the dismantling of the Postal Services from a service into the neoliberal agenda of privatisation, which was the agenda formulated by Ronald Reagan, Margaret Thatcher, Bill Clinton and then to Tony Blair.

"How many column centimetres of your newspaper did you give for your readers to discuss the closure of the Höyhtyä Post Office, Mr. Uimonen?"

People think that Bill Clinton was a Democrat. But the way he dismantled the media corporations in the US by getting rid of the Fairness Doctrine has been the primary reason for the concentration of the American mainstream media in the hands of 7 major corporations, whose agenda is on the opposite side of the citizens.

The neoliberalism steps in Finland have been going slowly and steadily in the hands of corrupt politicians right from the days of President Mauno Koivisto (Left 1981 - 1994) and through other Presidents, Marttti Ahtisaari (Left 1994 - 2000) and Tarja Halonen (Left 2000 - ).

There are many skeletons iin the cupboard here in Finland!

It has not mattered which coalition Government has been in power, as all of them have been equally corrupt. Barring Anneli Jäätteenmäki (Centre 2003 for a few months) who was removed from power by a bloodless coup engineered by all three major parties (supported by people such as Risto Uimonen) as she would not have permitted the growth of neoliberalism, Kalevi Sorsa (Left 1982-87), Harri Holkeri (Right 1987-91), Esko Aho (Centre 1991-95), Paavo Lipponen (Left 1995-2003), and Matti Vanhanen (Centre 2003 -) have all been part of the corrupt neoliberal agenda.

The Valko Scandal was the legacy of Kalevi Sorsa, but yet many years after that horrendous corruption issue, he was able to be appointed as Prime Minister. Harri Holkeri continued that neoliberal agenda and that was followed with great show by Esko Aho and Paavo Lipponen, who completely sidelined the people of Finland in handing over the family silver to the hands of the corporate giants.

One need only look at the Post and Telephone Department which was split into Posts and Sonera, the latter of which was handed over to the Swedes with lots of Government officials making a whole lot of money in that deal. Anyone remember the "optio" scandal surrounding Sonera?

Look at the corrupt practices in Neste (the Finnish State Oil and Polymer giant run by a third rate Diploma Engineer just because he was the son of a politician), or the corruption scandal of the Chairman of the Social Democrat Party, Ulf Sundqvist who was left scot-free after his swindling of a whole lot of money, and one realises that the neoliberal agenda which is scoffed at as being "visions of a professor" by a compliant and cooperating media editor, and one sees the cooperation between the Big Brothers in Finland walking their countrymen to the noose of neoliberalism as they undercut the power of the unions and therefore the power of the people.

Risto Uimonen - raise those blinds in your room and look out of the window to see what you choose to now ignore in the interests of your corporate colleagues!