Why was I quiet? Feeling India at Oulu!!!

It is quite common people that email me when I am quiet on the blogs. Late last week, I got a call asking about my health. I assured the caller that I was in peak condition, despite all what the doctors are saying. My blood sugar is raging high, my cholesterol is over the top... ...... But I feel fine as a fettle.

 I did want some time to digest the event that was held last Saturday. In my short posting to the participants I expressed Annikki´s comment that this show was outstanding in that it was "from the people, by the people, for the people".

I thought to give you an insight about how this event actually developed.

Mani wrote an email to a few people asking whether they thought it was a good idea for our O-India Group to do something. Many, including myself, thought it was about time that we did.

Masterfully, Mani organised a brain-storming session. We had plenty of ideas. This was very cleverly filtered during the course of a few sessions into a "programme" which everyone thought was do-able.

Then started the hard work of writing the script, editing it (in which I contributed a very small part), and then organising a bunch of common people to bring out their hidden talent.

And talent we found in plentiful.

I am glad to say that India House was throbbing with activity. I was able to offer first the office and then an apartment which was free for a couple of days, as the practice venue. This was when Ville Victor was not available. Our special thanks to Shahnaz, Hassan and Tapsa who made it possible to enjoy those facilities to the fullest. Aruna chipped in by offering the Setlementti premises in the City Centre and Tuira when they were free.

But the over-crowded rooms of India House were humming with activity and the strains of music of all ages from all parts of India, as a group of youngsters took their own parts so seriously.

As the show developed, I was able to secure the YMCA Hall at a reasonable cost for the event and also get their powerful audio equipment for the show along with a excellent microphone input.

Mani was a gentle but hard task master. Starting with weekly practices, he then put the screws on till they were virtually every other day. Driving a group of people who have never done any professional acting in front of a huge audience certainly needs the skill of a "Slum Dog" Director - and we had that in Mani.

I know I am going to earn the wrath of both Pooja and Mani, as they shun publicity - but I feel credit has to go where credit is due - and it was this superb husband and wife team that made us be this GROUP.

Just as we thought we had it all organised, Arindam rang me and said he had a discovery, a dancer from Sri Lanka. This young and talented girl was injected into the group. It really gave the group an extra layer of gold polish.

Each participant became adept at what he or she was going to do. Nonchalance was driven away by the need to work as a team. And as a team they worked, husbands and wives, even to the point of their children being left to watch Walt Disney movies in the care of Karteek at India House.

From Fieel India

The poster created by Mani was simply superb. It had a touch and feel  of professionalism, which even amazed the creator.  I managed to blow it up and create fliers which were then strategically placed in points where we could generate an audience, especially the Findians amongst us.

The first full practice session was on the 12th morning. I saw the production through for the first time, and I was really overjoyed to see the outcome. The music had been put together masterfully. the script was full of meaning and the diction was perfect. The dances were superb and the skits were done magnificently. We had a bunch of really talented actors on stage.

With the help of the younger crew, the hall was made ready and the performance which was to start at 17:45 and run for about 45 minutes.

Then we waited with baited breath to see how many people would turn up. By 17:30 we had "HOUSE FULL"!

The show commenced and ran without a hitch. It was as if I was sitting in an Indian movie theatre as the whistling and clapping at each performance showed as that it was being appreciated. There was everything - colour, beauty, brawn, and amazing talent plus humour. The show ended on a real high of the comparison of our Bharatanatyam with Michael Jackson! Who won? The audience rocked and laughed!

From Fieel India

The cheers at the final curtain call showed the appreciation.

The event was followed by Nushrat and Arindam serving tea and coffee and some Indian food at a very affordable price. This helped people to mingle and meet and show their appreciation to the actors and all the people behind the production. 

Then the team cleaned up and left the hall the way we should. 

Thanks girls and guys for this. People are waiting for your next production!

The secret of my NORDKAPP Trip

The reason why I am pushing my Nordkapp trip is that you may witness something that no one alive may never again see in their lifetime - TWO - YES, TWO SUNS.

The whole world is waiting for 21st June 2010 to witness a wonderful
vision which may appear next time this close, is in 2287 only.

From 2010 Two Suns

21st June 2010 - TWO SUNS?


STAR ADEROID will be the brightest in the sky, starting 10th June.

It will look as large as the sun from naked eye.

This will culminate on 21st June 2010 when the star comes within
34.65M miles of the earth.

Be sure to watch the sky between 18th and  27th June 2010.

On 21st June at 12:30 pm it will look as if the earth has 2 suns.

NO ONE ALIVE TODAY will ever see it again. Don't miss it.

I cannot predict what it will look like at Nordkapp.

If you are one of the lucky ones to be there, you may have a set of
photographs which may be worth a small fortune.

That is why top photographers are going on my Nordkapp trip.

I will have copyright access to each of their top 10 photographs!

Don´t say I did not tell you! :-)

Most pleasantly surprised

Yesterday, I visited an Indian software engineer who has not been very long in Finland, maybe a month and a half. Along came his friend who lives next door.

I was most pleasantly surprised to hear the conversation between them.

One told the other that eggs were only € 0.49 in one shop, but that when he went there, he did not find it. Then the other responded that tomatoes were just € 0.89 in another shop.

I asked them where they had got the information. They brought out a copy of the twice a week newspaper, FORUM, and they pointed to two advertisements, both from K-Sopermarket.

The information they had had gleaned was partially correct, but the niceties of their finds were missing because of their lack of knowledge of Finnish.

The two shops were differen. The dates on which these special offers were also restricted. There was also a restriction on the number of packets of eggs that could be bought at this price.

But it was a real eye opener to me that the guys had actually bothered to go through the newspaper.

Considering how I started the "Survival" system in 1984, I was really happy to see our cost conscious Indian software engineers using this approach.

Wish I could give a copy of the "Handbook for Survival" to each person who arrives. Sadly, it is out of date, having been published in 1994. Also, one has to have the energy to go through the entire printing and publishing process again.

Who in their right senses would...

I read with great interest how billions were being promised as new investment in Bangalore and how the Chief Minister had rode rough shod on the protesters.

Those of whom have been following this blog when Annikki and I were travelling through India, and especially when we were in Bangalore, would certainly be wondering what I thought of this!

Being a Bangalorean by birth and a lover of Bangalore when it was a "Garden City", what I saw was a unplanned, unmanaged growth where only the power of money ruled the streets. A filthy, unkept Bangalore where kids and garbage were brought up side by side, as the "investors" have no time for such niceties of keeping a clean healthy city, as it would affect their bottom line if they did anything about this.

I am unlikely to visit Bangalore again, unless I have to. It is "dead" city to me.

I refer to my many posts on this blog about Rural Urbanisation.

I wish those investors planning to invest their billions would show some sense before the "oil catastrophe" symptom of the Gulf of Mexico, in its land form, hits and destroys.

As I have said a couple of times - the only salvation will be when Bangalore dies and sees rebirth!

Dandia brings alive India House

Last Sunday, India House in Oulu was throbbing with the sound of Indian Music and Dances. The cultural group planning and preparing for the programme for Saturday the 12th of June in Oulu was busy, practicing.

As one apartment was free, I was able to allow them to use it for the practice.

But the ladies found they needed more space.

From India House Garden

They moved to forecourt to practice the Dandia dance.

The sound of the the sticks and the rythym of the dance certainly had all the onlookers hearts throbbing. If it was any indication of what is to come on the 12th evening, it is going to be just great. We have so much beauty, brawn and talent in Oulu.

Yes, India house was really alive.

Thanks, ladies!

Indian Buffet in Oulu

Yesterday, I decided to try the new Indian Buffet on offer in Oulu. I had promised the owner that I would drop in on Monday, and then Tuesday, but I just could not make it.

So yesterday, I went in a little late (after 14:00 hours).

From Indian Buffet in Oulu

The restaurant was not crowded, but it was obvious that they had had several guests in the early afternoon.

The buffet was good but not outstanding. There was a salad table, but I do not normally take salads. Rice and pakoras were on offer. The pakoras were cold. I like mine piping hot. There were three wet dishes - channa dal, chicken curry and lamb curry.

The channa dal was made for a Finnish palette, not for an Indian one. The chicken, which was cooked in curd, making it like a kurma, was a bit too sweet for me. The lamb was just about right.

The papadam's were freshly fried and great.

Being late, the nan's were cold and rather hard and crispy! I found a few soft ones.

I would have liked a dry vegetable, as we have so many wonderful dry dishes as accompaniments at all Indian tables. As I am allergic to cold or unwashed cooked rice, because of the starch, I did not try that. I stuck to cold hard nans!

Various sauces adorned the serving table, but I was not attracted to any of them.

The meal was followed by a small bowl of fruit salad served at the table. I had a Chai, after that.

The price at € 9.80, including the soft drink, is higher than what the Chinese restaurants charge (between € 7 and 8).

The Experience: Moderately good and a good starting efort. Probably a once a month visit will be what will be my schedule!

One man Crusade

There is an interesting article in the New York Times of 31st May 2010 about the power of the internet and the ability to publish one's personal opinions critical of a business.

Venting Online, Consumers Can Find Themselves in Court is about how a young man posted the story of his car was wrongfully towed away by a towing company from his parking slot.

“There’s no reason I should have to shut up because some guy doesn’t want his dirty laundry out,” Mr. Kurtz said. “It’s the power of the Internet, man.”  

This subject has a very personal interest for Annikki and me. We have been internet activists for over 15 years.

When our company, Findians Oy,  bought a portable computer  from AST Inc. (Finland), the 5th largest computer company in the world in 1995, and we found it to be a total and complete dud, and when our grievances were not handled by the company, we started an international internet campaign. This brought in responses from across the globe and highlighted that we were not the only ones who had been conned by this company.

The Finnish legal system we found was weighted heavily against the small individual. We knew we would never get justice in the Finnish Courts - which situation exits even today.

Our internet campaign was an enormous success resulting in the closure of AST Inc..

They sold the brand name to SAMSUNG. But the public outrage we had created was so strong, the brand name never again saw the light of day.

When we started our "Oulu Best (Worst) Buy" blog and we exposed some of the practices of some Oulu businesses, we had enormous success.

We recently published the list of worst lawyers in Finland and especially Oulu. Recently, our blog was quoted in an application to the Finnish High Court when a plaintiff tried to get out of the clutches of Finland's worst lawyer.

Of course, the legal system is a complete farce in Finland. The Finnish Lawyer's Association (Suomen Asianajajaliito) has a process which is supposed to investigate any complaints from the public against lawyers. Our recent protracted experience showed that it does nothing of the kind. This organisation exists only to "look after their brother" and it has nothing to do with law or justice.

The main problem in Finland is that the media is also subservient to the authorities and those in power, so there is simply no recourse for the general public to get any justice from this twisted legal system.

We have many sleepy Ombudsmen all over Europe. In theory, the Ombudsman is an excellent system, but it has been usurped by those in power for their own ends.

The Police, especially the Oulu Police,  are also extremely corrupt. We have seen this from our several personal experiences,. They go to great lengths to preserve their fear power base over the people. Legalities are not for them! And the rot is at the very top from where the orders come downwards!

But this corruption is different from the general corruption we have in India. That is for people to earn a wage to exist. Here, in Finland, it has nothing to do with the monetary return. It has to do with "POWER".

The local newspaper started  "Free Speech Day".

From Jacob's Blog

My platform, from where I spoke on all the subjects that I had investigated the previous year, was a great success. So, last year, the newspaper changed the format so that I could not get a chance to speak! And this year it appears that they have decided against having the event altogether.

If it is not permitted to publicise the misdeeds of an individual,  company, organisation or authority, then, by the same standards, it must also be illegal to publish "kudos" about them.

If this is so, it heralds the death of investigative journalism and also the end of democracy.

FREE SPEECH is already dead in Finland!

Customer service?

On the 4th of May, I received a letter from one of my Internet Service Providers, that a deposit of € 500 that they had taken from me a couple of years was to be returned to me. They gave several alternatives for me to get my money back.

The first was to fill up a form and post it back to them. The second was to visit a web page and fill in the details. (I tried this but the page was so complicated that I did not get past filling in my name and address!) The third, and simplest, was to ring a Customer Care phone number provided in the letter.

I obviously chose the third alternative.

On Friday the 7th of May, in the afternoon, I rang the number. The girl who answered did not know the existence of such a service at this number. Then she said her computer was down. She took down the required details and then told me that she would send me a text message.

I waited, and I waited.

On Monday the 24th of May, I rang again. The immediate response of the lady who answered the phone was that he computer was down. I told her that it did not matter that the computer was down but I wanted to get an answer as to why something the Customer Care person had promised was not acted upon. With great reluctance, when I told her that it was me to get some money back, she took down all the details and said she would ring me back.

Guess whether I got a call back?

On Wednesday the 26th of May, I rang again. I spoke to a gentleman who spoke excellent English. I posed my problem and when he looked at the computer, which was obviously working, he did note that my call and notes of the 7th of May were in front of him, but he could provide me with no answer as to why nothing had happened in the intervening 20 days.

I asked him some basic questions as, if I did not pay a due to their company, what would be the action? I asked him whether his company would pay the penal interest for not paying my dues on time. I also told him that the letter I had received was most interesting that there was not even a name or signature attached to the letter. I told him if anyone received such a letter purporting to be from my company without a name and signature, it would probably be thrown in the dustbin!

He was most apologetic. As a gesture, within his powers, for the trouble I had been put too, cancelled my last bill, gave me an ad hoc credit of € 50 and then said he would follow the matter through his supervisor.

I also told him that his Customer Care Division of his company had recently gone on strike to get substantial service benefits. I asked what should the Customers who they harassed by the inefficiency of their Customer Care Division should do? He told me that he was not one who had gone on strike, but acknowledged that the handling of my situation was certainly not correct.

Let us wait and see what happens before I reveal the name of this service provider! Stay tuned!

Vegetarian Halal Beef?

I noticed that of one of our tenants in our Guest House had bought himself a cup noodle packet, Beef and Tomato. I had never seen this brand before.

From Vegetarian Beef

When I looked at it carefully, I noted clearly that it was a Beef and Vegetable preparation.

From Vegetarian Beef

When I looked still a little closer, I noted a small emblem showing that this product was suitable for VEGETARIANS.

I looked even closer at the next symbol to note that it was suitable for MOSLEMS who only eat HALAL MEAT.

From Vegetarian Beef

I looked at the list of Ingredients. It read as follows (Emphasis is mine):

"INGREDIENTS: Noodle Cake: Wheat flour soft, palm oil, water, salt. Seasoning: Beef flavouring, wheat flour soft, sugar, maltodextrin, tomato powder, salt, monosodium glutamate (E621),citric acid (E330), caramel (E150c), I+G (E627, E631),silicon dioxide, (E551), onion extract, dried (chives, carrots, peas)."

'What a combination I thought -. Vegetarian Halal Beef Noodles!

You never know where technology takes us these days. :-)

The birch sap flow ends

Someone commented that the title of Lady Annikki was not just good enough - I agree! How can I make my Queen a mere "Lady"? :-)

Annikki's dramatic discovery of how to draw on the birch liquid (sap) brought her over 30 litres in a few days.

All good things must come to an end.

From New Album 16/05/2010 06:40

An overnight haul of precious birch sap from one small branch.

The sap, which was crystal clear for the first few days, slowly became cloudy and finally, as the first signs of leaves appeared on the branches, nature acted in its best interests and shut off the tap.

Strangely, the taste of this sap has a faint tinge of coconut water? I wonder what is the relationship between a coconut palm and a birch tree.

Annikki is ooking forward to the next year of tapping. I am sure she will devise some simple gadget to get the maximum flow from the broken twigs and branches! :-)

What was this?

A few weeks ago I wrote about my experience of ordering a biriyani in one of the three Indian restaurants in Oulu. I regretted that day.

Last week I was tempted to have a biriyani in another of Oulu's Indian restaurants. This was what was served up:

From New Album 16/05/2010 06:40

What does it look like? (I won't answer that question as I dislike public use of foul language!) Where else in the world does one get a biriyani served up in this fashion? Where was the rush of colours from white to golden red? Where was the red tinge of Kashmiri saffron?

The only thing to be said about this biriyani was it had plenty of cashewnuts and well-cooked large mutton chunks, but with no smell or taste anywhere near what I consider "a biriyani"!

Look at what a typical serving, of what I think is a biriyani, should appear on a table (as I had posted on my last entry on this subject):

From Jacob's Blog

The fragrant smell of saffron, the beautiful colour layering of the rice, the burnt onions, are all a must in a biriyani - not a mish mash of a curry sauce and rice, in which are thrown large chunks of cashewnuts and meat.

Yes, I do yearn for a good biriyani in Oulu! Maybe I will have to cook it myself!

Cricket in Oulu takes a new turn

Yesterday we had a cricket tournament for local Oulu cricket lovers. For the first time we used the matting so kindly provided by Asheesh Kumar of Medipolis GMP.

There was a small problem of carting this large matting roll around and also fixing it to the ground. The use of the hammer was necessary on several occasions to keep the bowlers end firmly fixed down. Also some small adjustments will also be required to have the sides not curl up.

Three teams took part in the 10 over format. The teams were married, bachelors and University student players. The games were thrilling.

From New Album 16/05/2010 06:40

Venkat Reddy bowls while Rajesh backs up.

In the end the Bachelors walked away with a victory over the married players.

The official training session and season will start shortly. This was a good forerunner to what we can expect in the coming summer months. Some discipline as bowling less wides and no balls, etc. will have to be the outcome of the training sessions if the Oulu XI is going to make it big in Finnish National Cricket tournaments.

After the matches, we all adjourned to India House where we broke up into smaller groups, some playing carroms (on the only carrom board in Finland), others enjoying their new experience of cycling in Finland, some playing cricket, some playing shuttle, and a lot of people just gettng to know each other.

India House was in its element as we had over 40 Findians, men, women and children having a wonderful time. We ordered pizzas, kebabs and salads from Oulu's best and largest pizzeria, Goreme (owned by keen sportsmen Hasim and Kasim from Turkey) and everyone enjoyed sitting in the sunshine of 8 pm and just being friends. A few newcomers arrived to take part and generally the whole day was a rip roaring success.

Kudos to the organisers and hope we have several more just fun days this summer.

Speaking with Bill

Yesterday evening I rang to Toronto, Canada, to wish my Physics teacher of 50 years ago a very happy 85th birthday. I also spoke to Pushpa, his wife, who had also been a teacher in our Mumbai school. My classmate, 59er Hasnain Chinwala (Chinnie), who also lives in Toronto was with Bill (prearranged) when I called as we, 59ers, paid our respects to a man who firmly shaped our lives.

That Bill and Pushpa attended our 50th year reunion in Mumbai last year was itself such a joy for all us 59ers. They lent their solidarity with a class of boys who have traversed the world and sought success based on the fundamentals of life that were instilled in us by our teachers. Not just our classroom performance, but our moral values were instilled in us by these wonderful Gurus!


(Photo thanks to the 64er Rajiv Ved when we took time off for a fee minutes to attend their reunion in Mumbai.)

In the olden days, as per the Indian Civilisation, the Guru was a man to be revered. All of us 59ers have revered all our teachers during the ensuing years. But Bill and John (who was our class teacher and our English teacher in 1959) are very special as they took the time to travel a long distance at great expense, many thousands of kilometres, to be with us as we reveled in our past last November.

In our conversation we talked about many things - including the greetings from other 59ers (which Hasnain had forwarded to Bill,) the loss of another wonderful teacher, Alberto Zavala from peru, our geography teacher, the exploits of Greg, our Chemistry teacher, and the whereabouts of many past Canadian Cathedralites, as Torontian 59er Narsys, but not just our classmates, as 63er Monty Wilson and 49er Peter and 51er Sheila (née Contractor) Vaney, and Peter's brother, 57er Herbert.

Now that Pushpa and Bill live right in the centre of Toronto, a stone's throw from Lake Ontario, I will make it a point to visit them soon as my grandson, Samu, an Ice Hockey fan, wants to visit that great city, with his Grandpa, to see one of his favourite teams play.

Happy birthday Bill - we love you!

Gravity and Annikki

Sorry to have been of blogging for a time. I was recovering from my non-stop 4500 round trip drive to Amsterdam to drop Joanna and the grandkids at amsterdam so that they could catch the Eurostar train to London!

I have recovered, but am overworked as I am handling my Furnished Accommodation Service I run in Finland, without too much outside assistance.

I hope to be back at blogging regularly again, soon.

Today's question is what AWARD we should give to my better half?

Sir Isaac Newton got recognised because an apple dropped on his head.

How should we recognise this wonder "girl" because "birch syrup" dropped on her toe?

A look on the internet will find literally hundreds of entries on the best way to tap a birch tree to get the syrup, which is considered very healthy. Most of the methods require the tree is tapped by drilling a hole in the bark and then plugging the hole so that the flow is stopped.

There is possibility of considerable damage to the tree if this is not done properly.

The other day, Annikki was tidying up the garden. It was getting late. So she thought she would have a lie down as it was hot and the sun was still streaming through the branches of the birch trees at the end of the garden.

There were a few irritating birch twigs hanging around, so she snapped off one and lay down on her easy chair. A few minutes later, she felt a drop of something fall on her toe.

It was a sunny day, and no sign of any raindrops around.

This was followed by another drop.

Being a very curious cat,  she saw that the liquid was dropping from where she had broken the twig on the birch tree.

She tasted the liquid and found it to be water like but slightly sweet.

She rushed inside, and using her creative genius, she got a plastic bag and tied it to the end of the twig.

From Blogger Pictures

As she lay down, she saw the plastic bag gradually fill up with a water-like liquid. She observed that flies were greatly tempted to this liquid.

From Blogger Pictures

Soon she was up and about breaking twigs on birch trees that annoyed her, and promptly attaching a plastic bag at that point.

She had a steady flow of birch syrup collecting in the plastic bags.

The important point of this method of collection is that no damage is done to the tree. Secondly, as the collection is at the end of a branch, this is the excess liquid, as the tree has already used its requirements. This liquid would probably be lost by evaporation.

The process of collection could be increased substantially with some scientific experiments as to which were the best twigs to break off.

From Blogger Pictures

That the value of the liquid was no worse than that collected by traditional means of tapping into the bark is proven by the great attraction flies had to the plastic bags containing the liquid, although there was no unusual or strong smell coming from the bags.

And this collection was being made in the first week of May!!!

Sir Isaac Newton discovered gravity because of an apple.

Tan Sri Dr. B. C. Sekhar became called the Father of the natural rubber industry when he discovered that application of ammonia to the bark of of a rubber tree allowed continuous flow of latex, making life of the tapper so much more easier.

Should Annikki be Lady Annikki or the Mother of Birch Syrup Industry?

The debate has commenced! I bask in reflected glory! :-)

Solution for volcanic ash in airline engines

Although I am retired, and I do not indulge in designing solutions for technical problems, there is a simple solution to  prevent the intake of harmful particulates from the volcanic ash into airline engines.

The solution revolves around a technique we use in plastics extrusion.

To ensure that large particulates do not get to the extrusion die, when the molten plastic is passing from the extrusion chamber into the die manifold, it passes through a screen filtering device. Most screen changers are static. The screen has to be changed periodically when the extrusion quality deteriorates.

There are continuous screen changers. With a slight modification in design, these could be designed to fit to airline engines!

The solution is the design of a continuous screen changer which will filter the ash as it is sucked into the airline engine. As the screen changer moves it could be designed to shows its reverse face at the back of the engine where the ash collected during the intake is blown clean and collected.

Any competent engine designer can rig one of these up in a few days.

It is obvious that the airline industry has to come up with a solution to this problem.

Without doubt, mine is the best possible solution. This will not in any way hamper engine performance but ensure safety from particulates.

Hope that someone takes up this idea and works on it!

It gives me confidence that my days as an innovator have not quite vanished.

How has the volcanic eruption affected you?

In a way I am glad as I am getting more quality time with Joanna and the grandkids who are stranded here. They were supposed to take off tomorrow at 6 am, but Blue 1 has cancelled all flights. Blue 1 advised passengers that they must wait till they decide what to do.

Talks with the insurance companies revealed that travel insurance from anywhere is absolutely useless. The English insurance company told Joanna that, as it was a weather disturbance, they would pay a few Euro for the first 8 hours and then another few Euros for the subsequent 12 hours! That will not even cover the cost of a decent meal in Finland for a family of 4.

The Finnish insurance company said it did not know what was covered,. Knowing them, they will try to wrangle out of any financial commitment!

Not only is Joanna affected. I have one Indian engineer leaving Saturday for Banglaore and one Indian engineer family leaving Saturday for Delhi. The Residence Permit in Finland of the family expires on Monday! So we have another problem on our hands.

No way to get from Oulu to Helsinki by train, as a tree fell on the rail track at a crucial moment disrupting train services as well. In addition, Finnish airspace has been closed till further notice.

Another engineer is supposed to leave on Sunday. Maybe one friend is driving to Helsinki on Sunday in the hope of picking up his relatives due to arrive from Delhi. If so, he would be happy to give the engineer a ride.  But what happens if they both go to Helsinki on a futile mission? Better to remain somewhere where you have a roof over your head!

Joanna has to get back to Newcastle. She is contemplating driving to England, but it is going to be tough with three kids of 2, 6 and 13 in tow.

Without a word from Blue 1, any solution contemplated is pie in the sky.

I am overjoyed at having my grandkids here for a few more hours or days, but certainly feel for Joanna and her desire to get back to Newcastle to normalise her life and her studies.

Let us hope the volcano stops spewing out ash and the air services normalise rapidly!!!

Great buy at the Flea Market

This entry is posted on 2 blogs - my main Jacob's Blog and my Oulu Best (Worst) Buy Blog.

Annikki and I are Flea Market addicts. We have picked up some really great buys at the Flea Markets. Usually we find exactly what we need when we set out to find the item. Coincidence?

Last Sunday, as Joanna, who is visiting Oulu, had approritated my last adaptor for her English hair drier, I was desperate to get hold of an adaptor to use my Indian bought LG Computer screen.

When I said I was going to a Flea Market, Annikki, who has not been out for weeks, was ready to tag along.

We went to the closest Flea Market to our residenece.

We were shocked to see the number of cars parked around. It was as if all of Oulu had descended on this Flea Market.

From Oulu Best (Worst) Buy

From Oulu Best (Worst) Buy

From Oulu Best (Worst) Buy

From Oulu Best (Worst) Buy

As I wandered around, I saw this a really beautiful designed multipurpose adaptor set.

It was just the one I wanted.

And the cost, an unbeliveable, € 1.50!

I have bought less attractively designed adaptors for Euro 3 and 4 each!

This adaptor remain in my travel kit as it is suitable for most countries, even if I do not travel very often these days!

Certainly worth making a visit to a Flea Market near you if you want to get what you really need at a price that you can afford! (P.S. Annikki also got some good buys on this trip, including a flaming red coat!)

Success at last

After my return from India, where I saw my cousin, Bina, happily enjoying a morning with the newspaper doing Sudoku, I started attempting the three levels in my local newspaper, the KALEVA.

I started about the middle of January 2010.

I first took about 45 minutes to complete the EASY level. Slowly, this time reduced to about 15 minutes. The MIDDLE level was then achieved, again in about 20 minutes. I was never able to complete the DIFFICULT level, usually getting to about 30% and then giving up.

From Sudoku

Today, after 3 months, I completed all three levels in one sitting. The total time taken was 75 minutes.

Now that my primary objective has been achieved, I realised that my brain cells were actually not functioning as they should. The confidence this has given me is so immense that I feel am not quite a doddering old man.

I will now try to achieve the higher level by trying to complete all three levels in 15 minutes. It may take me a year to get to this level - so stay tuned! I will shout it from the blogtops when I get there!

Thank you Bina!

Well done Sudoku, and whoever invented this!

Last bout with winter snow

The snow in the Vesaisentie garden, especially at the front gate, was far greater than I imagined.

From New Caravelle in Snow

I brought Kamu's Volkswagen Caravelle Van home one day. But it did not make it past the front gate. The front wheels got so deeply immersed in the snow, that they stopped turning.

Annikki and I had suspicions that the drive shaft was broken.

From New Caravelle in Snow

The following morning, I called the car removal service to take the van directly to the garage as I did not fancy having to tow it.

When we reached the garage, I tried the van and found that there was no damage whatsoever. What a relief as I got away with a bill of just € 80!

This winter has been expensive on several counts, especially the car and the impact of snow bound roads.

Hopefully we will not have a similar winter for the next 26 years!

Old Cottonians act

I have mentioned on my many blogs the unfortunate media publicity attached to some of my alma maters.

I am heartened to see how the Bangalore Old Cottonians Association (OCA) have acted swiftly to ensure to show that they are actively concerned about their alma mater. Past Old Cottonians, as both my late father and uncle, who served as Chairmen of the OCA, would be proud of the stand taken by the present OCA.

I reproduce here the letter that was sent by the present Chairman of the OCA to the Moderator of the Church of South India as per the resolution passed at an Extraordindary General Meeting of the Old Cottonians in Bangalore. Sitting here in Finland, I was kept abreast of the developments and I too fully support the actions of the OCA.:

PLEASE CIRCULATE THIS EMAIL TO OTHER OC's YOU ARE IN TOUCH WITH AND ON YOUR SOCIAL NETWORKING SITES.

5th April, 2010

The Most Reverend Vasantha Kumar
Moderator,
Church of South India
Mission Road
Bangalore


Dear Sir,

We, as the Old Cottonians' Association, have a considerable stake in the upkeep of the fair name of Bishop Cotton's Boys' School and all that this entails. Principals and members of the Board of management may come and go, but once a student passes out of the school, and leaves its gates, he becomes an Old Cottonian and this status remains throughout his life and no force on earth can take it away from him.

We earnestly hope that other stake holders in the school should realise this and act accordingly.
Recent happenings in the school have caused us great concern. Old Cottonians from all over the world have expressed their deep worry.  As a consequence, the OCA held an Extraordinary General Body meeting at the Rotary House of Friendship, Bangalore on the 3rd of April, 2010 and the under mentioned resolution was passed and the same is being communicated to the various persons connected with the management of  the school.

Accordingly I quote below:

"The Old Cottonians' Association (OCA) noted with anguish that the matters concerning the administration of Bishop Cotton Boys' School, Bangalore had recently become the subject matter of various media reports, which had tarnished the good name of the Institution.

The OCA further noted that under Article 2.2 of its Constitution containing the "Aims and Objects", the OCA was entitled and obligated ".... to be in constant interaction with the Management of the School in the matter of maintaining the standards, traditions and conventions of the School."

It was therefore unanimously RESOLVED that the Board of Management of Bishop Cotton Boys' School, Bangalore be called upon to take immediate corrective measures to ensure that the incumbent issues be fully resolved, so as to restore the smooth functioning of the School in keeping with its rich traditions and standards, and to keep the OCA informed of the said measures.

It was further RESOLVED to offer the assistance and support of the OCA to all concerned to enable the resolution of all outstanding issues.

The Chairman and Management Committee of the OCA were accordingly requested to communicate the aforesaid resolution to the Principal, Bishop and Board of Management of Bishop Cotton Boys' School, Bangalore, and to await a positive reaction to the same before undertaking any further course of action."

Yours faithfully


MICHAEL WATSA
CHAIRMAN
OLD COTTONIANS' ASSOCIATION

I wish my other alma mater alumni, The Stephanians, would also act with the dignity and purpose shown by Old Cottonians.

Agropolymers

When I finished my graduation in England in Polymer and Plastics Science and Technology, I joined the Rubber and Plastics Research Association (RAPRA) of Great Britain, the British Government research centre located in Shawbury, a village in the county of Shropshire, west of Birmingham, on the Welsh border.

My Director was a Dr. Bill Watson. He was the local guardian for a young Malaysian boy of Indian origin.This was the son of Dr. B. C Sehkar (BC), the father of the Natural Rubber industry. BC and I became rather good friends as he used to visit RAPRA on all his visits to the UK. Our common Indian Kerala roots formed a deep bond between us. (Later BC was awarded the Magsaysay Award, the Asian Nobel Prize, and also given the Malaysian title, Tan Sri. Besides being the Chairman of the Malaysian Rubber and Research development Board, he was also Chairman of the Malyasian palm Oili Board. Born in 1929, he died in 2006.)

In 1969, I returned to India and set up my consultancy company, Polymer Consultancy Services (PCS), with my brother. He concentrated on the Rubber Industry, while I, being the extrovert, took on the job of Business Development and the Plastics Industry. Both of us were very active in our professional associations, rubber and plastics.

One day I got a call from BC saying he was passing through Madras and asking whether it would it be possible to meet. I asked my brother to organise a meeting so that BC could meet the local rubber industrialists and technologists.

I was not able to attend the talk as I had my own hectic schedule. BC insisted we meet for a quiet dinner. He was interested in taking his family to the beach. I organised a moonlit dinner on the beautiful sandy beach in Madras. I organised some wonderful food from Buharis and my favourite biriyani pace.

BC was interested in hearing how I had succeeded in setting up the consultancy company in India, as he was looking at his personal future. He felt that he may take the Malaysian root of an early retirement at the age of 50! He was not sure whether he would continue in his role as he was not sure how all his futuristic plans would be received by the Malaysian Government.

He offered me a great opportunity that he wanted me to take over the Malaysian Rubber Bureau, which was a small set up in Bombay which distributed literature of the Malaysian Research Institute and their research centre in the UK. He wanted me to promote the Malaysian rubber industry in India so that India would consider importing rubber from Malaysia.

My brother was never a decision maker. I jumped at the opportunity on the condition that he would look after this side of the business. So was born the MRB division of our consultancy company - a huge publicity boost for me as I already had a tie up with my old employer - RAPRA.

BC had long term plans. His brother, Chandran was retiring from the Oil Industry in Borneo. He had been working as the hospitality manager for Shell there and he took early retirement and decided to settle down in india. BC wanted to establish his base in India through his brother, so he decided to start a company along with another Malaysian friend who was an agronomist. The idea was to introduce soil and leaf analysis for the rubber growing industry, where samples of soil and leaf would be taken, prepared and sent to Malaysia, where they would be analyzed. From that, fertilising recommendations would be sent to the growers in india so as to optimise the output, as had been done in Malaysia.

With a couple of friends, and my brother in tow, they decided to start some organisation, but things did not move as they kept talking and talking.

Finally in desperation, BC called me in to one meeting when he was in Madras and asked me to present my views on how they should go about this venture.

My visions were crystal clear in those days. I had very vibrant ideas. All the parties immediately fell for my strategy. The Agro Polymer Research and Development Pvt. Ltd. company was born. I was appointed as the Business Development Director of the organisation, with Chandran, BC's brother as the Managing Director.

We worked well as a team, as Chandran knew that I made decisions and moved things forward. The soil and leaf testing service was quickly established with one of Dr. Guha's nephews as the field officer gathering the samples.

Agropol as it was known, quickly became well known in the field of soil and leaf testing. We had the nephew of Dr. Guha who would go to the rubber (and also tea and coffee estates) and collect the soil and leaf samples, which would be dried and then sent to Malaysia for testing. The results with the fertilising recommendations would be sent back and this would be handed over to the estates.

Further projects were in the pipeline as a plant to produce Standardized Malaysian Rubber (SMR) also called Heavea Crumb Rubber, based on Malaysian technology.

Word got around about our activities.

One day I got a call from the Raman Research Institute, which was a Fundamental Physics Research Centre set up by Sir C. V. Raman after he had received the Nobel Price for Physics. He had passed on and the Institute was being run by one of his sons.

With the Nobel Prize money, Sir Raman had bought a 100 acre farm on the outskirts of Bangalore at a place called Kengeri. With great vision he had planted different areas. It was an idyllic setting with a river running on three sides and a small tank on the fourth. He had casuarina trees, cashewnut trees, a whole range of fruit trees, and areas for growing a variety of flowers, medicinal plants as well as some grain as maize and paddy.

After the death of Sir CV, the farm was not being maintained well, so they called me in to see whether I could revive it to glory of when Sir CV was living there. I was given quite a leeway, a small budget and instructions that I should grow a special rice that Lady Raman, who was still alive, liked to eat.

It was a huge challenge as I knew nothing about farming. But I learnt fast, starting with the cash crops, the best being the African Marigold which could be sold daily in the main city market, as it is the primary flower used by the Hindus who visit temples. This meant harvesting the flowers at 4 and 5 am and transporting them to the city in bullock carts so that they could arrive in time for the morning auctions where all the small and big buyers would turn up, look at the quality of the flowers and bid for them.

This kept up a steady cash flow.

I started taking care of the fruit yielding trees, doing the soil and leaf analysis so that they could be correctly fertilised and the yield increased. This was done for the mango, chikku, cashewnut and many other fruit trees growing on the estate.

I then started to look at the medicinal plants that Sir CV had introduced into the estate, which included winca rosa and Dioscorea. I introduced citronella from which oil could be extracted and sold to the medical and toiletry industries. I continued the seasonal planting of rice and maize.

The trees were pruned and more trees planted.

All this kept a healthy budget and cash flow and the inputs from the Research Centre to support the farm was gradually reduced.

When I felt the work was done, I arranged for Lady Raman to visit the farm over the Pongal Festival so that she could see how the farm looked. She was so happy that she told me that she could now rest in peace. She died a few months later.

As a result of this, several other farmers in the region asked for us to take over their farms. We took one, but it was more a diary farm, and one which I could not do the justice as our strength was in growing crops and not maintaining a herd of cows! Also it had nothing to do with soil and leaf testing or Agro Polymers!

It was an exciting time of my life as I learnt how tough was the life of an Indian farmer, especially when water was a problem, such as when drought conditions prevailed.

Agropol was doing well in the soil and leaf testing business, so we slowly withdrew from this farm management business. I had to get back to my main field of Polymer and Plastics Science and Technology, as I was appointed managing and Technical director of another company.

However, this experience was worth every minute as it made me understand and respect the massive rural population of India and understand how hard a life they faced to feed the teeming millions of India.

Palm Sunday, Good Friday, Easter Sunday

What do these three days mean to you, as a Christian and a non-Christian?

I am a Christian by birth and tradition. But I am a secularist by upbringing as the Christian schools and college that I went to told me that that there was no differnce in the religions, except man-made ones.

But some traditions that I followed as a Christian have stayed deeply engraved in my mind and although I do not practice all of them today, they are part of my heritage.

The first relates to Palm Sunday. It is the day Jesus rode into the city of Jerusalem sitting on an ass. He was greeted by crowds waving palms.

The tradition that I remember from this dates back to my childhood days in Bangalore.

From Jacob's Blog

When we went to church on Palm Sunday,  we received this cross made from a palm leaf.

When we moved to Bombay, I sort of remember that my mother may have introduced this practice also in the St. Thomas Cathedral.

When we came to Finland, The English Club of Oulu used to hold a very traditional lunch on Palm Sunday. Annikki was for a time the Chairperson of this Club which was to help promote the English language amongst Finns. (More about this in another blog entry, hopefully!)

One year, I had the Palm Crosses flown from in from India to Oulu to give to all the participants of this lunch in Oulu. It was greatly appreciated and a few of those still have them in their Bibles as book markers! This lunch tradition has vanished over the years!

The second tradition that sticks in my mind was the sombre atmosphere that pervaded our household on Good Friday. My mom and dad used to go to church early morning and then again at noon for a long three hour service. On a few occasions, when we asked, they would take us to the service. Some years we went tothe Orthodox Church where the service was more intense and longer.

In the long service all the stages that took place while Christ was being taken to the cross, nailed and till his death, were recreated. People in the church genuinely felt all the anguish and pain that Jesus and his family and friends must have been through.

After the service, as none of us would have eaten a morsel that day, we would have a very traditional meal of rice in the rice water (called kanji in Malayalam), cooked beans (paira) and a very spicy pickle, the sparsest and simplest of meals that one can have in our Kerala tradition.

The sombre atmosphere would continue right through to Friday evening, when we would sing hymns to my dad's piano playing. It would also run into Saturday. We were not permitted any form of "enjoyment", but this was never given or taken as a punishment. The whole atmosphere was as if we were mourning the death of a very real family friend.

Then would come Easter Day. Right from the early morning, the atmosphere changed from the one of great sadness to one of untold joy. Everyone would wish each other. My dad would ring his friends all around the world to wish them a very happy Easter!

There was a rush to put on our very best clothes and be in church to wish all our friends. This atmosphere of untold joy was so infectious. The smiles and happiness would continue in the songs we sang and the get together for tea and cofee with biscuits after the church service.

Then we would go home to a wonderful Easter lunch which was the very best food we could afford! This would bring to end the 40 days of Lent where we would have each given up something we really liked. The money saved would be entered into a card and that would be given by my mom to some charity.

The meal was usually biriyani (Chicken or mutton),  a wonderful curry (usually chicken), lots of vegetable side dishes and a very sweet rice traditional paysam. As some of us liked fried fish, this was also usually on the menu.

My mom would invite anyone who she thought was alone, to join us for the lunch. She really believed in sharing our good fortune and joy with others.

Talking to Joanna yesterday, I did find that she did remember that as a child she had experienced the Good Friday atmosphere and had enjoyed the sparse meal served up at home. As we used to have the Easter type meal on several occasions other than Easter, she may not have remembered that in particular.

I wonder whether these traditions still persist among Christian families in India? I only wish they do for the children of the present generation!

Why don't I write about my special fields?

Many of you have emailed me, over time, as to why I do not post blog entries about all my special interest areas.

There are several of them - plastics technology, polymer science and technology, microelectronics materials and processes, stamps, coins, management, finance, Apple / Macs, and several others.

Today the answer dawned on me.

In the past, it had been hard work to stay abreast all the developments in all these fields. But it had been a worthwhile, financially rewarding and an enjoyable chore. I used to read books and magazines, search the internet, and also attend and make speeches at conferences as well as write papers and articles on most of these subjects. I had been the life and soul at many international conferences, talking to my friends in these fields, trading ideas and generating many hundred new ones.

It had been good while it lasted.

Then I retired officially and the same drive was not there to keep abreast of all these subjects. I was enjoying my new role as a social animal rather than a knowledge beast!

During the last couple of years, I used to boast that when I wake up every morning I do not need to know anything about anything!

I was sitting with Samu, my 13 year old grandson, yesterday evening, watching television. He told me that the diamond was the hardest material on this earth. I had some doubt about it.

My daughter, who was in the room, asked him to "iPhone" it. (Just a year or so ago we would have used the term "Google" it!)

Samu, like his mother, have beautiful iPhones, which they love and use constantly. Although being a Apple / Mac user for over 25 years, I don't, and probably will not, as I cannot manage the small text, and am not happy with the flipping technology to see a complete line of text on a screen!

The first entry Samu found on his iPhone was interesting. It turned up an abstract which said that till 2009, diamond had been the hardest material known on earth, but now nanotechnolgy had produced harder materials.

I asked him to look up nanotechnology. But before he did, he told me that a new materials which could stop a bullet, but was thin as paper had been developed using nanotechnology. He gave me quite a graphic introduction into this area.

I was glad to be educated by this 13 year old.

On his iPhone, he turned up some details of fulrene science. The structure was most interesting as it was still polymer technology, and I had not read much in this field over the last 5 years!

Then it dawned on me that I was no more at the forefront of knowledge in areas where once I had been the source of all information to persons around me.

Although I did not enjoy being in this position where I was no longer "up-to-date", I felt good that I was knowing less than my 13 year old grandson, as he and his generation are the ones who should know about these things, not me.

At the age of 67 (yes, I will attain that age tomorrow!), it is important to focus on fewer areas and let the younger generation be in charge of modern knowledge.

I felt happy that, as I had retired, I was not required to know these developments, although I did feel some degree of shame!

But I felt proud to be educated in "my field" by my grandson.

Thank you, Samu!

Secularity in Educational Institutions

(Posted on all my main blogs as this is one of my more serious postings meant to get the broadest reach.)

I learnt from the Times of India of 25th March 2010, Bishop Cotton school principals to resign, that my second alma maters, the Bishop Cotton's Schools in Bangalore, both the Boys and Girls schools, are going through a huge upheaval. The alleged interference of the Church in their running and the seemingly marginalisation of the Principals (also known as Wardens) into puppets, possibly all in the greed for the rich pickings associated with running a well-known educational institution, appear to have taken these two schools from reality into a fantasy world. Accusations are flying left, right and centre.

Sitting 7000 km away from that base, I do not know who is right or wrong, but it is such a shame to see the schools where my late father (he was also the Old Boy's Association Chairman for many years) and all his siblings, and a greater part of my generation of Matthan's, including my four children, being destroyed by these bickerings and the unfortunate media stories being put out.

A similar situation of the differences between the Church and the Principal is causing the rot of the fourth of my alma maters, St. Stephen's College in Delhi. The Alumni in different part of the world are taking actions, but that may not stop the rot.

However, my Mumbai alma mater, The Cathedral and John Connon School, seems to have overcome this problem, or it probably has not yet come to the forefront.

Trying to remember my days in each school and college, I knew I was in a Christian Institution in all these three cases (and also my first, The Good Shepherd Convent School in Mysore).

In Bishop Cotton's Boys' School we had to go, being a Christian by birth, to the Chapel for morning service before the start of school, every single day.

In Mumbai, we had School Assembly every morning with the reading of the Bible by one of the Prefects and singing of hymns. But it was not grossly evident that it was a Christian school.

My 59er class consisted of Atheists, Christians (a handful), Hindus, Jains, Jews, Muslims, Parsis, Sikhs, Sindhis, and probably various other sects and sub-sects. Not once did it cross my mind that my classmates were from different religions.

The only time I was aware the difference was we took our shirts off for PT. I noticed a few of my classmates wore quite different vests - the Parsis, as they had a sleeveless type muslin (?) vest quite different from the rest of the class. Other than mentally noting this difference, and I never even bothered to find out or understand the reason for this, we were all equal in every other respect during our hours in school.

The only differences were those imposed by the time table, as the Christians had to do Scripture as a subject while the non-Christians were exempt from this.

These secular values, and the continuation of the same which I imbibed in St. Stephen's College of the early 60s, has stood me in good stead through my life. I learnt to respect people for what they do and achieve and not because of their religion, caste or creed.

I wish this would be the universal philosophy across the world, as the wars that plague us today are based on these stupid artificial values, called as faith - be it by any religion anywhere in the world where the religious hierarchy fights for power and prestige, misguiding the masses along the way.

Beware of Black Ice

Yesterday was a tough day. I had tonnes of meetings including showeing up at the Annual General Body meeting of the Oulu Cricket Club. (I am too old to be a playing member, too blind to be an upmire or scorer, so I am just a happy fan.)

Joose continues as the Chairman. New Secretary and Treasurer and two new Board members. Looks like it is going to be a great year.

I offerefd the store room of Raantel for them to keep the cricket gear. They will need a lot more space as they will have the coir matting to keep in store!

Both Ashish (Medipolis) and Arindam (Indian Restaurant) are supporting the Club. Annikki and I agreed to underwrite the shortfall in last years accounts. A small contribution for a group of wonderful guys!

After the meeting, as I had a few minutes to spare, i thought I would reach the Lidl near our home to pick up some bananas. I had promised to pick up Annikki before 6 pm so as to attend our friends daughter's first birthday.

I was driving quite slowly when I saw the traffic light change in the distance. Before I could reduce the speed I noticed the car starting to slide. I had hit a stretch of the dreaded "Black Ice" under the powdery snow. I was in a slide without any chance of controlling anything. The car kept sliding to the right.

 I tried to reduce the speed but the car just kept sliding as the wheels had no traction.

From Audi Accident 27/03/2010 18:00

The car went into the traffic divider which was packed high with snow.

I jumped out and saw that there appeared to be no major damage. When I tried to pull the car out, it refused to budge.

I rang Kamu who was at Citymarket with Naiomi. They came immediately, but he did not have his tow rope.

Just then another car stopped and offered to help. It was a four wheel drive. He brought the car to the back of mine and attached his rope. As he pulled, the rope snapped.

The kind gentleman promised to go to his office and get a stronger rope.

I cleared most of the snow under the car, behind the tyres and under the radiator. Just then a tow truck stopped behind me. The driver jumped out, attached the chains and within a couple of seconds I was pulled free.

I was on my way, about half an hour late for Annikki and and about an hour late for the birthday party.

But we had not missed anything as they were waiting for a few more guests to arrive!

Great party. thanks.

I now understand what Joanna went through when she hit a patch of black ice when driving back to Oulu from Tornio in 1998 in the Citroen! I don't know how the family survived that crash. Only by the grace of God!

But beware of Black Ice. You will not know its there till you start to slide!

Some Operations, Injuries and Accidents

I am sure most of you remember what operations were carried out on you when you were young. I remember I had my tonsils out while living in Mysore in 1948-49. They waited till I was 5 years old before doing that operation.

My mom told me that I had a strong reaction to the anaesthetic, which in those days, was ether. I flew from one table to the next, smashing a whole lot of bottle. My cousin, Ammnikochamma, who was studying to be a doctor at Vellore, came from Mysore to be with me during the operation. The doctors promised me lots of ice cream after the operation!

The removal of my tonsils had a peculiar effect on me as I just shot up in height. My elder brother became the shortee of the family.

I continued to suffer from adenoids. A few years later, when I was 10, while driving from Bangalore to Madras, we stopped at the Christian Medical College Hospital in Vellore, where my cousin, Ammnikochamma, who was now a doctor, organised to have my adenoids removed. At the same time, my brother had his tonsils removed as he wanted to be as tall as me. He did grow a few inches, but has always remained the shortee in the family!

From Hasnain 59ers 2009

I crossed 6 foot. As can be seen from a recent photograph taken during our 50th year class reunion held in Mumbai last November, I was and am the largest in the class! I am that huge fellow on the extreme left! :-) I still stand tall, straight and true!

I lived a charmed life when I was a kid. I had several major accidents but came out living although my skin is not worth much as it is full of scratches and stitches.

The first "accident" I remember is when I was about 4 years old. We were living in our Basavangudi house on Market Road. My mom was busy tending the garden, and the two brothers were trying to help. We were all around her.

My brother picked up the pickaxe and swung it over his head as he wanted to dig the rose bed. When it went over his head, it went straight into mine . We had a lot of blood pouring out.

My mom did not panic. We went indoors and she straight away rang the doctor who came over immediately and "fixed" my head.

Now you know why I am quite crazy. :-)

I do not remember any pain or crying, only plenty of blood oozing out of the head.

A few years later we moved to Mysore and we had a beautiful large garden. Lots of kids would come over in the evening to play.The popular game we played was cowboys and Indians.

One evening, my mom and dad had gone out and all of us kids were rushing around playing this game. We had lots of trees to climb and plenty of space to run around.

My brother picked up a piece of wood and pretended it was a gun. He was firing it at me when I was up a tree. I jumped down and ran to get hold of it. He swung it not knowing there was a long nail on one side. It went deep into my flesh behind my left forearm. I looked at it and saw the blood pouring out.

My late elder sister, Nalini, came to my rescue. She called my mom and dad on the phone. She washed the wound so that I could see white flesh deep inside.

As soon as my mom and dad reached home we rushed to the hospital where the doctor again cleaned the wound and then stitched it up with half a dozen stitches. I still bear this scar on my hand. Because it was a rusty nail I got plenty of tetanus shots!

Again, I do not remember crying when this occurred, although I do remember panic from many of the other children present.

The third major accident I remember is when we were holidaying in my maternal grandfather's place in Kottayam (the Malayala Manorama premises). My grandmother had a little daschund dog and I loved to play with it. One day it came to my feet so kneeled down to pick it up. When I got up, I did not realise that I was just below a wooden window. The sharp corner went straight into the centre of my skull, exactly where the pickaxe had gone a few years earlier. The skull was torn open and I was rushed to the hospital across the road where a cousin, Sarammakochamma, who was studying to be doctor tended me.

Again I do not remember crying at this incident.

The next holiday, we were again in Kottayam. They had a wonderful 3 wheeler motorbike (called a DOT)  which had a two wheel trailer in front. It was for carrying all sorts of materials from one place to another in the newspaper premises. It was safe as it was balanced by the two wheels in front.

I learnt to drive it when I was just 9 years old.

Someone had moved some stuff in it and it was lying next to the office. I had the intention of driving it and approached the bike from the side. My leg touched the exhaust pipe, which was searingly hot, and within seconds it burnt a great big hole into my thigh. (You can imagine how small i was then!)

Off to the hospital, but this time there were no stitches, just cleaning, a lot of pain-killers and a large bandage. I still bear the mark on my left thigh! No crying though!

The last of my chidhood episodes I have recorded in several places.

This was my drowning at the Vasind River outside Bombay when we went on a class picnic.

That gave me a second life.

After that I was reasonably free of any major accidents other than fracturing my wrist during a game of quad football in the school quadrangle in Mumbai and getting a splinted from my hockey stick while I was laying for the College XI in Delhi.That put paid to my serious hockey although I did play all the while I was studying and working in England.

And the last one was last year when I fell on my hand and crushed the fourth finger on my left hand!

That is not to say I have not had several near brushes with death.

One day, in Madras, in 1973, I was driving on the beach road to the MRF factory in Thiruvanmuyur. I saw a truck coming. I moved to the far right to give it way. I could not see a large unmarked broad plate of steel  protruding from the side of the truck. It cut through my door and window of my car, missing my head by a few inches! The car was thrown to one side as the steel ripped through the metal. I survived and managed to get the car to the MRF factory about a kilometer down the road!

More true tales soon, so stay tuned!

Returning to the present

My last few blog entries wandered into the past, so I thought I would bring you back into the present day and reality.

I received a very nice email from a friend of the Finnish Red Cross in Helsinki and a close friend of the parents of the Indian girl who needs a bone marrow transplant. She is a reader of this blog and knew that I was in touch with a wide spectrum Indian community.

She drew my attention to an adopted "Indian" girl in Finland who needs a bone marrow transplant.

Bone marrow transplant matches require someone from the family or from the same ethnic background, if a match is to be found. What the young lady wanted me to do was to try and find someone to save this little 7 year old girl's life.

Of course, without looking into the matter further, I promptly volunteered.

When I read the details, however, I found that transplant donors are ideally between the age of 20 and 40, and as a last resort they may accept donors up to the age of 55.

With me being a dozen years more than the absolute limit, my possibility of doning was ruled out.

I have asked the O-Indian Community in Oulu to find out if they can become donors. So the Oulu Red Cross has agreed to make a working visit to their premises to see if the Indian Community here could be coded, so that if a donor is required, one could be approached.

Such social responsibilities for a community of people living in a different country will only pay in the long run. What if one of the Indians or their children in Finland required a transplant? Where would they turn?

I do hope our Indian Community, not only in Oulu, but also around Finland will play a part in a society where they are living ad working, as in the long run, only they will benefit by such participation.

Learning morality as a child....

In Finland, the situation is amazing that if you drop or lose something somewhere, even after a week or a month, it is likely to have been left there. The ordinary citizen does not want to take anything that belongs to someone else.

If anyone finds some money or a wallet, or even a key, on the street, he / she will hand it over to the Police. There could be a reward, but the wallet and the contents are not given to the finder. It stays in the Police Station till the rightful owner turns up.

When I was just 10 years old, we had a great cricket side in Bangalore. We used to play almost every evening after school. I was a slow right hand leg spin bowler. I could really turn that ball over a metre. If one recalls an entry on my Cathedral school pages, Jimmy Jameson (of MCC XI fame) used me to get some wickets in the House matches way back in 1954..

In Bangalore, we played cricket on a disused level graveyard very near Richmond Circle, which used to be right  in front of the present Republic Nursing Home. No tennis ball for us as we had a real hard cricket ball to play with!

We were about 15 of us, ranging from those who were 12 years to the youngest, who was probably 5 or 6. But we were all cricket mad well before the days of Sunil Gavaskar or Sachin Tendulkar.

And we really played serious cricket for our age. Not just knocking the ball around. We had fielding practice, bowling practice and batting practice, before we set up teams and played a match.

One day, as I was walking home from school, I found a Rs. 10 note lying on the pavement. I had never held a Rs. 10 note in my hand before.

As I walked home I wondered what I should do with it. My natural impulse was to hand it over to my mother. But something stopped me doing that.

That evening, while we were playing cricket, a thought struck me. I suggested we should organise to play a cricket match against another side. I felt I could use the Rs. 10 to celebrate our victory hoping, of course, we won!

So I organised a two innings match with a team on the other end of Bangalore, the team of one of my school classmates, for a Saturday morning.

We had 11 players and we set off early morning equipped to play and win. We did.

Then I revealed my cunning plan.

As it was only around 2:30 in the afternoon, I suggested we would go to the matinee show in a theatre, as the movie "Ivanhoe" had just been released. I did not reveal where I had got the money or how much, and no one asked me.

The boys were excited as some of them had never ever been to the theatre.

At that time, entrance to a cinema hall used to cost 4 annas for a seat (4 seats for rupee) for a child. The cost for all 11 of us was less than Rs. 3.

We sat through the first half, which in those days was usually Indian News Documentaries, a Walt Disney cartoon as Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, Pluto or Bugs Bunny, and trailers of coming films.

We were really having a good time. I got chips for everyone during the interval. Another half a rupee!

When the lights came on before the real movie started, I looked back, and there, sitting a few rows behind me, were three of my cousins (the George Matthan family of Ammnikochamma, Baluchachen and Anand), and several friends.

They were as surprised to see me as I was to see them.

I knew I was sunk, as they would surely tell my mom, as we lived just a stone's throw from their house.

We enjoyed the movie as it was a real classic - I cannot remember the names of the stars but I certainly thought I had seen a good film. Lots of jousting and fighting. Ideal fare for children.

As soon as I left the theatre, I knew I had better come clean with my mom.

I knew my dad would be furious, but I knew if I handled my mom right, maybe I could get away with a scolding and a serious telling off.

After the movie I reached home around 5:30 in the evening.

My mom asked how the cricket had gone. I told her that we had won. Then I blurted out what I had done.

She looked at me very gravely and asked whether I understood what I had done. I told her that I fully understood. Igave her the rest of the money. (The value of Rs. 10 in 1953 would probably be equivalent to about Rs. 5000 of today!)

She decided that she would not tell my dad, who was still at work. (Yes, he worked till almost 7 pm even on a Saturday!)

She said she would deal with this matter on Monday.

Sure enough, it was lucky I had been quick, as no sooner had I finished with her, the phone rang. It was cousin ringing to tell my mom what she had seen.

Mom was sporting enough to tell her that I had told her what had happened and that she would handle it, but on no account should my dad know.

That taken care of, on Monday after school, she took me to the Police Station where one of our family friends, Doug Wilson, was the Police Inspector.

The Wilson family were very close family friends. Besides Doug and Marge, they had 5 children - Abner, Beverley, Cedric, Dinky and Zena.

Marge was a Protestant and went to the same church as us, St. Mark's Cathedral. Doug had been a Roman Catholic but had been ex-communicated as he did not agree to bring up his children in the Roman Catholic Church. He did not attend the Protestant Church, but he was a example of a wonderful Christian man as he was always happy and smiling.

His five children and us four kids were closer than most, as when we lived in Mysore, Inspector Wilson was also posted in Mysore. Dinky and I were the same age and she was the one who looked after me when I went to kindergarten for the first time. We used to walk back from the Good Shepherd Convent every afternoon.

When we moved to Bangalore, Doug was also transferred and our family friendship continued.

At the Police Station, my mom she gave Doug Rs. 10 and told him that I had found the money and was returning it.

Doug was astonished at the honesty of my mom (and by inference, me). He told her that he would file a report. If the money was claimed within 14 days, I would be entitled to a small reward. If it was not claimed within 14 days, the money would be mine.

The money was not claimed. After 14 days Doug sent a Police Constable round to our house with the money and a signing off form.

My mom took the money. She kept what had been remaining from my adventure. She told me I could give it to any charity that I wanted.

I do not remember which charity I chose. But it felt good at that moment that I was now not an official robber in the eyes of my mom.

This lesson has stood me in good stead all  these years. Thanks mom!