First Hemel Hempstead explosion neighbour checks in

I knew that some of our friends were not far from the Hemel Hempstead explosion in the UK.

I just had a mail from Dr. Anthony Stone, who taught Mathematics in St. Stephen's College during my time there in the 1960's.



He stays just two and a half miles from the explosion spot.

He assured me that there was no damage at his residence.

Sadly, his wife, Bertha, has been admitted to hospital with a fractured pelvis. Two years ago she suffered a fractured hip. (Not related to the explosion.)

In 2000, Tony came and stayed a week with Annikki and me when we were living in our penthouse in Torikatu in the centre of town.

Tony is very sprightly, both in mind and body, but poor Tony and Bertha have been having a lot of problems of late.

Do visit his Catend Study web site as it will show you his close and longtime links to India as well as he delving into the inner secrets of mathematics. As can be seen from his site, Tony had a fascinating way of teaching.

Have you ever thought when the 3rd Millenium began? No, it was not 2000!
Or do you know how to calculate the time of day from the shadow?

On his site you will find such fascinating pages as History | India | Links Other Sites | Mathematics | Theoretical Physics | Theology | Time | Transliteration Pages

Take a few minutes to visit the site and send a message to Tony. He will appreciate it.

Are we Dravidians over-running the world?

Kaleva is the large daily newspaper in Oulu.

Twice a week, every household in Oulu gets a free 8 paged newspaper, free of cost, called Oulu Lehti. It is sponsored by a political party which gets funds from the Government to circulate its views.

The one which arrived last Sunday had a large picture of two foreigners, Anaïs Guimard from France, and surprise, surprise, Subramaniam Panneer Selvam from Villipuram, in South Tamilnadu, exactly where the tsunami struck.

Picture of French girl, Anais, with
Tamilian from Villipuram, Subramaniam

The article spoke in glowing terms of the work of Subramaniam when the tsunami struck his home region.

The two foreigners had been brought to Finland by the KEPA organisation (Service Centre for Development Cooperation) which works on projects with developing countries. Both of these foreigners are being looked after by the Oulu Youth Centre WALDA Organisation (website in Finnish), which for over 60 years has been involved with youth work and recently with multicultural youth work.

Subramaniam works at a youth centre in an area known as Puolivälikangas, very near the University of Oulu. He is a phyisiatrist - something I am not sure what it is.

So, today, Tuesday, when I had a few minutes to spare, I dashed off to the Youth Centre. There I met Subramaniam, his co-ordinator from KEPA, Helsinki, Sari Markkanen, and also the local person who is responsible for Subramaniam from the Walda Organisation, Kaija Välimaa.


Sari and Subramaniam

I invited Subramaniam to our regular 12:00 hours Sunday meeting at Saikou's Internet Cafe.

Kaija asked whether she could attend. She would like to talk to us, especially about a project application for money for some work involving foreigners.

I told her that her presence would be very welcome.

Looking at three last Findian additions to our Oulu Community, Kannan, from Pondicherry, Isaac from Chennai and Subramaniam from Villipuram, it seems that we Dravidianns are invading the Arctic!

Finally, on my way home, I noticed the moon at 14:30 - Round and Full!


Arctic Full Moon today at 14:30

Am I glad that the Hemel Hempstead black smoke is not clouding our sky here in Oulu!

Half done

I had been wanting to update the K. C. Mammen Mappillai



and the Dewan Bahadur Kuriyan Matthan



Web Pages for a long time.

Today, I managed to update the K. C. Mammen Mappillai page and added some new pictures of the family.

Like in the case of the Maliyakal web pages, I shall try to breakdown each family and put up relevant details with appropriate pictures.

I have not yet put up pictures on the Maliyakal pages, except on Dewan Bahadur's web page, but I will do that when I get some time.

Please submit any data and pictures you want to go up on your family tree unique page.

These are not a genealogy pages or sites but tributes to great men who taught me my fundamental values.

Tingting returns, Kannan awaits news

This Sunday's meeting was exciting as our Chinese colleague, Tingting, returned from a very successful trip to China. She was very happy with the visit and hopes that she can stay in her job. At least she has achieved a degree of self confidence and a great deal of maturity which has lifted her spirits. She arrived at the meeting with biscuits and special Chinese mint sweets for everyone.

She is off on holiday to China next week and will celebrate her birthday for the first time in 4 years with her family.

Kannan (India) is awaiting news of his job as the security clearance process is taken care of. Hopefully all goes well with that.

Bill (China) is moving well on all fronts, with pizza boxes from China leading the way. Kamu has come up with a good design. Now the logo is being designed. Hopefully the cooperative organisation will take some shape during the next week with Bill and Sid forming the first core and others joining when they have a role to contribute to that organisation. The most important steps as the name and the rules and regulations need to be finalised still. We all hope the multi-multi-lingual Ilari (Finland) will be able to help us out with that task.

Kamu (Zambia) has had a rough week as his cars (Volvo and Saab) both conked out. Also, his father and brother in Zambia had health problems. But Kamu stayed focused and managed to send enough money to get all of them treated in private clinics, as treatment in a government hospital could have meant a wait of several days, if not weeks.

We were very happy to welcome to our gathering Isaac Sundarajan (India), CEO of Codenomicon Ltd. Isaac is the nephew of the well known former Bishop of Madras, Bishop Sundar Clark of the Church of South India, now retired and settled in Australia. Bishop Sundar Clark was a dear friend of my parents and many other family members. I have met with the Bishop on several occasions, but I am sure he will not remember this little snail!

Isaac is obviously also the relation of Mrs. G. Clarke (something I did not verify), who was the Principal of Bishop Cotton Girls' School between the years 1977 to 1988, when our kids, Mika (in the Kindergarten), Joanna and Susanna studied. I am also a product of the Kindergarten of this school between the years 1948 and 1950 when Miss M. E. Hardy was the Principal (1945 - 1952).

Click image to see larger picture.



Looking at this picture, it tells me that the kindergarten area is just the same as when I studied there at the end of the 40s. It seems just as idyllic as it was then. My last class (Class D) before I moved to the Boys' School, was in the corner of the building where the right angle between the two sections of the building can be seen.

I still remember that well.

Under Mrs. Clarke, during the time our children were studying there, the Girls' School made remarkable progress. Mrs. Clarke initiated the introduction of two new Houses - Elmes and Waller - to the existing Barton, Foley and Maiden Houses, as the number of students increased. The pale green tunics changed to dark green. In keeping with the times, computer studies was introduced. The strength of the school went from 700 to 3000. Six additional classrooms were built and the shift system was introduced. The work on the auditorium was completed and a new dining hall for the Boarders was planned. The Bishop Cotton Womens' Christian College was started in 1985, the first of its kind in the Diocese.

So Isaac has a lot of family history behind him in devotion, organisation and execution, and I am sure that will show through in the way he manages this Finnish company.

The meeting ended with all of singing a rousing happy birthday for Tingting. Our special thanks go to Saikou (Gambia) who has offered us his Internet Cafe for our weekly meetings. It is a great place and full of a lively atmosphere.

After the meeting, Isaac dropped in for a very brief visit to our home to meet Annikki, see her garden and also see some of Annikki's artistic designs!

A busy Friday

Retirement is supposed to bring peace and tranquility.

I seem to be getting more and more into the fast lane. Friday was truly an example of how life is getting hectic.

Mika's Water Immersion Physiotherapy had been changed to be early morning. Off we went at already half past eight. I had already had to clear my email between 04:30 and 08:00 hours.

I listen to the Liberal Talk Show Host Mike Malloy out of Atlanta, Georgia, on the internet on Tuesdays to Saturdays between 05:00 and 08:00 hours, so that was no hassle. Mike's exuberant nature and his sharp sense of what is right and wrong with no compromises, makes one trust that once the Bush cabal is removed from power, America will once again find its true role as a leader among the nations, despite the fact that the Democrat Party is just a bunch of weeping wimpos at the present time. Hopefully some politicians with some gall as Senator Barbara Boxer, Congressman Dennis Kucinich and the evergreen Congressman John Conyers Jr. will breathe some new firepower into this present Republican-lite Party at the 2006 elections.

Then it was off to help my Thai friends as they struggle to get their life in order. They called to say that their car was not starting so could I lend them a battery charger.

I had to pick up Kamu, my Zambian friend, from his work place and take him to collect his Volvo. After that, I dropped off my battery charger at Unnop's restaurant. There, I found they were desperate as without their car they had not been able to go and collect supplies from the wholesaler.

I took my friends to the wholesale shop so they could do their critical shopping. When we got back they found they had missed one important item - French Fries, so I promised to pick some up as I did the shopping for Annikki.

Then the crucial work of getting Annikki's shopping done and the extra French Fries, which I duly delivered to the restaurant.

Kannan had volunteered my presence at the meeting of the group who are planning to visit India as part of a Rotary Exchange programme. We assembled at the New Bombay Restaurant. We spent a couple of hours while I learnt about their trip to Rotary District 3210 in Kerala (and part in Tamilnadu) and told them of the Don'ts and Do's in India. They are not visiting my Rotary Club which is situated in Chennai (Madras).

Rotarian Reino, with the four younger members of the team, Ville, Katja, Sini and Kaisu, were briefed by Kannan and me.

Maybe they learnt a few things?

Just before I embarked on the journey to the restaurant for this meeting, I had a call from Isaac Sundarajan, whom I have mentioned in an earlier blog entry. He was back from Silicon Valley. He told me that he had brought back some authentic Kerala Banana Chips from the US. That was really a sweet thought.

Isaac was also dining with the founder of his company, Marko Laakso, at the New Bombay. We had our first face to face encounter at the venue. Not having seen Marko for many years, I was happy to see that he has retained his broad smile and sense of humour over all these years.

I had rung the restaurant owner, Tapon, about the fact that all of us would be there, albeit at seperate tables. Tapon made it a special occasion by being on hand and seeing that everyone got their food and drinks just right.

After the briefing session I was off to see Soda, my young Thai friend, train at the Oulu Sports Dome with his football team, Tervarit Juniors. It was the first time they are training in the dome.

Kannan, whom I dragged along with me, and I watched. I certainly saw a lot of talent in this young lad, Soda. He has the undying enthusiasam of grandson Samuel.



Soda was playing in a temperature more suited to his style of play, rather than the freezing outdoor conditions I had seen him perform the week earlier!



This 14-year old is of the same style of Jari Litmanen, the Finnish football genius, who put Finnish football on the international map by playing in such great teams as Ajax of Holland and Liverpool of England. Jari certainly does not look as tall as 6 foot on the field, but when he is on it, he dominates the proceedings.

Jari Litmanen

Date of Birth: 20/02/1971
Squad number: 37
Height: 6' 0 (182.88 cm)
Weight: 12st 10lbs (76.2 kg)
Characteristics: Experienced right-footed
striker with excellent technique and vision
Clubs: Reipas Lahti, HJK Helsinki, MyPa, Ajax, Barcelona, Liverpool, Hansa Rostock
Birth Place: Lahti, Finland
Nickname: Litti

Soda is not tall, but he is lithe with great footwork.

(On Saturday evening I went to see Soda play his first indoor football match. Not only did Soda manage to feed the ball to his team mates unselfishly and efficiently, he scored two superb goals in the overwhelming 7-0 victory. We will hear a lot about this young lad if he can stick to a tough training routine.)

By the time I got home it was almost 23:00 hours, just enough time to check my email and clear it, listen to a bit of the Randi Rhodes programme, the effervescent Talk Show Host out of New York, check the latest news online, before passing out for the night leading to another hectic day!

Couple of corrections

In my story about the London Double Decker Bus, I mentioned the bus that Annikki took from Streatham to West Hampstead. Annikki pointed out she used one of two routes. One was Route 159 from Streatham, and the other was a number she could not remember which originated at Tooting Bec.

Here is a picture of the Route 159 Bus being mobbed as it chugs into the Streatham Garage for the last time.



In my write up about the lampshade made from wood, I assumed that it was Red Ceddar. However, several of you sharp readers and Annikki have said that it is possibly Red Pine.



Here are the details of this tree:

Red Pine

Pinus resinosa

The red pine is a native of the Lake states and eastward throughout New England and southeastern Canada. It had not been planted widely in Iowa until the 1930's. Since then it has been planted quite widely for both erosion control and water conservation , and some for farmstead windbreaks. When growing under natural conditions, the red pine reaches a height of 90 to 100 feet and a diameter of 30 to 40 inches, with a tall, straight, clean trunk and an open, rounded picturesque crown. The tree gets its name from the bright orange-colored or reddish bark, which divides into large plates as the tree matures.

Red pine needles are 4 to 6 inches long and in bundles of two. The dark green needles are soft and flexible. When bent sharply they snap or break cleanly rather than just folding over as do the needles of other pines.

The cone is egg-shaped; 2 to 2-1/4 inches long. The cone scales are smooth and without spines. The seeds are eaten by songbirds and small animals.

Branching: Each year a pine tree produces a new whorl (circle) of branches.

Bark: reddish cast, breaking up into scaly plates

Height: 50 to 80 ft.

Trunk Diameter: 1 to 3 ft.

Longevity: maximum age is about 350 yrs.

Tolerance: intermediate

Range: southern Canada, lake states, and the northeast

Fun Facts:

Most of the wooden telephone poles in Michigan and surrounding states are red pine.
Used to make log cabins.
During the Depression in the 1930s, millions of red pine plantations were planted by the C.C.C. (Civilian Conservation Corps.); that is the reason we see so many in Camp Conestoga.

But still no mention of the fascinating light transmission properties.

Nokia slammed by Taiwanese company

The Finns are expert at getting away with "Blue Murder".

The Finnish Mobile phone multinational is no exception.

But a Taiwanese company decided it would expose the case in the international media. This has caused Nokia to backtrack.

The Finns do not like their "image" to be tarnished.

This appeared in an article in PC World Taiwanese supplier blasts Nokia over cancelled order, by Dan Nystedt, IDG News Service, 06/12/2005 08:26:51.

A Taiwanese maker of networking supplies took out a front page advertisement in The Wall Street Journal's Asia and Europe editions on Monday, blasting Nokia for cancelling an order it claims will put it out of business.

"UNFAIR! UNFAIR! UNFAIR! Nokia's order cancellation = Bankruptcy to YCL," reads the front page advertisement placed in the Wall Street Journal by Taiwan's YCL Electronics Co. The company also placed further details on its Web site, including e-mail correspondence purportedly between YCL and Nokia executives

The ads can also be found on the Europe and Asia main pages of The Wall Street Journal Online.

According to the information YCL placed on its Web site, the Taiwanese company owns up to the fact it signed an agreement with Nokia which stated that "Nokia may cancel the order without any liability 2 weeks prior to the delivery date" but then later complains that the agreement is unfair.

In the first series of e-mails, an executive at YCL, Dennis Hsieh laments that he will likely lose his job because he signed an unfair agreement with Nokia on his own, without consulting the president of YCL. He then complains the agreement puts all the business risk on YCL, which has to purchase the raw materials for the devices it is making for Nokia far in advance, leaving YCL vulnerable to bankruptcy if Nokia opts to renege on the deal.

The reply Hsieh gets from a Nokia executive (also included in the correspondence posted on the Web site, complete with contact details), is that Nokia is trying to find a different customer for YCL, and asks if YCL could tell Nokia its rock bottom price, according to the documents on YCL's Web site.

The next series of emails comes from a new YCL executive.

"Mr. Dennis [Hsieh] resigned because he signed a very UNFAIR agreement (No.341235) with Nokia," wrote Andy Lu, vice president of sales at YCL, in an e-mail posted on YCL's Web site. He too asks Nokia to reconsider the situation and threatens to go to the press with YCL's case.

Nokia could not be reached for comment despite several attempts to contact the company in Asia and Europe.

A representative for The Wall Street Journal in Hong Kong said her company spent at least 2 weeks ensuring it could legally place the advertisement on its pages.

YCL "have all the supporting documents, so we were able to run the ad," said Rebecca Tjouw, from The Wall Street Journal's advertising department. The type of advertisement YCL placed on its front page normally costs around US$40,000, she said.

The Finnish News Agency reported this on Friday:

Nokia says seeks a negotiated settlement with Taiwan's YCL
9.12.2005 at 10:26

Finnish mobile telephony giant Nokia told the Finnish News Agency (STT) on Friday that it was seeking to negotiate with its Taiwanese subcontractor YCL Electronics.

YCL has accused Nokia of unfair agreement practices.

"At the moment we are examining what the situation is. We are trying to keep in contact with them and settle the issue," said Eija-Riitta Huovinen, Nokia´s director of communications.

Ms Huovinen was not able to say what kind of measures Nokia was planning to undertake

In advertisements printed in the Wall Street Journal, YCL has deployed harsh language to criticise Nokia.

The damage has been done - and now the dirty Finnish core is headline news, worldwide.

Nokia will try to spin it their way, but my advice is DO NOT BELIEVE NOKIA. This is Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) by the Finns.

Under international contractual law, an agreement such as this would be null and void. Most Finnish companies use this technique as they know they can get away with it in Finland, as justice is always engineered to be on "their" side.

Indian cooperators, collaborators and sub-contractors of Nokia - be warned - and check your contracts! Write them in reverse and submit it to Nokia.

Nokia needs you, and you do not need Nokia.

Annikki's Flea Market Finds: No. 1

Annikki finds all sorts of things in the local flea markets.

I thought I would feature some of her best finds, usually bought at an Euro or two. (Wish I had a better camera to get the real beauty of many of her finds.)

Here is one that she found a long time ago.

It is a wooden lamp shade.

When you switch on the light, the colour is a beautiful glow of red showing the intricate design work that has been carved into it.



It is supposedly made from Red Ceddar wood, but the plain wood, in this instance, does not show the characteristic red colouration associated with this type of wood.

The beautiful colour glow, which can be seen in the photo on the right, is supposedly characteristic of light shining through this wood.

This is a write up about Eastern Red Cedar.

Eastern Red Cedar - Juniperus virginiana

General Information: Red cedar is an evergreen growing 40 to 50 feet tall in an oval, columnar, or pyramidal form (very diverse) and spreading 8 to 15 feet when given a sunny location. It develops a brownish tint in winter in the north and is sometimes used in windbreaks or screens. The fruit is a blue berry on female trees and is ornamental when produced in quantity. Birds devour the fruit and 'plant' it along farm fences and in old abandoned fields. Some botanists do not separate J. virginiana from silicicola.

The eastern red cedar is not a true cedar (genus Cedrus), it is actually a variety of juniper. It occurs naturally as an upright tree with many small branches, curving sharply upward. Old trees often have many natural jin on the lower part of the trunk, and that branches are more nearly horizontal. The wood of the red cedar is fragrant and is used extensively for furniture. The foliage is bright green to dark green.

With sufficient early training, the red cedar can be used for most styles, though multiple-trunk styles probably require planting multiple trees close together. Cascade and semi-cascade styles could be a challenge, given the strong apex dominance of this tree.

Here is a write up about Western Red Cedar.

WESTERN RED CEDAR
thuja plicata

* other common names: Giant Arbor-Vitae, Canoe-cedar, Pacific Red-cedar, Shinglewood
* the western red cedar is British Columbia's official tree
* can be referred to as 'arbor-vitae' or "tree of life"

UNIQUE FEATURES:

* drooping branches that turn up at tip
* trunk spreading out at the base
* has large number of cones bent backward along the branches

Surprisingly, there is no mention as to why Red Cedar, Eastern or Western, has been called by that name. The wood does have a red colouration, and wood panelling made of Red Cedar certainly is attractive. But there is no mention of the light transmission properties which yields this beautiful colouration.

My valuation of this lamp is that it must be worth several tens of euros, if not more.

Great find.

Wow! A chance to look after 2 "Monster" kids!

Appearing in a Finnish national church magazine today was this ad which is circled:

(Click picture to see a larger image.)


Don't these kids, Daniel (1.5) & Samuel (8.5), look mischievously angelic?



Joanna and Tony are looking for someone to live in with them in Newcastle next year for five months to spend some time looking after the kids. Both the kids are bilingual (Finnish and English).

If I was not overloaded with responsibilities here in Finland I would have liked to have my daily wrestling match with these two - one a Dara Singh and the other the Masked Angel.

Guess which is which?

No better job I could have asked for, but.....

I have not been to London since 1992

Not strictly true, as I passed through Heathrow Airport in 2000 on my way back from India.

Ever since my student days there, one of the things I appreciated most about London was the red double decker bus.



This little replica probably sits in many many millions of homes around the world, probably more than any other model of any other vehicle! The one that Annikki got many many years ago was given to our grandson, Samuel, and he enjoyed playing with it just as much as both our sons, Jaakko and Mika, when they were little boys.

Originally, when I lived as a student in London, I travelled from my residences - Finchley Road, Swiss Cottage and West Hampstead - to Holloway Road, where my college, the National College of Rubber Technology was situated in the Northern Polytechnic, using the tube. It was crowded and by the time I got to the college, with two changes, one at Baker Street and another at Kings Cross Stations, hurtling up or down the escalators, it had been an excruciating experience.

When I got the minivan, it was a trip across the top of North London cutting across the traffic streaming into or out of London. We used several back streets and the journey by car was really a time saver. (Meant a few extra minutes in bed in the morning.) It was great step up from traveling on the tube.

I rarely used the van to travel across London, as it was rather a nerve-racking job getting through the maze of one ways that formed the road pattern through London.

I appreciated the London Double Decker Bus. Annikki used to travel all the way from Streatham to our flat in West Hampstead for our regular Saturday evening date, and then I would drop her off late evening. As the tube and bus service was usually shut down when I dropped her off, usually way past midnight, I used to walk back the 10 to 15 km back to my house - student with no money days! :-)

After we left London and stayed in Shrewsbury and then Shawbury, I certainly appreciated the London Bus Service as I had to use the very infrequent bus service which travelled between the village of Shawbury, where the Research Association that I worked in was situated and Shrewsbury, whenever our car was out of order.

When I visited London after our return to India, I much preferred using the bus service in London, as it was such a battle trying to get onto the tube in the underground, and then stand like fish in a sardine tin.

What I enjoyed most was to sit on the upper deck of the London bus and watch the life under me as I passed through the streets that I had tread on during my student days. It was refreshing. I got to my destination relaxed and having appreciated the city I had loved so much during those heady days of the sixties.

It was very rare that I used a London cab, as almost every nook and cranny of London was served by the efficient double decker bus.

Today, I read that the double decker Routemaster Bus in London has been retired for good.

A sad day for that great city.

LONDON - It was the end of the line Thursday for London's red Routemaster buses, trundling into retirement after half a century of rickety but reliable service.

Fans of the old style double-deckers traveled from across Britain to take a last ride on the hop-on, hop-off buses, whose curved lines and cheery scarlet color have inspired affection among drivers and passengers alike.

If you want to have a nostalgic view about London Buses visit the Routemasters web site. I enjoyed my visit!

The last Routemaster Bus rolled into the Streatham Garage, the one garage that I am so familiar with, late yesterday.

I remember some great moments in Chennai

I received an email from a young student from Pondicherry who is studying here in Oulu. He had been asked to speak about India to a group of Finnish students who are about to embark on a trip to Tamilnadu and Kerala, sponsored by one of the local Rotary Clubs.

Kannan thought that I would do some justice to introducing the students to these areas, so he asked me to join them.

It revived some thoughts of our days in Madras during the 1970's and I embarked on a Google Search to find if there were any pages of the Rotary Club that I had belonged to during the period 1970 - 1976.

I was really thrilled to find the web pages of the Rotary Club of Madras South. It prompted me to write this letter to the Webmaster, Rotarian A. G. Shankar:

Dear Rotarian Shankar,

It was with great pleasure I discovered such a really superb set of web pages of the Rotary Club that I had the pleasure of being a member in the early 1970's.

I certainly recall many great names as the Charter Secretary Rtn. Ramakrishna Raja and Rtn. C.V.George, both outstanding human beings that I had great honour of rubbing shoulders with.

I was inducted by President B. Ugamraj Mootha, being introduced by the brilliant but highly eccentric engineer, Mr. Krishnaswamy.

My classification - Polymers.

I do not think that I was dynamic enough to be remembered by anyone in the Club - and I moved to Bangalore in 1976 and then to Finland in 1984.

I did not ever join Rotary again as I found that no Rotary Club that I visited had such great Fellowship and Projects that as were associated with Madras South.

I do not know how many of the members of Club from those days are still around. Maybe if you publish a members list, it would jog my memory.

Please convey to all the members of the Club my very best regards. May I wish the Club continued success. I will blog the picture of your present Board and the link to your web pages on my Jacob's Blog.

I, on my part, can now watch with great pleasure the activities of the Club through the excellent web pages that you have created.

I am now retired and live with my wife, Annikki, who was also an Inner Wheeler at that time, in this near Arctic town of Oulu in Finland, home of much of the developments in Microelectronics which led to the growth of Nokia as an international giant in mobile phones. I was the Acting Chief Engineer at the University of Oulu, Microelectronics Laboratory.

In particular, we fondly remember one incident which took place at a Club get-together in the gardens of our home in Velacherri.

On arrival, Rotarian Karpur asked our 4-year old daughter:

"How is your pop?"

He got a reply that startled him

"He has tape worm!" said Joanna .

Little Joanna was more interested in her "pup" than her "pop"!


Yours most sincerely


Annikki & Jacob Matthan

I never heard the end of that from Rtn Karpur.

It was Annikki that jogged my brain with the details of the story!

Age is certainly telling! :-)

Here is a picture of the Office Bearers for the year 2005-06 of the Club:



The President, Mr. Rajesh Sahi, is the Managing Director of Antrieb Technik, engaged in the manufacture of electrical actuators for valves used in various industries.

Certainly revived some memories that I will share with these Finnish students this Friday. Maybe they will have the opportunity to meet up with the Club when they are in Chennai!

Please view this Slide Show

I am greatly disturbed by the Invasion and Occupation of Afghanistan and Iraq by the war criminals, Bush and Blair, and the impending invasion of Syria and Iran that seems to be looming in the not too distant future.

I hope those of you who have some shred of concern for the lives of innocent women and children will view this slide presentation called Thanks for the Memories.

The only big thing issue missing in this slide show is that the reason for the Al-qaeda, which, like Saddam Hussein was created, armed and supported by the US to fight the Soviet Union in Afghanistan, to turn against the US, was because the US stationed military forces in Saudi Arabia desecrating their land by behaviour that Muslims consider unclean.

Is there anything you can do?

Wherever you are - STAND UP AND BE HEARD.

Good news all round

A very busy weekend with good news all round.



Tingting, our Chinese "dynamo", had gone to China along with her new boss, as a Marketing Assistant and Translator. She tries to make this trial period into a permanent career.

Our Indian "dynamite", Kannan Bee, as he is known amongst us, has been a really busy "bee", blasting his way through the Finnish education, labour and cultural arena. First he got an outstanding certificate from his lecturer, a senior researcher at Oulu University and has landed an assignment to write a research paper which could lead to a doctoral research programme in Project Management in Construction Engineering. Then he went to a place near Rauma, on the west coast of Finland, about 400 km south of Oulu, and landed a job as a Junior Engineer, with the French company which is the primary construction contractor for the fifth nuclear powwer plant being built in Finland. He is waiting for details of the salary and the appointment letter if he gets the security clearance, as is associated with any institution of this type. Then he proceeded to Helsinki and secured an offer to do research in yet another area of Construction Management from the Helsinki University of Technology.



This outstanding young man, humble to the core which represents the village roots of Pondicherry, where he comes from, will be a shining star in Europe if he maintains that very important characteristics that he now possesses - simplicity and straightfowardness. It is my honour and pleasure to be associated with him as he will go places.

Siddharth in Oulu, December 2005

Our friend from Hubli, India, Siddharth Mazumdar, who has obained a place at Kuopio University, came from Kuopio on his way back to India. He informed us that he had secured sufficient funding which will help him complete the Master's course in Biotechnology as a group of 8 reserachers under a leading Finnish professor in that area. He will share a flat with two other Indian students who are studying in Kupio University.

After dropping his luggage at our place, the next day Siddharth took off for Rovaniemi on the Arctic Circle, where one of his colleagues was hosting a "pikkujoulu" which is the traditional way work colleagues say Merry Christmas to each other. He came back quite sober in the late evening, as Siddharth does not imbibe liquor. However, he was not very happy with the money grabbing that goes on in Santa's Village - but that was something I had warned him about!


Bill, Kannan and Siddharth at
Saikou's Internet Cafe, December 2005, Oulu

On Sunday it was meeting day for us foreigners in Saikou Marong's Internet Cafe. The good news of all these developments had everyone in high spirits. It appears that everyone is being motivated to do better as they see the success of their friends. This is due to the heroic efforts to succeed in this hostile climate in Finland - both the prevailing weather and xenophobia.

Saikou's Internet Cafe and Phone Centre, as well as his Western Union Money Transfer Centre, is slowly but surely, gaining acceptance in Oulu. It has been a rough grind, but he will survive as the worst is almost past. Saikou sells a great phone card, with which I can talk to our grandchildren in the UK for almost 700 minutes (over 11 hours) for just Euro 25 using the fixed telephone line.

Oh! What would we do without Saikou!

The only one of us who was having a rough time, not with work, was Kamu. His Volvo blew its radiator pipe on Friday. On Sunday, his Saab stalled. He and I had to take time off from the Sunday Chit Chat session, as I escorted him to our car mechanic shop, where the ever present Reijo said he would try to repair at least one car by Wednesday!

Luckily, Kamu's family was holidaying in Rovaniemi, so there was not a revolution in the home.


Kamu relaxing with his favourite novel
Car parts and tools!

Kamu pursues a work routine which starts very early in the morning . He has to work all through the day in different places. Many of his customers depend on him. Without a car he would really be in hot water.

Mantu dropped in just a few moments, with the baby, to give us the news from Honduras, where her husband, pilot and banana expert, David, is at the moment. There has been an election there, and the political scene is not too calm. David is well.

Gopa and Timo visit Oulu

I was very happy to have Gopa and Timo visit Kampitie in Oulu, en route to their home in Keravaa in South Finland. Gopa was so thoughtful she turned up with a lovely cake - but she admitted that she had not baked it herself.

Gopa, is the daughter of Sadhana Madhusadan (née Shah,) a 54er from Cathedral and John Connon School, Mumbai, who is a dear friend of mine. Gopa is my foster daughter.

They had been visiting Timo's mother who lives about 100 km east of Oulu, near the town of Pudasjärvi.

Both of them looked in excellent health.

Gopa and Timo visit Kampitie, 4th December 2005

Timo had just finished attending a refresher course on instrumentation for printing equipment run by Honeywell, the old British computer and instrumentation company which had been bought over by the Finnish paper group, Ahlström Oy. The documentation that he showed me was weighty.

I am happy that I am now retired so that I do not, any longer, have to thumb through such voluminous documentation for my living.

Unfortunately, Annikki had been up till the wee hours of the morning looking after her mother. She, and her mother, slept through the visit. I told Gopa that the next time they should schedule their visit for late afternoon as then, hopefully, all three of us will be up!!

Last week in review

I have been having many problems this week. As I walk around Oulu I have hordes of little children running after me.

They think I am Father Christmas. What do you think?



Their mother's on the other hand think I am the Pied Piper of Oulu. Children dash after me!! They wave at me from across the road. Or is it my imagination....

I think a good chocolate factory should stuff my pockets with delicious goodies, half for me the other half for the children. :-)

And what is the BBC coming to these days. Here is a picture I took off the tele yesterday.



Is the "stiff upper lip" for correctness vanishing from England, or was it rather a deliberate statement and the coining of a new word?

A few rays of sunshine hit Oulu last week lighting the gloomy days.



Sunrise today was at 9:55 am and the winter sunset already was at 14:21 hours.



Both the reindeer and the squirrel that ran across the road, in front of my car, were much happier with the arrival of some snow.





During the week I passed by the now shut down cellulose factory that was designed, in part, by the famous Finnish Architect Alvar Aalto. There still stands one building of the complex. I got a shot of it for posterity. I wonder whether this will be torn down like the rest of the factory.



And yesterday, Annikki created her Northern lights in the Oulu Garden, the only place probably in Finland where you can see the this phenomena at Annikki's will. I will get better photographs later this year. She put on this show for our visitor from India, Sidharth Mazumdar.



Sidharth will study Biotechnology at Kuopio University and do Master's thesis as part of a group of 8 students, 6 from the international arena and two from Finland.

Today he is getting a taste of Finnish culture as one of his new Finnish friends has asked him to visit the city on the Arctic Circle, Rovaniemi, to enjoy a "Pikkujoulu" or a "Little Christmas Party". This is the rage around Finland among work colleagues and students as many of them try to release their work tensions by having a "few beers" together.

Usually it does not stop at a few beers! Sidharth, will, however, take the train back at 18:00 hours as he travels back the 200+ km from his first visit to the "real" Arctic!

Maybe 200 km south of it does not qualify Oulu to claim it is in the Arctic and us to be Articians?

Why no entries?

Patience friends and family.

I was overwhelmed by the requests for Annikki's desktop calendar - which is a very limited printing. The 500 FREE copies offered on the web were snapped up within 2 days. I moved many over from the general requests to the family (about 200) and friends quota.

I then found I did not have the actual addresses of several who were either on that list or asked me for a calendar to be sent to them. So it has been a series of emails to either verify or obtain addresses. It would be stupid to post them from China to defunct addresses.

Setting up the database for sending to the printers in China has been a horrific process.

I have been working non-stop on this for the last few days. My eyesight cannot take more than a couple of hours at the computer at a time - so I move up from the cellar and watch the tele - very unusual for me to do that these days.

Tele has such rubbish on these days that I am not missing much. Annikki and I watch the news channels - Finnish, BBC, CNN - mainly on satellite in winter. In summer, the leaves on the trees obscure the vision to the satellite, so we only receive the local Finnish channels.

Annikki does watch several of the quasi-political documentary programmes, mainly from the Finnish channels. She also has a preference for nature programmes as well interior design and cooking programmes. With the Finnish Presidential elections looming, she is also watching the media and the male dominated Finnish political scene, cross party, trying to swift boat the incumbent Tarja Halonen.

Annikki can listen to radio and TV at the same time. She has a very sharp ear for words on both. Like this one she picked up from a TV broadcast about India. Someone said:

"Brain drain is better than the Brain in the Drain."

Wish I knew who said that!

On Saturday evenings I break my monotony by watching the absolutely stupid US detective rubbish - Monk. When you such gross stupidity you feel all your nerves relaxing as you realise that maybe some of us have some brains!

The only thing more stupid on TV than Monk is the Rupert Murdoch FOX News Channel which claims it is "Fair and Balanced"! When I am really depressed and want to laugh, I switch that on - and that is very very rarely - so you can guess I do not get THAT depressed very often.

Mika has been playing chess with me (usually at 04:30 am) - and that takes me off the computer for a short while at a time. Quick Chess usually takes about 15 minutes. And his chess level has been getting back to its hey day. He thrashed me two days running - something he has not done for 15 years.

While searching for a good picture of Mika I came across this one which drove me to thinking how much I am missing our grandkids and our kids who are not here. Emotional - yes!!


Joanna, Tony and Daniel

Then I came across this one.


Samu and Annikki

Here is a lovely picture of our granddaughter with her father which I stole from Susanna's blog!!


Chris and Asha


Asha just emailed me telling me she felt she had done well in her exams. She oozes the confidence that I used to have when I was a kid, even when I knew I had done really badly.

Dear Grandpa and Grandma,

I did my exam today. I know I did really well in my exam today.

I hope Grandma is making snow-models.

What are you doing at Christmas? We are going down to Newcastle for Christmas.

I am doing my Gymnastics competition on 4 of December.

What are you doing this week?

Love,

Asha

I cannot leave out daughter, Susanna, from this emotional picture circuit, so here is another picture I stole from her blog.


Susanna gets her First Responder Training Certificate

Will have pictures of the boys sometime soon.

Life is worth living just for the quality time, even virtual, we have with kids.

And finally, yesterday, when we picked up Annikki's mother from her periodic stay at the Old People's Home so that Annikki and I can have some rest from our 24 hour cycle, we got some bad bad news. Due to budget cuts affecting children and old people in Finland so that they can afford more money for the corrupt bureacrats that run this country, the City Authorities have reduced her stay each month from the average 12 days a month to just 7 days a month from January 2007 onwards.

Means that life, as Hilja and we get older, is just getting tougher.

I hate war, being a pacifist but..

I do hate all forms of violence, especially war, and also unprovoked invasion and occupation of any country. Those who read my blog, Jacob's Politics, already know that I am extremely passionate about that subject. My intention is not to bring that topic over to this blog.

Despite that, I would like to say here that I am for readiness of any country's army, remembering the days when Indian Defence Minister V. Krishna Menon was using the Indian Army facilities to make Expresso Machines and the total unpreparedness of the Indian Army when China attacked India in 1962.

So I was quite heartened to read this article in Christain Sience Monitor

Indian Air Force, in war games, gives US a run
Foreign fighter jets performed well against F-16s in recent exercises.
By Scott Baldauf | Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor

"Since the cold war, there has been the general assumption that India is a third-world country with Soviet technology, and wherever the Soviet-supported equipment went, it didn't perform well," says Jasjit Singh, a retired air commodore and now director of the Center for Air Power Studies in New Delhi. "That myth has been blown out by the results" of these air exercises.

This certainly gives a different picture than has been presented around the world that India has a third rate defence system. India may not be of the preparedness as China, which started a whole totally unreported military preparedness and culture to handle any any Western provocation, which is possible in secrecy in a non-democratic country.

India certainly seems to have air preparedness. Possibly its naval preparedness is also of the same level.

Land armies are not much use in today's warfare types, except border defence, but I am sure that if the Indian military is thinking straight, it would be prepared to fight a long long underground struggle on behalf of the people of India, as is being done in Iraq presently.

Knowing the corruption prevalent in the Defence Administration, which was so exposed by the Tehelka Report - Operation West End, I certainly hope that ALL countries are armed and ready to fight against the Bush / Blair Criminal Cabal expanionist plans.

Fabulous Thai Food in Oulu

Oulu is a city which revels in great international food because of a vibrant foreigner population trying to eke out a living doing small businesses.

Indian, Chinese, Vietnamese, Turkish, Greek, Mexican, are some of the good cuisines that are available. Even the best fast food restaurants are run by foreigners.

There has so far been one Thai restaurant run by an enterprising Vietnamese lady, providing quite good Thai dishes.

Now we have Pailin - the Blue Safir, a great new restaurant, run by a Thai couple, which dishes out really great Thai food.

Pailin, which is located in Intiö, is run by a Thai couple.

Pailin and Unnop are the owners.

It is the restaurant where the Thai residents of Oulu go to eat.

(Address: Kenttätie 9, 90240 Oulu. Tel: 08 - 311 6919).

It is advised that you ring and book and also order the food from their web page so that Pailin gets the food ready for you. She likes to give each dish her tender loving care when making it.

Pailin and Unnop, the restaurant owners

My good Chinese friend, Bill Zhang, Annikki and I decided to go there to entertain a business visitor from Gabon. Unfortunately, the Gabonese gentleman was working as per African time, so we had to ditch him.


Bill, JM, Annikki and our host Unnop


Bill, JM, Annikki and our hostess Pailin

Our starter was spicy chicken soup Thai style.

We learnt that there is no such thing as starters in Thai food as the soup is eaten alongside the main meal.

The main meal consisted of green curry with beef in coconut milk, fried chicken with cashew nut, and fried mixed vegetables.

Although it is called a curry, unlike Indian curries, there is not an overflowing of liquid. In Thai food the sauce is nice and thick. A small amount on the rice adds a lot of flavour.

I helped myself rather liberally to the freshly made sliced chilli sauce in fish oil, a house speciality. It added a great deal of taste to the already delicious food.

Bill did us a favour by taking a picture of three royal couples!


JM, Annikki, Pailin,
King and Queen of Thailand, and Unnop

This is an outstanding restaurant, both for food and a fabulous couple who are the host and hostess. Annikki and I have no hesitation in recommending this for a great evening meal.

They also have a Thai buffet for lunch on weekdays.

Oh, by the way, if you are a fast food addict they also serve up good pizzas, kebabs, hamburgers, french fries, and all the different parts that make up a good fast food, at a very reasonable price.

Pailin is a trained restauranter having qualified in Germany. She is also a science teacher by education. Unnop is an arist and does all the artwork for the restaurant.

They are also great parents as their sons, Soda and Sodium. 14-year old Soda a great boy and my good friend.

When I went to pay the bill, Pailin calculated the sum and was intending to charge me substantially lower than what the meal was worth. I got rather angry and told her off for undercharging. I paid her the correct sum.

Just then a Finnish man was at the counter. He heard me complaining. He asked me what was the problem. I told him that they were undercharging us.

He came towards me and said "May I say something - Shadup!"

We roared with laughter as this gentleman was obviously hoping that Pailin would also give him his meal at half price!

Iitu watches HER TV

Annikki's table top aquarium, the only one of its kind in the world, is of great interest to our cat. Iitu. Sometimes she perches on the clear plastic cover and watches the goldfish swimming under her feet. She scrapes on the glass trying to get to them.

Of late, as three goldfish are enormous, Annikki has started to keep part of the clear plastic top slid so that there is greater air circulation over the surface. Next to the aquarium is a leather chair, and this picture reveals how Iitu has her sights set on the contents of the aquarium! One swipe and the goldfish will be devoured with no compunctions!



It is interesting to note that while the goldfish were out in the outdoor pool, we found that there were five black baby fish in the pond. We could not figure out how these fish had arrived, as none of us though that goldfish babies could be black.

When we brought the fish in for winter, we managed to bring in four, but one was killed by one of the overactive large goldfish. One died in the outside pond.

We have been watching the three baby fish grow. To our amazement we found that one was gradually changing colour, from jet black to a lighter shade, till finally, last week we discovered that the black was almost off on one fish and it was a goldfish!!

I found this piece of information on the internet.

When baby Goldfish hatch from eggs, they are shorter than 1/8th of an inch, which is about 3 millimeters. In fact, I've heard baby goldfish described as being about 2 millimeters long. If you can carefully estimate the size, when you first saw the baby fish in your pond, it might be a useful clue.

Baby Goldfish are not gold or orange colored, when they hatch. Instead they are often tan or olive colored. Sometimes they are dark, but I have not seen really black baby goldfish. Again the color of the baby fish in your pond, might be a clue.

As baby Goldfish grow, they begin to have the shape of goldfish, and when they've grown to be about 1½" long, they often begin changing color.

I never believed that goldfish could have black babies, but I have lived and learned.

Now, I really had to laugh aloud!!

It was in 1987 that I organised for one of the top managers and researchers of the Nokia Company, Paul Collander, to stop over in Madras and Bangalore, to explore the possibility of Nokia expanding activities to India.

Paul and my professor, Seppo Leppävuori, were on their way back from a conference in Singapore. At that time I was the Acting Laboratory Manager of the Microelectronics Laboratory at the University of Oulu.

Here is a picture taken by Paul, of Seppo, with my late uncle, Kochappachen (Mr. K. M. Mammen Mappillai), who was then the Chairman and Managing Director of MRF Ltd. along with his wife, Kunjukochamma, in their Madras house garden.

Kochappachen, Seppo and Kunjukochamma
in their T.Nagar house garden

They had a great visit as I had organised meetings with several leading personalities in Bangalore, both from industry and research. They were treated like royalty by my many friends.

When Paul and Seppo got back, Paul submitted a pretty forceful report of the potential for Nokia to move into India to the then CEO, Kari Kairamo.

A few weeks later he got a reply from Kari which said that Paris, France, was too far for Nokia, so any interest in India was very wishful thinking!!

Paul was indeed very disappointed, but continued to worked on the co-operation.

Thanks to two great Indian Ambassadors to Finland, His Excellency K. P. Fabian, and the one that followed him, His Excellency T. Cherpoot, both of whom became my good friends, both Nokia Research and the Microelectronics Laboratory established close research links with India's premier science and electronics research institution, The Indian Institute of Science (corrected from Technologuy to Science thanks to Anand in Bangalore, a product of IIT, Kharagpur - THANKS), in Bangalore.


Ambassador Fabian with me during his visit to the
Microelectronics Laboratory. Prof. Paavo Uronen, Dean of the
Technical Faculty and Vice Rector of the University, is also visible.
Prof. Seppo Leppävuori has his back to the camera.


Ambassador Cherpoot signing the visitors book
in the Microelectronics Laboratory, University of Oulu

Seppo and I visited the Institute a couple of times. Both he and I gave foundation lectures on various subjects at the Institute.

Prof. B. S. Sonde, who was then the head of the Electronics Department at the Indian Institute of Science, organised tie ups with our university as well as Nokia Research. Prof. K. Satyam visited us here in Oulu.

Prof. B.S. Sonde received his B.E. (Telecom) and M.Sc (Engg) Degrees with high distinction from the University of Pune in 1958 and 1959 respectively and his Ph.D Degree from IISc, Bangalore in 1963. He was a member of the academic staff of IISc during 1964-97, occupying several positions: Professor of Electrical Communication Engineering(ECE) from 1973, Chairman, Department of ECE (1981-85), Chairman, Division of Electrical Sciences (1985-92), Dean, Faculty of Engineering (1992-94) and the Tata - Chem Chair (1994-97), until his appointment as Vice Chancellor, Goa University (1997-2002). His fields of interest covered Microelectronics, Instrumentation, Digital Technology and its Applications in Electronics and Communications, wherein he has trained scores of students for B.E., M.E., M.Sc (Engg) and Ph.D Degrees at IISc, published over 90 papers in scientific/technical journals and a series of 10 text/reference books. He was a Visiting Professor at many Institutions/Universities and also on Advisory/Review Committees/Councils of many Institutions/Industies in India and abroad. Prof. Sonde was a Member of the Electronics Commission, Government of India, Engineering Panel of the UGC, Chairman, DoE Working Group on Consumer Electronics, Founder Chairman, ISHM (India) and President, IETE (India) (1992-94). He is now Chairman, National Board of Accreditation of the All India Council for Technical Education. He has been a recipient of many awards, notably Ramlal Wadhwa Gold Medal of IETE (India) (1978), Jaya Jayant Award for Teaching Excellence of IISc (1992), Distinguished Alumnus Award of Government College of Engineering, Pune (1994), Chapter Development Award of ISHM-The Microelectronics Society, USA (1996) and Life-time Achievement Award of ISI (India) (2002). Prof. Sonde is a Distinguished Fellow of IETE (India) and SEE (India) and a Senior Member of IEEE (USA) and ISHM (now IMAPS) (India), and has been closely connected with the development of electronics education, research and industry in the country.

In 1988, Kari, Nokia's CEO, committed suicide. Kari had believed Finnish manufacturers like Nokia could ride the consumer-electronics wave into the global marketplace. He was right, but the scope of the vision needed to be narrowed. He had spent much of Nokia's capital in acquiring European companies, and could not take the heat and stress of his high non-productive investment.

On his demise, Jorma Ollila took over as head of Nokia.

By lopping off other product lines (like TV sets, cables, software and PCs) and maintaining a laser-like focus on digital phones and networks, Nokia boosted its market cap from $1.7 billion in 1988 to $71 billion in 2004, the company shot past Motorola to become the world's leading manufacturer of mobile phones.

It had quite a desperate time during the 1995-97 era, but came out of it to become the absolute number one in the field of mobile phones.

So when I read this today Nokia in US $ 140 million deal to expand mobile networks in northern India and read the accompanying text:

Nokia, a market leader in India, considers the subcontinent a natural location to meet surging demand in the Asia-Pacific region that will help push the global mobile subscriber base beyond a predicted two billion mark by the end of 2005.

In April, it announced that Chennai in southeastern India would be the site for its new mobile manufacturing plant expected to employ up to 2,000 people.

Based in Espoo just outside the Finnish capital, Nokia has sales in 130 countries and about 55,500 employees.

I simply had to laugh aloud when I remembered the 1987 reaction.