You think you are safe...

(Cross-posted on the Chaff Blog.)

Kamutaza Tembo, my good graphic artist friend from Zambia, is an exceptionally safe driver. He waits patiently at crossroads to make sure everything is clear. I used to get mad with him as a normal journey by car which I would do in 10 minutes, he would take 20!

At about 08:30 this morning I got a panic call from him. He declared that his car was smashed. He reassured me that he was OK. He asked me to inform his employers that he would not be in to work in the morning.

I rushed to the scene, but he was not there. The Police Van was still there and one wrecked brand new car.

I called Kamu on his cell phone, and he asked me to meet him at our friend's garage. He was checking in at his work place to inform them that they needed to make alternate arrangements.

He managed to reach the garage with the car under its own power.






Reijo took one look at the car and told him the car was a write off. No way of putting it right.

The front had been smashed in on the right hand side and the back a little to the left. the whole body was askew and the doors, etc. could only be opened by forcing them.

What had happened was that Kamu was in the correct slow lane on a main road in Oulu. The car in front of him was intending to turn right, but as there were pedestrians on a crossing, he waited for them to go through.

Kamu, just behind him, stopped behind this car, waiting to go straight on.

The car behind him also stopped, but the driver was apparently impatient. After a very short wait behind Kamu, he decided to pull out into the next lane so as to overtake Kamu and the other car.

A bus, at quite a high speed, coming in the same lane as Kamu, obviously saw the line of pedestrians which was holding up the traffic in the slow lane, and hence, not noticing the intention of the car to pull out, also pulled out of the slow lane, and at a high speed.

The bus hit the car on the tail, which sent that car smashing into the back of Kamu's car at an angle. The force propelled Kamu's car into the back of the other stationary car.

Kamu had watched the whole episode unfolding in his rear view mirror. There was nothing he could do, so he just grabbed the steering wheel tight and hung on. The back of his seat was thrown backwards out of its hinges, but as Kamu was hanging tight to the steering wheel and he had his safety belt on, he was not thrown either fowards or backwards.

The bus driver took more than 50 mteres to come to a stop. He immediately phoned the Police, who were there in a few minutes. The bus driver was trying to pin the blame on the driver who was pulling out from behind Kamu.

When Kamu asked the Police who was going to pay to have his car towed and fixed, the Police sort of indicated that it would have to be the car driver on whom the bus driver was trying to pin the blame.

Kamu put the record straight by clearly giving evidence against the bus driver.

After inspecting the car, I drove Kamu to the Insurance Office. The lady asked Kamu to phone through the details on a hotline, but as it appeared to be overloaded, she helped Kamu fill out the form which she kindly faxed to the Claims Department.

Hopefully Kamu will get a replacement car in a few days.

Thankfully, Kamu was not hurt - and for that we can thank his presence of mind to hang tight to his steering wheel as the impact took place.

A great Poetry and Art site

My blog sites do not get many comments, as these are not really "Comment" Sites.

I do enjoy comments when they are left, even if they are derogatory and anonymous.

A few days ago, this site had a visitor who left a trail to his own site.

I found that site to be truly wonderful. I think it is worth more than just a casual visit.

I am not a true poetry fan, and I am also not very much into modernistic art.

Thank you PoetryMan for sharing your wonderful poetry and artistic talent with us.

Wish the author would give more contrast in his text design. It is quite impossible to read the dark blue link text against a black background.

I am putting a link to this site in the column alongside, so check it out frequently if you are interested in Poetry and Art.

Two problems this week....

First, the answer to the puzzles posed last Saturday.

The first picture was a Dalmation dog, black and white, in a black and white background. Solved almost immediately by everyone. Too EASY! Most people saw the tail first and then identified the dog.

The second probalem about how many were black dots in the picture, was that there were NO black dots. It was an optical illusion which caused the black dots to appear in the white dots.

If you have time try this with different colours - it is great fun. Is it possible to create a multicolour effect of dots?

Puzzles for this week

The first puzzle this week is a very easy one, especially for the kids.

In the picture below are lines sloping or parallel?



The second puzzle is an old Indian one which was brought to my attention by K. George, who was Technical Director of MRF Ltd. till his retirement.

This is one that requires lateral thinking.

Here is the problem:

What should this farmer's daughter do?

Many years ago, in a small Indian village, a farmer had the misfortune of owing a large sum of money to a village moneylender.

The moneylender, who was old and ugly, fancied the farmer's beautiful daughter.

So he proposed a bargain.

He said he would forgo the farmer's debt if he could marry his daughter.

Both the farmer and his daughter were horrified by the proposal.

So the cunning money-lender suggested that they let providence decide the matter.

He told them that he would put a black pebble and a white pebble into an empty money bag. Then the girl would have to pick one pebble from the bag.

If she picked the black pebble, she would become his wife and her father's debt would be forgiven.

If she picked the white pebble she need not marry him and her father's debt would still be forgiven.

But if she refused to pick a pebble, her father would be thrown into jail.

All the villagers were standing on a pebble strewn path in the farmer's field. As they talked, the moneylender bent over to pick up two pebbles.

As he picked them up, the sharp-eyed girl noticed that he had picked up two black pebbles and put them into the bag.

He then asked the girl to pick a pebble from the bag. Now, imagine you were standing in the field.

What would you have done if you were the girl?

If you had to advise her, what would you have told her?

Careful analysis produces three possibilities:

1. The girl could refuse to take a pebble.
2. The girl could show that there were two black pebbles in the bag and expose the money-lender as a cheat.
3. The girl could pick a black pebble and sacrifice herself in order to save her father from his debt and imprisonment.
4. The girl could request to reverse the conditions put on the stone draw.

Ponder over the story.

The above story is used with the hope that it will make you appreciate the difference between lateral and logical thinking.

The girl's dilemma cannot be solved with traditional logical thinking.

Think of the consequences if she chooses the above logical answers.

What would you recommend this Girl do?

Answer next week!

Samu's birthday

Joanna emailed us that Samu had been wondering whether he was getting any birthday presents other than the one he got from Tony's parents.

Samu wearing the No.9 Newcastle United shirt

They took him out to dinner. When they got home they gave him all his presents, which included, thanks to Joanna, the No. 9 shirt from Newcastle United printed with Samu's own name. This was a present Joanna chose for Samu as from Annikki and me.



Besides being a sports fan, Samu is also a book worm. Joanna got him a whole heap of books (cannot make out whether it is 9 or 10 in the pile?). Samu hasn't stoopped telling me about them, especially the one about hieroglyphics!

On the right is the castle that Samu made. In front of him, besdes the great chocolate cake that Joanna makes, and all of us love (despite the consequnces), are two packets of chocolates that Joanna's friend dropped in at the restaurant to give Samu!

Samu is not the only bookworm in the family. Daniel loves books and the not-yet-2 year old had his book about animals on Samu's birthday. He can recognise all the letters, both small and caps!



Daniel is a bit of a joker, as Joanna depicts very graphically in this picture.



Isn't it great to have three wonderful grandchildren - the only regret, they are so far away. We are waiting eagerly for granddaughter Asha to get here for a holiday in just over a month and Samu and Daniel to return to Finland in just over 3 months!

Hopefully, time flies!

No Smoking Day

Cross-posted in the CHAFF BLOG

This is a part of my history I tell whenever people tell me that it is difficult to give up smoking.

No, it isn't.

I took up smoking when I was just 13 years old.

After Choir practice at the St. Thomas Cathedral, on the way home, late evening (about 7:30 pm - that was late those days), as I waited for the bus at Flora Fountain in the heart of the great metropolis, Bombay, I would drag on a cigarette and follow that up with a peppermint, before I got home.

I was hooked. For the next 30 years I smoked like a chimney reaching 80 cigarettes per day - and that to the roasted ultra strong variety - CHARMINARs, the most popular brand in India.

Smoking Kills

Along with cigarettes, I also became a coffee addict as well as a heavy drinker, killing a bottle of rum and several bottles of lager beer, every day. I was never drunk and could even drive the car as alcohol apparently had no effect on my brain.

Or so I thought.

I had been blessed with a super duper memory where I could recall the date, time, place and exact details of any incident that had taken place in my life.

One day, I walked into my office in Bangalore and, for the life of me, I could not recall where I had placed a very important paper.

I sat down and thought long and hard. I was travelling to Hyderabad the same night.

I found the paper, eventually, and caught the bus.

All through that journey this incident haunted me. Why did it happen?

Then it suddenly dawned on me - I had been destroying my brain with the heavy intake of alcohol.

As I got off the bus at Hyderabad, I vowed never to touch the stuff again.

I had done that several times, but this time I knew I had to keep to this promise.

Just as I got off the bus I knew I had to have a cigarette and then a cup of coffee.

As I was about to light up the "Charm", it dawned on me that the cigarette was also connected to my alcohol intake, as a cigarette always resulted in me wanting to drink a cup of coffee or have a glass of beer, which later in the evening became a reason to have a glass of rum!

I put the cigarette away and drank only a glass of water.

I knew this break had to be absolutely clean.

Could I do it?

Now it is over 23 years since this and I have not touched a cigarette, had about a dozen cups of coffee at very very rare occasions and indulged in some very very rare intake of alcohol, after about 10 years since I gave up.

At the most I have the alcohol that Annikki may add to one of her cakes or I may partake in a glass of non-alcoholic beer if I really feel I have to join someone in a drink.

By running my web sites and my blogs, I have slowly but surely recreated much of the brain damage that was done due to my alcohol abuse. I would say that about 90% has been restored, but my fast recollection ability has been lost forever.

Did I like the cigarettes, coffee and alcohol - YES, I DID.

Do I regret having had to give them up - NO!

So, as today is NO SMOKING DAY, all I can tell you is that if I could give up these habits, so can you. You will be better for it.

Here are three great pieces of art made by my dear friend from Zambia, Kamutaza Tembo, about the danger of cigarettes as also the danger of drinking and driving.

What I suggest is that you DON'T DRINK!



I am not intending to moralise here, but it is better to give up these habits before some lasting damage takes place in your brain, your lungs or your mouth, etc.

If you think not, well enjoy your habit while you can!

Happy Birthday Samu

Grandma had a special light festival in the Kampitie garden to celebrate grandson, Samu's 9th birthday.

It is truly beautiful with nine different colour lights on the snow bridge and the dancing Northern lights in the green house.

The first picture shows eight of the lights on the snow bridge with a truly magnificent Golden Pond in the background.



The second picture shows the Northern Lights in the Greenhouse against the beautiful evening sky of Oulu.



Both Grandma and Grandpa got the feeling it was Samu's birthday.

We want to thank Joanna for getting Samu a present from us - a Number 9 shirt of Newcastle United with Samu's name on it.

We are eating Pulla, (a special sweet bread in Finland), to celebrate Samu's birthday.

And here is the poem we sent Samu for his birthday:

"Thought you might like to be
surprised with an e-mail message
from someone who thinks about you
more than you could ever imagine!

If you ever need a little reminder
of how special you are, please keep
these words in your heart, because
they will always be there for you.

Never forget how wonderful you are
and how much you are loved.

You, Samu, are the special kind
of person who will always rise above.

No one is better at brightening up the
day than you are, and you are thanked
for the way you inspire so many smiles
over the miles between us."

- C. McCarty

Happy birthday dear friend!

Nadir visits Oulu

Nadir is an old friend from Tampere. He had never visited us in Oulu. As he was going to meet some friends in Pietasaari, he decided to visit Annikki and me in Oulu.



Nadir arrived in the evening of Saturday and we had a great meal at the Goreme Pizzeria in Ranta Kastelli. We chatted on a variety of topics till well past midnight.

In the afternoon, Nadir joined us at the CHAFF meeting. After the meeting I took him around Oulu and he was surprised to see how the City of Oulu has developed.

Later in the evening I put him on the high speed Pendolino train back to Tampere where Nadir is doing his Doctorate in the field of Solid State Physics.

Both of us were shocked to see this just outsisde his compartment.

Nazi symbol at Oulu Railway Station

I wonder why the Railway and City Authorities have not removed this offending sign, especially as the City is making such a noise about the cartoons from Denmark and the cartoonist, Ville Ranta, from Oulu?

Ville was a small boy living in the house next to us in Kampitie (8A) a few years ago.

Now he is a young lad and appears to be a very good cartoonist. But he landed himself in hot water for some clever cartooning he did about the controversioal subject of depicting Prophet Mohammed!

Solution to the TRIANGLE problem

This week's Puzzle - What can you see in this picture?




The puzzle of 2 weeks ago had many of you scratching your heads. Only Susanna and Hashim were spot on to solve this problem. Grandson Samuel was close but did not know how to express the answer as he has not done geometry so as to use words as hypotonuse, areas, and quadilaterals.

(Click picture to see larger version)



Look very carefully at the picture above.

If a straight line is drawn between B and C, the area of the triangle is 32.5 sq. x.

If the large Red Triangle is at the bottom left, then a straight line cannot be drawn between B and C which will pass through the vertex of that triangle. At the Point 2 on the graph, there will be a kink, and the area of the whole quadilateral is 32 sq. x.

If the large Red Triangle is at the top right, then again it is not possible to draw a straight line between B and C which passes through the vertex of the smaller green triangle. It will change at Point 1 and the area of the whole quadilateral is 33 sq. x.



So the difference between the top and bottom figures is exactly 1 sq. x, which is the extra square that you see in the bottom figure.

This is masked in the picture by the "thickness" of the line drawn between B and C.

Very few of you actually sat down and worked the areas of each of the blocks and the whole triangle. This would have shown a difference of exactly 1 sq. x. between the top and bottom figures, with the straight line between B and C giving the area as 32.5 sq. x.

And here is an easy one. Count how many "black" dots are in this picture.

Rulla Kebab - Goreme Style

(Cross posted in the CHAFF Blog)

I was introduced to Hashim and Kasim and their Goreme Restaurant by a food connoisseur and outstanding sportsman, my colleague Janne Helttunen. Janne introduced me to their Sultana and the garlic butter.

Since then I have been hookwed on Goreme. Both Hashim and Kasim have become like my sons.

Hashim with grandchildren Asha and Samuel

Both Kasim and Hashim are great sports enthusiasts and also fine sportsmen. Hashim's favourite sport is handball, something he has not been able to play in Oulu. Kasim is a wonderful football player, as you can see from this action shot which appeared in 2000 in our local newspaper, Kaleva. They were playing in a tournament organised under my supervision, and the Goreme Team came second to the local Hercules side. It was a great performance with a thrilling last match which clinched them the second place. Other teams who played besides Hercules and the Turkish Goreme, were the sides Africa Oulu, Albania Oulu, H...PS, Slovakia Oulu, Team Finland and Vietnamese Youngsters.


Kasim in action on the football field

Hashim has been on at me that I have not posted a picture of the Rulla Kebab which is served at his Goreme Restaurant. He was also taking it as a challenge, as I had told him that the Rulla Kebab made by his younger brother, Mehmet, in the Goreme Restaurant in Oulu City Centre, was better than the one made in the Ranta Kastelli Restaurant.


Aku, Master Rulla Kebab Maker

Today, Hashim got me to the Ranta Kastelli Goreme and called his ace Rulla Kebab Maker, Aku, to make me what was, in the opinion of all, the very very best Rulla Kebab.

Here are some shots of the Rullal Kebab, as it was served to me.







Let me assure you that it is no small talk to say that the Goreme Pizzeria is the most outstanding one in Finland. The soft bread around the salad and the kebab are really delicious. The sauce, which was their own special blend is unique. Each bite was absolutely uniform in both texture as well as taste, with the right amount of spice for MY taste.

They know their customer!

The Rulla Kebab from Goreme is truly outstanding.

I know that all those who work with Hashim, not just Aku, are masters of the art.

But for the moment, Aku stands out to me as the Master of Rulla Kebabs!

May I also add that Aku is a very talented musician and a cellist. I am waiting for the day he will give me a private concert!

Baldy Boys, All

During his last visit to Oulu last November, Tony bought a barber's electric shaver.

Last week, Joanna was obviously enjoying her new profesion as the family barber, Tirupathi style. (Tirupathi is at the base of the Venkatachala (Venkata Hill) where the Sri Venkateswara Temple is located on the seventh peak. It is the sacred place for all religions. It is situated near Chennai, in the State of Andhra Pradesh. Many many millions of devotees climb the hill each year to reach the temple so as to shave off one's hair as an offering, penance or sacrifice. In the case of babies, it is much like the "Christening" functioning in certain Christian sects.)

Baldies after Joanna's travails!

Daniel seems to be especially enjoying his new style. He had such lovely locks, that it is hard to believe that Joanna heartlessly sheared them off!



Samuel is quite used to being in this state, so off he went on his pursuits - climbing a (banyan?) tree in Leazes Park in Newcastle!

'
Samuel climbing a tree at Leazes Park

Annikki and I do miss all three of our grandchildren. We are counting the hours for Asha to reach Oulu, and then we will be counting the hours for Daniel and Samuel to get back to their home!

Mainline: Geostrategy Feeds America's Oil Addiction

Cross-posted on all my main blogs -

Jacob's Politics;
Seventh Heaven for Mumbai Cathedralites;
Kooler Talk for Delhi Stephanians;
Oulu Chaff
Move The UN.

My topical article "Geostrategy Feeds America's Oil Addiction", which relates to the visit of Bush to India, has appeared in a major North American online journal Raise the Hammer in their fortnightly issue dated 1st March 2006.

Editor Ryan McGreal has really tidied up the article. Thanks.

What is original in this submission?

It is my long term speculations about:

1. The rationale for the attack on and occupation of Afghanistan relating to the Enron history.
2. Who most likely perpetrated the fraud of the Iranian election.
3. Why the Indian Industrial Community desperately want Bush and his malAdministration to stay in office for another 3 years!
4. Why the nuclear attack on Iran is imminent.

Many may wrinkle their foreheads in disbelief. But that is what political analysis is all about. I theorise and later people fit the facts to my theories.

Hope you enjoy it and would love to have your feedback - even if it is abusive!!

I love getting abusive email. I thrive on it as it drives me on harder to more fantasy! :-)

Thai Pailin Restaurant launches another new HIT

(Cross-posted in the Chaff Blog)

The Pailin Restaurant owners in the Kasarmi Area in Oulu are true food innovators.

Yesterday they launched a great new product.

Annikki and I were privleged to get the first public sampling. It was just great.

Annikki thought of a name - and she called it the "Pizza Flap". In Finnish it would be "Pizza Flappi".

The more traditional name for this type of product is "Calzone", but the Flap, is truly an original product from Pailin.

"Pailin Piza Flap" - "Pailin Pizza Flappi"

Another shot of the Pizza Flap



You can have any Pizza filling of your choice in the Flap. It is easy to carry and eat without the large Pizza Box. being wrapped in Aluminium Foil, it keeps the heat for a long time.

This product beautifully complements their other new hot product, the Pailin Thai Sweet Chill Kebab Wrap, which we wrote about a few weeks ago.

The Flap product developed out of an internet chat conversation between Pailin in Oulu and her good friend in Thailand.

The base mix is soft and very tasty. The normal three (or more) fillings of your choice can be put inside the Flap. You can eat it conveniently, even in the car as no messy droppings or crumbs fall out all over the car.

Here is the picture of the first Pizza Flap to leave Pailin. In the centre picture you see a very irritated Annikki's hands waiting for me to stop photographing so that she could get to eat the Flap.



Annikki's verdict - Outstanding product.

I also took a couple of Pizza Flaps to Kamutaza Tembo, who is true connoisseur of Pizza's, and he declared this to be an absolutely great product!

Change of photo at the top

Daughter, Susanna, said that as the two photographs at the top of the blog were taking up a lot of space up. The latest entry could not be seen when one came to the blog page. I have put the two photographs side by side (for March 2006) and reduced the size.

All those who got the calendar will recognise the photographs, which will change each month.

You can click on any photograph in the blog to see a larger version of the image.

The last set of Puzzles got quite a few guessing - no maths involved.

The "number of colours" question was solved by mainly artists, who could not see what the fuss was about! Pictorial answer will appear on Saturday.

I am giving here the answer to the photograph by Asha by printing both the cropped image and the full version, side by side.

Four people (Dan in San Paulo, Brazil, Richard in Kaula Lumpur, Malaysia, Ranjeet in Singapore and Annette in Lyon, France) guessed the answer right. Most gave up!

Answer to Asha Photo Puzzle

The photo which I published as the puzzle was a cropped image (by Susanna) from a photograph taken by Asha of the bonnet and windshield of their new car.

The whole photograph is also a great composition.

I was certainly confused, as there was no windshield wiper visible. I sort of guessed it was a reflection, but where?

Susanna told me that she had not noted this detail. She explained that the wiper mechanism is below the bonnet line.

In the full image you can see the wiper end bit protruding under the licence label on the right of the picture!

Great picture, Asha.

Your Grandpa and Grandma are proud of your photographic composition.

Fols, now give us the answer to grandson, Samu's photo puzzle?

Partial hint: "What do little boys like to do most?"

Tervarit Blacks win tournament

Soda has been promoted from the regular Tervarit 91 side to the Tervarit Black side.

There is a lot of competition to get into this prestigous football side.

The most important aspect of being in the Blacks Team is that it is built on teamwork.

If one does not turn up for practice, or even if one is late a few times, the player get dropped from the team,

This is about team work and the coaches insist on maintaining team discipline.

Coaches of the Tervarit Black Team

If anyone thinks that he is bigger than the team - after giving a person three or four opportunities, the coaches just kick the smart "guy" out of the side.

There are enough youngsters knocking on the door to get into the Black Team.

Yesterday, the coaches insistance on team work paid off as the Tervarit Black Team won the Training Tournament held at the Oulu Sports Dome.


Final table of Competition

The Blacks won the forst game by scoring their 3 goals in the first session. It was really a pleasure to see such good team work. Soda was not played in the first session. In the second session,when Soda was playing, the team was struggling, but just managed to hold off the opponents.

The final was again won by the regular members of the Black team who played as a great team.


Winning Tervarit Black Team relax after the tournament

I hope everyone has learnt a lesson from this tournament. Teamwork is always the winner!

Puzzle time

Because so many of you have asked me NOT to give the answer to last week's triangle puzzle - not a single correct answer to date, I am holding the answer over till next week.

This week I have three puzzles.

The first is a photograph taken by our granddaughter Asha (8 and a half).

I have appropriated the photograph for my puzzle album.

Can any of you identify what this photograph depicts and how it was taken? It is not two photographs stitched together - one single shot!

It is a truly artistic composition. Granddaughter following in the steps of grandmother, Annikki!

Susanna, Chris and Asha are not allowed to take part!

Asha's photographic skill

And here is a puzzle of a picture taken by grandson, Samu (just less than 9). Samu is also quite an outstanding photographer and he has added many great pictures to our collection.


Daniel and Maire in a twirl

How did Samu create the impression of the twirl?

The main puzzle is one something that should get you thinking about whether you are colour blind. I have called it "Printer's Eye" as it is a test that I used when employing a Printing Expert.


How many colours are there in this picture?
1, 2, 3, 4, 5?

Till next week, happy puzzling!

Easier days

Taking Hilja, Annikki's mother, out of the house had become a nightmare.

With the new frontage at Kampitie, it is a breeze.

Hilja and Annikki wait for the Invalid taxi to arrive

Five minutes later, they are out in the front waiting to be rolled into the Invalid taxi.


Waiting to be rolled into the Invalid taxi

Life did become a lot easier for all of us.

A letter that we treasure

In our archives there is one letter that we especially treasure. It is one from Mrs. K. M. Mathew, Annammakochamma, which we received in January 1987.

Letter from Mrs. K. M. Mathew, Annammakochamma
received in 1987 to Annikki and me

Here was one of the busiest women on this universe, running her own top woman's magazine of India, active with social work to help the needy, active with the community to the extent of doing the hair of almost every young girl in the community getting married, holding daily morning singing and music lessons for the talented young people of the city of Kottayam, producing mouth-watering recipes on a daily basis from her kitchen, and all that with only half her organs left in her body, and she took the trouble to write to Annikki and me to tell us how much she loved us and cared for us.

Little did she know that Annikki and I cared for her more than almost any other individual on this planet. We prayed for her well-being, knowing how much pain she was going through, but also knowing she never cared for her pain but always thought of the pain and suffering of others.

We were so grateful when we received not one, but two copies, of the book written as a tribute to her by her husband, K. M. Mathew, Mathukuttychayan, my mother's younger brother.


"Annamma" by K. M. Mathew

The first copy was sent by Mathukuttychayan and the second by his youngest son, Jacob Mathew, Chacko.

Annikki is a very slow but thorough reader. She hardly has any time to do any reading other than the daily newspaper. But she picked up the book about one of her favourite aunts the evening it arrived. When I saw her later that night she told me she was so captivated by the contents, that she could not put it down till she finished it. She said that the moving text and the wonderful pictures were an absolutely faithful recounting of the life of a lady she had loved, respected and admired ever since she first met her when she took the time to visit our humble home in the sixties.

The two of them, Annammakochamma and Annikki, were on the same wavelength on everything about life - their art, their creativity, their views about humanity and their views about their need to be of service to all their fellow beings.

I, too, could not put down the book once I started reading it, and I remembered many of the events as I was very much a part of them. The sorrow I felt when they moved from Bombay to Kottayam was so moving as I lost my best friend and cousin, Rajen, as I loved to go to their flat in Byculla and play hide and seek in that old rambling flat on the second (or third?) floor.

The relationship that we built in the few months we lived in Bombay at the same time is something neither of us have ever forgotten - right through to when we were in college in Delhi together and he worked tirelessly with his friends to get me elected as the President of the Students Common Room and the de facto head of all resident students of the college. That is something I can never repay him for as at that time I was going through a major crisis of my life, as having lost the use of my index finger on my right hand, I had lost my chance to be in the college and university hockey team.

It is the same dedication that Rajen inherited from his mother that has helped him to drive the Malayala Manorama to the very top of the Indian media scene. He was the most deserving recipient of one of the highest honour's given by the President of India, the Padma Shiri, last year.


Rajen receiving the Padma Shree Award
from President of India, Dr. A. P. J. Abdul Kalam

Thank you for this wonderful book which we will treasure, just as much as we treasure that letter we received from Annammakochamma in 1987!

Rolling in the graves

Many years ago when a young lady was used in the MM Foam ad, reclining on a foam mattress, IN HER NIGHTDRESS, wearing all her undergarments, there were many eyebrows raised in the family of the prudence of this form of "sexy" advertising.

With Malayala Manorama publishing seamy love stories in its hot selling Manorama Weekly, many of the older family members were wondering where this traditional newspaper house, which did not even have an issue on Sunday and which produced the free "Church Weekly", was heading.

When cousin Rajen (Mammen Mathew) wrote to me a few weeks ago that he would be sending me the first issue of a new magazine from the group callled "The MAN", I was intrigued.


Volume 1 Number 1, The MAN, Cover

The Volume 1 Number 1 January-March 2006 issue arrived. I was stunned.



Publisher: Jacob Mathew
Chief Editor: Mammen Mathew

The contents were racy and far beyond my wildest imagination. The production was top class - but the publication was wandering into dangerous territory for this sedate family image that backs this MM group. Where was the old fashioned conservative MM group heading with this form of seamy magazine?

There was an intriguing ad in the issue from another family company - the flagship company, MRF Ltd.

MRF Ad featuring Finnish Rally Driver Jussi Välimäki

The name of this top rally driver had been spelt completely WRONG.

Valimaki means nothing. It should have been spelt as VÄLIMÄKI.

The part Vali has no meaning. There are three meanings for the word VÄLI: Distance, Space and Stretch. Again, Maki means nothing but MÄKI means Hill.

Jussi Välimäki is a Finnish professional and international rally driver. He is well-experienced and has skills of rallying with rear-wheel, front-wheel as well as four-wheel turbocharged production and WRC-rally cars.

Jussi lives in a city called Tampere in south central Finland. He is the father of two children, Oskari (2001) and Veera (2005). He has his own website.

Väkimäki is aiming for the top in the international rally sport. Maybe MRF could help him on his way by producing some good rally tyres.

Obviously the powers that be in the Manorama organisation know what sells. Hence the launch of this new monthly magazine.

But some of those dear departed members of the family will certainly be spinning at top speed in their graves!

More reminiscences from 14 years ago

Click images to see enlarged images

I was amused to read a news item in the last Saturday issue of our local newspaper. Seppo Keränen of FinPro, Chief of the Indian Marketing Centre, was talking about why it was important to enter the Indian market.

There are presently 50 Finnish companies operating in India.

There were over 50 Swedish companies operating in India in 1992!

14 years ago, Finpro was one of the organisations that thought that my pushing India as a hot spot for Finnish industry was not much of an idea!

In the introductory letter, that I wrote in May 1992 for the organisation Findians Oy, just to companies in the Technology Village in Oulu, I said:

"This is the first circular letter from Findians Oy. It hopefully brings you interesting and informative news. We have enclosed the latest Corporate Notes from a leading Indian weekly called "The WEEK" dated 10th May 1992. Amongst other items it shows that Motorola is going into India with a bang. The metro cities in India, each with a population more than 2 times that of Finland, are very interesting to these multinationals - and also possibly your company......."

May 1992: Letter to Companies in
the Oulu Technology Village


Annexure sent with the
Introductory Letter

Within just a few days of my sending out these 100 or so copies of this letter, the visionary Managing Director of the Technology Village, Pertti Huskonen, wrote to Findians saying:

"I was very delighted to have your first circular letter some days ago in my hands. It's evident that this location here in Oulu Technology Park is a good place for you - and it's clear that you can help our companies a lot! All the best for you and Findians!

Oulu Technolpolis Ltd.

Pertti H 19.5.1992"

It was this introductory letter and the general response that I received from a few of the companies in the Technology Village that prompted the launch of "Findians Briefings" as a monthly newsletter.


Findians Briefings Volume 1 Number 1 1992

The free 8 page Volume 1 Number 1 was a great hit from the very first issue.

Before we knew it we were printing and sending out over 7000 copies worldwide - and that was a financial disaster for us.

So we converted the paper version into the popular web briefings with free access and no advertisements.

The readership sky-rocketed up to 120000.

But Finnish industry remained sceptical.

Although we did take out some Finnish companies to India, the general opinion remained that it was not the right place for business.

Finnish industrialists and managers were wrong. The world passed them by.

Now it is a game of catch up, and being behind means that the real cream of the opportunities may have been lost.

But there are still hundreds and thousands of new opportunities, if there is true understanding of how to approach operating in India.

In one meeting in 1993, where Annikki and I were explaining about India to a group of young entrepreneurs of Oulu, which had been organised by Raimo Kuismin of Acta Systems Oy, a manager of a Finnish multinational, Rautarukki Oy, explained how the whole process of getting to an acceptable situation in India could take as much as 5 to 8 years.

I explained that with the right contacts, this process could be down to less than a year!

14 years down the lane, Seppo Keränen is certainly right to tell Finnish industries to deal with people directly rather than through agents who are trying to make a quick buck from both ends.

But to find the right companies would still require someone with a depth of knowledge about that enormous country - a rare breed in Finland.

Thank God that I am retired from this rat race!

KALEVA follows us 12 years on..

(Cross-posted on CHAFF Blog)

Last weekend there appeared a little box item in our local newspaper, KALEVA, where they have started a reader forum which will award a prize of Euro 10 to any reader who identifies a best buy item available in the local market.



The book that Annikki and I wrote "Handbook for Survival in Finland" (out of print) way back in 1994 after 10 years of research was based around a game we played where we went about locating the daily best buys in Oulu.

"The question to which this book gives an answer is "How do ordinary Finns survive?" We present a method used unconciously by cost-conscious Finns of how to beat the Finnish system, live a decent life and even save some money."

Although much has changed since we wrote this book, especially since Finland joined the European Union, the game that we played, and continue to play, has been the lifeblood of our survival in Finland. We continued to beat inflation year in and year out using this system.

Now KALEVA is trying to use this system to attract its readers to a new column.

A few suggestions which may appear here, although helping a few readers, can never address the entire problem, which is exploitation of Finns by their cartels that run the Finnish retail trade.

Is it time to republish an updated version of our book?

You know which is the best buy you can make:

A copy of "Handbook for Survival in Finland" although we do not know where you can buy a copy for the love of all the money in the world!