Delhi hosts us

It was so great that the Delhi Cathedralites Alumni organised a special event so that Annikki and I could meet with them yesterday.

Two of us present were wearing the new Alumni tie - 49er Yezad and myself. Deepak has one, but he thought the event was informal, so did not wear it. After all, he organised it, so his strict definition of "smart casual" was tieless! :-)

The Cathedralite Delhi Chapter had so thoughtfully brought back a tie for his classmate, Jamshed, which was presented to him at the occasion by Yezad. I was so touched that Jamshed made it to the party.



Among those who attended included 49ers Jamshed Desai, Raj Bhandari and Yezad Kapadia (with wife Rati). 54er Rahul Bajaj, Savage House Captain and also a Stephanian, stayed back in New Delhi especially to be present at the occasion. Ravi Jaitly, another 54er attended with his wife Krishna. 55er Anil (Bobby) Bhalla was present. 56er Pradeep Anand was there. The 57ers present was Tony (Ashok) Jaitly, who is also a Stephanian, and Annelita (nee Uttamsingh) Thadani and her husband, Ravinder K Thadani (Baby). 58ers were represented by Maiti Sayal. 59ers included Harmo Rani Malik (née Uberoi) accompanied by her daughter, 82er Priya and Vijay Nayar, (and myself). 60ers were Dellinder Kohli and Jotsyna Singh (née Jaitly) accompanied by her husband, my Stephanian classmate, HE Ambassador Siddarth Singh, and the 64er present was Deepak Deshpande who organised the entire event with the help of his colleague, my fellow mallu from Alleppy, Joceylin. (Dellinder Kohli left early, so is missing from the photograph. Also missing in this picture is Deepak's lovely daughter, Pallavi, whom I got to talk to quite a bit about journalism. Pallavi took the group picture with our camera. Thanks!)

The food was simply superb and served scrumptiously. I had a bit too much of everything, especially the delicious sweeets.



The Delhi Alumni presented Annikki and me with a wonderful gift, "The Speaking Tree Collection" of the Times of India column in 4 Volumes plus an extra volume, entitled "Inspiration for the Soul".

It was so touching that they had chosen to honour us both in this fashion.

(I was also so happy that Deepak thoughtfully arranged it that all those who helped in running the event also got their share of the food.)

ICICI - Untrustworthy Bank; I eat my words

This should be in a new blog - Best Buy; Worst Buy - India!

After the experiences we have had in India during the past two months, maybe it is time to start this blog!

A few weeks ago, I was in raptures about how the ICICI Bank had treated us, Annikki and me, when we went to open our NRO / NRE accounts.



When I started to use the bank, I found that their entire online, as well as regular banking system, does not work. It is in chaos.

In addition, their staff have been taught to fabricate false information and give it to their customers. Their only objective is to take the money out of the customer!

Because of this, the bank has put me into immeasurable hardship. Jobs which I had to complete before I left for Finland on 13th December cannot now be completed, causing me immense additional expenses and embarrassment, and wasting my entire time reorganising things due entirely to the incompetence and inefficiency of the ICICI Bank.

On Saturday morning, I went to the ICICI Branch in Pragati Vihar, New Delhi, to meet the Branch Operations Manager, who is also in charge of Complaints. I had already met her to discuss the problem a couple of days earlier.

She had not kept her promise of the day before.

Today she swore that the password to my account would be delivered to my residence by 8 pm, even taking the name of my caretaker, whom I had alerted especially to receive the documents.

I reached home by midnight.

No password had been delivered.

Why do people lie?

If a bank employee lies to the customer it shows the nature, not of that employee, but the policies and methods of the bank.

Not only has the bank been incompetent and inefficient, but to make its employees tell blatant falsehoods shows that the ICICI bank cannot be trusted with ANYTHING.

My advice to my international NRI audience is that the quicker you shift away from the ICICI Bank, the better it will be for you and your money.

Believe it or not, when I opened my account in the ICICI Bank, my drivers in both Bangalore and Chennai, told me that what I had done was make a very very bad decision. They could not explain why, but they had been categorical about their observation.

Now I know why!

I have had problems with many companies in my life, Finnish and Indian. Only on a few occasions have I had someone blatantly lie to me. But in this instance, it was not just once, or twice, but several times in the space of a week.

Would YOU do business with such an organisation?

Now let us get down to specifics.

Due to problems with Indian Bank, with whom I had been banking for the last 30+ years, I decided to open accounts with ICICI, a private Indian bank. Annikki and I visited their office in Bangalore, and has been recorded in another entry, they treated us like royalty and opened our accounts with no hassles.

However, I should have got warning bells at that time, as in the process, they did not give me my NRO debit card and cheque book, only my NRE debit card and cheque book.

When an NRI is in India, he or she would first like to consume the NRO account for purchases as the NRE amounts can always be repatriated or converted back to the foreign currency.

It was only when I used the debit card for the first time, I realised this problem.

At that time I had been to Chennai and Mumbai and had reached Ahmadabad.

I reported this to the branch in Ahmadabad, and I was told that these instruments had been sent to my Finnish address.

The persons I had met in Bangalore knew that I was going to be in India for two months, so what was the use of sending instruments I needed in India to Finland?

Stupidity or incompetence - please answer that yourselves.

The first few times I logged into my ICICI login account, there was no problem. However, the third time I logged in, I was told on screen that due to security problems, I had to login again using my original user ID provided by the bank and the related password.

I did so, and it was rejected, saying that I had two more attempts, after which I would be locked out.

I made one more attempt, and again it failed.

Instead on making the third attempt in isolation on my computer, I went to the local branch in Ahmadabad in Pralahad Nagar, and explained the situation. I told them I urgently needed access to my online account for several reasons.

Using the bank's computer and in the presence of two bank employees, I made the third attempt exactly as was dictated on the screen. It failed - locking me out of the account altogether.

The bank employee seemed to understand my situation and immediately placed a request for a new password, etc. . In my presence, she gave specific instructions to deliver the same to me at the nearest branch to where I would be staying in New Delhi. Golf Links near Khan market.

I was leaving for Delhi in a couple of days and things were quite desperate, as I was using my international debit cards to survive while my funds were locked away in my ICICI accounts. Foolishly, I had already transferred most of my funds in Indian Bank to the ICICI accounts. So even that avenue had been knocked out under me.

When I reached Delhi, at the first opportunity I went to the bank nearest my residence, in Pragati Vihar. The first shock I got was when the Operations Manager, who was also handling Complaints, told me that my password had been dispatched by DHL to Finland. Short of having a fit, I told her that the employee in Ahmadabad has specifically asked for the password to be sent to Delhi, in my presence.

Luckily for me, that employee in Ahmadabad had been over zealous in trying to make me make investments in ICICI Bank and in the process had given me her phone number. So, then Operation's Manager in the Pragati Vihar Branch was able to call her and determine that the instructions were specific to deliver the password to me at the Karol Road Branch.

The first question to be answered was why the instruments were being sent to Karol Bagh in North Delhi, whereas I was living in South Delhi.

Incompetence on the part of several layers of bank officers as I had specifically told them I wanted it delivered to me at the closest branch to Golf Links near Khan Market in New Delhi.

My driver, therefore, in Delhi had correctly taken me to the Pragati Vihar Branch in New Delhi, which is also next to the Regional Office of ICICI in New Delhi.

After having determined that what I was saying was correct, the Operations Manager said she would tackle this herself and would get the password immediately delivered to the Karol Road Branch. She said she would call me that evening and inform me when I could collect the same.

I have a busy schedule in Delhi and each visit to the bank takes over a hour. The lady failed to phone me that evening or the next morning, so I had to again make a personal visit to the bank on Saturday morning.

She tried to explain all the banks problems to me, which were of little interest to me, and I told her so. All I was interested in was that I received the instruments to do my work.

She made several calls, and it was obvious the bank had goofed on several fronts - the password had obviously not even been processed, so then the lying started.

This Manager told me that the password was already in Delhi with the courier company and could I collect it from the Karol Road Branch in the evening. I pointed out that being Saturday, the bank closed at 14:00 hours. She told me that the bank employees would be working till 18:30, so all I had to do was go to the bank and tell the guard, and he would let me in and I would receive my password.

At 16:30 or thereabouts she rang me and said that the instruments would be delivered to me in the evening at my residence. I told her that I had a dinner engagement and would leave by 19:30. She told me it would be delivered at 20:00 hours and so could I give her the name of the person authorised to receive it. I did so, and therefore had to change my entire afternoon and evening schedule, the programme for my car and driver, at a huge cost to me.

I got home at midnight and my caretaker told me that no one from the bank had come and delivered anything.

What does one make of this?

To me it is case of the employee of the bank telling falsehoods to cover up the total failure of the bank to meet its obligations.

My entire Indian programme has been thrown into disarray because if the incompetence and inefficiency of the bank plus the untruthfulness of employees of the bank.

We are scheduled to fly out on Sunday of next week. Payments had to be made tomy suppliers in Kottayam, Changanacherry in Kerala and to another in Bangalore. Material has to be made ready based on these payments, shipped from one place to the other so that the final product could be put together and given as a complete product next Sunday, before we fly out from India.

Now that is impossible. It is impossible for me to change my flight schedule as not one but three tickets are involved and we have obligations in Finland.

As I said, I was not interested in the problems inside the bank, just as much as I was not interested for the bank to know what my operations entail. The job of the bank is to provide me with a service they promise.

ICICI Bank has failed on every count in this instance - that is in Bangalore, Ahmadabad, New Delhi, as well as their online operations.

Who is going to tackle the responsibility. Who is going to compensate me for the immense reorganisation that I now have to undertake to ensure that this operation is completed? Who is going to apologise for the embarrassment that has been caused to me.

As I said earlier, the ICICI bank is not a bank that can be trusted. It should be struck off as a banking organisation.

I should have listened to my drivers, the common men, who knew what I was letting myself in for.

I intend to meet the ICICI Regional Manager in New Delhi on Monday and lay this out in front of him. Let us hear his explanation! Will he hear mine?

Do not hold your breath!

Meeting another Heap

Lunch yesterday at the India International Centre in New Delhi was a most pleasant experience. (Not just the Thali meal!)

I renewed contact with another of my dearest St. Stephen's College friends - Niranjan Desai (also know as Heap 1: Ajay was Heap 2: I was Heap 3 - meaning a Heap of TROUBLE!). Niranjan was a year senior to me and was studying English Honours. He was from East Africa. He was and is still is a thorough gentleman with a great sense of humour.

In college, we were a group who lived between 1960 amnd 1963 in Mukerji East residential block. (Mukerji West did not exist in our time.)

Even though I say it myself, we were a great crowd. Besides Niranjan and myself, Ajay (Sweden), Badri (Switzerland, youngest every Padma Shiri), Choppy, Daisy (London), Norval, late Rajen, Rajiv, Ramani, Ravi, Rijwhani, Sujit (Kolkotta), Titch, etc., were just a few of our very happy and lively bunch. We were like one family.

The group consisted of Eco, English, Chemistry, History, Maths, Physics, and General Science students - but that did not make a difference, as we were all on the same wavelength.

When I met Niranjan this time, it was not as if a day had passed since our college days. He was looking trim, and except for his white hair, like mine, he was still the same smiling jovial self.

He has seen much of the world as he took up Indian citizenship, joined the Foreign Service and after being declared persona non grata in Uganda, when Idi Amin was on the rampage, he has served in various capacities including his Ambassadorship to Egypt, Switzerland and senior appointments in London and USA (both New York and Washington D. C.). He organised the Festival of India in both London and the USA, both of which received wonderful international coverage.

Of course, I did not know all this, but learnt a lot during our lunch together when time just passed quicker than one wanted.

Niranjan now works for an interesting organisation run by a brilliant young NRI presently based in Mumbai, who was described by Niranjan as a talented workaholic, Neville Tuli. Known as the OSIAN's, their contribution to Indian Culture is something which takes the breath away. They could not have found a better Ambassador than Niranjan.

Among the many things that have been established, two stick out. They have attempted and succeeded in launching the first serious Auction House in India, much on the lines of Sotheby's, Christies and Philips.

Niranjan gave me the Catalogue they had prepared for the first auction which took place on 29th October 2009. It is a publication which can be treasured as it is of the quality that one expects only from the large international auction houses. And Osian's has built up the in-house expert group which is the only way such an enterprise can succeed over the long term.

The second interesting avenue that this group has organised is film festivals covering a range of subjects. This is something which is different from the film festivals which used to be the attraction for those interested in seeing flesh exposure in the old days!

Anyone who is serious about buying genuine Indian Antiquities and Modern Art, may I suggest that they get in touch with this group. They know what they are doing. Their catalogue explains all the laws and procedures in the simplest of terms, so anyone following their guidelines will hardly fall foul of the "laws" as they are practiced in India!

Niranjan was a bit sceptical about the future of India. Like me, he is of the opinion that the country is fast moving into a state of terminal decline. He agrees with me that civic society has collapsed and the only driving force is the bottom line, which is neither Indian culture or heritage. Corruption has increased to such an extent, in his opinion, there is no meaning in the rule of law. He too is of the opinion that the Naxals will wait and make their move at the appropriate time, resulting in horrific bloodshed.

Having been a diplomat and a civil servant almost all his working life, his assessment coinciding with mine was indeed very strange.

We also agreed that what is happening in our alma mater is a sign that that too is in terminal decline. The college is not about education any longer, but persons in the "administration" jockeying for more power as they file suits and counter suits in the law courts. Even today, the High Court chided the Principal for his misuse of power. Further, the battle between the Bishop and the teachers has hotted up!

Is this what one wants appearing in the Press day-in day-out?

1. St Stephen's row: Court pulls up Principal


2. HC chides Stephens Principal for misuing power


3. Stephen's tense over bursar appointment

Are these the examples to set for the students of this august institution?

And, is all this "Christian"?

My visit to the college certainly demonstrated that what is important in the college is being forgotten, while all these external battles are in progress. As I had already mentioned, it appears that no one cares about the state of the college.



The Junior Common Room (JCR) is in shambles. That pained me immensely, as when I was the JCR President, it was my close work with the then Principal, Mr. Sircar and the Vice Principal, Mr. Shanklund, that had driven the JCR to become something of a force in the college for the college residents. The students earned the respect of the staff by the way they organised all the different events and finally the JCR Evening.



The beautiful lawn and rose garden which stood in front of Mukerji East is no longer there - it is just a barren piece of brown earth. The lawns have not been swept of the fallen leaves.

The white interior walls of the college are dirty.



The pictures in many places do not hang straight.

It feels like one is in a third rate institution.

Where is the order and pride in the alma mater that had existed in our time?

It is obvious that people are more concerned of their own political ambitions rather than the state of the college.

Niranjan also expressed that many of our friends had changed over time with their own priorities weighing in their lives. Natural, but unfortunate.

What values we shared when we were in college are those that are worth standing for, even today. A strong alumni can influence the happenings of the alma mater.

Thank you, Niranjan, for showing me that we can still hold our principles, whatever we have been through in the intervening years.

Disability Hypocrisy

Yesterday morning, when I picked up the daily newspaper, I was confronted by a full page advertisement inserted by the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment of the Government of India which was "Greetings to all persons with disabilities and the community working for their empowerment".

Pictures of the prominent persons starting with Indian President, Smt. Pratibha Devisingh Patel, the Indian Prime Minister of India, Dr. Manmohan Singh, Chairperson of the UPA, Smt. Sonia Gandhi, Minister of Social Justice and Empowerment, Shri Mukul Wasnik, and Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment, Shri D. Napolean, stood out prominently on the page.

I thought to myself about this waste of money to fulfil their own self-glorification egoistic political agenda.

Had any of these eminent persons ever walked down ANY street in India with a physically challenged person and seen the nightmarish existence they face?

Are there 100 or even 10 traffic lights which cater to the needs of the blind in India?

To demonstrate my point of view, I took a short walk in the upmarket area of New Delhi, Golf Links. I walked to one of the most popular and oldest markets in the area, Khan Market.

The pictorial record shows what state the physically challenged would face.



There are no pavements clear enough for a wheelchair to be pushed!





There is a drop of almost 300 cm between the pavement level and the road!



There is usually a gutter in between the two.

Pedestrian crossings run up against a divider with a fence!





Roads are blocked by numerous impediments, mostly man-made, with no thought as to why a pavement exists!





The situation is already a nightmare for persons of sound mind and body, so what would it be for a physically challenged person.

In today's Hindustan Times, I saw that some steps are likely to be implemented to improve the pavements in the city of New Delhi!

Is New Delhi India?

And when is such a plan of action likely to see the light of day?

If in the upmarket area the situation is so bad, can one imagine what it is like in the other areas as where the poor and down-trodden live?

New definition for "Weaving"

The word to weave has some standard definitions in my Apple computer dictionary:

weave 1 |wēv|
verb ( past wove |wōv|; past part. woven |ˈwōvən|or wove) [ trans. ]
form (fabric or a fabric item) by interlacing long threads passing in one direction with others at a right angle to them : linen was woven in the district.
• form (thread) into fabric in this way : some thick mohairs can be difficult to weave.
• [ intrans. ] [usu. as n. ] ( weaving) make fabric in this way typically by working at a loom : cotton spinning and weaving was done in mills.
• ( weave something into) include something as an integral part or element of (a woven fabric) : a gold pattern was woven into the material.
• make (basketwork or a wreath) by interlacing rods or flowers.
• make (a complex story or pattern) from a number of interconnected elements : he weaves colorful, cinematic plots.
• ( weave something into) include an element in (such a story or pattern) : interpretative comments are woven into the narrative.
noun [usu. with adj. ]
a particular style or manner in which something is woven : scarlet cloth of a very fine weave.
ORIGIN Old English wefan, of Germanic origin, from an Indo-European root shared by Greek huphē ‘web’ and Sanskrit ūrṇavābhi ‘spider,’ literally ‘wool-weaver.’ The current noun sense dates from the late 19th cent.
weave 2
verb [ intrans. ]
twist and turn from side to side while moving somewhere in order to avoid obstructions : he had to weave his way through the crowds.
• take evasive action in an aircraft, typically by moving it from side to side.
• (of a horse) repeatedly swing the head and forepart of the body from side to side (considered to be a vice).
ORIGIN late 16th cent.: probably from Old Norse veifa ‘to wave, brandish.’

In the last month and a half, having been driven around in Mumbai, Cochin, Kerala, Kottayam, Bangalore, Karnataka, Mysore, Chennai, Ahmedabad and now New Delhi and Delhi, plus Harayana and Rajasthan - I can confidently add one more definition for the word "weaving".

That is "chaotic driving in India".

Unlike the beautiful and delicate patterns created by textile weaving, weaving in Indian traffic is a nightmare.

Yesterday, while driving back from Nim ka Thane in Rajasthan, we happened to follow a bus belonging to Sabharwal Travels, a travel company operating from New Delhi. The behaviour of the driver was astonishing.

The minute he was in a lane, he would signal that he was intending to move into the next lane. When he got into the next lane, he would signal that he was intending to move back to the lane he had just moved out of. This went on for almost the 40 km we were following him. It was obvious that he was least aware of the utter confusion he was adding to an already chaotic situation through his use of his blinking signals.

Everyone was weaving in and out from one lane to the next, to their own lane in between the lanes, to the verge lane, or wherever the car would fit, in between two cars, a bus and a car.

The horns were used perpetually, as if we were in a dodgem car track in a "Tivoli". The horn was the bumper and body protector.

Coming from a country where the horn is only used in a dire emergency, the constant sounding of the horn to tell the world, much like Enid Blytonäs Noddy: "Hey listen to me folks, I am also here!", is nothing but tragic.

This is noise pollution at its worst, and nobody seems to mind. Nobody even bothers to see that the "SILENCE ZONE" signboard is just up ahead!

If only people stuck to their lanes and drove within the terms as specified by the law, everyone would get to their destinations quicker, and in peace.

What people apparently do not undestand is that this constant weaving, braking, missing another car by a hair's breadth, all has a toll in slowing down the traffic into a metallic mess and causes the traffic to crawl.

Yes, I am sure that the new definition for "weaving" as "chaotic driving in India", is probably the best definition yet!

Check Dam? Check Mate!

Salegram, my driver friend of the last 40 years, arrived at 04:30 am for our trip to Rajasthan. We were a little slow to get ready but we were off by 05:05 am. (I realised how much Salegram knew of my life when he asked me where my Charminars were. I used to smoke 80 per day till I gave up 27 years ago!)

As we drove by, Annikki and I were astounded by the sight of Gurgaon skyline. The development of that part outside Delhi, on the Haryana border, was amazing, but obviously, like in Bangalore, fraught with problems. Unplanned development, not adequate resources provided, and even with 6 lane highways connecting Delhi to Gurgaon, the entire situation is in shambles.

When we had originally planned to visit Rajasthan, the idea was to visit Jaipur and Udaipur, to see the Royal splendour of those cities. But after my talk with Anil Ruia, I had other plans. I wanted to see how the framers in India are surviving and I wanted to see something which would motivate ME!

I can see Palaces and Heritage Sites everywhere, but to get a close-up glimpse of Indian farmers, who makes up over 70 % of the population of this great country, to me, was much more valuable.

Bhupendra Singh, our guide for the day.

Once we were in Rajasthan, we left of National Highway No. 8 and turned off it to Nim ka Thane, where we had agreed to meet Bhupendra Singh, who was to show us the work being done on Check Dams in Sikar District.


A happy farmer who now plans to build a house and get married!

The terrain was harsh with stone and rubble strewn everywhere. Many roads are impassable. Bhupendra Singh had thoughtfully arranged a Jeep to take us deep into the interior of the District. The bumpy dusty roads were indeed the first eye opener to how our farmers are living, far away from our "modern polluted crowded civilisation".

The air is unpolluted and even the harshness of the climate and surroundings is forgotten when one meets the warmth of the genuine hospitality of an Indian farmer.



A Check Dam is exactly what it suggests - a dam built to check the flow of water after the rains so that the water can percolate into the water table slowly and it can be held behind the dam till it is needed. If the rains are too much, the overflow will go on till the next Check Dam, and so on.

The difference between the Check Dams constructed through the assistance of Aaker Charitable Trust, Mumbai, and those built by the Government, is that the farmers who want the Check Dams constructed, indicate where it should be, pay almost half the cost themselves, the other half being met by some generous donor, and the farmers construct it themselves. Hence, the farmers have a stake in their Check Dams and maintain it to the best of their ability, while also using the water exactly how they want to use it.

Yesterday, on a long hot dusty day, Annikki and I visited 8 Check Dams.

1. Kaalakhet ka Check Dam at Gadrata


2. Futtipal ka Check Dam at Laadi ka bas


3. Purani Chadar ka Check Dam at Garnaw


4. Nichli Chadar ka Check Dam at Garnaw


5. Rai ka Check Dam at Kaalakota


6. Khet ka Check Dam at Buja


7. Goyala ka Check Dam at Bujiwala

There was one thing in common with all of them.


A farmer's wife with Annikki


Another farmer's wife with Annikki.


A farmer's 75 year old mother. She firmly told Annikki
to sit on the charpoy and have a hot tea!

Happy farmers.






Another happy village headman.

The farmers, and all their families whom we met, were so happy with the results of their effort. They expressed it in many different ways. One said that the previous year his income had been about Euro 1500, while this year, because of the Check Dam it was already Rs. Euro 9000 - 6 time greater. A second one told us that the acreage under cultivation had increased 30 times because of the Check Dam. A third one told us that he had no loans, his income had increased, and now he could build his new home and get married!

In short, all of them were so happy, and looked it.

They thanked God for their good fortune, as this year, even with just one rainfall, the Check Dams had worked wonders and there was still plenty of water available. The water table during the last two years had come up by as much as 50 feet in some places. In one case an open well, which was almost dry, was full to the brim.



Farmers were cropping new profitable crops as tomatoes, brinjals, onions, and they were getting good prices. They are also planting a wide variety of trees which will provide cover to harsh terrain, preserve water and prevent erosion.

My thoughts ran through what they had and what they did not have. There is so much work to be done still on the social and civic front, on the education and health front, on the communication front, as most of the farmers do not have even radio contact with the rest of India or the world!

But they do have Nokia Mobile Phones. When I explained where we came from, I said whether they knew the name, Nokia. A farmer proudly pulled out his mobile. They were in raptures when I told them it was just the name of a small town in Finland and soon the world would also know the name of their village too!

To them, a visit by Bhupendra Singh, the enterprising young man (an MA graduate from Meerut University) working for the Aaker Charitable Trust and his two assistants, Vinod and Ravi, bring out the best of our Indian heritage - hospitality and the hand of friendship.


Amla Ruia, wife of my classmate, Ashok Ruia.

The very mention of Amla Ruia is as if they have heard the name of their Maataji! But above all they thank God for their good fortune.


The farmers say their thanks to Amla through
this offering to us!.

This is an example of an NGO which has found the right combination. Projects that cannot be shaken by corruption, farmers who are willing to put in the effort, field workers who believe in what they are doing, donors who have hearts of gold to uplift their fellow men and a figurehead who can motivate all levels to give their very best.

Can this be duplicated on a national scale. The answer is a simple YES, but this is only the first step in a long process of rural development. There are many NGOs working in the field and I am reasonably sure all of them have some special features. It is important for these NGOs to learn from each other, cooperate and implement what is the best for the entire rural community.

I do see that the possibility of the Rural Urbanisation concept that Ebbi and I wrote about 30 years ago, could even see the light of day in the next decade! Let us hope!

Visit to my Alma Mater 3

I went to my alma mater, St. Stephen’s College, this morning.



Much had changed and much had not changed. The most important was that it was a no smoking zone! Amazing but simply wonderful. Many buildings had been added, mostly of the same style.

As soon as I arrived I met with four staff members at the gate, all after my time. Then to the Principal’s office. He was not there, but I spoke to him on the phone to get permission to do some unobtrusive photography.

First shot - The Blacksmith, which was now a modern water cooler. However, the significance of the Blacksmith has vanished as water coolers have been installed in all the blocks, making those evening and night visits to it now unnecessary.

The general atmosphere was the same except to see girls trooping around everywhere.

The greatest disappointment was the condition of the JCR.

In 1961-62 the JCR Committee had worked so hard to make the JCR a wonderful place where we could not only enjoy ourselves but feel comfortable in clean and neat surroundings. The place was now in shambles. The small rooms at the back were store houses for all sorts of paraphernalia and one was a carom room. Two TT tables now stood in the main hall. Nothing much else. It just did not feel a comfortable place to relax in during the long evenings.

But the boys there seemed quite contented - so who am I to say what it should be.

I bought a College tie from Balan in the Sports Department. Cost was just Rs. 160, but he could not sell me a college T-Shirt! Meant for students only, I guess!



The cafe had been expanded and modernised. The cane chair s were still there and the fare was a slightly more modern.

I am going back on Monday to attend the Founders’s Day Service. Hopefully I can spend a bit more time looking around.

I rushed back and with perfect timing arrived back just as K. P. Fabian, former Ambassador to Finland arrived at the Guest House. He was looking as sprightly as ever and he is active with an NGO. He also has a great blog where he writes about socio-political issues.

I still remember his wonderful speech at the Oulu University about North - South dialogue, something I should reproduce here on the blog. In today’s context, it has even more significance.

It is 4:30am. Rushing off to Rajasthan now to see the Check Dams Project. So will complete this entry on my return. (more photographs tomorrow.)

My other alma mater is Cathedral and John Connon School, Bombay and here are list of few of those are Alumni of both of these institutions.

Rahul Bajaj, Ashok (Tony) Jaitly, Peter Philip, Sujit Bhatacharya and myself, Javob Matthan. If you belong tonthesectwo Alumni, Please send mecdn email to jmatthan@ gmail.com

Finland: Nokia Only?

Wherever I go in the educated and less educated world, mention of Nokia usually gets a response of Finland! This is unlike old times where the response used to be: Japan?

Also, not so many years ago, Annikki would spend half an hour explaining to the Indian telephone operator where Finland was before they even considered trying to connect her.

One must, however, remember that even before the advent of Nokia and its mobile phones, Finland has been internationally famous for many things: glass, ceramics, paper, wood products, furniture, textiles, paper machinery, mining equipment, diesel engines, architecture, music, the land of lakes and forests and unrivalled beauty, and much more.

A small country of just 5 million people has achieved much in as many fields as they applied themselves.

In the field of ship building, as well as luxury small boats, Finland has been one of the major players.



Today is an auspicious day for Finland, as the world’s largest cruise ship, the Oasis of the Seas, registered in the Bahamas and owned by Royal Caribbean, makes its maiden voyage between Fort Lauderdale in Florida and Labadee in Haiti.

The ship was constructed in the Finnish town of Turku, the former capital city of Finland. It was built by a company now known as STX Europe, but which used to be known as Aker Yards Ltd. It is a Soiith Korean company now which took on the 3 major shipyardes in Finland as they knew that the quality of Finnish ships would be unmatched by their efforts in South Korea. Besides cruise ships, they also dominate in another field where Finns have been world leaders - Ice Breakers.

Size-wise it is 361 metres long, compared to the Queen Mary 2 which is 345 metres and the Freedom class which is 339 metres. It was ordered in February 2006 and delivered in October 2009.The cost of the ship is estimated at $ 1.5 billion.

The passenger capacity is 5400, but with double occupancy, it can take on 6296 passengers. The Queen Mary 2 takes on just 2620 while the Freedom class, 3634 passengers.

The ship is manned by 2165 staff. The gross tonnage is 225282. It has 16 passenger decks. The height is 72 metres and the maximum bean is 47 metres. The speed is given as 41.9 km/h

The entertainment area has a studio, theatre, nightclub, jazz and comedy shows. It has a central park with natural vegetation, cafe, bar and shops. The broad-walk is a seaside esplanade, an outdoor amphitheatre, two climbing walls, restaurants, bars, public entertainment areas with also a carousel.

The pool and sports section has an aqua park for kids, 4 pools and 16 whirlpools, a tranquil poolside, a solatrium area, 2 Flowriders, sports courts and a mini golf course.

Finland has been into using luxury liners between Sweden and Finland for as long as I can remember + we used one in 1969. It also ran the FinnJet, a turbopowered cruise liner between Travemunde in Germany and Helsinki in Finland. The cruise liners run constantly between Stockholm and Helsinki, Turku and another Finnish port called Naantali. There are smaller ones between other Finnish and Swedish ports. Besides the Finnish holiday makers and corporate users conducting meetings and course, these boats also carry a large number of trucks with goods across from Western Europe to and from Finland. It is part of the E4 highway which runs from northern Finland all the way to the southern tip of Italy.

Of late, smaller cruise ships have been operating between Finland and Estonia.

The number of passengers on this new cruise ship will carry the equivalent of 16 Boeing 747s.

With the experience of operating and making cruise liners, it is no wonder that Finland is the preferred choice of many companies who want to operate them.

I brought the proposal to run cruise liners along the Western and eastern coasts of India way back in 1975, but there were no takers then.

Will there be anyone now?

Bluetooth gives me a red eye

We reached New Delhi on Sunday about noon. Meeting us at the airport were two cars. As soon as the driver saw me, he called out my name. I recognized him.

He had joined MRF, Delhi, as a young boy potential driver in 1963, my last year in St. Stephens College. He served MRF and one of MRF's top executives in Delhi for 42 years till his retirement. Since his retirement he has been driving his own tourist taxi and he had been sent to pick us up. The last time I had seen him was when he had dropped Annikki, the family and me at the airport when we had left for Finland in 1984.

We renewed our old friendship of the last 46 years as he drove us to the Guest House

Although there was internet connectivity at the Guest House, I was unable to enter my computer as for some reason both the Bluetooth Mouse and Keyboard gave up the ghost. So I was unable to reach my readers in the morning.

I went to visit Deepak, who has become such a good friend over the last year. He organised to get me a USB keyboard. But I think he deliberately told his office manager to be slow about it as it gave us the time to really have a chat. -)

And we found that besides our Cathedral connection we had so many common friends. His partner is the first cousin of my dearest of friends, Ajay Verma, who lives in Lund , Sweden and is presently in Pondicherry.

We had another common friend in Balan, who was the brains behind the setting up of the MRF Pace Foundation. And through him I got to two more of my very dear Delhi friends, Krish Veerappen and Nair, both former MRF employees who have started a great company on their own, selling helicopters! these twoguys are so enterprising, and dont I know it!

I am really looking forward to meeting this side of my family!

Deepak and I spent more than 3 hours together.

The life story of Deepak and his time since school was most fascinating. He had me enthralled with my ears glued open till he finished recounting a history of great adventure, worthy of a book in itself!

New Delhi, or at least South Delhi, is as if you are in another country.

So before we give you an assessment of this Indian Capital, let me look at all the facets of this city.

Lunch yesterday was at Pandara Road market, our college days haunt. Evening included a visit to Khan Market. I am getting a feel of Delhi.

Amanpour and the Drones

As we were now finished with all the official work in Ahmedabad, Annikki decided to attend her Sabbath Day church service.



On the way we crossed the mighty Sabarmati river, on which stands 12 bridges from one end of Ahmedabad to the other. Ahmedabad and Gandhinagar, the commercial and political capitals of Gujarat, were established on the banks of Sabarmati river. The legend is that Sultan Ahmed Shah of Gujarat, resting on the bank of Sabarmati, got inspired with the courage of a rabbit to chase a bully dog to establish Ahmedabad in 1411. During India's independence struggle, Mahatma Gandhi established Sabarmati Ashram as his home on the banks of this river. (Wikipedia)



The church was located at the other end of Ahmedabad and it was packed. I had to sit outside in the compound.



On our way back, we stopped for Annikki to have a cup of coffee in the now famous Coffee Day, a chain of Cafes started by the present Indian Foreign Minister, S. M. Krishna's son-in-law, who hails from a coffee growing family in Chickmaglur District in Karnataka, a place which has very pleasant childhood memories for me. S. M. Krishna, is of course from Sommanhalli in Mandya District, a place much remembered by Annikki, the children and me!

Then it was time to relax at the service apartment. We decided to watch some TV. Christiane Amanpour, CNN's chief international correspondent, was talking about the drones, which the American's are using for "targeted killings" or shall we use a mundane group of words - "murder of innocents"!



Whenever the Americans war machine does something, they justify it as if they have the right to do it. I remember the huge fuss when they made when it was suggested that Saddam Hussain intended to use this technology to attack America - I think they called it "a weapon of mass destruction"!

Remember what they found?

The Americans are so stupid, as they have developed another $100 technology which is going to bite them. Based on originally sophisticated, but now common computer game and model aircraft technology, and some common-place solar powered technology, these toys that the Americans have developed as robotic killing machines will, in the not so distant future, be making the rounds attacking Americans on their own soil. Targeted killings, their invisible enemies will shout. Murder, the Americans will yell.

But, of course, when the Americans use it and kill innocent civilians, it is just unfortunate collateral damage.

It is rather unfortunate that in what was otherwise a comprehensive interview, that Christiane Amanpour did not raise this aspect of what would happen when others use this technology.

Just one such drone has to fall into the hands of the enemy. This is not much of a problem, as now these drones are operating out of Pakistan, where security is probably as sound as having this WMD placed in a refugee camp of dissidents!

In July 2009 William Saletan wrote in The Slate, in an article entitled "Troops Out, Drones In - Policing the world with remote-controlled aircraft":

Drones, as I've said before, are the future of warfare. The tactical reason is that they don't bleed. They let us hunt enemies abroad at no risk to ourselves. The political reason is slightly different: They spare us the difficulties of an official troop presence. Pakistan's government doesn't have to approve or explain our incursion into northwest Pakistan on Sunday night, because, strictly speaking, we weren't there.

So when America's enemies use this on Americans - what is going to be the woeful cry, Mr. Saletan, Ms. Amanpour?

Does anyone now remember who bred and armed the Taliban and Al Qaida?

Annikki finally got rid of the biscuit crumbs she has been carrying around since we left Finland. She found a stray dog to feed it to. The dog decided to follow its chums around for the rest of the evening.

When we went for a walk last night, we had an ice cream each at a local ice cream parlour. There was a little child and his father, who was selling balloons, looking hungrily at all the rich enjoying their ice creams and dinner in the pizza parlour next door. At Annikki's bidding, I bought a cup ice cream and gave it to the child's father. First, he told me that the child did not like it. When I insisted he feed it to the little boy, who stood no taller than half the cycle wheel, the child kept opening his mouth for more.

However, before long, the poor man was the target of attack of the waiters of the Pizza place next door as they did not want to have him feeding his child "on the public road" in front of their restaurant! As we left, the waiter came running after us to suggest that maybe we had lost a pocketbook to these poor people!

An act of kindness from Annikki towards a poor hungry little boy - but probably to the poor twosome, a whole heap of trouble! What a world we live in!

Indian Cricket and fitness

I had the opportunity to see a little of Indian cricket with the second test against Sri Lanka. Mostly watched the highlights. Some superb batting by Sehwag, Gambhir and Dravid. And some outstanding bowling by Sreesanth.

Watched comments by Mohindar Amarnath, who used to be one of my favourites. His father Lala Amarnath was an absolute favourite of mine in the 50s.

Mohindar is very reserved, but so knowledgeable about the game and also has an excellent English vocabulary, unlike Kapil Dev, who kept using words like fantastic, and other superlatives, but without much feeling. I do not take credit away from Kapil for knowledge about the game!

It was indeed a good performance by India. I do give Dhoni much of the credit for the win, for he handled his bowling and also his field placings superbly.

The only problem is that most Indian players are not physically fit.

I watched part of the One Day International between England and South Africa last night. The players, every single one of them, are physically fit.

Did not stay up to watch the end, however.

Will probably see some more cricket when I am in Delhi, as I do not have much of an official programme there.

Paras Optic in Ahmedabad

Yesterday, when we were driving back from the City, Annikki noted a shop with the name PARAS Optic.



Paras, in Finnish, means "The Best".

As I had forgotten my glasses in Finland, ie., my short sight glasses, and I had been managing with the glasses I use for looking at my computer, I walked across to this shop in the morning, as it was just about a kilometre away from where we stay.

As I did not have my prescription, I had my eyes tested (only for short sight), chose the best Indian frame available (Rs. 1400 = € 20) and got a glare-free lens (Rs. 2100 _ € 30), all in the space of 3 hours

Cost wise it was 5 times more than Eye Savers, but the choice was much greater, and the speed of service excellent.

Certainly this small roadside optician in Ahmedabad lived up to the Finnish version of their name!

(Note: Parasnath Temple. The highest hill in Jharkhand, towering to an elevation of 4480 feet. The Parasnath Temple is considered to be one of the most important and sanctified holy places of the Jains. According to Jain tradition, no less than 23 out of 24 Tirthankaras (including Parsvanatha) are believed to have attained salvation here.)



On my walk to the Optician, I passed by a camel cart sauntering into Ahmedabad. I woud not have been surprised to see the cart driver using his mobile phone -Is this legal or illegal in India?



I also watched the ladies at work shifting sand on their heads on a building site which will house an ultramodern complex in the near future. The men standing around were, busy, supervising the work.





I saw the gents and ladies of Ahmedabad with their masks astride their motorcycles and scooters. They do not wear the legally prescribed helmets but they rather protect themselves from the air and dust pollution. Which is the more deadly killer - they seem to think it is the pollution.



I also saw the beautiful work of the local roadside potters as they displayed their wares on the roadside. Going for a song!

Some of the streets of Ahmedabad do have pavements, but the condition is just atrocious.



Here is a recently laid pavement, which shows the quality of the work! Wow! Is this the work of trained engineers in 2009?





And I wonder what use is such a pavement where the trees form the centre of it leaving no room for any human to walk on it. Annikki and I are wondering what name should be ascribed to this wonderful concept?



Or take this form of pavement, where every gate to a house breaks it up as their own territory, making it quite impossible to use it as a pavement.

An Indian architect and his future American wife walked into our service apartment to see it as they are getting married in Ahmedabad next January. They were looking for a place where the family of the lady could stay.

We got talking. The architect told me that no one follows any rules as far as building construction is concerned. To each his own. The contractor decides what he will do. So the encroachment of pavements is a matter left to the contractor - and, of course, that means this public land is considered by the house owner as his / her own property to do as he / she wishes.

What is the meaning of town planning? Or have the people ever heard of such a concept?

I understand now why Ebbi and I could not get any progressive plan passed in 1975 about Rural Urbanisation. It appears to be infinitely worse today than then!

I wonder whether it will get better when India is still a democracy and the population reaches 1.5 billion? :-)

Gandhian philosophy

26/11 and I woke up this morning remembering all those who lost their lives last year on this tragic day in Mumbai. Especially, our dearest Ashok.



Annikki and I remembered Madhu and her children, their spouses and her grandchild, who should bring a new breath into Madhu’s life.



In the evening we went to the Kocharab Harijan Ashram to which Mahatma Gandhi returned to after his South African spell. We were given a personal guided tour by a wonderful man, Mr. Ramesh Trivedi, who looks after the place. The minute we mentioned Finland, he proudly pulled out his mobile phone and said "Nokia". He gave us a most refreshing lemon and ginger drink. He would not accept any money from us for anything.

I explained to him the history of Nokia as a small town and its entry into mobile phones and the role of the University of Oulu, Microelectronics Laboratory, in the process in the late 1980s.

It was fascinating to get a personal picture, from Mr. Trivedi, of the life of Mahatmaji, his distrust for the law process and the denial of justice for the common man, much of which has not changed around the world even today.

While discussing Mahatmaji, I asked Mr. Trivedi the question we had posed on the blog earlier today, as to what Act Gandhi would have opposed to draw terrorism to a close.



Mr. Trivedi immediately produced a special invitation for Annikki and me to attend, that very evening, a lecture by Prof. Johan Galtung, the subject being "State Terrorism and Non-State Terrorism; A Gandhian Inspired Action Plan from Violence to Non-Violence".

We were indeed most fortunate to be able to attend this lecture by this Norwegian professor who has been active from as far back as 1959 in peace negotiations around the world - Somalia, Yugoslavia, Northern Ireland, Basque area of Spain, France, North and South Korea, Sri Lanka, Israel, Palestine, etc., etc.

Prof. Galtung is driven by Gandhian values and for 40 years he has been at the forefront of international peace generating activities. He has written 140 books, translated to 33 languages, and authored over 1500 articles reflecting an original thinking across an incredible broad range of issues including Mahatma Gandhi and his philosophy, Non-Violence. Last week, he was talking to the CIA, etc., etc. His a work without an end as conflicts are growing by the hour.

Although Prof Galtung spoke on all the major issues that drive international and Indian domestic terrorism (including suggesting a solution to the Indo-Pak Kashmir issue), he could not come up with and answer to what we had asked on our blog yesterday.

Earlier today, I had a let down in my euphoria about the ICICI Bank. They had been so good in opening the account, but when it came to internet banking, they have far too many glitches for someone who has had a trouble free internet banking experience with Nordea Bank over the last 20 years.

First I discovered that for Fund Transfer to another ICICI customer, I needed yet another password, and that would take almost a week to get hold of. Then this morning, when I tried to log into my account, I was told that for security reasons I would have to log in using my original login details provided by the bank. When that failed, I was told I had two more attempts before my account would be locked. So I used the login details that I had changed as soon as I had activated the internet banking facility. That also failed.

Instead of losing my last attempt, I went to the nearest ICICI branch and explained my problem. The officers had a great deal of problem understanding this simple problem. In their presence and following their instructions, I made my final attempt and it failed, locking me out of my ICICI account altogether.

Luckily, I still had access to my Finnish bank accounts, so I was not left penniless.

It is obvious that ICICI have not thought through their internet banking experience. They can certainly put a lot of people into hot water if their accounts behave the way my account has been locked out. And as they have a very aggressive investment division, pushing people to do this and that, it could lead to utter chaos. And even after this, they could not understand why I had reservations about following their advice!

I have bills to pay and travel money to use, all locked away till I, probably, get access again, next Monday, in New Delhi.

So be wary of any internet banking system with any bank in India, as they may have great software engineers in this country, but they do not have the skills demanded for a site which has extra security demands.

Emails are still pouring in about the views we have expressed about India. But, today, the tide turned dramatically with 100% of the respondents supporting our opinions and views. They all agreed that India is a Garbage Dump, a horrendous one at that.

We do hope that we can bring around those who have been most verbose about this to think positively so that we can do something to make this country better and prevent what we see as a terminal decline!

Respects to Gandhiji

We have been slammed by a few of our regular readers for what we wrote in our last blog entry. Some were disappointed in us for what we expressed. Others were plain angry with us.

But this one comment got a hang of what was in our mind.

A comment on your note "The Garbage Dump - India":

"Annikki & Jacob: This is one of your outstanding articles that I have read. Hope now u know why I keep screaming about shifting base to Finland. Civic sense is short lived. Leave the poor and the people in slums - Even the middle class and well to do have this urge to spit, litter and create a fountain wherever possible. My job with XXXX is to create economic opportunities thru the students for communities. The future is the young students who will make the change provided they join this program and work together. Now u know why "Slum Dog Millionaire" got its award. Jai Ho. A dear Mumbaite friend. "

Behind our luxury temporary home in Ahmedabad, the scenery is this. It has been the same since we arrived last Sunday.



Another writer pointed out that India is a democracy, unlike China, and has a billion people.

We are not comparing India with China or any other country. We have not been to China to make any such comparison.

What we tried to explain is how easy it is if one sets up a code of civic practice and abides with it. What is difficult about that, especially for the educated, who are some of the ones screaming blue murder at us? This is exactly what the Minister said a few days ago.

Also, are there not are many many large democracies who have managed to get their house in order?

And think back. Was it better or worse when India had a population of 750 million? So when the projected population is 1.5 billion, where will this country be? Better than today, or will the excuse be the same that we have a population of 1.5 billion and India is a democracy!

Go back to the fact that Ebbi and Jacob pointed out this scenario over 30 years ago, andsuggested a remedy. But no politician or Industrial Development Corporation sought to take action.

But did the politicians and bueaucrats not take action to give the corporate powers what they wanted for their bottom line, regardless. Double standards?

And who will take the responsibility for the present chaos?

Anybody standing with their hands up?

We have no apology to make for what we wrote. It is a fact. Anyone who takes umbrage with us on this is living with their heads stuck in the sand.

And here, in a posh locality in Ahmedabad, in the middle of the road, the stray dogs get a share of the littered prasadam somebody dropped. The perpetrators did not even have the courtesy to drop it in a nearby garbage bin (if there was one around!).



Is it OK to litter the streets with this?

Annikki prepared to go out this afternoon in Ahmedabad wearing the dress code that most women appear to follow in this city.



The dust, dirt and pollution is so overpowering that women here know that their dress sense must protect them. A sad reflection on what abodes in this once magnificent city.

The situation in an expensive location in Ahmedabad is just the same as near a slum. It is just garbage, garbage, garbage strewn everywhere.

We finally reached the Gandhi Ashram to pay our respects to the man who was responsible for the freedom of this country and also who taught the world that non-violence was an important weapon.

It was almost dark,. Most of the fluorescent lights in the Museum were not working. We finally got to see the depiction of the breaking of the Salt Act.



What would be Gandhiji's reaction be to the India we are witnessing around us today? Would he start a Satyagraha to correct this mindless senseless rape of this country.

We wondered what Act Gandhiji would break to drive this nation back to its senses!