Kimi Raikkonen from Finland, starting from 10th and Narain Karthikeyan from India, 12th on the grid, was not to be. Kimi's car stalled on the grid just before the warm up round, meaning that he had to start last from the pit.
It was a truly exciting 57 laps, with Ferrari and Michael Schumacher not dominating the scene. This time it was Giancario Fisichella of Italy, driving his Renault, who led the way at the finish line.
Rubens Barichello of Brazil, in his Ferrari, fought hard but could not reach the leader, as 5.5 seconds separated him from the winner. Fernando Alonso from Spain, driving the second Renault, was a further 6.7 seconds behind as the race ended with a great 1-3 podium win for French car maker, Renault.
Michael Schumacher was lying 9th when he veered at Nick Heidfeld which forced Heidfeld into the grass. While trying to correct the position, Heidfeld clipped Schumacher and both cars were spun out of the race. Never-say-die Michael got himself pushed back onto the track by helpers, but the damage was too much, and he came in at the next pit stop.
Kimi was slowed when he damaged an aerodynamic aid when he went off the track when trying to gain ground. However, driving calmly thereafter, he came in from his tail position to finish a handsome 8th, giving him a point in the driver's championship table. With team-mate, Juan Pablo Montoya, finishing 6th, it was not such a bad day for the Williams team.
Narain, in his first Formula 1, showed lack of experience and should be satisfied that he came in 15th, two laps bhind the winner. Expect better things from this Indian youngster during the season. However, Jordan will have to get something more out of the car to allow this youngster a shot at the front.
Today's race has sort of set the scene for an exciting Formula 1 season. It will not be clean sailing for Ferrari. The new Ferrari engine is expected in a few races. However, the other drivers and the car makers are not going to give up without a fight this year.
Official Australian Formula 1 Grand Prix Result
1. Giancarlo Fisichella (Italy) Renault 1hr 24mins 17.336secs
2. Rubens Barrichello (Brazil) Ferrari at 5.5secs
3. Fernando Alonso (Spain) Renault at 6.7
4. David Coulthard (Great Britain) Red Bull at 16.1
5. Mark Webber (Ausralia) Williams at 16.9
6. Juan Pablo Montoya (Colunbia) McLaren at 35.0
7. Christian Klien (Austria) Red Bull at 38.9
8. Kimi Raikkonen (Finland) McLaren at 39.6
9. Jarno Trulli (Italy) Toyota at 1min 03.1secs
10. Felipe Massa (Brazil) Sauber at 1:04.3
11. Jenson Button (Great Britain) BAR at one lap
12. Ralf Schumacher (Germany) Toyota at one lap
13. Jacques Villeneuve (Canada) Sauber at one lap
14. Takuma Sato (Japan) BAR at two laps
15. Narain Karthikeyan (India) Jordan at two laps
16. Tiago Monteiro (Portugal) Jordan at two laps
17. Patrick Freisacher (Austria) Minardi at four laps
Not classified:
Michael Schumacher (Germany) Ferrari 42 laps
Nick Heidfeld (Germany) Williams 42 laps
Christijan Albers (The Netherlands) Minardi 16 Laps
Sunday, March 06, 2005
Kimi 8th, Narain 15th, Australian Grand Prix
Australian Formula 1 Grand Prix - 10th and 12th on Grid!!
In Finland, we are quite crazy about car and motorcycle racing. Several Finns have made it to the very top, in Formula 1, Rally Driving and Motor Cross racing.
In Formula 1, the top Finnish names have been K. K. Roseberg and Mika Hakkinen. Presently, the very bland Kimi Raikkonen is showing his mettle in the Maclaren camp alongside Juan Pablo Montaya.
And now, for the first time, a young Indian that we have been watching very closely, has broken into the Formula 1 circuit as the driver for Jordon. His name - Narain Karthikeyan.
Yesterday was the Time Trials for the opening session in Melbourne Australia. In rather wet weather the Finns watched excitedly to see how Kimi as well as Narain would fare.
And a few minutes ago I watched the second time trials for the race which will start in about 3 hours time.
The Italians, Giancarlo Fisichellah driving his Renault and Jarno Trulli driving for Totyota, followed by Mark Webber of Australia for Williams have claimed the first three positions on the starting grid.
Raikkonen is 10th in the starting grid, followed by Rubens Barichello (Ferrari) and followed by Narain (12th).
With the dramatic changes in the rules governing the Formula 1 race, the need to drive through the entire race on one set of tyres, the need to keep the same engine for 2 races, the whole race does not any more depend on the position in the starting grid. It is intelligent driving, fuel economy calculations and care of the tyres over the entitre race which will decide the winner. The final stages of the race will become more exciting with those drivers who drive well and preserve tyre quality taking the race to an exciting finish.
The Finns are excited, not only with their own driver, but they are watching with keen interest this young Indian.
I hope in these blogs to report to you all the interesting data of Formula 1 form from Finland - a view, I assure you that you will not pick up elsewhere.
Saturday, March 05, 2005
Trim at 71, Trim at 77
It is with utmost pleasure and delight that I have a chance to wish my second Delhi guardian, Mr. K. M. Jacob, (husband of my dear cousin Ashwathykochamma, youngest daughter of Mr. K. M. Oommen - Mambaltheappachen) on his 77th birthday today.
I found my most recent picture of him taken at the wedding in Chennai in 1999 December - but knowing Thambichayan, and his craze for Golf, he must have retained the trimness he had then.
Ash and Thambichayan were my second guardians while I was studying in St. Stephen's College in Delhi. They lived in a small but charming little house in Nizammuddin, which was home to Rajen, Suresh and myself on many a weekend. Like her two other sisters, Ash is a superb cook and Thambichayan a great host, full of ideas of things to do.
Later, when they moved to Calcutta, on my very very infrequent trips to that city, I had a chance to stay with them and get to know all their three adorable children, Preminda, Shona and Ranjeet, much better.
Premi and her lovely family of Malayika and Rich, are the only ones of our wonderful band of nephews and nieces so far who have taken the trouble to come up to this Arctic outpost to visit us!!
I will not continue much more in this blog entry but wish Thambichayan a very very happy birthday from Annikki and myself, and I am sure all of you will all join us in this.
Friday, March 04, 2005
75 today, Happy Birthday Dr. Mammen
There are many doctors in our family, but the two Mammen's, their wives, and Ammnikochamma (Dr. Mrs. Lukose) have played great roles in the well being of the entire family. Our long lives today are the testament to their care of all of us.
We celebrate today the 75th birthday of Dr. K. C. Mammen (Bapukuttychayan), pediatrician of international standing, who still practices in Kerala.
Vellore was his base for many years till he moved to head a hospital near Cochin, and then on to final retirement from outside work to his own clinic in Kottayam.
Son of my eldest uncle on the Kandathil side, the late K. M. Cherian, Bapukuttychayan was present when Valliappachen passed away.
My own mother was calling for him when she went into a coma in March 2000 when I was at her side. In the last stages of her life in Chennai, she would not change her medicine intake until she had spoken to Bapukuttychayan, whichever part of the world he was in.
Bapukuttychayan has been doctor to our entire family, and when he was not there, we had his dear wife, Kunjukochamma to depend on. Annikki and I remember him when he calmed us with his cool and no panic approach at several family gatherings when our children developed all sorts of illnesses!!
I could write volumes on my dear cousin, but at this stage it suffices to wish him a wonderful 75th bithday and hope he has many many more.
A special toast to you, my dear cousin, from Annikki and myself.
Thursday, March 03, 2005
Jaakko's photography from Norway
As I mentioned that our elder son, Jaakko, is a great photographer, a number of you had asked for examples of his work. Over the next few weeks I will blog a few of his best shots.
Like Rahul, who appears to work especially with still life, Jaakko's love was nature, landscapes and humour. He tried his hand at some digital compositions on the computer, but did not like to get stuck in front of the dumb station. He did create a few masterpieces, but was not satisfied with his output, so he gave up.
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Wednesday, March 02, 2005
A correction from Georgie
Georgie, the former Technical Director of MRF, and a regular correspondent, had a small correction to make about my story about Kochappachen.
"Thank you for the wonderful descrption of what has
happened at MRF, some years back. But one correction.
800 and 3000 tyres mean nothing in tyre industry. It is
the tonnage that differentiates one tyre factory from another.
For example, 3000 scooter tyres may be equivilanet to 50
or 60 truck tyre or 2 off the road tyre. It is the tonnage
that brings in money. You pay for raw materials in tonnage
and price is roughly related to tyre weight. To explain it
more simply, when T.Thomas left, the turnover/ year was
around Rs. 50 crores. When I took over it was 100 crores.
This was taken up to 2400 crores when I left. You can see
the difference, when you count things in numbers and
tonnage. regards georgy"
Truly an outstanding performance to jump from Rs. 1000 million (Euro 20 million) to Rs. 24000 million (Euro 480 million). That was only one factor that made Georgie, in my mind, one of the greats in the history of MRF. There were other contributions made by Georgie, such as the establishment and organisation of Devon Machines to produce tyre moulds, and an exceptional story about the levels of imports to set up the Goa factory.
I was in Delhi when Kochappachen arrived to meet the Directorate General of Technical Development (DGTD), to discuss the imports required to set up the Goa factory. Dunlop was also setting up a similar size facility. They had had a meeting the day before with the DGTD. They presented plans and the level of imports of machinery was some astronomical figure - Rs 100 million (Euro 2 million), if I remember correctly.
So when Kochappachen went to meet DGTD and presented an import request which was less than a tenth of what Dunlop had demanded, DGTD was extremely suspicious of the MRF plan.
I was quite close with some of the DGTD technical people at that time. In the evening, when we were together at the Guest House, Kochappachen was looking troubled, and explained his worries.
I rang one of my friends. I explained to him that MRF had no interest in importing machinery at high prices as they had no interest in making money on machinery brought from outside India. Dunlop had its own machinery suppliers (sister companies) in the UK which required profitability levels of theirs to be met.
Although sceptical about my explanation, it was accepted.
The real reason for the low import request from MRF was that Georgie had started an indigenisation programme which was extremely successful.
But returning to the discussion about production figures, my comment was when there was just one factory (MRF now has at least 5 production centres that I know of) and the company was struggling to keep that going to just break even on costs. There were no scooter tyres being produced that I can remember. There were only a marginal number of car tyres being produced, as there were severe quality problems. The bulk of the production was truck tyres. Whatever production planning tried, they could not get the output up to levels to reach what was understood as break even production.
Again, if my memory serves me right, the break even was then calculated at around Rs 400 million (Euro 8 million) for the one factory, not counting the financial contribution from the extremely profitable retread compound production, which was actually what was then keeping the tyre factory afloat. MRF held over 50% share of the market for retread compound at that time.
I replied Georgie thus:
"Dear Georgie,
Thanks for the correction. I will add a note later today.
I do remember making a calculation based on the product
mix for different years. That was in 1969 December - was
it Mr Ramana who was in the factory then?
I traced the production figures for each month over the
years and that was why those figures stuck in my mind.
I was looking at the packaging and other materials
requirements at that time. I also remember doing some
calculations based on the tube production.
However that was so long ago and I moved away from
tyres to plastics, that I just forgot that part of my work at
MRF!!
I stand corrected.
Regards
Sushil"
Two years ago we lost an outstanding human being
He changed the lives of many thousands of people by his open and humouristic, yet thoughtful and understanding of life in general.
K. M. Mammen Mappillai (Kochappachen), youngest son of K. C. Mammen Mappillai, the man who founded MRF with seven of his brothers, his sister and one sister-in-law who lost her husband at an early age, ran the company in a most humane manner. Despite every possible hurdle, he drove it to the top of all Indian tyre companies.
Besides being the leader of a corporate giant, he was also an accomplished artist. It was this tenderness that dominated his handling of people. This photograph of a painting by Kochappachen of the family home on the island of Kuppaparam, in the backwaters near Alleppy / Kottayam in Kerala, raises nostalgic memories of my childhood days swimming in those "crocodile" infested waters. We used to swim only in the area near the far left of the picture where was the washing room on the waterfront. (Those were indeed dreamy days.)
He was ably assisted by his wife's brother, Kurian George (Georgie, to me), who retired recently from his post as Technical Director. His other brother-in-law, my father, Kuriyan Matthan, assisted him by giving him non-family oriented professional advice, whenever asked, and getting him the services of some of the best engineers (for example, Mr. S. K. Rao and Mr. C. P. J. Diaz) to help in setting up the company in its early years.
When the company was struggling for financing, it was the father of my Bombay Cathedral School classmate, Elijah Elias (Ooky), who had just taken charge of Corporate Financing of State Bank of India in Bombay, that came forward and trusted MRF and the family and provided the crucial funding necessary to set the company on its course. Kochappachen never forgot that help and always made it a point to remember Mr. Elias and his closeness to the family as was seen in the friendship I have had with Ooky for almost 50 years. Ooky probably never even probably knew this till much later in life. I remember his father quizzing me on all the aspects of the tyre company and our family when he was discussing the funding of MRF. In this process, the late Mr. K. C. Mathulla, who had a way of dealing diplomatically with all people, played a very critical role.
It was Kochappachen's elder brother, Mr. K. M. Philip (Peelukuttychayan), who was instrumental in setting up the collaboration with a small US tyre company, Mansfield Tire & Rubber Company of USA, in Akron, Ohio, owned by James Hoffman, so as to start the tyre divsion of MRF, which till then was dominating the Indian field in rubber compound for tyre retreading. The story has it that Peelukuttychayan met Mr. Hoffman in a YMCA and from there on the friendship blossomed into the formation of the Joint Venture.
After the starting of the company, when production problems were being faced, the family brought in Mr. T. Thomas, son-in-law of another brother, the late Mr. K. M. Eapen (Eapachayan), who with his organisational management skill helped streamline the company. A tyre company consists of 7 indepndent operational streams and it is necessary to co-ordinate them perfectly to get the overall production to grow. At the time Thomas came in, the company was stuck at a level of 800 tyres per day. He helped to organise it so as to take the production to 3000 tyres per day - the breakthrough which brought MRF on par with the other tyre companies which were then operating in India - the multinationals Dunlop, Firestone and Goodyear, whose only interest at that stage was to see the collapse of this Indian owned and managed company. This reduced production cost and brought the company on the road to profitability.
T. Thomas was over-ambitious, wanting to become the Technical Director and eventually, Managing Director, of the company. So, it was necessary to part company after he set the company on its course. At this stage a major family crisis developed as Thomas was the son-in-law of a respected brother. It was my mother, who was loved to the skies by all her brothers, who firmly held the brothers together and ensured that this problem did not result in the collapse of the family which would have led to the ultimate demise of MRF.
Thomas did not do so badly, however. He was the first person who was ever re-employed by Hindustan Lever, going on to become the Chairman of that company and then a Board Member of Unilever Headquarters in London. He knew how to play the rat race game!!
There were many who contributed to the growth of MRF. Among them I would count my very dear friend, the late Prem Sadanand, who came in from Borosil Glass Ltd. as the Staff Assistant to the Managing Director, and the late Mr. N. P. Abraham, who came in from the Marketing Division of the drug giant, Sandoz Ltd. These two people earned the trust of Kochappachen to a degree that I saw in none other. They disagreed with him on many issues, but he knew that they always had the interest of the company at heart when they gave him advice. That, he respected above all.
At a most crucial stage of the company much later, Kochappachen's late son, Ravi Mammen, a product of the Jamnalal Bajaj Institute of Management Studies in Bombay, with a very socialistic vision of management, turned around the company from its major problems, especially labour and corporate image. He helped break the stranglehold of the destabilising unions, interested only in their power and least interested in what the workers welfare, with his very direct and honest approach.
The company is now being ably captained by Kochappachen's eldest son, Vinoo Mammen, and his youngest son, Arun Mammen.
In his lifetime, Kochappachen set up the company so that it was professional management combined with love and affection, which is only possible in a family managed company, that was the basic principle of running this great company.
Above all, he insisted on quality.
Kochappachen had the patience to listen to advice from everyone, small and big, and used that information to ensure that the company benefited from it.
Let it not be thought that the other brothers, whom I have not named, the late Mr. K. M. Cherian, the late Mr. K. M. Oommen, the late Mr. K. M. Varghese Mappillai and Mr. K. M. Mathew, were sleeping partners in the process of creation and running of MRF. They were crucial pins in the development of MRF. One day, maybe in the future, I will reveal some of the intricate past and the roles of each of these in building this corporate giant, as only I know it from an objective viewpoint.
Tuesday, March 01, 2005
Launch of the Electric Scooter in Bangalore
My dear friend and super international inventor and developer Anil Anathakrishna has just informed me of the successful commercial launch of the EkoVehicles Electric Scooter in Bangalore. This petrol-less vehicle is similar to the one that I used and tested last year in Oulu. You will find a picture of my scooter, the yellow one, in the gallery. It is light weight, handled beautifully and gave great performance in terms of battery life.
During testing my youthful helper, Jussi Roberts, who drove it rough in the forests near Oulu, Finland, was able to isolate several minor problems related to the hardware. These have been ironed out in the model now launched in India. The vehicle has beautiful control from the lowest of speeds right through to top speed. A novice can master driving this scooter in 1 minute!!
The launch was attended by many political big wigs as Shri M. MALLIKARJUNA KHARGE, Honourable Minister for Water Resources & Transport, Shri P. G. R. SINDHIA, Honourable Minister for Industries and Infrastructure, Government of Karnataka, Shri Om Prakash, Commissioner of Transport, Shri Bhooma Manay, Chairman of Pollution Control Board and Shri Mulka Govinda Reddy, Former Member of Parliament.
Anil can be seen in the far right of the photograph, while another old and good friend, Bhooma Manay, is seen standing next to him.
It is especially important to mention that the launch of this pollution free electric scooter has been greatly assisted by the Bridgittine Order of Roman Catholic Missionary in Bangalore, with The Mother Superior and the sisters supporting Anil's endeavour to promote pollution consciousness.
Anil has reported that the response was phenomenal and they have appointed 8 dealer outlets for Bangalore alone.
My prediction, based on my own personal experience with my scooter, is that production will be unable to keep pace with demand!! I am eagerly looking forward to driving my revamped scooter around Oulu later this year.
"Shoes" by Rahul Matthan
I had unprecented compliments regarding the photograph by Rahul called "Oranges". Rahul has permitted me to blog some of his best photographs. Here is another extraordinary photograph by Rahul. The composition is just superb.
I asked Rahul what equipment he uses. He says that the present photos he has uploaded have been taken with a Nikon Coolpix 5700. This is a compact, lightweight digital still camera with 5.0 effective megapixels. It has been accepted by advanced amateurs, digital enthusiasts as well as semi-professional photographers who demand high performance in every aspect of photography, as well as an air of sophistication. The body is made of magnesium (Mg) alloy. The camera's ergonomic, easy-grip design ensures secure handling and comfortable operation. The Vari-angle LCD monitor and the EVF (Electronic ViewFinder) with its good frame coverage combine to offer total convenience in every shooting position. Features such as 5-area Multi Autofocus and various exposure metering settings satisfy conventional camera users. The Coolpix 5700 has an auto pop-up Speedlight. It also features an accessory shoe for attachment of an external Speedlight when more lighting is necessary. Multiple capture modes can be selected, including the RAW image (NEF format) recording mode for untouched image quality, and movies with audio for up to 60 seconds. It has a built-in speaker, making instant confirmation playback of movies possible. Features like the Noise Reduction Mode, Saturation Control and White Balance Bracketing help to improve image quality.
Cash Sense in the Matthan family?
Grandma and Grandpa are very proud of their absolutely gorgeous granddaughter, Asha.
Asha is extremely talented, being, at the age of 7, an accomplished violist, progressing well with her ballet (see her clutching her Swan Lake video) and doing extremely well in developing her piano skills.
With a professional, her father Chris, as her mentor, she has to work harder than most others!! :-)
Chef Chris is in the background.
I just received an update from daughter, Susanna, that their family is being featured this month on BBC Radio Lincolnshire as part of a campaign just launched called Cash for a Month. Susanna was on radio this morning.
It is reckoned people spend a third more when they use credit cards. So the idea is simple - sign up to use cash only for your everyday shopping during the month of March.
The organisers will follow them from time to time to see how they are getting on. They are planning to use only cash all month for all their shopping (leaving all utility payments as normal on direct debits etc), petrol, etc.
Susanna says that it is quite a challenge, but they really looking forward to it.
The campaign was launched yesterday outside the Bank of England.
Annikki and I do not use credit cards for anything and have not done so for over 10 years. We can vouch for the fact that money goes a long long way more when one follows this rule. No impulsive purchases, number one.
My 80,000 friends!!
One of my corresponents (who shall remain unnamed) wrote to me
"Dear Jacob,
Even I would have 80,000 friends if I forwarded all the e-mails I got to every one I know !!
Just kidding.
Somehow, I prefer a more personal approach, more one-on-one-- too shy to have my mails all over the place."
Actually, I rarely forward emails unless there is a specific purpose
to be served.
I replied thus to my correspondent:
Hi,
What you say is absolutely true that the number of contacts
could grow by forwarding emails, but in my case there is a slight
difference (and my fault) in that I get personally involved with all
the people I deal with.
For instance this is an email I got yesterday from my a Finnish and
a Hungarian friend whom I introduced day-before-yesterday to a
Mumbai couple:
"Hi!
Had dinner last night with Ashok and Malathi, and they
invited us to stay with them already on the phone
before they had met us. .......
Today, we will call Fazila at 4 pm and we should meet
her tonight unless something came up. Malathi asked us
to invite her for dinner at their's tonight as well,
so we will call and ask to see if that is ok.
They are really great people and thank you for linking
us up (ildi's words)."
You see how it works.
All my worldwide friends are great and wonderful people and I
always try to link the right types, knowing each person's
background and character.
That cannot be done by only forwarding emails!!!
When I started "Findians Briefings" as a free hard copy in-house
journal, it was just for a few hundred Finnish and Indian
businessmen interested in trade between the two countries.
Within three months it had snow-balled into 7000 copies
which I could no longer afford to produce it as hard copy.
That was why I started putting it on internet.
Within a year the readership was in 90 countries and covered
over 50,000 people!! And it grew and grew. I was producing it
from my attic with an obsolete Mac PowerBook.
When I launched Seventh Heaven and Kooler Talk, it again
blew up out of all proportions.
The secret was personal "nostalgic involvement" (and it still is).
Plus it is a close one-to-one relationship with my audience which
involves a 24 hour reply and action cycle. Some contact me once a
year, some as often as two or three times a week. Their husbands /
wives, children, grandchildren, are all important to them (and me).
Again to give an instance, Shallu, mother of Rohit and Rahul read the
blog, got her 90 year old mother involved, generating a huge
audience from Madras and Bangalore. Now Rahul's photography
is on the blog. Within a few hours I had readers clamouring for more.
I posted the short note about Rohit's wife's (Kavita's) book "Brahmins
and Bungalows : Travels Through South Indian History by
Kavita Watsa" . That has generated an enormous response
from people I had never heard of before yesterday!!
To give you a couple of examples that you would be more familiar
with: How else would I have stepped in and taken care of Sadhana's
daughter, and her relationship leading to marriage with a Finn, even
though I have never met Sadhana in my life? Or why would I search
and locate Barbara Rossi for Gracie as I have never personally met
Gracie in my life (knowingly)? Both Sadhana and Gracie are part of
my absolutely lovely personally unmet friends, but we know each
other intimately through our correspondence!!!
In the old days it used to be called "pen-pals" whom I have termed
as "e-pals".
When I wrote the article "Greed : Missile of Black Gold", I had
literally hundreds of people all over the world (professors to
housewives) who were saved from losing large amounts of money
and life in the Nigerian Scam. All of these people have become
dear friends even though I do not "know them from
Adam"!!!
When my domain name in Canada collapsed, there was utter
chaos, but now it is slowly getting back to normal as I restore
normal communications with this circle of "friends". (JM:
This has proven to be the most difficult of the tasks that I have
ever undertaken.)
There are hundreds of journalists and writers that I know who send
out automated replies when people write to them about their
articles. I have never done that, so that is why my circle of friends
and readers is so large and growing. Of course I get criticism,
but I answer them with a principled answer which may conflict
with the opinions of the correspondent. But we soon agree to
disagree and remain friends. (Unless of course it is so blatant
as in the bizarre exchange of e-correspondence with the
"educated" American!!)
What is the secret behind Malayala Manorama and its immense
readership? My grandfather's personal involvement with his
audience, something I learnt from him in the 50s!!
It is a philosophy which is built into the organisation and does
not depend on who is in charge today. Rajen, Thambi and Chacko
are really introverts, but Malayala Manorama continues to grow
because of a philosophy laid down in its early years which has
remained unchanged.
Regards
Jacob
Monday, February 28, 2005
Oranges by Rahul Matthan
I have to say that I have found another Matthan with a great talent for photography. Not only is Rahul (son of Anand and Shallu Matthan) an outstanding lawyer, but I am greatly honoured that he asked me to view his photo collection on flickr.com.
I was astounded at the quality, the blending of composition and colour.
Our son, Jaakko, is one who has this quality and talent that he inherited from his mother, Annikki.
I chose just one of Rahul's photographs to show with such a simple subject as a collection of oranges he has brought out depth and feeling!!
Sunday, February 27, 2005
Doubt! Now I am reconsidering a decision..
My daughter, Joanna does not believe that I have over 80,000 personal friends around the globe. She says that it is impossible to remember 80,000 individual names and intricate details of their lives.
Although I have never met most of these 80,000 and more people, each one is closely entwined in my daily life in numerous ways. And many of their lives are entwined in ways that even they do not know - till they discover it on my blog!!!
I was seriously considering splitting my blog based on the interest groups. Joanna also told me yesterday that I was long-winded on my blog. That is a matter of debate as Omenakochamma from Bangalore wrote:
"Thanks for the update. It sure feels good seeing all the details recorded not only for the information of today's generation but also for posterity. We sure need to thank you for this - THANK YOU!"
Then she added:
"Stories of yours are very interesting. I do hope many more will write in!"
Joanna, on the other hand, wants me to write my thousands of stories as children's stories, and little Samuel wants to illustrate them for me - he is a great computer artist at the age of 8!! He certainly would do them justice.
Then, when I received Cathedrlaite 69er Shyla Bogla's email late this evening, I have had to seriously reconsider this line of thought. She wrote:
Hi Jacob,
It's such a small world...
I have a friend in Poona, Jehangir, (also class of 69) who knows
Gopa who is in Finland now. I remember you writing about
her on your site.
Earlier this month we returned from Kerala, after attending Riyad
and Keya's wedding.
The Tharakans are dear friends...
this too I read about via you, reference the Mathews!
Regards,
Shyla
I have sent this reply to her and to several others:
Hi Shyla,
Small world indeed - I think we are all living in the same 50 foot
square compound called EARTH!!! :-)
Riyad's dad, Thambi, is my cousin and a Stephanian.
Abe is also my yearmate from St. Stephen's!! (I don't have Abe's
email address, so do send him a copy if you can or send him my blog address!)
I do not know Abe's kids as yet, unfortunately, although they are
now my nieces!
You may have seen a picture of Thambi and Bina (from my archives)
on my blog, as also his elder brother, Rajen, with Clinton, when I
blogged about him getting the Padma Bushan. I am waiting for a
picture of him receiving the Padma Bushan from the Indian
President earlier this year!
On the blog there is a youthful picture of Thambi's dad (my
mother's younger brother Padma Bushan K. M. Mathew) at the
wedding of another Cathedralite, Sen Philip, 53er, which also
shows 58er Dr. Peter Philip (also a Stephanian) in the corner.
Gopa Haikkonen (daughter of 54er Cathedralite Sadhana (née Shah)
Madhusadan) is my foster daughter in Finland - speak to her often
as she adjusts to life in this torrid (wonder whether I can really use
that word) climate!!
In fact, Gopa rang me yesterday morning to discuss some
aspects of life and other common friends (Malathi and
Ashok (Dr.) Khembhavi) in Mumbai whom I had introduced
to her mother, 54er Sadhana. I spoke to Malathi and Ashok
yesterday as my dear friends Ilari Sohlo, from Finland, and
girlfriend Ildiko Hämos, from Hungary, are going to meet
today as they land in Mumbai after travelling overland from
Hungary, through Turkey, Iran, Pakistan!
Ilari used to write a great column for my now being revamped
online web fortnightly Findians Briefings. Ilari was a classmate
of my daughter, Joanna, when they did their Masters in English
Philology from Oulu University.
Ashok has been a doctor who has been selflessly working in
the Dharavi slums for years and years, still charging Rs. 10 to
Rs. 20 to treat a patient!!! Malathi loves Finland as she spent
a year here looking after a physically handicapped young man.
All of us in Finland love her immensely.
She and her sister, Lalitha, originate from my hometown,
Bangalore, are close friends of the Indian supermind, Anil
Ananthakrishna, also from Bangalore, who for almost 40 years
has been developing the electric vehicle, and is the brains
behind the petrolless Electric Scooter, which is being
launched all over the world by many different groups!!
In Finland this is being done by a former Motor Cross
Champion driver, Jussi Kynsilehto, right here
from my present home town, Oulu, using the "Solifer"
brand name, which is like using the "Bullet" brand
name in India. Jussi has a great sense of humour as he has threatened
to call a forthcoming model as "(Harley) Jacobson"
Just invited Gopa to get the gmail email address as yahoo
and hotmail are no match to what google is offering. Also
I am persuading Gopa to install Skype so we can talk more
frequently at no cost.
54er Sadhana (Gopa's mom in Pune) has become a dear dear
friend and was instrumental in getting the 54er reunion
together in cooperation with Suhas Phadke and Gracie Hayeem.
I was so happy that they mentioned me on their reunion video!!
(I do understand that especially you helped them
considerably.) And through Gracie (in California, USA), the
circle got completed when I organised her reunion with
your classmate, Barbara Rossi, in Italy who was
in her kindergarten class!!!
And for all this I must say it was my "Seventh Heaven" web
page started way back in 1996 and that later reported the
tragic and early passing away of 54er Head Girl Pamela
Ballantine, which brought so many of different years of
Cathedralites together on my web page. That was because,
Aubrey, Pamela's younger brother, in Canada has been
online with me for several years.
Now, after your email, I am seriously wondering whether
I should split the blogs into my interest groups?
Maybe it is just my torrid (and here I use the word correctly)
political musings that should be split off?
Regards
Jacob
Fascinating letter from Shallu
When I wrote about Shallu's father, Dr. Nainan Varghese, I did not expect such a fascinating reply from her. She had sat her mother down in front of the computer and they had read through the blog. Her mother was in wonderment that we could communicate our thoughts and feelings and our treasured possessions of photographs so well through this medium.
As to the story about her father, Shallu said - what her father had told me was so typical of him.
I learnt that Shallu's mother and my mother had been classmates for a year at Women's Christian College, Madras. Shallu's mother then went to Madras Medical College. My mother had many a time mentioned Shallu's mother to me, but I never knew this part of the relationship.
Also, they were also fascinated to read my story about Basu John, who had been a close family friend of theirs.
Shallu's elder son, Rahul (a brilliant lawyer), Geeta's son Lalit (Geeta being the daughter of Babyappapen, younger brother of my father) and our daughter, and our younger daughter, Joanna, were born the same year in the same month - January 1971!!
I also learnt that Shallu's younger son's wife, Kavita, is a writer, having written the book
Brahmins and Bungalows : Travels Through South Indian History/Kavita Watsa. New Delhi, Penguin, 2004, vi, 290 p., (pbk). ISBN 0-14-303146-5.
Contents: Prologue: over the bungalow wall. I. The heart of Anglo-India: 1. Srirangapattana: the Isle of lost dreams. 2. Mysore: a large and handsome town. 3. Bangalore: the vanishing cantonment. II. Along the Arabian: 4. Padmanabhapuram: a palace made of wood. 5. Devbagh: beyond the realm of prose. 6. Goa: five hundred monsoons now. III. Coromandel colonies: 7. Madras: the forgotten fort. 8. Pondicherry: the empire that never was. 9. Tranquebar: day of the danes. IV. The temple trail: 10. Hampi: city of victory. 11. Mamallapuram: masons and Moonrakers. 12. Thanjavur: in the womb of the south. V. Kodaikanal: Epilogue: woodsmoke and roses.
"Kavita Watsa has been seeking new horizons ever since a mischievous great-uncle put her in a horse cart and took her to a Mysore arrack shop at an impressionable age. In this sparkling mosaic of South Indian travels, she treads roads ancient and modern, opens antique travelogues to see what others saw, and reminds us of the myriad peoples and forces that have shaped life south of the Vindhyas. With an almost Victorian sensibility for bends in the road and turns of phrase, Watsa presents a rich blend of landscapes and architecture--from monsoon-lashed Goa to a coast that inspired Tagore, from desolate Hampi to burgeoning Bangalore, from charming Pondicherry to sun-baked Tranquebar and beyond. Crowned by exquisitely rendered memories of the cool woods of Kodaikanal, Brahmins and Bungalows is a witty, elegant, loving portrait of a deeply cosmopolitan land."
The power of blogging is taking root. I promise I will split the blog into the various components within the next couple of weeks, so you do not have to wade through all the rubbish, as my rantings on politics, which is meant for another audience!!
Saturday, February 26, 2005
Samuel and Daniel with me
We, Anneli (Anniki's sister), Annikki and myself, just returned from a fabulous meal cooked by Joanna. We literally licked the platter clean. Even our very conservative grandson, Samuel (Samu), ventured to taste the Thai green curry, which was especially good. The tandoori chicken in gravy was delicious. There was a delicious fried vegetable dish and fresh salad. Sweet was chocolate eclairs, with nougat ice cream and hot toffee sauce.
I took several great photos and short videos, but the one alongside was not one which I just took. I will blog the ones I took later as my upload limit for Flickr.com for this month has been reached. I also have to learn how to blog a short video.
When Geordy George (from Deepika International, Kottayam) and Dr. Balakrishna Janardhana (Bala), Assistant Professor from the Department of Kannada Studies, University of Agricultural Sciences, in Hebbal, Bangalore, visited us earlier this month, Bala took a few pictures.
Here is one of Samuel, Daniel and me that I particularly liked.
It was kindly uploaded on Flickr.com by Geordy.
Thank you Bala.
Thanks to Shalu
One small story about Shallu's late father, who was one of the most famous haemotologist that India has ever known. He met me at a party one evening in Madras where my parents were also present. We were all standing together and my dear mother was ranting about how much dessert I was consuming and that I would soon become a diabetic like my dad.
Dr. Nainan Varghese chipped in and told my mom that I would never become a diabetic!!
Coming from such a renowned expert, I was taken aback, as were both my mom and dad. He went on to explain that as both my mom and dad were considerably shorter than me, I am 6 foot 2 and half inches (191 cm) while both of them were below 5 foot 6 inches, the level of inherent growth hormone in my system would always keep me from becoming a diabetic as I had the natural anti-dote.
We all laughed, but he was deadly serious, as he had made this a serious study and was convinced that the immense volume of data he had collected had no exceptions till that date!!
And, in truth, I have been a borderline diabetic for many many years. I have never reduced my sugar intake, usually in the form of chocolates, biscuts, ice creams, barfi, sweet curd, and every other delicious form of sweetmeat that I can lay my hands on (my mouth just waters when I think of carrot halwa, jelebi, gulab jamuns or a tin of condensed milk), and I remain as such, a borderline diabetic. The moment I do some gym work, within two days my blood sugar will fall well below the borderline!!
Friday, February 25, 2005
Bit late blogging today
Annikki's younger sister, Anneli, who lives near Helsinki, in a small town called Masala, has come for a long weekend. I had to go and pick her up at the station.
These two sisters are very close.
Anneli has two sons, both very accomplished musicians. The elder, Matias, completed his schooling from the Sibelius School For Music, has finished his compulsory army service, and is now going to train for a part in an Opera while waiting to join the next stage of his higher education after summer. Tuomas is also a very very talented musician, but has still a year and a half left to finish his High School. He specialises in the playing the Cello and also has an excellent voice.
Anneli, a trained Childrens' Teacher, heads a Government day-care centre in Masala and is also in charge of all the day-care centres, including those being run in private homes with the permisssion of the Government. She is glad to get a couple of days off to see her mother and sister, a long journey, as it is about 700 km from Masala to Oulu.
To give Annikki a chance to enjoy the time, we will have Joanna and family over for dinner this evening, which I will get from Michelle's Chinese Restaurant "The Royal Garden". Michelle is a family friend, a Chinese girl from Calcutta, whose food cooked for us, some of it super-spiced, is just great!!
This was the birthday cake that Annikki made for Michelle's son, Kachun for his 3rd birthday, a turtle just about to enter the sea from the seashore. Everything is edible, the rocks are toffee, and the water is clear jelly. The toffee forming the turtle's back was of special interest to all the kids, along with all the other sweets used as decoration. The head and feet of the turtle are the especially sought after licquorice sweets that children love.
One strange and unique factor about Annikki's fishes, which is a feature of her series called "Pond Cakes", is that they grow in size. They absorb the water from the jelly and literally grow!!!
Thursday, February 24, 2005
Cross-written Postcards?
Ever since I picked up this postcard in Helsinki about 20 years ago, cross-written postcards which were older than 100 years became my obsession. I searched everywhere, but only found a couple more.
The writer was obviously trying to get more onto a postcard and hence save postage costs. In the process, a beautiful effect was created.
I asked antique dealer houses, Sotheby's and Philips, for valuations about 10 years ago. They said they had no price for these, as examples were rare.
Since this first piece, I have picked up a couple of Finnish ones, but not been able to locate any others from other countries. Antique postcard collectors in Canada have indicated that they have seen some across the Atlantic, and some Italian and French monks are said to have used this method.
However, no further examples have come to light.
The reason for collecting something is the challenge of finding what one is looking for. I found these very ordinary postcards had been turned into something quite beautiful. It was not the value that attracted me, as when I started collecting these, they were less than a Euro each. Now they are worth a few hundred Euro each.
So, although it does not give me any sleepless nights, I do look in antique shops wherever I go to try and find some of these rare postcards. And that is the fun of a hobby!!!
Thanks to Geordy
Wednesday, February 23, 2005
Shall I talk about "great" cakes, like Marie Antoinette
Marie Antoinette was Queen of France. She married the Crown Prince of France in 1770. In 1774 she became Queen of France when her husband was crowned as King Louis XVI.
We seem to be living in similar times. Marie Antoinette was executed on October 16th, 1793. There was no proof of any crimes by her. Something like the Bush regime these days when innocents are tortured and put to death with no proof of any crime being committed by them. Bush calls this "colateral damage"!!!
The famous phrase when Marie Antoinette supposedly told that the peasants who did not have any bread was "Let them eat cake." There is no proof that Marie Antoinette ever said this. It was used to build a case against her to ensure she was put to death in the Revolution. Something like Bush and Blair WMD claims?
I digress, as what I want to blog today is the birthday cake that Annikki made for our son-in-law, Christopher Rogers (Chris) who celebrated his 40th birthday just after Christmas in 2004.
Annkki called the cake "Symphony of Fire and Ice" as our son-in-law is a professional musician who has played with several British Orchestras (Bournemouth, Birmigham, etc.) when he has had the time. Presently, he is in charge of Strings Education for schools all over the County of Lincolnshire in UK.
The cake depicts ice atop a pine log and this melts into a V-shaped burning cut pine log. This burnng log is the traditional way that Finnish foresters keep warm in the forest when they burn the inside of the wooden log (a delicious swiss roll in this case). The log normally burns for a long long time, giving both heat and light in the icey cold winter forest.
The basic cakes under the decoration had to be made from a special mix as Chris is allergic to gluten.
The first picture shows the buring fire log. (Four candles to depict 40 years.)
Tthe second picture is a close up to show the melting ice as it drips water (actually, frozen fizzy lemonade), which wet and softened the dry cake, giving it taste and texture.
Everything was edible. The decorations are what one finds typically in a forest as pine needles (made from sweets) and berries - both the rare cloudberry (yellow) and the more common red berries, both real, in the snow, lovely thick cream. The brown pine logs were sponge cake (swiss rolls) which were thick chocolate cream coated - delicious!!!
Needless to say, the cake was not only delightful to look at, but also delicious to eat. It took a long time before anyone dared to put a knife to the creation, whereafter, it was devoured rapidly by a hungry appreciative crowd!!