Passing away of another great Matthan lady

News has just reached us that our very dearest Thangammakochamma (83), Mrs. John Matthan, wife of my late father's younger brother, who made a name for himself in the Indian Railways, passed away yesterday in Bangalore after heart failure. Omenakochamma (wife of my cousin Ajit Matthan) and my godmother, Chinchaya (Mrs. M. M. Thomas) had given me news that Thangammakochamma had been in hospital and had been ailing for the last few months.

Born on 14th December 1921, she was a member of the well-known Dr. Peter family of Trichur. Two of her sisters are extremely well known, Chinnammakochamma, Mrs. K. M. Philip, of Bombay, wife of my mother's surviving elder brother, and Mollykochamma, wife of Jollychayan (Dr. V. Kurian), known internationally as Amul Kurian of Anand.

Thangammakochamma was known in her own right as well as the wife of Johnnyappapen who was an outstanding sportsman, including in his later years as a golfer of some repute. Johnyappapen was a Pope Medal winner from Bishop Cotton's Boys' School. He joined the Railway Engineering College at Jamshedpur. Together they built a glorious career travelling all over India as well as the world as they modernised the Indian Railway industry. We used to love to visit their Railway salon when they arrived in Bombay Victoria Terminus Station.

Mr. J. N. Iyer, retired from Indian Railways as Additional Chief Electrical Engineer, wrote on the Internet in an article entitled A Saga of Achievement - An Untold Story from Indian Railways

"With active support from the new General Manager, Mr. John Matthan, one of the finest persons with whom this writer has worked, the Electrical and Mechanical Engineers of ICF set about designing the two-tier AC Sleeper coaches and AC Chair Cars, with yet-to-be-developed indigenous equipment. The Power equipment consisted of axle-driven 18 Kilowatt brushless alternators with V-belt drive, 800 Ah lead-acid battery and controls. The concept of brushless alternators and V-belt drive was new to Indian Railways. Such high capacity battery sets also had not been used in the past or manufactured in India."

Johnnyappapen was a man of few words, while Thangammakochamma could keep an audience rapt in their seats with her non-stop chatter. Together, they made a wonderful couple, full of life and vibrant. We all loved Thangammakochamma and looked forward to her visits to our home as we could get all the news in an interrupted and delightfully explicit manner. When they lived in Railway Baug in Colaba in Bombay, I used to rush over to their house at any opportunity, as it was always an interesting couple of hours in Thangammakochamma's company. And Johnnyappapen used to treat us youngsters as one of his own friends. Neither of them ever talked down to us youngsters.

When Johnnyappapen was tragically struck down by a speeding lorry on 22nd January 1989, far away here in Finland, Annikki and I felt the tremendous loss. Thangammakochamma was obviously affected most of all as her life-long companion was snatched from her in the prime of his retirement.

Today, they are together in spirit till the day of resurrection will once again join all these souls together.

From Finland I would like to convey our sorrow to all Thangammakochamma's surviving family members as we mourn someone we loved very deeply.

Arctic Dosais by JM Taxi Service!!

Yesterday was Arctic Dosai time.

Annikki was in the mood as it was a wonderful sunny day and she thought she would go outside to do some designing in the snow. Just as she was about to go outside, there was an interesting radio programme about old poetry, Finnish.

So she decided instead of waiting till dinner time she would produce some masala dosais.

I rang Samuel, and there was an order from there for dosais for dinner (19:00 hours!!

Master Arctic chef making a dosai


Dosai, potato filling and tomato curry (delicious) ready for next step


Dosais ready to be sent by Arctic Taxi!!

Taxi driver had his fill before delivery. Delivery was delayed by an hour (20:00 hours)

India Win; Kimi 9th; Narain 11th

India won the Second Cricket Test against Pakistan at Kolkota by 195 runs. Kumble was in deadly form, taking 3 wickets in the first innings and picking up 7 second innings wickets for just 51 runs

It was a good day for both Finnish and Indian Formula 1 enthusiasts. Although neither drivers made the victory stand or even finished in the first 8, Kimi, who lost a tyre in the 25th lap of the race fought back from rejoining the race in 13th position and almost caught Christian Klein after making up almost a second every lap on his reentry. Kimi's team-mate Montoya finished 4th, making it a good day for the Maclaren team.

Malaysian Grand Prix - Standings
Final positions:

1 F Alonso (Renault)
2 J Trulli (Toyota)
3 N Heidfeld (Williams)
4 J Montoya (McLaren)
5 R Schumacher (Toyota)
6 D Coulthard (Red Bull)
7 M Schumacher (Ferrari)
8 C Klien (Red Bull)
9 K. Raikkonen (Finland) (McLaren)
10 Felipe Massa (Sauber)
11 N. Karthikeyan (India) Jordan
12 Tiago Monteiro (Jordan)
13 Christijan Albers (Minardi)

Fastest Lap: Fernando Alonso 1:25.683

It was heartening that both the Jordan cars finished the race establishing that, although not the fastest cars, they do have an engine that can last through two consecutive races.

Given some more driving experience, my prediction is that Narain Karthikeyan will certainly be reaching the podium at least once this year!!

These were the starting grid positions for today's race after the morning time trials.

Grid positions and qualifying times for the Malaysian Grand Prix at Sepang:

1 Fernando Alonso (Spa) Renault one minute 32.582 seconds 3:07.672
2 Jarno Trulli (Ita) Toyota 3:07.925
3 Giancarlo Fisichella (Ita) Renault 3:08.448
4 Mark Webber (Aus) Williams-BMW 3:08.904
5 Ralf Schumacher (Ger) Toyota 3:09.007
6 Kimi Raikkonen (Fin) McLaren-Mercedes 3:09.483
7 Christian Klien (Aut) Red Bull 3:09.589
8 David Coulthard (GB) Red Bull 3:09.700
9 Nick Heidfeld (Ger) Williams-BMW 3:09.917
10 Jenson Button (GB) BAR-Honda 3:09.832
11 Juan Pablo Montoya (Col) McLaren-Mercedes 3:10.090
12 Rubens Barrichello (Brz) Ferrari 3:11.502
13 Michael Schumacher (Ger) Ferrari 3:11.633
14 Felipe Massa (Brz) Sauber 3:11.884
15 Anthony Davidson (GB) BAR-Honda 3:11.890
16 Jacques Villeneuve (Can) Sauber 3:12.995
17 Narain Karthikeyan (Ind) Jordan 3:17.656
18 Tiego Monteiro (Por) Jordan 3.17.962
19 Patrick Friesacher (Aut) Minardi 3:21.186
20 Christijan Albers (Net) Minardi 3:23.001

Well done Kimi and Narain.

Formula 1 fans: Time trial positions

I am busy editing a doctoral thesis about the next generation of mobile phones (you won't be buying a phone to do your phone calls - maybe you will buy a new pair of eye glasses to make them!!) and also spending time watching (not on TV) the progress of the second cricket test between India and Pakistan.

For so many of you following our Indian and Finn hopes on the Formula 1 circuit, here are the time trial positions as of Saturday. Just over a 0.250 seconds between Spaniard Alonso and Finn Raikkonen, while Indian Karthikeyan is finding his legs on the circuit with about 5 seconds between him and the leader.

Let us hope both of them do well in the morning trials tomorrow and get good pole positions. The times of both the Ferraris are not so good with Michael Schumacher coming in at 12th. Since they cannot change engines from the last race, this one will test all the cars to see which engine is presently most sturdy under race conditions.

Tyres will also make a big difference in this race. Hope MRF will start to wake up and get into this game.

Times for Saturday's first qualifying for Sunday's Malaysian Formula One Grand Prix:
1 Fernando Alonso (Spa) Renault one minute 32.582 seconds
2 Jarno Trulli (Ita) Toyota 1:32.672 seconds
3 Giancarlo Fisichella (Ita) Renault 1:32.765
4 Kimi Raikkonen (Fin) McLaren 1:32.839
5 Ralf Schumacher (Ger) Toyota 1:33.106
6 Mark Webber (Aus) Williams 1:33.204
7 Juan Pablo Montoya (Col) McLaren 1:33.333
8 Nick Heidfeld (Ger) Williams 1:33.464
9 Jenson Button (GB) BAR 1:33.616
10 Christian Klien (Aut) Red Bull 1:33.724
11 David Coulthard (GB) Red Bull 1:33.809
12 Michael Schumacher (Ger) Ferrari 1:34.072
13 Felipe Massa (Brz) Sauber 1:34.151
14 Rubens Barrichello (Brz) Ferrari 1:34.162
15 Anthony Davidson (GB) BAR 1:34.866
16 Jacques Villeneuve (Can) Sauber 1:34.887
17 Narain Karthikeyan (Ind) Jordan 1:37.806
18 Tiago Monteiro (Por) Jordan 1:37.856
19 Patrick Friesacher (Aut) Minardi 1:39.268
20 Christijan Albers (Ned) Minardi 1:40.432

Should be a great Sunday with Formula 1 and cricket, plus very interesting reading to do. Some wonderful blog entries coming in the next week, so stay tuned.

Happy birthday Sarasukochamma

Sarasukohamma, Mrs. P. V. Jacob, wife of Annikunjuchayan, daughter of my late eldest maternal uncle, Mr. K. M. Cherian (Chetpetleappachen) celebrates her 73rd birthday today.

I hope all of you wll wish her a very very happy birthday and many more to come.

Sarasukochamma lived far away in Hirakud for most of her married life. So she was only seen at some holidays and weddings.

Her claim to fame in the family are many, but most of all I would like to say that it is her brilliant eldest son, Apu, the Technical Director of Malayala Manorama, who has worked side by side with Rajen and crowd which has ensured that the entire newspaper is at its technical height today.

Sarasukochamma is the mother of the only twins in the family. One of her sons, Kunj, is married to my Madras regular correspondents daughter, Prassana, who may be the only lady engineer in the family. (Please correct me if I am wrong!!)

Sarasukochamma is the younger sister of Bapukuttychayan. Annikunjuchayan was the Chief Engineer in Indian Aluminium till he retired. They now live in Alwaye and I believe Annikunjuchayan is still active in helping with the business of ink manufacture.

Happy birthday Sarasukochamma.

First day at school

What do Dr. Raja Ramanna and I have had in common?

Visit my alma mater blog for this story.

Jacob in his Kindergarten Class Photo
I am that neat looking fellow sitting on the ground, third from the left.

Happy birthday to two of you

Two of the third generation of our Kandathil family celebrate their birthday today.

We would lke you to join us in wishing Harsha Mathew, son of Chacko and Amu Matthew, and grandson of Mathukuttychayan, (K. M. Mathew) and the late Annammakochamma, is 25 today. He is also a fellow Stephanian.

Recently, I wrote about the melodic voice of (Dr.) Shantakochamma, wife of Mohanchayan (Dr. K. O. Mammen). Our family is not short of vocal talent. I think one of the very best voices in our family is our second birthday girl - Susan, eldest daughter of Accakuttykochamma (Mrs. K. G. Kuruvilla) and the late Kurullechayan. Accakuttykochamma is the eldest daughter of the late Mambaltheappappachen and ammachi (K. M. Oommen's).

Susan has regaled us on many an occasion and I have sat and listened to her sing pop songs of my era and later. I wish Susan would make some sound bytes for me use on the internet when I include some sound on these web pages!! Would not that make this blog more interesting and vibrant. (This dinosaur ignoramus has finally figured out how to add sound to the blog pages.)

Susan is married to Moni Abraham, and they have three children, Priya, Anjali and Anand. Priya was married to Raj in December 2003, a wedding attended by our two daughters just before the family reunion in Kottayam. Susan and Moni live in Ontario, Canada.

Sadly no pictures of these birthday kids.

Samuel has his Ice Hockey Cake

I am glad I was able to upload my blog yesterday early as I was tied up all day and only got home around 19:30, very very tired.

Annikki had an interesting day as among the visitors to see Hilja on her 85th birthday was her son from Tampere and her daughter, Aino, and her husband who live here in Oulu. The daughter, Anneli, who lives in Masala, near Helsinki, could not come but sent a card and also money for us to buy flowers. There were plenty of flowers. One daughter and one son did not make any form of appearance to greet their mother on this historic occasion!!

I return, however, to last Sunday, when Samuel had his birthday party for his friends, one week late, as last week was skiing holdilay week and most kids go off to the ski resorts around Finland.

Samuel had asked grandma Anniki for a cake which was an ice hockey field. He had told Annikki that maybe she could use cream on top of the cake as the ice hockey field. But grandma had other ideas!!

She poured some fizzy clear drink, (Sprite) into a tray and stuck it out of the window. It was well well below zero. Within 15 minutes she had a beautiful sheet of solid frozen sprity ice!!

She placed this on top of the cake which had a filling of delicious orange curd (similar to lemon curd - but Annikki's own creation), surrounded the whole cake with cream. Between the cake and the ice she placed the field outlines, circles, and other things you normally find on the ice hockey field. I had to educate her on this as Annikki is not much clued up about any sports field!! On top of the ice she used various types of delicious sweets to create the men, the hockey sticks, the goal posts and the referee. She seated a whole array of spectators (manínly girls) around the field in the cream.

I was delegated to take the cake to Samuel's house. I was scheduled to arrive at 16:15. I did, and it was my task to actually create the top layer from all the things chosen by Annikki. Of course, butterfingers broke the ice on the way, but I managed to keep most of it intact and patched up most of the damage.

Samuel's 8th birthday party, twins Elias and Konsta (7 mins),
twins Kasper and Kaius (4 mins), Veli-Matti and Samuel

It was a couple of hours laters that the kids decided they wanted to partake of the goodies that Joanna had laid out for them. the ice was still very much there (broken ice was self-healed!!).

The kids were fascinated by the ice hockey field. After the singing of happy birthday in both English (led be me) and Finnish, the kids attacked the ice hockey cake, except they did not touch the cake as they demolished the sweets and the ice hockey field - kids like nothing better than stuffing ice cubes into their mouth, and it is great when it is a fizzy drink that they like.

Annikki, Samu and myself ate a bit of the cake, but I brought back most of it.

I told Annikki that if she ever gets another demand for an ice hockey cake there is no need to create the cake - she would only need to create the ice and the field!!

Two more great ladies celebrate their birthday today

Two more wonderful and great ladies celebrate their birthday today.

Kunjukochamma, Mrs. K. M. Mammen Mappillai, wife of my late uncle, Kochappachen, youngest brother of my late mother, is 80 today. Annikki and I would like to wish this wonderful aunt all the very best on this auspicious day.

I have quite many photographs of this wonderful and most colourful personality in my archives, but I choose the one I like best and one which reminds me most of her vibrant character. It was taken soon after her wedding and has me sitting with my late elder sister, Nalini, along with Kunjukochamma and her new husband. In the front, sitting on the grass, is another wonderful aunt of mine, the late Mrs. K. M. Mathew, known to all of us as Annammakochamma. Also in this picture is my late cousin, Kunjumonchayan, another absolutely wonderful personality. The only scoundrel in the picture is Dursheelan (mischievous one), which is what my uncle, Kochappachen, used to playfully call me.

Kunjumonchayan, Kochappachen, birthday girl Kunjukochamma,
Nalini and me, and with Annammakochamma sitting on the grass.
Madras, circa 1948.

The second person who celebrates her 85th birthday today is my second mother, the lady who took me into her home 21 years ago, and treated me as her own son.

Annikki's mother, Hilja, now suffers from dementia, aggravated by tunnel vision of just 20% and the general effects of age. I present here a montage of photographs of this wonderful person whom Annikki and I have the pleasure to look after in the final years of her life, which we hope will be long and in the good health she is enjoying today. We have many flowers for her and I shall try to blog a picture of her later today with her cakes and flowers

School Photo showing Hilja taken maybe in 1930. Hilja is third from right in the middle row	Hilja in 1941	Hilja with eldest three children, Annikki is in the centre
1969, Hilja carrying Jaakko with Annikki carrying Susanna	Hilja with husband Matti at his 80th birthday, 1996	Hilja June 2001
Hilja August 2002	Hilja with daughters Anneli and Annikki, August 2002	Hilja with Annikki at grandson, Samuli's, graduation party, January 2003
Hilja, February 2004	Hilja with her doll collection, May 2004	Hilja with daughter Anneli, February 2005

We hope all of you will join Annikki and me in wishing these two wonderful ladies a very happy birthday and many many more.

Two great "Matthan" sisters-in-law

I do not have any photographs of the late Langfordammachi, as she was known to me, or more commonly referred to as Mariammakochamma, wife of the late George Matthan, my father's elder brother, in my archives. I pay my tribute to her verbally.

Today, I remember her on what would have been her 97th birthday. She passed away 19 years ago, in 1986, two years after we left India. But she remains vividly in my memory.

This heroic aunt of mine struggled as she looked after her husband, my godfather, as he battled through almost 15 years of Parkinson's which slowly turned him into an immobile human totally dependent on his wife. I respect her for the sheer determination by which she lived through those years caring for her husband.

Such courage is hard to come by. Langfordammachi saw her husband lose all his strength day by day. And yet, at any time I walked into the house, she greeted me with such love and affection and asked after each and every member of my family. It was as if all the troubles on her mind were of least importance. She focused on me, the godson of her husband, a fact she never, never forgot at every meeting.

Langfordammachi was the mother of the late Ammnikochamma, Baluchachen and Anand, three wonderful cousins with truly outstanding and talented better-halves, Babychayan, Nirmalakochamma and Shallu. She was the grandmother of Vinod, Vinita, Uday, Purnima, Rahul and Rohit, six grandchildren she would be enormously proud of were she alive today.

The person who shares this birthday is her sister-in-law, my mother.

My mother, Mrs. Kuriyan Matthan, Jr., would have been 91 today. She was a wonderful loving personality. But she was tough. The toughness grew as she aged and she was called in to solve many problems between her brothers.

Her greatest regret was that she could not solve the problems between her two sons.

The only time that I know that she broke down, in toto, was when she lost her eldest daughter, Nalini, so tragically on October 29th, 1960. As I held her hand at the moment, she wept and told me that losing any of her children was what she had feared from the moment that her very first child had been born.

The closest she had come to that, she said, was when she literally saw me ebbing away in her eyes while I was many tens of kilometres away, at the very moment I was drowning in a river at Vasind near Bombay in 1955. She remembered, at that moment, how the glass of milk she was giving me at 5:30 am before I set out to the station slipped and shattered as she handed it to me. It had come as a foreboding for her. She had warned me of the dangers ahead. She had gone to her prayer room and prayed almost non-stop till I returned.

Her joy when I was brought home alive was something that was greater than anything else she had ever felt in her life. (She compared that to the biblical feeling of the father welcoming back his prodigal son.)

But at this tragic moment of losing her daughter, she knew that her return would not be similarly possible.

She resolved to come out of this tragedy by bringing up Nalini's son.

This was probably her greatest failing. She tried to be both mother and grandmother to this little boy till he became a man. She tried, aganst all odds, to instill in him her values over his genetically inherited characteristics. She realised that the values she instilled in me as a mother could not be instilled in her eldest grandson. She reconciled herself to that a few years before her passing. She prayed night and day that this little boy would have at least some of the loving nature of his mother - something which unfortunately was not to be.

In my last hours with her in March 2000, just a few hours before she went into a coma, she exposed part of her innermost heart to me. She told me, in her most direct manner as a loving mother, her anxiety of the enormous problems that would survive her on her passing.

I reassured her that I was quite competent to take care of the problems that I would face. I told her I had seen how her eldest brother, faced with similar problems, had been able to go through his life so courageously. In my case, I was fortunate to have such a loving wife, who was constantly at my side in these troubled times, so she had nothing to worry about.

And exactly as envisaged by her, I have had to do so since her passing. The bastardization of her family was the last thing she expected when she brought us up - but she knew it was coming.

Ammachi's relationship with Annikki is something none of the immediate family ever understood. Ammachi opposed my marriage till the day we were married. Then she wrote to me, "What God had put together, let no man put asunder".

And that was how she showed her love for her daughter-in-law, despite the "elitism racism" from other immediate family members. Her love and respect for Annikki grew immensely when Annikki cared for her when she broke her hip. It was Annikki who washed her and cared for her in those crucial days and weeks after she came home from the hospital.

As a tribute to her birthday, in the 5th year since her passing, I present a montage of some of her photographs from my archives.

It reveals her beauty as well as her fun-loving character. It also reveals the character of an outstandingly tough but loving human being. As a mother she was an outstanding personality.

I will be writing of some of her outstanding characteristics, as only a son knows his mother, in this blog in the coming weeks and months.

I am sorry for the quality of the old photographs. Kindly click on a photograph to see an enlarged version in your browser, which may appear slightly better than the smaller versions below.

Graduation of Ammachi from Womens' Christian College, Madras	Appachen and Ammachi Wedding Photo	Appachen, Ammachi and Nalini
Ammachi, Year Unknown	Ammachi with her family and her childhood teacher / Principal, Miss Brookesmith	Ammachi 1980
Valliappachen with his daughter and 8 daughters-in-law, Madras, 1952	At Kuppaparam with her parents and children	Ammachi with grandchildren Joanna and Mika, 1983
Holidaying with her family and Chellamakochamma and her children	Ammachi's parents	Ammachi's family in 1936

Samuel's telescope and Home Planetarium

Our youngest son, Mika, gave his mother, Annikki, a present, many years ago, when he was about 14. He knew his mother loved to watch the night sky. This was a love she picked up as a little girl when she one night she looked up into the autumn night sky and saw the twinkling stars.

The hunger for the sky became even more intense when we lived in a village in India, where there were no city lights to inhibit the night viewing. It became a family hobby.

One day, she came running to tell me that she could see satellites as they passed overhead. I laughed at her, thinking of how ridiculous was the very notion that it would be possible to see these tiny man-made objects with the naked eye. But she was right.

When we came to Finland, I quenched the thirst a bit by buying her a cheap hand-held telescope for one birthday. She faithfully used it with a great deal of difficulty, but used it she did, to look at the stars.

Then Mika saw the advertisement for a Home Planetarium, and he got it for her birthday as his present.

In our small home it was not possible to use it and it got stored away.

Now, when Annikki persuaded met get grandson Samuel a full-fledged telescope for his birthday, I suddenly remembered this Home Planetarium. Annikki searched for it yesterday and located it is some corner. She methodically keeps all her stuff, unlike me and my disorganised way of living. However, she failed to find the accompanying literature.

This afternoon, after my 40 winks, which all retired people like me are prone to these days, I awoke and decided to look for the manual. I went to one of our bookshelves, and believe you me, the first file folder that I picked up had the manual in it.

I scanned, enlarged and printed the night sky maps. I have just delivered them to Samuel along with the manual. Samuel was anxiously waiting to see the New Moon that should make it out sometime later tonight. The sky appears to be quite clear and he should get a good view of it when it appears.

However, while waiting, we decided to read an Asterix comic. The one I chose was their trip to India on the Magic Carpet!! What a laugh.

Shopping with Samu and family

Today, one of our leading household goods shops had an offer for furniture bought between 9 am and 11 am. 40% off their price.

Samu has outgrown his bed. Joanna, Tony, Daniel and myself went to the shop to buy the bed.

What a throng of people there were even before the shop opened!!

Samu and I quickly took our place in the queue to pay for the purchases while Joanna and Tony with Daniel wandered around to choose what they wanted.

Each household discount coupon entitled purchase of only one item.

So I could purchase one item from Annikki & my discount coupon and Joanna could purchase one from her family discount coupon.

There was a lot of complaining in the queues as some queues were virtually static. The shop was not quite prepared to handle such a rush.

The bed was bought as a joint present from both sets of grandparents. Joanna bought a beautiful wooden chest for her living room.

Friends and trouble

Grandson Samuel is my best friend along with granddaughter Asha.

These last few days I have been taking Samuel skiing. I have been walking approximately two rounds of the skiing track, about 3 km, while he skis alongside.

Samuel does not want me to walk faster than he can ski, which is not going to happen as walking in snow is considerably more slower than skiing. So I take shortcuts so as to keep him in my sights.

Samuel does not want me to finish the course ahead of him (about 15 minutes for 1.5 km). So we had a bit of a disagreement today. Both of us said we would tell our "moms".

Then he told me my "mom" was dead, to which I replied that I could still tell her in my prayers.

So today's sking session did not end as well as could be expected.

Joanna had to be the arbitrator so that we left each other still as best friends.

Grandson Daniel (10 months) is oblivious to all these high level politics between friends. He was smiling and laughing through the arbitration process!!

Maybe we will have to take a couple of days off from skiing till we resolve issues.

Happy birthday to Meera and Samuel

Two very special people to wish today.

First is our niece, Meera Ninan (née Lukose) daughter of Ammnikochamma and Kunjujuchayan. Ammnikochamma is the eldest daughter of my late godfather, Mr. K. M. Eapen, one of my mother's elder brothers who was a lawyer. Meera is married to Dr. Benjamin Ninan and they live in Madras, India.

A very happy birthday to you from Annikki & Sushilchayan.

The second who celebrates his birthday today is our grandson, Samuel, who is eight today. I have created a montage of some of the pictures taken over the years, some by us and some by others. Samuel is our younger daughter's eldest son.

For his present, Annikki made the decision this time. Instead of the usual stuff I choose, she bought him a really good astronomical telescope. He was happy to get it as his normal desires as a football, ice hockey stick and other sports things as clothes, that I normally would buy, were filled by his other grandparents, Tony's Mom, Maire, and Dad, Seppo, and Tony's sister, Heidi and her boyfriend Teemu. Teemu bound the ice hockey stick exactly the way it should be.

When I told Samuel that Grandma was making the decision for his birthday prsent this time, he diplomatically said that I could choose the present to give him for Christmas!!

1998

Tea Ceremony with me in 1999

2000

2001

With cousin Asha in 2002

With Annikki, 2003

2004

With me in 2005

With brother Daniel and me in 2005

Kimi 8th, Narain 15th, Australian Grand Prix

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

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.

Trim at 71, Trim at 77

010519018Thambichayan
Originally uploaded by jmatthan.

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.

75 today, Happy Birthday Dr. Mammen

Bapukuttychayan (left)
with Mathuttychayan
and Kochappachen
Originally uploaded by jmatthan.

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.

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.

"Ominous Skies" by Jaakko

"Pines in Norway" by Jaakko (Green)

"Pines in Norway" by Jaakko (Red)

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"