Paddy Feeny gets challenged

His intro to himself - late Paddy Feeny

Nowadays, when I visit an Indian household in Oulu, what I notice is an enormous TV in the living room.

When we arrived in Finland. A family of 6 living in about 25 sq. m. area, I looked around and found a black and white 4” (10 cm) tv with a short wave radio. 

My in-laws had a colour tv in their living room, but we preferred to stay in our small living space. Only when Elton John or the Eurovision song contest were on, which was well after my in-laws had gone to bed, would we go down and watch the larger tv.

During the day Mika and I would be glued to a short wave Sony radio listening in the main to BBC World Service while Annikki tuned in to her small kitchen Grumdig Radio listening to the Finnish radio service. 

Only in the evening would we all crowd around the tiny tv to watch Finnish news and programs.

Being a sports addict, Saturday afternoons, Mika and I would tune into Saturday Special, BBC’s sports round up hosted by their top sports commentator Paddy Feeny.

Paddy Feeny was going upwards, and was also given the job to host the Write On programme which was to air readers views.

There was no internet those days so I wrote my letter to Paddy Feeny.

Two page letter to Paddy Feeny

I was not happy with the way the programmes were hosted, so I addressed my complaints to Write On (again Paddy Feeny).

Personal reply to me from Paddy Feeny.

Within 2 weeks, I received this short reply from Paddy Feeny.

My letter thanking Paddy Feeny for the corrections made!

My minute by minute analysis showing 

the benefits of the changes!

I wrote to Paddy after watching the progress for three weeks.  I was glad to report that my views had been taken into account and Paddy and the producers had made modifications to the programme to take into the criticisms submitted by me.

The moral of this post is that if you have a problem, express your views and make the constructive suggestions. 

If the person receiving this information is intelligent, he will assess it and make the amendments and corrections and acknowledge them publicly. 

If the person is insecure and insincere, and surrounded by sycophants and those drunk on personal power, what will happen is that the situation will never be addressed and all sorts of subterfuges will be adopted to cover their insecurity and incompetence.

35 years later in life, we find that human behaviour has not changed.

Maybe some people in Oulu should think about the morality of this story!

A Delicious Gujarathi Evening

A tribute to Mrs. K M. Mathew (Annammakochamma) written by her husband, the late Padma Bhushan Mr. K. M. Mathew (former Chief Editor of Malayala Manorama and one of my mother’s younger brothers). 

Annikki and I had the good fortune to be hosted to a Gujarathi dinner evening in Oulu on Saturday.

Besides enjoying the camaraderie, we were amazed by the assortment of dishes served up by the hosts. There were over 15 different preparations including 5 different types of roti, including my absolute favourite, the Gujarathi sweet roti. 

Such amazing talent was on display. 

It took me back to the days when I would visit Anand and Baroda and stay with my Gujarathi friends.

I enjoyed every dish, all vegetarian and spiced to perfection by our hosts. A truly amazing experience in Oulu. 

How we wish there would be someone with the courage to start a vegetarian restaurant featuring not only Gujarathi dishes, but also the vast variety of true Indian vegetarian cuisine, such as from Andhra, Chetinad,  Kerala, Maratha,  Rajasthani, Telengana and Udipi, vegetarian food that I am very familiar with and which is a distance apart from the North Indian food served up by the majority of Indian and Nepalese restaurants in Finland today.

I am the nephew of the late Mrs. K. M. Mathew, who every Malayali lady knows because of her many decades of culinary expertise she used to share in the Malayala Manorama and the Vanitha ladies magazine, which is also now published in Hindi from Delhi. 

I was fortunate to be taught, in 1963, the elements of cooking by Mrs. K. M. Mathew before I set off to England for my studies. She taught me a few crucial dishes to survive and even hand-wrote some of the recipes (which I have preserved all these years).

"Life fragrant" by Mrs. K. M. Mathew.

An endorsement to Annikki and me written by her son, Chacko, in the book "Annamma" on his mother written by his father.

List of books on cooking written by Mrs. K. M. Mathew.

Modern Kerala Dishes

Flavours of the Spice Coast

The Family Cook Book,

Modern Kerala Dishes.

An endorsement by Mrs. K. M. Mathew to Annikki  in her book on Kerala Cookery.

Kerala Cookery 

A revised version of the Family Cook Book.

A revised versiion of Modern Kerala Dishes.

When we lived in Shawbury, England, Mrs. Mathew came to our remote village home to meet Annikki and our first born daughter, Susanna.

Annikki with Mr. & Mrs. K. M. Mathew who hosted us at their residence in Kottayam (1991).

After we returned to India in 1969, we visited Mrs. Mathew regularly when we went to Kottayam. When she came to Chennai, she would make it a point to visit Annikki. Although a generation apart, it was a mutual admiration society as they shared many common interests, art, cooking, education, music, fashion, upliftment of people, to name just a few.

Mrs. K.M .Mathew examines the White Chocolate wedding cake Annikki made for her niece's wedding (Chennai, 1999).

Mrs. Mathew had a regular column in  the Malayala Manorama, the largest circulating regional newspaper in India. Every Kerala lady waited eagerly every morning  her next tested recipe. (The way to a husband's heart is through his stomach!)

She would wake up at 4 am and work with her assistant to create the next recipe which would then be published in the newspaper. Her first assistant, Vasu, now retired, was awarded the EU Certification for his cooking!

We would tease her husband and children that their newspaper circulation was not based on their expertise in publishing but rather on what new recipe Mrs. Mathew turned up for the day.

We eat at Royal Garden Chinese Restaurant in Oulu run  by Michelle Hu from Kolkotta, two days a week, every week. The buffet table is unique and a feast. The salad spread is delicious, the sushi selection is truly scrumptious, the hors d'oeuvres spread of vegetarian dumplings and spring rolls, onion rings, papadams, Chinese crackers, Chinese cooked vegetables, fried fish or Chinese fish, the mushroom or fish soup, fried rice and noodles, and the main food selection, which on Thursday's is a beef curry and Friday's a chicken vindaloo, make the experience for us to go through the week satisfied, waiting for the next Thursday and Friday to arrive. And the price is very reasonable as is evidenced by the crowd of regulars every week. Michelle is an excellent cook and hostess and the entire kitchen staff and serving staff are very professional.

I have no doubt that Garam Masala, the only real Indian Restaurant in Oulu, serves excellent food, but it is too spiced for our elderly palettes. 

Both Annikki and I feel that to eat there is difficult for us as I have to take along my bulky walker. The restaurant is small and it would be inconvenient for other guests as the restaurant is popular and always full.

But I digress, as yesterday's Gujarathi dinner  experience was truly marvellous. A gourmet's delight.

How we wish some these experienced talented ladies would take the plunge to put up a different type of Indian restaurant than what we see all around in Finland. 

I have heard that there is one such restaurant in Helsinki set up by a former Oulu based Indian, but our travelling days are over, so that is only a dream. 

We know the talent exists across the board, as the Malayali gentlemen dish out a true Kerala traditional meal every Onam, which we are always happy to join and enjoy.

We have such untapped talent in the ladies and gents who have come from all parts of India to Oulu. Annikki and I would have, in our younger days, been at the centre of promoting this type of cultural exchange. 

Many years ago, Annikki did teach Indian cooking to the polytechnic in Ylivieska, and it was greatly appreciated by the students. She specialised in using easily available Finnish ingredients to create Indian dishes. 

When she produced "her" Masala Dosas, we had a queue of people lined up in our house waiting to enjoy the preparation. She even had a large  powerful coffee grinder to make the rice and urad dal powder! 

Michelle told me that recently a  restaurant was opened by a Michelin Star  Chef in the centre of Oulu which had queues of people waiting to get in. Her critical review was that it was not of any superior quality.

Running a restaurant is, however, not just serving good food but also good management and marketing.  The ambience must be perfect.

With an immediate market spectrum of over 200000 inhabitants, we are confident that a good Indian vegetarian restaurant in Oulu would draw in the crowds. 

Surely a much better draw than the 50 plus pizzerias scattered around Oulu, 

As I have had to take charge of our home kitchen, I worked out a ergonomic cooking schedule as we are just two people. Working from a wheelchair is difficult. 

Also, when we got married in 1967, my dear wife tolerated me in the kitchen for exactly one week, not because I was not a good cook, but because I was extremely messy!

If good food is available, like in Royal Garden, we would be dining out all weekdays. We have the benefit of 18 free taxi trips every month without any cost. 

Also, I am fortunate to have many Oulu taxi drivers from various communities, Ethiopians, Somalians, Sudanese, Zambian, and also many of my former Finnish  engineering students who have retired and who drive taxis. These would help us get to the restaurant economically.

Come on, dear Indians, please take on the challenge and get to produce an exclusive new "Indian" vegetarian restaurant for the people of Oulu. 

Annikki and I will be the first to help you break into this area.

In memory of Nobel Laureate Sir Charles K. Kao

2009 Nobel Laureate for Physics late Sir Charles K. Kao

(Picture from Wikipedia)

An optoelectronic keyboard is a type of keyboard that uses light sensors to detect key presses. Instead of using traditional mechanical switches, the keys of an optoelectronic keyboard contain light-emitting diodes (LEDs) and photodetectors. When a key is pressed, the photodetector detects the interruption of light caused by the key, and the corresponding keypress is registered. 

Optoelectronic keyboards are often used in environments where durability and resistance to liquid spills are important, as they have no moving parts and can be sealed to protect it from damage.

The first “optoelectronic keyboard” was developed by Hewlett-Packard in the 1960s.

Fibre optics was discovered in the 19th century, but its full potential as a means of transmitting data was only realised in the 1960s. 

In 1966, Charles K. Kao discovered the potential of glass fibres for transmitting light signals, which later led to the development of practical optical fibre cables.

Sir  Charles Kao was a renowned physicist and engineer. He was born on November 4, 1933, in Shanghai, China, and passed away on September 23, 2018. 

Sir Charles Kao is most famously known for his groundbreaking work on the practicality of using optical fibres for long-distance telecommunications. In the 1960s, he foresaw the potential of optical fibre cables as a viable solution for transmitting large amounts of information over long distances. At the time, copper wires were the standard for communication, but they suffered from limited bandwidth and significant signal loss.

Sir Charles Kao's research and experiments in the late 1960s led him to demonstrate that the attenuation (loss of signal) within an optical fibre could be significantly reduced if the fibre’s impurities were minimized. This discovery paved the way for the development and commercialization of fibre-optic communication systems, which revolutionized global telecommunications.

In recognition of his pioneering work, Sir Charles Kao, along with Willard S. Boyle and George E. Smith, was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2009. This prestigious honor solidified his status as a key figure in the advancement of modern telecommunication technology.

Aside from his contributions to the field of fibre optics, Sir Charles Kao held various academic and industry positions throughout his career. 

He obtained his Bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from the University of London and later pursued a Ph.D. in electrical engineering at the Imperial College London. 

Our paths crossed here in London as he was simultaneously working at the research centre of Standard Telephones and Cables (STC) in Harlow. This research centre of STC was affiliated with the research centre where I was working, the Rubber and  Plastics Research Association of Great Britain (RAPRA) in Shawbury. 

My work was on durability of polymeric materials, including the alternate material for fibre optics, acrylics.

Sir Charles Kao's work continues to be highly regarded and has profoundly impacted the telecommunications industry, facilitating the fast and efficient transmission of data around the world. His contributions to the development of optical fibre cables have revolutionized long-distance communication and laid the foundation for the digital age we live in today.

The potential of acrylic fibres as a fibre optic medium was discovered by a team of researchers at Bell Laboratories in the United States.

Engineers at Bell Laboratories discovered the potential of acrylic fibres as an optical fibre cable in 1970.

 

The first company to produce acrylic fiber for fibre optic cables was DuPont.

I am releasing this entry about Sir. Charles Kao and fibre optics, as in 1996 I wrote a confidential paper on my thoughts on “optoelectronic keyboards” which was not about the use of optoelectronic switches but on keyboards which would actually consist of mini screens as keys!

This concept arose out of the problems associated with original mobile phone numeric keyboards. 

Although IBM had already developed a touch keyboard for its mobile phone,  Signal, in 1994, it was nowhere near the possible potential.

When I exchanged my ideas and views with Steve Jobs in 1997 when he had returned to Apple from NEXT, it was well received, but it was only taken more seriously when Apple iPhone was released  in 2007, but only taking a very small part of my keyboard concept into consideration.

QWERTY keyboard

AZERTY Keyboard

DVORAK Keyboard

Here are the four pages of the text of my original paper “Optoelectronic Keyboards - Basic Concept, User Friendliness and Technology Shift” written  in 1996. 

It was first shared confidentially with my then son-in-law, Tony Manninen.

After doing a patent search, which showed that my concept was unique, I shared it with Steve Jobs. 

Unfortunately, the email exchange with Steve Jobs was through my now defunct internet account findians@findians.com as my service provider in Canada went bust and I lost my domain name. 

However, if someone is able to search Steve Jobs’s archives, it may be possible to retrieve our correspondence.

Sir Charles Kao developed Alzheimer’s in 2003. But he could still recall people and names and still carried on his research work. 

As I care for Annikki, stricken with Alzheimers, I still have hope that, like Sir Charles Kao, Annikki will continue to contribute to society, as she has done for the last 50 years, just by the sheer joy she conveys daily to all of us around her. 

Sir Charles Kao used most of his Nobel Prize money to set up a foundation to help those suffering from Alzeihmers.

I thought to release this blog today, 4th November 2023 as it is the 90th birthday of the late Sir Charles Kao, who influenced some of my work on acrylic polymer optoelectronics fibres in the late 1960s.

Brinda Somaya, Outstanding Architect

Brinda Somaya

 I have posted a tribute to a good friend Brinda (nee Chinappa) Somaya, one of India’s leading architects. 

She is a school friend of 50 years with both of our families having deep roots in Karnataka.

New Blog from today

 

Today we have launched our new blog called 

Collectibles By Annikki

We hope you enjoy this new blog and you find things that really suit you. We should have a new entry every day, so come back and look what we have to offer.

Remembering 29th October 1960

I have posted this entry on my memoirs blog about my sister who passed away this day in 1960.

Nalini on her wedding day in Kottayam, 1959.

Journalist extrordinaire - Sachi

The late K. S. Sachinanda Murthy (Sachi)

(Courtesy Malayala Manorama)

On 13th of October 2023, when the untimely passing is K. S. Sachindanda Murthy (known in media circles as Sachi) was announced, in my lifetime I have never seen the media react in such a manner. Almost every newspaper and magazine in India covered his life and contribution to journalism. 

My maternsl grandfather, K. C. Mammen Mappillai, laid down ”A Sacred Trust” for  all of us to follow.

The Sacred Trust

Sachi served Malayala Manorama for a full 40 years. He understood and followed ”The Sacred Trust”.

After joining Malayala Manorama in 1982, Sachi became the Chief of Bureau and when they started their unit in Delhi, he became the Resident Editor, Delhi. This is  largest unit outside Kerala. They have nearly 175 staffers in Delhi. (No drivers, no peons.)  They have the Hindi Vanitha  published from Delhi. 

Sachi headed all the verticals as his job. He ran it professionally and very very efficiently. Sachi ran a tight ship and gave fortnightly status reports on every facet to the Management. 

Many personal stories have been recited in the last few days as everyone knew Sachi and everybody loved Sachi. Even the highest praise that have been offered are not enough to express the tremendous impact of this humble individual on the Indian media.

Three journalists stand out in my list of the extrordinaire category - the late B.G. Verghese, A. G. Noorani (now 93) and the late  K. S. Sachinanda Murthy.

When my cousin, Rajen told Sachi that I held him on the same pedestal as A. G. Noorani, he was thrilled to bits.

I knew B. G. Verghese as he was the brother of my aunt. BG used to visit us regularly when we lived in Bombay. When I was studying in St. Stephen’s College in Delhi, I used to meet him and his wife, Jameela regularly. They were both Stephanians, Jameela, before Stephen’s became a male only college.

I used to read BG’s columns regularly. He had the art of telling the facts in a manner which was understandable by the common man, much like the cartoonist, R. K. Laxman, That was why Nehru appointed BG as his Press Secretary.

I did not know A. G. Noorani personally, but his two brothers, Mohamed and Mushtaq,  are close friends of mine. Mohamed looked after me when I was being trained at Farbenfabriken Bayer AG in Leverkusen (near Köln) in Germany in 1964. Mushtaq was managing a hotel in the centre of Bangalore and Annikki and I stayed with him when we visited the city. They are true gentlemen and AG stands in the same category. AG knows that the PEN is mightier than the Sword and politicians as Nehru and Vajpayee respected this incredible lawyer, journalist and author.

I read AG's white papers at the time of the Indo-Chinese conflict and after that I got hooked on his writing.

Sachi was different but equal to both of them. 

He joined The WEEK in  Bangalore at the end of 1982. From my very first meeting I knew that he was a man of absolute talent. He could develop a story when one could never see another side to it. He hardly made predictions but when he did, he was always right.

 

Rajen getting his Padma Shri award from  President Abdul Kalam. His father Padma Bhushan K. M. Mathew is in the picture which also has his wife. Prema, their son, Jayant, and Jayant's wife, Anu. In the lventre back is Sachi.

(Courtesy Malayala Manorama)

Sachi served as the secretary general of the Editors Guild of India and chairman of the Lok Sabha Press Advisory Committee. He also was a member of the Central Press Accreditation Committee and the Press Council of India.

I was later told by my cousin Rajen that the contacts that Sachi had in all circles in Delhi and around India were without any comparison. He knew everyone that needed to be known and not only that he knew them intimately. He was the source for many journalists wanting a hot story. But Sachi was never after a hot story as his concentration was on the best reporting..

I met him for the first time when he joined tThe WEEK in Bangalore. He already knew the names of my wife and all my children. And he addressed me as Sushilchayan, a form of respect amongst Malayalis, although he was a Kannadiga from Kolar.

He knew all the contributions my paternsl grandfather, Raja Mantra Pravina Dewan Bahadur Maliyakal Kuriyan (Mysore) Matthan made to Mysore society.

When we moved to Finland, The WEEK magazine used to arrive at our home. Both, our son Mika and I, would rush to see Sachi’s writing. Although Mika was just 12 years old, he too liked the way Sachi told his story.

Mika kept all the old issues of the magazine for many years mainly because he liked Sachi’s page.

When President Pranab Mukherjee came to Finland in 2014, Sachi was in the media team but unfortunately we could not meet. A few weeks later I was in Delhi sitting in the office of The WEEK when Sachi came in. He was so greatly moved that he had not seen me during his visit to Finland, especially when he heard that I had brought  a group of Indians from Oulu to meet the Indian President.

After I heard of his illness, there was not a day that I did not say a prayer for dear Sachi and his family. It was then, when Rajen told him of my appreciation of Sachi that he was so moved by that.

What were the greatest lessons that I learnt from Sachi were that it is important to be humble and give respect to everyone who deserves respect. He taught me that it is the contacts that one develops in the course of one’s life that  leads to one’s success.

I will certainly miss the writings of Sachi as there is no one who can replace him.

Sachi with Philip Mathew, the Chief Editor of The WEEK, and Prime Minister P. V Narasimha Rao

(Courtesy Malayala Manorama)

Sachi with President Ram Nath Kovind and Chacko  Mathew, the Administration Chief of the Malayala Manorama group. 

(Courtesy Malayala Manorama)

The Karnataka government decided to accord full state honours to the departed during his cremation.

Sachi was a recipient of the Durlabh Singh Media Award and the Karnataka Media Academy award award for lifetime contribution to journalism at the national level, among others.

Sachi is survived by wife Chandrika and sons Nithin and Rohan. 

His columns called “Desiyam” and “Power Point” in the Malayala Manorama daily and The Week respectively dealt with national politics and garnered a wide readership. The editorials written by Sachi in the Malayala Manorama daily shaped the worldview of a large Malayali audience.

May this great journalist rest in peace. And may the dear Lord give solace to his immediate family and every single member of our Malayala Manorama family who will all miss him dearly.