Being hacked

No, not my computer, as I use a hack proof Apple Mac!

Just yesterday, I received a message from a very dear friend of mine in a language that I did not understand. I used Google translate and found it was in Portuguese.

The message had as the Subject Fotos. 15/12 and was

Cuidado com essas pessoas falsas.
Salvei essas fotos pra você ver
Olha só o que aconteçeu...

anexo.

219,5Kb Baixar

This translates as

Beware of these fake people.
I saved these pictures for you to see
Look what happened ...

Annex.

Download 219.5 Kb

.

If one clicked on the attachment, the hacker could get into a computer running Windows. On a Mac, as this is an .exe file, I got a warning about it and was able to stop the download. Although, even if I had saved it, the .exe file would not have been able to run on my Mac.

I immediately emailed my friend asking for an explanation.

He replied that the email had not been sent by him.

Exactly as he was sending me that message, I got another email from him with a repeat of the earlier message, which meant the hacker or his software was at that precise moment operating inside his account.

Also, the hacker managed to send 3 messages to our Seventh Heaven Google Group.

The minute I marked those messages as spam, my friend's email ID would have been banned from the Google Group.

I got his alternate email ID, subscribed him and then marked the messages as spam. Within seconds Google had banned the old email ID.

In the Google Gmail, at the bottom of the page you can see a note

Last account activity: 8 hours ago on this computer. Details

When you click on the word "Details" it gives the last 5 log ins along with the IP address from where you have logged in. If it is not from your computer, you know you have a hacker and from where.

I do not know whether other email providers have this facility.

As I use a Mac and have used one for the last 25 years, I do not even have to have virus protection software installed on my computer. It has saved me much hassle, time and money!!!

Now my friend has to change all his sensitive information as the hacker had access to all his emails, passwords, and probably credit card numbers, expiry dates, etc.

Kai Lam's letter to the Chief Justice

60er Kai Lam is representing Sabahuddin Ahmed, one of the accused in the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack case.

He has made a representation to the Chief Justice which is contained in a report in the Indian Express.



Interesting?

School Song - West Side Story Version

A couple of Cathedralites have sent me links to this You Tube version of the School Song, made to resemble something out of West Side Story.

Difficult to say whether I approve or disapprove, but the "Let it Rip, Let it Thunder" was a bit feeble! Glad to see initiative by present-day Cathedralites using the New Media.

Page from the Coffee Table Book - Directory of 59er Cathedralites
published in November 2009 as part of our 50th Year Reunion Celebration.
Authored and published by my wife, Annikki, and myself, a 59er.

Given below is the blurb associated with the release of the You Tube Version of the School Song.

A Little about the History of the School Song

These are the words of our school song, originally written for the Cathedral Boys High School, in late 19th century British occupied India. At this time, our school was open only to boys, hence the words of the song emphasise on ‘boys’. This song means a lot to every Cathedralite today, and is sung with great gusto on every major occasion, reiterating the fierce school spirit that we are so well known for. It speaks of everything that this school imbibes in us, that every Cathedralite takes with him or her wherever he or she goes; loyalty, pride, a sense of duty and of course, selflessness above all.

Making of the Video

We've shot a video presenting the school song sung by our Choir. It has candid shots of the choir, Cathedralites beginning marching practice, playing basketball, generally having fun and saying hi to our friends at EUMIND.

Watch it on this link below:

Cathedral and John Connon School Song

The DVD of our 59er 50th Year Reunion may contain the rendition of the School Song in the Cathedral at this year's Founders' Day Service.

The roof of the church lifted at the Rip and Thunder! :-)

Having played cricket, football and hockey with Johnny...

I was so pleased when Naval sent me a link to CricInfo mentioning that there was an article about John Jameson. I did not immediately find the article, but then I entered his name into their search engine. It turned up two Jamesons, one from South Africa and the other JA Jameson from England.

There was a nice short profile about his career and statistical details about his cricketing career in the UK.

Profile

John Jameson was a solidly-built opening batsman with a propensity to attack rather than defend, and who on his day was one of the cleanest hitters in English cricket. Add into that his brisk medium-pace bowling, a good slip fielder and, on occasion, a reliable stand-in wicketkeeper, and it was clear to see why he was so highly regarded at Warwickshire. His international opportunities were limited and were undone by his habit of being run-out - three of his first four innings ended that way, including the first instance of it happening to an England batsman twice in the same match. In the Caribbean in 1973-74 he top-edged the first ball he faced out there for six over the slips. In 1974 he featured in a world-record second-wicket stand of 465 with Rohan Kanhai, and the following summer was included in England's World Cup squad. He retired prematurely in 1976 to coach at Taunton School (his alma mater) before becoming a first-class umpire (1984-87) , Sussex's coach (1988) and then MCC's assistant secretary in 1989. As late as 1994 he was still playing for Warwickshire's Over-50 side, despite bad knees which left him with an increasingly rolling gait.
Martin Williamson
Copyright CricInfo

At the end of the article there was a link to a more recent article From Byculla to The Oval, and back by Nagraj Gollapudi datelined December 3, 2009.

Not much new in the article except it did mention that he had studied at our school.

I remember John very well. He was just two years senior to me and also in Savage House. I remember him playing hockey, football and cricket with me in the House Competitions. He was an absolutely natural sportsman, very much like another Savageite, Roger Cloy, several years younger to us.

I wonder whatever has happened to Roger? 

I had just arrived from Bangalore. Both my brother and I were good sportsmen and very fit as we had had the opportunity of the daily compulsory games at Bishop Cottons school, a school blessed with almost a dozen pitches in the school compound! 

In one football match at the Oval, we Savageites were being given a bit of a rough time against another House, when Johnny called my brother and me at half time and worked out a new strategy. It meant playing the game, holding the ball more to ourselves rather than just kicking it wildly around. 

I seem to remember that whatever he suggested worked and we managed to draw that game.

Johnny had complimented my leg spin bowling during the cricket season. As my brother was Captain of the House team, John had persuaded him to give me rather a lengthy spell in one House match where I did manage to get some important wickets without giving away too many runs.

However, my first love had always been hockey. I do not remember actually playing with Johnny in any match, as I think he had left school to go somewhere else (Sherwood College, Nanital?) during my first serious hockey season in Cathedral.

My links to Johnny were rekindled when the 57ers planned their 50th year reunion. Thanks to the late Budhni, Johnny sent me a couple of pictures of himself and his family. These are available in some earlier blog entry.

I am sure if Johnny had decided to play any sport for India he would have done marvellously as the surroundings always suited him, just like they had suited his dad in that country.

56er Ubi remembers much about Johnny and his family. I do not know whether he has had the opportunity to renew contact with his family friend after all these years!

Founders' Day Church Service

Even with the traffic rush, we managed to reach the Cathedral Church by 16:45.

Our Class photograph session was in progress. This year it was different from previous years where the sessions have been conducted in the school premises with chairs, banners, etc.

I do not know what photographs were taken, but no doubt they will reach me soon. I posed for many.

Then it was inside the church, where there were several rows reserved for us 59ers and we there in full force.

I have never attended a Founders' Day Service ever since I left school but have had many moving descriptions of it. It lived up to my expectations.

Principal Mrs. Merea Isaacs, in her welcome address did mention that previous staff had come from various parts of India, but no one had told her that William Shiri and his wife, Pushpa, had come all the way from Canada and Richard Smith (corrected after Comment) from England. John Billington could not stay for the service, but had attended several of our 59er functions, and he too had come from England. Joe D'Souza in his frail condition, had come from Goa!

We 59ers did get a special mention in her speech as we were celebrating our Golden Reunion.

The Church Service was wonderful. It ended with the rip roaring shout that we as a school are famous for.

The exit from the church was slow and the blistering breathless heat was taking a toll on many. As I headed to the snacks section, Annikki decided that she could not stand the heat. So we left directly.

I will blog the next episode after the Alumni dinner dance at the Blue Sea on Worli Sea Face which starts in about half an hour. Knowing Mumbai time, will it be an hour or two away?

Some pictures from Hasnain

Hasnain has been filling me with some photographs of various reunion events. I am sharing a few with you. 64er Rajiv Ved also submitted a nice picture of me with a couple of dear 64er friends at the "Evening with the Findians".

Ooky, Ratan, Vijay, Frainy (Percy's wife), Armeane, Vikram (Kamdar),
Percy, Naubir and Hasnain kneeling.

Asha, Harmo (Rani), Piloo, Renuka, Parvin, Frahana, Gita and Seeta

Sheryn and Anjula are standing at the back.

John, Armeane, Naubir, Ramesh

Presley brothers - 59ers Shivi and Vicky


Me, and two 64ers, captured by another 64er - Rajiv Ved.

Great pictures - Hasnian and Rajiv. Thanks

What is the mathematical chance of this?

Mumbai is an ENORMOUS City with thousands and thousands of taxis.

I have not been here for 10 years. I found Mumbai taxis to be cheap and efficient.

What are the chances that a taxi driver will pull up on the road, with passengers in the back seat, get out and greet you?

That happened this morning? I felt deeply touched by his actions.

Incredible India, but I have taken note of Ubi's warning - go only where you intend to go in a taxi, never take anything edible from a taxi driver .

Our REUNION Day

Yesterday, for Annikki and me, was a historic one. It was a day that we had worked for for 13 years, ever since I had heard of the passing away of my dear friend and classmate, the late Bala Parasuraman.

The day was one I took easily. 59er Geeta Simoes saw me sitting on the lawn in front of her home and shouted out for me to come in. I declined, so she sent out for water for me on a sweltering day. I was waiting for the decorators to arrive, but it was also time for me to silently contemplate what lay ahead. For over an hour I sat and thought about what I have been striving for, and that it was just a few hours away. The positives and the many negatives streamed through my thoughts. (Thank you Gita for giving us such a beautiful location to host our evening.)

The wonderful support and help of Malathi, over the many months of planning, were foremost in my mind. Even with her busy schedule at work, she was there to help me through these last hours. How can Annikki and I repay this wonderful lady, who through her own work (the way she cared for a young man with no arms and legs in Finland) and that of her husband, Ashok Khembhavi, "the Doctor of Dharavi" make me feel so inadequate?

I went and did some shopping soon after the decorators arrived. I then went home and took Annikki out shopping, just to get the event out of my mind. On our way back we stopped at the roof garden.

I was humbled at the ingenuity of Abhijit and his crew. The ground was too soft to take the load of the chairs. When you sat on one, it sank backwards into the ground and you would topple off. They had the brilliant idea of taking two short pieces of bamboo and tying them under the back legs, distributing the load and preventing the sinking and toppling.

Such genius can only be found in India - this Incredible India!

The florists and the electricians were busy at work. The place was taking a different shape. It was already 15:30 and I was nervous whether they would finish in time. The caterers had arrived and they too were busy.

We returned home. After a shower, I decided that I would not wear the traditional Kerala gear but the more North Indian one. I dressed and was at the site by 17:00 hours. I noted that a huge traffic snarl up was possibly going to occur.

The next couple of hours were hectic as I had to get my Mini Mac working and at the same time I had to answer hundreds of calls from people wanting to know a a multitude things. Abhijit's team were simply wonderful as they did not panic through each major hurdle, showing the experience and competence on every front of organizing an event of this magnitude.

By 18:30, the time I had chosen for us to begin, we were ready to receive the guests except for some things on which I depended on others. But they called and reassured me that they were on their way.

The three ladies who were our hostesses arrived. I took the first sip of our welcome drink - the Coconut Juice served in the Coconut Shell. It was a brilliant thought as it not only set the trend for the evening ahead but it also saved the caterer the job of cutting up all those coconuts and pouring out the juice into glasses! Thank you, Abhijit, for this stupendous idea.

The guests started arriving, slowly, all recounting that the traffic chaos in Mumbai and around was in a stalemate position. But I knew even the latecomers would be in time for the dinner!

Malathi brought me the mundu (dhoti) and I rushed into Geeta's apartment and changed. I looked somewhat like a Malayalee, but I am sure most Malayalees would have thought I was an insult - and I held up my mundu WITHOUT a belt!!

It is hard to say what was the best part of this event, as I enjoyed every minute of it. When I released the book, the Coffee Table publication that Annikki and I had strived to be a fore-runner for other reunions, I was tongue tied for several minutes. My usually nonchalant extempore approach failed me. Several times I had to resort to looking at my notes.

The music of Sibelius and the video clips from Finland through all the seasons, showing the wonderful country that Annikki and I have lived in for 25 years played in the background. I did not let it superimpose itself on the event, as that was not the reason that these people were here. They were here to meet and talk to others.

Slowly the tables were filled and the noise of the chatter was like happy music to me.

The food was served and the very mention of freshly cooked appams had everyone on their feet. Even the late arrivals did not spend much time at the bar - the food was of a quality that matched that of our maestro from Kottayam, the 75 year old wizard, Vasu.

The outstanding preparation was the Pineapple Pachadi, a creation of Abhijit, but it was not the only dish that drew comments from the gathering. They simply loved the food and every single person who attended came up to both Annikki and me and thanked us for opening up the splendour of the Kerala cuisine. (When I had gone to the tasting session where Abhijit had preparaed a spread of over 30 items, the mouthwatering Prawn Starter and the Pineapple Pachidi stood out by a mile, both original creations of Abhijit - and they proved to be the hits of the evening. My intuition and Abhijit did not fail me!)

My heart and soul thanked Malathi and Abhijit and their staff for what was a culinary delight in a surroundings of fairy and Chinese lights, a memory that Annikki and I will treasure all our lives.

I am sorry I cannot post any pictures, as being the host I did not have time to be behind my camera lens. But it has been recorded for posterity on the Class DVD and I did note that my eyes to the world, Hasnain, was busy behind his lens! Chinnie, what would I do without you?

Slowly, as planned, we drew the event to a close by 23:00 hours.

I missed all my classmates who had not been able to attend. I missed all my friends who had not been able to come. I missed my relatives who also had not been able to come. That was my failure.

As Malathi, Annikki and I sat down after the event when all our friends had left, we agreed that 90% of our objectives had been achieved - and both of them were happy. I was sad. Above all, I missed my dearest of friends, Ashok Kapur, and my greatest mentor, 56er Harminder Uberoi (Ubi) who had fallen ill and could not attend.

Friendships have been cemented. Long lost friends found, and new friendships made. Names on the internet have become faces to remember. They are now live persons with whom I can now relate as human beings and not as persons@anywhere.com!

Above all, I would like to thank my three cousin brothers, Rajen, Thambi and Chacko, who have made this trip to India a reality beyond all our dreams. Without them behind me, their tremendous love and care for Annikki and me, all this would have remained just a dream. They way they have taken all their publications to be brand leaders in their categories - the Malayala Manorama, The WEEK, Vanitha, Balrama, the Manorama Year Book, just shows the power of positive thinking and the power of love and affection. Annikki and I owe them an immense gratitude for whatever they have done for us.

But above all, thank you, everyone who attended, for a wonderful evening.

Now the stage is set for the Founders’ Day Church Service and the Alumni dinner. (I still have to buy a tie. Ubi has warned me not to go where taxi drivers take me - my foolishness.!!!)

Reunions started

Those of you who are visiting this blog regularly should go to my main blog, Jacob's Blog, for my daily updates till the 15th of December.

This week our Golden Reunion is in progress and the news will be mainly Cathedralite oriented.

Thanks for being here.

Next two months

All our blog postings for the next two months will only be on our main blog - Jacob's Blog

Enjoy your trip to India with us.

You live and learn!!

What a wonderful set of blog readers we have.

56er Ubi gave me this background:

Dear Jacob,

David Colaco is dead right! He has described it as it was!

I thought you were looking for the origins of the game.

I can remember fellows like Stefano Episcopo, Ralph Mukherjee, "Tum Tum" Aresh, Eruch Shroff, Zulfi Currimjee, Dewjee, amongst a host of other worthy heavyweights.

Tara Malkani was exceptionally good at this game, despite his not so heavy frame!!

It was not only the weight that counted but also the WAY one landed on the backs of those bending down that broke their backs!

BUT, it was incumbent on the team landing on the backs of the bending team to stay on!

As was the case often, because people landed badly and awkwardly, they slipped off!

If that happened, they were disqualified and the team on the receiving end then got their turn to jump on the backs of the others!

It was not a PT game. It was a "Quad" activity, just like Quad cricket and football-except that C. J. Olliver had "institutionalised" Quad Soccer with the "Free Booter's League", for which he had made that legendry trophy that was so fiercely fought for!

Regards,

Ubi.

We were all harping on the words "kitty kitty" because of our Anglo-Scottish schooling heritage.

Along comes a wise 49er Naval Patel from Mysore, and tells me that it is "kiti kiti" which means "How many?" in Marathi!!

Now we have it all - the origins itself - a Maharashtrian children's game enjoyed by all of us in our Cathedralite environment! Much better than the computer games of today with all the violence we wanted! :-)

Thank you 69er Dileep Hurry, thank you 59er David Colaco, thank you 56er H. S. Uberoi, and thank you 49er Naval Patel! A 20 year cross-scection 60 years down the road.

What would this blog be without you guys.

Kitty Kitty

Recently I had a request from a 69er through a 67er as to a game called "kitty kitty" that we used to play in school.

I had vague memories about it, so I circulated the question to my 59er colleagues through our Google Group.

In a flash came the reply from David Colaco who lives in England.

Here is how he described kitty kitty:

One team bent down in the form of a long horse against a wall or similar non moveable object. The other team ran one at a time and jumped on the line of boys bent down in the form a long horse. They tried to jump and land heavily trying hard to collapse the horse.

Once all the boys had jumped on the horse, they, (led by captain of the team on top) shouted kitty kitty kitty and the captain put a number of fingers up.

The team heavily laden had to guess the number. Only after they had guessed it correctly they had a chance to reverse roles.

I believe 3 guesses were only given or else the team on top had another go at running and collapsing the horse!

I did remember most of the game except the bit about the number guessing.

Thank you David for explaining the game - and I do remember it was great fun.

The second question is whether it was a free time game or was it one we played during PT! I sort of remember it being a PT game!

ICE - In Case of Emergency

I received this very important email from a dear friend, which I felt should have the widest publicity, so I am putting it on all my major blogs:

We all carry our mobile phones with names & numbers stored in its memory but nobody, other than ourselves, knows which of these numbers belong to our closest family or friends.

If we were to be involved in an accident or were taken ill, the people attending us would have our mobile phone but wouldn't know who to call. Yes, there are hundreds of numbers stored but which one is the contact person in case of an emergency? Hence this "ICE" (In Case of Emergency) Campaign

The concept of "ICE" is catching on quickly. It is a method of contact during emergency situations. As cell phones are carried by the majority of the population, all you need to do is store the number of a contact person or persons who should be contacted during emergency under the name "ICE" ( In Case Of Emergency).

The idea was thought up by a paramedic who found that when he went to the scenes of accidents, there were always mobile phones with patients, but they didn't know which number to call. He therefore thought that it would be a good idea if there was a nationally recognized name for this purpose. In an emergency situation, Emergency Service personnel and Hospital Staff would be able to quickly contact the right person by simply dialing the number you have stored as "ICE."

For more than one contact name simply enter ICE1, ICE2 and ICE3 etc. A great idea that will make a difference!

Let's spread the concept of ICE by storing an ICE number in our Mobile phones today!

Please forward this. It won't take too many "forwards" before everybody will know about this It really could save your life, or put a loved one's mind at rest .

Remember:- ICE will speak for you when you are not able to.

Thank you Naval for this wonderful input.

Inheritance Nightmare / PERINTÖPAINAJAINEN

My next book, which is being published simultaneously in English and Finnish (translation by Annikki), is going to be a blockbuster.

In 1994, I exposed the serious problems within the University of Oulu. That book, "Seven Years Hard Labour in a Finnish Holiday Camp - A Finnish Unversity" was the most pirate copied book in Finland that year.

The book jointly authored by Annikki and me in 1994, "Handbook for Survival in Finland", which was also only in English, was sold out within days of publication.

Both Annikki and I have been researching and writing on several subjects, but this book was always at the back of our minds from 1992 onwards.

Now is the opportune time. We decided to leap frog many other manuscripts to publish this one. It gives a deep insight into how corrupt the Finnish System has been and is, despite whatever Transparency International has been writing.

I give below the Synopsis and Contents in both Finnish and English.

Also the pre-ordering information is given at the end so you can save some money if your order is received before the books hit the shelves. The book is written, printed, published and sold directly by us so we can give you value for money instead of lining the pockets of publishers and booksellers. Authors get a measly 10% after several years!

We do hope you will enjoy this book. The sequel "Last Will and Testament" by me will follow soon thereafter. That is a momumental work. It will not be published in Finnish.

INHERITANCE NIGHTMARE
by
Jacob Matthan
Author of the 1994 brilliant exposé
“Seven Years Hard Labour
in a Finnish Holiday Camp
- A Finnish University”

Synopsis

Like all the author’s books so far, this book is NOT fiction. It is the recording of the modern day repetition of Victor Hugo’s “Les Misérables” in Finland in the 2000s!

The author comes from a country which is the home of corruption. According to Transparency International, Finland is supposedly one of the least corrupt countries in this world.

This intricate narration of this true story, covering almost 10 years, shows the extent of malaise in the Finnish System - the judiciary, the police, the bureaucrat, the media, the banks, and above all the lawyers, who are supposedly there to uphold the rights of the innocent. It is a brotherhood network!

Kari Kantakoski is supposedly “a leading lawyer” in Oulu. The intrigue that he has been involved in to get the lion’s share of the inheritance of the family of a carpenter and his wife is still an on-going saga.

The level of audacity increased with each passing day as this lawyer flaunted the law using his “friends” in high places.

Justice Delayed is Justice Denied!

The Lawyer’s Association, supposedly to root out people like Kari Kantakoski, appears to be just a big joke! Kantakoski laughs at this organisation as he knows they would not lift a finger to indict him! The Association has been “investigating” this matter for 9 months while Kari Kantakoski carries on his plundering!

In Finland, the only recourse to justice is publicity, the internet, in particular. Certainly not via the Finnish media, as it is also part of the corrupt establishment.

This book, which will be on the internet and the shelves (in English and Finnish) in a few weeks, highlights in the greatest detail (with every supporting document) each step of the process of having to fight a corrupt system in which the height of corruption is the legal profession in this country.

Lawyers may be the butt of many jokes. That is not without sound reason.

The author leaves it to the reader to draw one’s own conclusions as to what is right or wrong, what is corruption and what is not, what is legal and what is illegal.

It is a sad sad tale.

If Transparency International were to look at this and many thousands of similar cases, Finland would lie 180th in the 180 countries that are reported on by them!

Contents

PREFACE
Chapter 1: Background to the Nightmare
Chapter 2: Matti's Death Estate Inventory Meeting
Chapter 3: Hilja's Dementia
Chapter 4: Renovation of Kampitie
Chapter 5: Public Guardian for Hilja
Chapter 6: Administrator and Executor for Matti's Death Estate
Chapter 7: Financial Misuse of Hilja's Bank Account
Chapter 8: Settlement of Renovation Cost
Chapter 9: Appointment as Care Giver for Hilja
Chapter 10: Eviction of Hilja and Court Decision
Chapter 11: Corruption in Oulu Magistrate Guardianship Section Functioning
Chapter 12: Attempt to Remove the Public Guardian
Chapter 13: February 2004
Chapter 14: Dire Warnings Ignored - Wall Deterioration
Chapter 15: Lawyers Fees
Chapter 16: Minutes of Meetings
Chapter 17: Secret Deals
Chapter 18: Hilja Passes On
Chapter 19: Matti's Death Estate Administrator / Executor Greed Uncovered
Chapter 20: Accounts Examined
Chapter 21: Forced Sale of Kampitie
Chapter 21: Hilja's Death Estate Inventory
Chapter 22: Fraud and Cover Up in Osuuspankki
Chapter 23: Keskinäinen Vakuutusyhtiö Turva Mopo Scandal
Chapter 24: Control of Kampitie
Chapter 25: Huoneistokeskus: Money Rules the Day
Chapter 26: Complaint to the Lawyer's Association
Chapter 27: Complaints to the Oulu Police
Chapter 28: Complaints to the Finnish Courts
Chapter 29: Transparency International
Chapter 30: Who Gets What?

PERINTÖPAINAJAINEN
Jacob Matthan
“Seitsemän vuotta kovaa työtä suomalaisella loma leirillä
- Suomalainen Yliopisto”
loistavan palastuskirjan kirjoittaja 1994

Tiivistelmä

Kuten kaikki kirjailijan kirjat tähän mennessä, tämä kirja ei ole Fiktio. Se on Viktor Hugon kirjan “KURJAT!” kaltaisten tapahtumien toisto Suomessa 2000 luvulla!

Kirjailija tulee maasta, joka on korruption kotimaa. Transparency International’in mukaan Suomen oletetaan olevan yksi maailman vähiten korruptoituneita maita.

Tämä mutkikas tosi kertomus, kestoltaan melkein kymmenen vuotta osoittaa suomalaisen systeemin pahoinvoinnin laajuutta - oikeuslaitos, poliisi, byrokraatti, media, pankit ja ennen kaikkea asianajajat, joiden pitäisi olla viattomien oikeuksien puolustajia. Se on veljeskuntaverkosto!

Kari Kantakosken oletetaan olevaan “huomattava asainajaja” Oulussa. Sotku, jossa hän on mukana saadakseen leijonan osuuden kirvesmiehen ja hänen vaimonsa perheen perinnöstä on yhä meneillään oleva tapahtumaketju.

Röyhkeyden taso nousee päivä päivältä, kun tämä asianajaja lailla pöyhkeillen käyttää “ystävään” korkeilla paikoilla.

Viivytys oikeudessa kieltää oikeuden

Asianajajien Liitto, jonka oletetaan kitkevän juurineen Kari Kantakosken kaltaisia henkilöitä, näyttää olevan iso vitsi. Kantakoski nauraa tälle järjestölle tietäen etteivät he nostaisi sormeakaan syyttäkseen häntä mistään. Liitto on tutkinut tätä asiaa 9 kuukautta. Sillä välin Kari Kantakoski jatkaa ryöstelyä!

Suomessa ainoa oikeuden turva on julkisuus, internetti erityisesti, eikä varmasti suomalaisen median kautta, koska se on myös osa korruptia valtajärjestelmää.

Tämä kirja, joka tulee internettiin ja hyllyille (englanniksi ja suomeksi) muutamassa viikossa, korostaa mitä suurimmassa määrin (kaikkea tukevilla dokumenteilla) joka askelta prosessissa, jonka joutuu taistelemaan korruptiossa systeemissä, minkä korruption huippu on laillinen ammattikunta tässä maassa. Asianajajat voivat olla monen pilan kohde. Eikä syyttä.

Kirjoittaja jättää lukijalle tehdä omat johtopäätöksensä siitä mikä on oikein ja väärin, mikä on korruptiota mikä ei, mikä on laillista ja mikä on laitonta. Se on surullinen kertomus. Jos Transparency International näkisi tämän ja tuhansia muita samanlaisia tapauksia, joista he raportoivat, Suomi olisi sijalla 180 mukana olevista maista joita on 180!


SISÄLTÖ

Esipuhe
Kappale 1: Painajaisen tausta
Kappale 2: Matin kuolinpesäkokous
Kappale 3: Hiljan dementia
Kappale 4: Kampitie remontti
Kappale 5: Yleinen edunvalvoja
Kappale 6: Matin kuolinpesän pesänselvittäjä- ja jakaja
Kappale 7: Hiljan pankkitilin väärinkäyttö
Kappale 8: Remontti kulujen sopimus
Kappale 9: Hiljan omaishoitajan nimitys
Kappale 10: Hiljan häätö ja oikeuden päätös
Kappale 11: Korruptio Oulun Maistraatin yleisen edunvalvonnan osastolla
Kappale 12: Yritys erottaa edunvalvoja virasta
Kappale 13: Helmiku 2004
Kappale 14: Välinpitämättömyys vakavista varoituksista - ulkoseinän rapistuminen
Kappale 15: Asianajan palkat
Kappale 16: Kokousten päiväkirjat
Kappale 17: Salaisia sopimuksia
Kappale 18: Hiljan kuolema
Kappale 19: Matin kuolinpesän pesänselvittäjä/jakajan ahneus paljastuu
Kappale 20: Tilinpidon tarkastus
Kappale 21: Kampitie pakkomyynti
Kappale 22: Hiljan perukokous
Kappale 23: Petos ja peittely Osuuspankissa
Kappale 24: Keskinäinen vakuutusyhtiö Turva Moposkandaali
Kappale 25: Kampitien hallinta
Kappale 26: Valitus asianajajaliittoon
Kappale 27: Valituksia Oulun poliisille
Kappale 28: Valituksia suomalaisissa oikeuslaitoksissa
Kappale 29: Transpanency International
Kappale 30: Kuka saa mitä?

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An important chore completed this morning

Yes, I have been absent from all my blogs for quite some time. We have been through a few traumatic weeks, which I will blog about in the not so distant future.

But today is a different day!

Yesterday, Annikki and I visited Kuopio in central eastern Finland. The area is truly magnificent with lakes and forests everywhere. We are starting our new operations there as we expand the reach of Raantel Oy, the furnished housing company which is sky rocketing as a national enterprise. We have the Slovenian team of electrical engineers moving there shortly to erect the new Post Office Sorting Centre, a huge sophisticated high tech complex which will sort letters and packets for the whole of central Finland.

It was quite a successful visit. We covered about 700 km yesterday (up and down) and reached back around 21:30.

I am writing (with Annikki) a new book called "Inheritance Nightmare" a true story concerning the high level of corruption in Finland, quite contra to what Transparency international, the Swiss Organisation, have been reporting. I finished a couple of chapters, and after a bath, got to bed around midnight. The book will be published in a very short time in both languages - Finnish (by Annikki) and English (by me).

I was up before sunrise, which is now around 5 am (It has been changing by about 3 minutes every day since midsummer! Sunset changes by about 4 minutes a day reducing our daylight hours by about 7 minutes every day till we reach our "total darkness phase!)

There are a few of my alma mater friends, many whom I have never met in person, who have become dear to me over the years. 49ers Yezad Kapadia and Naval Patel, are two which spring to mind. They were the brilliant duo of 1949. If one did not get the prize, the other did!

After my morning ablutions i had to make a very important phone call - to speak to Mysore to wish Naval Patel a very happy 75th birthday. He picked up the phone on the first ring, so I was afraid I may have woken him up early on his birthday.

I have never "spoken" to Naval before, but he has spoken to me for many years with his wonderful emails and comments. He told me that the 75th birthday is not such an important milestone (unlike in Finland) and as the Parsi New Year had been celebrated on Wednesday, he had done his celebrations on that day.

We chit chatted for a few minutes. I hope to drop in on Armaity and him in end October on our Bharat Darshan. Mysore drives pleasant memories through my bones as I had a wonderful childhood there.

Happy birthday, Naval and may you have many many more. I do hope you will try to make it to Finland sometime soon.

Being missed by some

(Posted on all my major blogs.)

Approaching sunset in Oulu, Finland at 10 pm on a lovely summer's day.




After I crushed my knuckle and went through the trauma of an operation, Finnish style, which I will blog after I get out of the hands of the doctors, I have tried to keep up with my schedules, but not with much success. Typing, driving and doing just simple tasks as taking of my jacket or putting on my shirt, with one hand is painfully slow.

The travel schedule has not reduced. My daily routines have increased substantially since Nisha, Sunil and Hannah are holidaying in India and also Ganesh has taken his annual holiday. Number of group arrivals in Helsinki has mounted substantially and juggling the apartments to keep everyone happy has been a Herculean task. But Sunil has been a great help, even though he is working through a dial-up internet connection from a Kerala village!

Last week I drove up to Rovaniemi, on the Arctic Circle, and back twice. Each a 450 km round trip. Then on Friday I did a round trip to Tampere, about 900 km. Levi, our Zambian friend from Helsinki, was there and, with my one hand, I helped him empty one flat, load and unload the trailer and finally dropped him at the station.

(Just as I reached the office at 21:30, I had a call from Levi that he had got back to Helsinki and he was driving to deliver a lecture when he smashed his car into another, fractured his shoulder and ruined his car!)

I must say I am living a charmed existence and walking a tight rope trying to keep all my schedules in order.

The next week will be equally hectic, but with Sunil and Nisha back, maybe I can ease up a bit. (One can always hope, but knowing my intent to work myself to the bone, it is just idle mental chatter.)

When people remind me my last blog update was so many weeks ago, I feel a terrible moral guilt as I love all my readers more than they love my ramblings.

The gentle reminders a tremendous boost for the ego.

I have been going through a nightmare trying to get a suitable location for the Mumbai Findians Evening on Friday 13th November 2009. Now I understand why they say that Friday the 13th is unlucky. Help me prove that is wrong!

Annikki and my 59ers Directory Project of 2009 is progressing nicely. Just arrived is a video from our 1999 40th Year Reunion. I am waiting to get my hand on that and extract some good stills for inclusion into the Directory.

The registrations for our 50th Year Reunion are coming along nicely. If you are a 59er and have not yet registered, please do it as soon as possible.

Many of you are not being careful. I have sent several of you information that your Facebook, email address, etc. have been hijacked and your address books are public property. These guys add your name to CDs that they sell and then you are receiving thousands of spam mail while thousands are being spammed in your name! Please be careful where you sign up.

I am busy planning our Indian trip for October through to December, 2009. If any of you want Finnish know how or want to start a business or exports to / from India, please let me know and I will try to fit you into our schedule - Kottayam, Cochin, Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad (possibly), Mumbai, Ahmedabad and Delhi!

One interesting news item from India - some of the better known colleges, like our alma mater, St. Stephen's College, may soon be giving their own degrees! Wonder how that will work out as I am already sceptical of people get 90+ average in school leaving to get into the college of their choice!

I have also been helping to organise our Indian Independence Day celebrations. About 70 people will attend and it is going to be a blast.

Founders' Day 2009

Word has just reached me that the original plan to hold the Founders' Day Church ervice and programme on Thursday, 12th November, 2009 has been scrapped and it will now be held on Saturday, November 14th, 2009.

The Church Service at the St. Thomas Cathedral is scheduled for 17:30 on the Saturday evening.

Watch this space for more info as it reaches me.

Claustrophobia - A new definition?

(Posted on all my major blogs.)

Ever since the age of 12 or 13, when an uncle of mine taught me the art of relaxation using artificial stress inducement, I have never had a problem of going to sleep. Before my head is settled in the pillow, I am fast asleep. I do not wake up at night and toss and turn. I nod off as soon as the reason for waking up is attended to. I hardly ever dream. Sit in a car with a safe driver, and I can drop off into neverland within a couple of minutes.

I usually wake up fully relaxed, even if the sleep lasted only a few minutes.



I came back from the hospital on Thursday afternoon with my left hand in plaster from the forearm till the tips of my finger. The operation to repair the knuckle of my fourth finger in my left hand had been successful, but it meant that my arm would be in this plaster-cast for 5 weeks. Plenty of painkillers and a course of antibiotic for 5 days, so no real problem of pain.

When I went to bed on Thursday evening, I thought I was going to sleep in my usual fashion. However, when my head hit the pillow, and as recommended, I put my plastered arm in a suitable and comfortable position on a couple of raised pillows, I felt a tremendous and overpowering feeling of restlessness. Sleep was just not coming in the next few minutes. Each passing second was raising an anxiety within me. I was feeling claustrophobic, even though, bodily, I was not in any confined situation.

Then it dawned on me that my mind was reacting to the fact that my left hand had lost its freedom. It was caged, and the stress relaxation technique, which I have used for over 50 years to drop into my slumber, was blocked by an overpowering feeling of fear. My fingers and wrist had lost their freedom. They were confined and this feeling of confinement was causing my mind to say that I was totally confined. And the realisation that I would have to endure this confinement for 5 more weeks was mentally unbearable.

I jumped out of bed, feeling as if I could not stay put down. I walked into the kitchen and expressed my claustrophobic thoughts to Annikki.

She was cool and calm and told me that I should take each day as it came, and the 5 weeks would be over even before I knew it.

I went to the living room and plonked down in front of the tv, but my heart and soul were not into watching any of the programmes. I let tiredness possess me so much so that I allowed my body to react to a mentally created feeling of a body becoming tired. Then when I went to bed, it was not my relaxation that put me to sleep, but a feeling of great tiredness - quite different to my normal situation.

As soon as Annikki came to bed, I put my plastered arm around her, and that claustrophobic feeling suddenly lifted and I dropped quickly into my normal deep slumber.

When I woke up in the morning, although relaxed, I still had that feeling at the back of my mind that I was a caged person. My n degrees of freedom had been severely curtailed. I now understood how anyone who loses any degree of freedom, mental or physical, could suddenly feel claustrophobic.

In all my life I had never experienced this. It was indeed a major revelation to me about the sufferings of my fellow travellers on this earth who had lost their freedom, any part of it.

I will be glad when this hand is uncaged. I will value all the degrees of freedom that I enjoy much much more than I ever have! And I will appreciate the feelings of other men and women, and any animal, who are caged in any form.

Golden Directory Project now in full swing

As of today, Monday 22nd June, the professionals have moved in to get the 59ers Directory Project onto a time based schedule.

I have a young Ethiopian student who will work in my office translating all our dreams into a reality. He will work by my side on all the mundane stuff. Annikki will chip in with her artistic inputs and comments. I will do the stuff that can only be done on my Mac mini. (The student is using a Windows computer!)

If you have not sent Annikki your write up, the way you want it to appear, and photographs, please do that as soon as possible.

Besides the usual stuff we have unearthed stuff which will make your heart pump at an accelerated pace when this Coffee Table Book is in your grasp.

Please continue to send us material as we want to ensure we have all useful and interesting material in the book. (I am still looking for a Prefect's tie as that had the gold emblem on a blue fabric, if I remember correctly.

Did I once refer to this as the Mother of All Golden Reunions?

We are well on the way to that, even though many would doubt that we could achieve that status!

1959 Issue of The Borderer

Today I received the 1959 Issue of The Borderer from 59er Trevor Newnes in Australia. (I also got the 1960 and 1961 issues from Trevor, but I already had the last one sent to me by Mr. Billington a few years ago, which I must return to him!)



It is fascinating as much as it is a memorabilia which is worth a small fortune. That is like all things from our school in 1959! :-)

If anyone else has a copy or knows of any, please ask them to contact me immediately. I want to establish how many copies of this issue are available out there. Considering the Prefects´ Notes by School Captain 57er Bhupinder Singh Anand in The Borderer, maybe not many!

It looks like the 59ers Coffee Table Directory is going to be a publication which is going to be worth a million, considering I am only going to publish just a 100 copies of it. Free to all our Class Members attending the reunion and those who assist our reunion efforts (seen and unseen) and on sale to others. (Also free to staff members attending the reunion.)

I already have the 1959 Cock House photograph (Palmer), School Prefects photograph, School Hockey Team photograph, School Cricket Team photograph, School Football Team photograph, Sports Day brochure, many other items, and some absolutely wonderful pictures of many of our year. I do have photographs of almost all the staff members.

I am still looking for input from the 59er girls. I do have a class photograph of them. Wish I had one of the boys, but I do not think we had class photographs for us boys in that time! Maybe I can be proved wrong!!!

But there are a few surprises in store for you in this publication.

Anyone having an undamaged copy of the picture of the class visit to the Sathe Biscuit Factory in 1954 should scan it and send it to me. The one that 59er Percy Mistri sent may may be too difficult to restore - but my photo experts are trying hard to restore it. Was the Sathe Biscuit Factory owned by our late Sudan Sathe's family? Is it still functioning and can anyone get me a photograph of it if it is still out there.

Anyone with snaps from our 1955 visit to Vasind should also let me have a scanned copy of it. Remember the Dead Chicken was reborn there!

More about Cooliris

I was stunned to read one of the comments on my blog about the exciting Cooliris.

It appears that a Cathedralite - Mayank Mehta - is one of the people behind Cooliris. I located a Mayank Mehta who is a 99er.

Anyone with more info about this person - please let me have it.

Reason for excitement

(Also posted on all my major blogs.)

Many of you have emailed me to ask why I was so excited with the software "Cooliris".

There are many many reasons, but I will highlight the two major ones:

1. There is an old Chinese proverb which says: "A picture is worth a thousand words."
2. You can browse thousands of pictures in a couple of minutes, unlike text.

This is now the era of the photo-journalist. If he / she can succeed in capturing the truly great image that depicts an event and add a single one line caption to it, the number of hits one can get to that image or video, and subsequently the caption and then the text, even if the Google Search result was likely to be on the 50th page, is going to be amazing.

Just search for "Jacob, Oulu" on Google Search and you get 95,800 links. It will take months to through those links.

Search for it on "Cooliris" and see how much more you get and you can get to even the 5000th result in a jiffy!

Don't believe me - take any random name of a friend and see what you get!

Truly amazing results. And, you can go through all those tens and tens of results in a flash.

Beware of one problem with "Cooliris".

You can get motion sickness as you race through the thousands of images.

I tried various search combinations yesterday and was thrilled with the results.

But, when I got up from my office table, I was tottering as my eyes had been working overtime going through this huge bonanza of results.

Yes, there is a reason to be excited, but also a warning that this could seriously affect your brain!

Rarely am I so excited

Also posted on the Seventh Heaven Blog, Kooler Talk Blog, CHAFF Blog and the Oulu Best Buy Blog.)

Rarely am I excited about new computer software. Today I came across one which sent shivers down my spine in what it can do.

I downloaded separate versions for SAFARI, the Mac only browser and for FIREFOX, probably the best browser online presently till Google comes up with its Chrome Browser for the mac.

The software is called "COOLIRIS" and it allows you to see many thousands of images and videos from your computer or the web in the blink of an eye.

My time is so limited that I hardly have time to go through all my pictures on the computer. But here I could see all of them in a 3-D type motion and I could see all the top story pictures before you could say "COOLIRIS"

I suggest you enter "Cooliris" in your Google Search facility and then download the version suitable for your browser.

I found a great video called "Slam Dunk Kitty" amongst the literally thousands that came up as I flew through the selection that came before me.

And you can use this software with Facebook, Google, UTube and also your computer images and videos!

What's the bet that Google will acquire this software - which is absolutely FREE, before the lamb shakes its tail!

Oulu Cricket Club (OCC) formed

(Also posted on Jacob's Blog.)

Finally it has happened.

Three enterprising cricket enthusiasts in Oulu, one Finn (Joose Kankare) with Australian enthusiasm, and two Indians (Prabhu Sundar and Prasadh Ramachandran), got together and quietly formed the OCC (Oulu Cricket Club) as a Registered Association.

They called the first meeting for yesterday afternoon to announce their hopes and plans starting with a summer season of training, practice and matches.

There was indeed a healthy turnout of people for the meeting - mainly Indians, but there was a Pakistani also present.

After the tea and introductions, there was a very lively discussion, showing that there are several who are keen to play cricket in Oulu.

The membership fee for a summer season is just Euro 30 (June till August).

I asked that they make a life membership category so that I do not have to pay year in and year out and the Club can drive some benefit by getting a lump sum when it needs it most.

I also drew attention to the importance of having player insurance if the Club is to avoid serious financial problems due to injuries incurred while training or in play. I suggested a similar approach followed by the Finnish Football Union, where no player is allowed to take part, irrespective of age, unless he / she holds a valid insurance from the union.

I also suggested that besides being under the wing of the Finnish Cricket Association, they should become a member of PoPLi (Pohjois-Pohjanmaa Sports Association), which is the umbrella organisation which looks after interests of all sports organisations in this northern region.

Since I did work for them (as well as the Oulu Sports Department), a good ten years ago, I did know that they would get substantial benefit in being a member.

I also suggested that they become a member of Liikkuka ry, a multicultural sports federation which is run by my friend, Christian Thibault, Executive Director, which could help them with closer relationship with the Finnish Sports Federation.

From Seventh Heaven

The Cathedral and John Connon Boy's High School (Bombay) Cricket Team, 1958-59. I am the one sitting on the ground with the score book.

Although I cannot play any more, as my bones have dry rot, and I cannot be an umpire or scorer (I have difficulty in seeing my nose, as my eyesight has failed), I still have great interest in the sport and will certainly go out of my way to see that this club in my home town of the last 25 years, the northern-most cricket club in the world, sets off on the right track.

It would be great if any of you out there from the great cricketing nations as Australia, Bangladesh, England, Kenya, India, New Zealand, Pakistan, South Africa, Sri Lanka, West Indies, Zimbabwe, who would like to sponsor this northern-most Cricket Club in the world. It does more than just introduce the sport in this area as it also give expats from these countries to interact with the lcal population and cause the exchange of culture.

I am, in my old doddering age, with you all the way. Good luck guys.

I was certainly wrong

(Also posted on Jacob's Blog, Jacob's Politics and the Kooler Talk Blogs.)

I now realise how divorced I am from Indian Politics and especially the mentality of the Indian people.

This was just in:

Only a few results have been confirmed so far - they included a win for former UN diplomat Shashi Tharoor for Congress in Kerala's capital, Trivandrum.

In the old days, an outsider would never have got in this easily as Shashi did. I remember how K. T. Chandy, who had been Chairman of Hindustan Lever, tried and failed to get into Kerala Politics in the Seventies. He was called a "foreigner" by the Keralites!!

I do hope this change also ushers in a new form of Government, especially in Kerala, where the school final failed party members have dominated the Government.

Also the antiques who have dominated Kerala Politics for a couple of decades should now call it a day.

The experience of our lifetime

(Also posted on Jacob's Blog and the Kooler Talk Blog.)

I just loved this email I received from 49er Dawn Brown. It sums up our experience, vis-á-vis the kids of today.

My daughter explained that times are different.

True, but do the kids wish it were the same as our time or not?

To us'ns who are considered to be "over the hill" by the young uns': Huh!!!! Not only are we surviving - we are thriving and loving life. I have to admit though that my children are not in this group - the first three mentioned above!!

Blessings,

Dawn

AIN'T IT THE TRUTH?

AND WE ARE ALL STILL SURVIVING...................

CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL THE KIDS WHO WERE BORN IN THE
1920's, 30's 40's, 50's, 60's and 70's !!

First, we survived being born to mothers who smoked and/or drank while they carried us and lived in houses made of asbestos.

They took aspirin, ate blue cheese, tuna from a can, and didn't get tested for diabetes or cervical cancer.

Then after that trauma, our baby cribs were covered with bright colored lead-based paints.

We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, doors or cabinets and when we rode our bikes, we had no helmets or shoes, not to mention, the risks some of us took hitchhiking.

As children, we would ride in cars with no seat belts or air bags.

Riding in the back of a Ute on a warm day was always a special treat.

We drank water from the garden hose and NOT from a bottle.

Take away food was limited to fish and chips, no pizza shops, McDonalds, KFC, Subway or Red Rooster.

Even though all the shops closed at 6.00pm and didn't open on the weekends, somehow we didn't starve to death!

We shared one soft drink with four friends, from one bottle and NO ONE actually died from this.

We could collect old drink bottles and cash them in at the corner store and buy Fruit Tingles and some fire crackers to blow up frogs and lizards with.

We ate cupcakes, white bread and real butter and drank soft drinks with sugar in it, but we weren't overweight because......

WE WERE ALWAYS OUTSIDE PLAYING!!

We would leave home in the morning and play all day, as long as we were back when the streetlights came on.

No one was able to reach us all day. And we were O.K.

We would spend hours building our go-carts out of scraps and then ride down the hill, only to find out we forgot the brakes. We built tree houses and cubby houses and played in creek beds with matchbox cars.

We did not have Playstations, Nintendo's, X-boxes, no video games at all, no 99 channels on cable, no video tape or DVD movies, no surround sound, no mobile phones, no personal computers, no Internet or Internet chat rooms..........

WE HAD FRIENDS and we went outside and found them!

We fell out of trees, got cut, broke bones and teeth and there were no Lawsuits from these accidents.

Only girls had pierced ears!

We ate worms and mud pies made from dirt, and the worms did not live in us forever.

You could only buy Easter Eggs and Hot Cross buns at Easter time.......no really!

We were given BB guns and sling shots for our 10th birthdays.

We drank milk laced with Strontium 90 from cows that had eaten grass covered in nuclear fallout from the atomic testing at Maralinga in 1956.

We rode bikes or walked to a friend's house and knocked on the door or rang the bell, or just yelled for them!

Mum didn't have to go to work to help dad make ends meet!

Footy had tryouts and not everyone made the team. Those who didn't had to learn to deal with disappointment. Imagine that!!

Our teachers used to belt us with big sticks and leather straps and bully's always ruled the playground at school.

The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke the law was unheard of.
They actually sided with the law!

Our parents got married before they had children and didn't invent stupid names for their kids like 'Kiora' and 'Blade'.....

This generation has produced some of the best risk-takers, problem solvers and inventors ever!

The past 70 years have been an explosion of innovation and new ideas.

We had freedom, failure, success and responsibility, and we learned

HOW TO DEAL WITH IT ALL!

And YOU are one of them!

CONGRATULATIONS!

You might want to share this with others who have had the luck to grow up as kids, before the lawyers and the government regulated our lives for our own good.

And while you are at it, forward it to your kids so they will know how brave their parents were.

Kind of makes you want to run through the house with scissors, doesn't it?!

PS - The big type is because your eyes are shot at your age.

Driving 1100 km on the same day

(Also on the Jacob's Blog and the Kooler Talk Blog.)

After a hectic weekend, when I went to Tampere with Sunil, in a van taking materials to set up four apartments and which included a side trip to Helsinki to check on how Raantel apartments were doing there, we left Tampere late on Saturday evening to return to Oulu so that I could speak at the Free Speech Day in Oulu Otto Karhi Park.

We arrived back at Oulu about 6 am on Sunday morning. I had a nap and went with Annikki to the public park, equipped with my speaking stand.

The opening procedure was just taking place and the Chief Editor of Kaleva Newspaper, a new person, was making the welcome remarks.

He ended by saying that each speaker would be given 5 minutes at the mike.

My talk, which this year was about "Justice Delayed is Justice Denied" would have taken the good part of 1 and half hours.

Ii approached the gentleman and asked that I set up my own stand as in previous years and be allowed to speak. He rejected the idea saying he had no powers to allow that. After much persuasion, he pointed me to a lady. She said that I could do that away from the main central area.

But it was clear that they did not want to move away from their prepared script. Annikki and I decided against making a speech this year under these conditions.

In short - this was no copy of Hyde Park Corner as this was a very controlled exercise to make Finns believe that they have Freedom of Speech - which they don't.

I had promised to meet Ajeet on Monday in South Finland. He and Sari are on a flying trip here to take part in a couple of conferences. So our Alumni meets were scheduled for Monday at 10:30 am, and this time in Toijala, wher he was staying.

I left Oulu by car at 3:50 am and because of the GPS Navigator (the cheap one), I did the trip to Tampere in just 5 hours (477 km). After attending to some Raantel work there, I drove on to Toijala to be greeted by Ajeet and his wife, Sari.

Our joyous Cathedralite and Stephanian Finland Chapter Alumni Reunion was a working one. 100 % attendance as usual!

I exploited the combined legal expertese of Ajeet and Sari.

Ajeet confirmed he would be in Bombay for the November 12th Cathedral Founders Day event. After my 50th year Golden Reunion Celebrations are complete, Annikki and I will go to Ahmedabad where I will give a talk at the Indian Institute of Management about the new developments in technology taking place and their implications on world society.

Then we would all spend a few days at Mount Abu, where Annikki and I have never been.

I left at 14:30, stopped at Tampere to attend to some more Raantel Oy work, left Tampere at 16:30 and arrived back in Oulu at 22:30.

A 20 hour round trip of 1100 km - and because of the hectic weekend of travel and work, this one partially knocked me out.

I got a good scolding from Annikki who thought I was on a leisurely train trip to Tampere!!

What Cathedral taught me!

Every year, for the past two years, Oulu has been holding a Free Speech Day in the City Central Park (Otto Karhi Puisto). A sort of copying Hyde Park Corner for one day a year.

The Finns all cluster around a mike provided by the local newspaper and the radio station, and take turns in speaking.

Not so this young man!

I have my own rostrum and speak on a variety of subjects, answering any hecklers or challengers with the skill I learnt when in Cathedral.

From Jacob's Blog

2007 - My rickety platform.

The first year I had a rickety platform with Annikki yelling from the window telling me not to stand on it. I survived!

Last year, I got myself a higher and sturdier platform and covered 35 subjects in the space of an hour and a bit.

This year, I have an even longer list of subjects and maybe will have a slightly larger audience as I bash the system!

GPS Navigator - Good or bad Development?

As my main Jacob's Blog entry for today, I have considered the Global Positioning System (GPS) Navigator, which I used for the first time yesterday, and whether it is a boon or a curse to mankind.

Do check it out and let me have your views.

What is talent?

(Also posted on Jacob's Blog and the Kooler Talk Blog.)

I usually do not have much time for TV except to throw off my shoes, put my feet up, watch a comedy or detective play and sleep through half of it!

One programme, however, that I have come to like is GPS hosted by Fareed Zakaria on CNN International, late on a Sunday evening.

Zakaria has some fascinating guests. He runs his interviews which do not show his personal bias.

Today was a show in which he had a discussion with an author, Malcolm Gladwell.

Gladwell has written a book called "Outliers". Although I have not read the book and will probably never will, I was fascinated by the discussion and interview.

The main thrust of the view of Gladwell was that "Talent is the Desire to Practice".

I immediately sent this message to several young friends of mine. I wonder how many of them will see this message in all its significance and glory.

The key word is "Desire".

To succeed in anything one must have that "Desire".
To reach that "Desire" one must "Work Hard".
The Hard Work is what we call "Practice"
And Practice leads to "Talent".

Gladwell gave the example of the Beatles, who in 1959 worked 8 hour nights in a strip club in Hamburg playing music. This is enormously hard work. It was this hard work which resulted in the moulding of the most famous Pop Group in the world.

Gladwell made very significant points about the influence of culture on failure or success and also about the development of reading aboilities at a young age which results in the possibility of success.

This statement took me back to the days when Annikki was writing her thesis about the Montessori System of Education. What I heard today was the restatement of what Maria Montessori said 7 decades ago when she noted that a small child will continue to repeat a task till he / she masters it. The outcome is talent, in small steps.

I go back to my school days where I used to watch a dear friend, Elijah Elias, more commonly known to all of us as Ooky, come to school at some unearthly hour and keep on bowling at the nets to achieve pace and direction. That was the talent of Ooky in cricket! But it is this Talent born out of Desire and Hard Work achieved by Practice which has made him succeed in his career in later life.

I take the example of our grandson, Samuel, who at the age of 12 simply loves reading - a book a day.

If his reading is focused correctly, Samuel could be outstanding in his career.

I only hope that in his school in England they realise this. I hope at least one of his teachers has read the book, "Outliers" by Malcolm Gladwell or knows the principles of the Maria Montessori Education System!

Thank you Mr. Fareed Zakaria.

My iMac died, Viva la Mac Mini!

(Also posted on my Jacob's Blog and Kooler Talk Blog.)

My 10 year old iMac finally died. I tried to revive it. Failed.

I went back to my older macs, the Performa 6400 and tried to use that, but it was tooooo slooow.

I decided to splurge and get a new Mac.

I have a perfectly good Samsung SyncMaster 900 SL Monitor. I have many USB Keyboards and Mice, all in good condition. I have USB headphones, a dlink wireless USB adaptor, a La Cie Firewire / USB DVD / CD station, so I decided to buy the Mac Mini.



A difficult decision whether to buy the basic version mac Mini costing Euro 599 with a 120 GB Hard Disk or a 320 GB Hard Disk with 2 GB of memory.

As most of my work will be network computing, the extra hard disk was not important. Also I have many hard disks lying around, from 1 GB up to 60 GB.

I checked the memory prices and found that a 1 GB memory costs just Euro 30 while a 3 GB costs just Euro 60. I will have to determine whether it is user installable and then upgrade. So I spent just Euro 599.

Considering I got the new Leopard system, which costs Euro 128 and also the latest iLife software, which costs Euro 78, Thew Mac Mini actually cost me just Euro 400. Foor a 2 GHZ Core 2 Duo, with a 8 x Superdrive station which is a DVD±R, DL DVD±RW / CD RW, and with a NVDIDIA GeForce 9400M video card with 128 main memory with a DDR3 SDRAM, etc., etc., this must be one of the best buys that I have made in a decade.

On my way to the office I picked up Annikki from home to drop her at church. She was amazed to see the size of my new computer - 16.5 cm by 16.5 cm by 5 cm.

The whole computer set up was done in less than an hour, upgraded to the latest system and it is working just fine. The speaker system is a bit tinny, but as I usually used head phones, this is not a drawback for me. The Mac Mini recognised all the hardware I connected and went to the internet without any problem through the dlink adaptor!

Sunil, who has been commenting on my attachment, sentimental, to my iMac and eMac boxes which occupy almost all the space under my office table, may be quite pleased with the size the new Mac Mini box!! :-)

Felled tree

(Also posted on my Jacob's Blog.)

Have you ever thought how it must feel if one falls to the ground just like a felled tree?

Even during my boxing days, when Neelam Lakhaney (also a Cathedralite 59er Savageite), half my size, was whipping me in the Heavy Weight category, I never fell to the ground.

Today, I was on my morning rounds on my scooter. I got home around noon. I got off the scooter, and as is my common practice, I turn around, take of my glasses, then remove my helmet, put on my glasses, hang the helmet over one of the rear view mirrors and then trot up the stairs, home.

Today was a bit different.

As I got off the bike and was wheeling around, it was as if my feet were stuck in a place while my body tipped over and crashed to the ground. My helmeted head thumped onto the cemented section, just a few centimetres away from a huge cement block.

I tried to figure out what had happened. As I twisted around, I saw that the bottom of my track suit had hooked into the metal stand on which the scooter is put to rest.

As I had tried to move away, one feet was pulled away from me and I crashed to the ground, straight as an axed tree.

As my head smashed into the ground, I was ever so grateful for the glass-fibre reinforced helmet which surrounded my head. I was badly bruised on one knee, while the other was just grazed. The palms of my hand were bruised, as was one elbow.

But my head was intact. Was I grateful for the plastic helmet!!

Felt good to have been a plastics technologist which subject and material have no doubt saved many lives in different environments!

Cricket Lovers: An article from The Hindu of today

from: Naval Patel
date:: 21 April 2009 16:20
subject: Above the eye line

I am attaching a scan of an article in The HINDU newspaper this morning.

The part I found fascinating was how Clarrie Grimmett, the masterly old Australian leg spinner, demonstrated the variations of speed perceptions.

I had long read that these are deceptive when the ball goes above batsmen's eye level, and I guess as a (very) slow bowler I had successfully benefited from these through my playing days, but this is the first mention I have seen of such proof being experimentally provided.

The other mention about the initial movement and position of the batsman's leading shoulder is a new insight to me.

How I wish such knowledge had come to us in our playing days!

Regards Naval

Thank you Naval for sending me this article. I did not use your scan but went to The HINDU and took the whole article, which I have reproduced below. (Copyright acknowledged.)

(I think I know the wife of the writer - a very lovely lady whom I met in 1999 and who is also a journalist in The Hindu covering environmental issues.)

Spinners have delivered the goods so far

S. Dinakar

Warne, Kumble, Vettori and Ojha have been impressive

Chennai: Spin has worked well in the Indian Premier League so far. Shane Warne’s mix of flight, deception and spin was captivating. Anil Kumble scalped five in his match. And, left-arm spinners Daniel Vettori and Pragyan Ojha have also been impressive.

Warne’s bowling took us to the heart of spin bowling. He made the batsman pick the ball from ‘above the eye level.’

Famous coach Vasu Paranjpe recounted a delightful tale about how Australian leg-spin legend Clarrie Grimmett taught former off-spinner Ashley Mallett, a budding bowler then, an important cricketing lesson.

“Grimmett took Mallet to a little hill and then asked him to judge the speed of the cars zipping through in a bridge below. Mallett’s reply was approximately right. Then, Grimmett told Mallett to look at cars moving on a road at an elevated level and the off-spinner found it very hard to assess the speed of the cars,” said Paranjpe.

When Warne flights the ball, he forces the batsman to pick it from above the eye level. To make things harder for the batsman, the rip and the revolution on the ball causes it to dip in the air.

“Since the batsman, on most occasions, has to gauge the flight from above the level of his eyes, he finds it extremely hard to judge the pace, and consequently, the length of the ball,” added Paranjpe.

Warne has the variety — including the quicker delivery such as the flipper, the top-spinner and the wrong ’un — to sow more seeds of doubt in the minds of the batsman.

Aggressive by instinct, he can dissect a batsman’s technique and zero in on the chinks.

Splendid dismissals

Warne’s dismissal of Virat Kohli of Bangalore Royal Challengers is a case in point. Kohli has a rather stiff front shoulder and such batsmen can have a blind spot on or just outside the leg-stump.

The Rajasthan Royals captain flighted one on the leg-stump, Kohli, stepping down for the leg-side whip, missed and the ball spun to hit middle.

Then, B. Akhil found a delivery pitching on the leg-stump, spinning past the bat and hitting middle and off. These deliveries were flighted and spun hard. “If the batsman makes a brief preparatory movement as the bowler is about to deliver, his elbow goes back, so does the shoulder. The batsman is better placed to stroke freely on the leg-side. But if his left shoulder is stiff and locked, he could have a blind spot on the leg-side,” said Paranjpe.

Warne’s skills have not waned with age. He still controls the extent of spin — high on the scale of difficulty — with the ease of a maestro.

Kumble’s wares

Kumble’s bowling is much about subtle variations in length and trajectory, relentless accuracy and an ability to surprise batsmen with bounce.

Attempting to slog Kumble can be counter-productive as Yusuf Pathan and Ravindra Jadeja discovered the hard way. Kumble complements his control with clever use of the crease. If the batsman misses, he invariably hits.

The conditions favoured seam and swing bowling at Newlands but the ball gripped for the spinners.

Vettori’s knack of getting the ball to straighten at the right hander from a touch wide of the crease works to his advantage in the shortest form of the game; he denies the batsman width. Ojha’s drift posed searching questions to the men facing him.

Despite powerful willows and shorter boundaries, spinners continue to turn matches in Twenty20 cricket; the batsman is denied pace and the work on the ball compounds his problems.

“It is much about when you bring your spinners on. If you have a quality spinner, you should introduce him as early as possible, give him a greater chance,” observed Paranjpe.

Indeed, wickets win you matches…in any format.

Our reunion plans

59ers have put together what I think will be the Mother of all Golden Reunions. We are busy getting the attendance figures organised.

I had a great disappointment today morning when I received an email from one of our classmates who lives in Pakistan. He is one of our very active and much-loved 59ers. He informed me that he may not be able to make it to the reunion!

Why?

His mother passed away at the beginning of the year. He travelled to Mumbai to perform the last rites.

It seems that if one gets one visa in the year, then Pakistanis cannot get a second visa the same year.

I wonder if Pakistan also follows this protocol?

If so, it only shows the stupidity of the politicians and the bureaucrats in both countries.

What logical reason could there be in stopping genuine travel between two countries? It is not as if the governments are doing anyone a favour. They charge money to issue visas.

I hope some of our friends will draw the attention to people in high places to stop this stop of ridiculous bureaucracy!

A public tribute to a personal friend of many

(Ed.: It is my privilege to be part of this document prepared by other 59er classmates on behalf of many, and sent to me for editing, correction, modification, so that it represents a true appreciation of the person about whom it is written.

From right: Ashok, his boxer and me in 1993
Not an artificial sunset.

I could add little as the writers did a marvellous job in the first place.

I share this document with you on the birthday of one of our finest classmates, a wonderful friend to each and everyone of us, and a person with whom we would have trusted our lives and limbs. Photographs are from various sources and copyright is acknowledged. Jacob)



November 2008
One of the last photos of Ashok taken at the JOSS Function.

April 16th would have been Ashok Kapur'ss 66th birthday. It is perhaps appropriate to spend a few moments reflecting on a few of our cherished memories about the friend that we knew... an extra special person in many, many ways. This tribute has been composed on behalf of all his friends, but especially on behalf of those who had the privilege of knowing him closely from his school days as well as through all the subsequent years as we journeyed across life from children to youth and onto adulthood and beyond. Some among us were fortunate to have known Ashok over a span of 6 decades - and our lives have been enriched by the experience.


Abbas and Ashok
November 2008.

There was an email from 59er Peter Miovic received at the time of his death which bears repetition. Peter was a Yugoslav who joined us in the 9th standard and knew Ashok for just for a few years. Peter wrote: "Ashok was someone who engaged one at a very personal level. I can still remember his engaging, mischievous smile and the way he would conduct a conversation that could lead anywhere. And he did not make a distinction whether one was from India or Mars. I was sensitive about being accepted by Indians. With Ashok I need not have worried."

Those words from Peter more or less defined the Ashok that we knew in school. He simply got on well with everyone of his own classmates, the ones who were a year or two senior to us, the ones who were junior to us, the teachers, the office peons, the coaches - everyone. And, in turn, it was impossible not to like him. In those years, we were certainly closer than brothers. When you are 10, 12 and 16 years old, the 2 or 3 years that separate siblings is like a generation gap. But there was no such problem between us. We grew up together, we played all the sports possible together, we discovered rock and roll and girls together, and we shared adventures, lots of them. Ashok was the type that all the others in the gang rallied around, a natural born leader, a school prefect by the 10th standard itself, a solid batsmen and wicket-keeper, and Captain of several sports teams.

Ashok was a good student too and managed to rank near the top of the class quite effortlessly. He was particularly good with numbers and we all expected him to go in for engineering, as was the preference in those days. But Ashok had other ideas. In fact, Ashok was always ahead of us in calculating angles that no one else saw, working out the odds. Today it is called “thinking out of the box." In a word he was 'wily' in a smart way. And it showed on the hockey field, where he was a scheming forward, on the badminton court, where he would wrong-foot his opponent, and in the latter years, at the bridge table.


Homi and Ashok
November 2008

If a poll had been taken back then in our graduating class as to whom amongst us was most likely to succeed in our future careers, Ashok would most certainly have won hands down. All of us would have voted for Ashok, and all of us would have been proved right.


Ashok with Ramesh and Piloo in 2003.

So it was that Ashok had worked out all the options and chose not to join college after school, but instead to start his career at the very bottom at Grindlays Bank way back in 1962. By the time the rest of us had acquired our precious degrees, and were just getting started in our own careers, Ashok was well on his way in the banking world. With Grindlays Ashok spent 20 odd years and was a Senior Manager handling a number of business functions when he left them. Then, 5 years with ABN Amro, part of it in Singapore managing their APAC operations . He left ABN to start Rabo India Finance. And after that institution was solidly launched, he decided to start his very own bank, "YES Bank", a very successful venture that is now being hailed as the fastest growing bank in the country, as well as being the best run, most innovative, etc, etc.


Ashok holds forth (undated).
From left: - 59ers Vinay Dabhlolkar, Percy Mistri, Ashok and Ashok Ruia.

In the 46 years that Ashok spent in the banking Industry, he acquired an unimpeachable reputation for his integrity and his honesty. Many times Ashok put his career on the line rather than compromise on his principles. It was no surprise then that Ashok enjoyed such universal admiration in banking circles. Not just for his sheer capabilities and achievements as a visionary banker, but also for his class and his qualities as a human being. Ashok was always calmness personified and had time for everybody. All persons were the same to him, irrespective of whether they were the foreign ex-pats or the boy who operated the photocopier. And it would be hard to find a Manager who could manage his time better.

His friend, 59er Elias (Ooky), had an experience which was probably typical for Ashok, but was a series of shocks for Elias. The first shock was when he called Rabobank to ask Ashok for an appointment to discuss a vague software service - Ashok answered the phone himself! The 2nd shock was when Ashok readily agreed to the date and time requested. The third was to be ushered in immediately into Ashok's office and find that Ashok's desk was totally innocent of any paper or files. The fourth shock was when Ashok gave his undivided attention for the next hour and a half, and the only interruption during all that time was his secretary calling on the intercom to ask if she should serve tea! A truly unique experience for Elias, but normal for Ashok, and one that defined Ashok - the consummate Manager.

(Ed:: Ashok and I were never profeessionally involved, although he knew what I was doing and I knew what he was doing. We kept our professional lives totally separate, so I did not have the experience of Elias as included in this piece. However, I had the same experience when I visited him, as a friend, at his offices in New Delhi, Calcutta and Bombay, I am not surprised how he treated a friend who came on a business visit.)

These same skills in human relations were tested severely during his 3-year stint as President of the Bombay Gymkhana. It was a period of turmoil when several controversies had to be resolved, including the landmark gender conflict. Ashok handled all of them with his usual calmness and quiet diplomacy. At the end of his tenure there was almost universal regret that the 3-year term could not be extended indefinitely.

Ashok liked challenges, especially challenges that kept him mentally alive. When we met him during his time with ABN Amro at Singapore, we were taken aback to hear him say that he was bored with his assignment because it had become routine and there was no challenge left. He had already turned down a posting to Australia and had decided to return to India simply because that's where he reckoned the excitement was. It was hard to believe that he was willing to give up his great life-style in Singapore to return to Bombay. But, as usual, Ashok had worked it all out and knew exactly where he was going professionally. The successful stint with Rabo followed and just when we thought that Ashok was surely at the zenith of his career, he once again surprised us by mentioning casually, over a beer on a Sunday morning, that he was going to start his own bank. He must have seen the look of incredulity on our faces. So he worked out the numbers on a napkin to show us how the venture could not fail and how it would be profitable in its very first year of operation. And thet's exactly how it turned out to be.

Surely the spectacular success of Yes Bank has been the crowning glory of Ashok's career - the one that has defined it.


Three 59er Palmerites, Ashok, Trevor Newnes and Viney Sethi
at the last 59er Mini Reunion (2007) which was graciously hosted by Madhu and Ashok.

Sadly Ashok's golden years were cruelly cut short by a senseless act of violence. The terrorists bullets have robbed Ashok of the chance of watching his grandchildren growing up, playing with them, touring the world with Madhu, playing bridge in the evenings, and his usual high standard of badminton with the same set of friends with whom he has been playing for the last 30-odd years.

Ashok may have been cruelly robbed of his golden years but nothing can ever take away his legacy. Ashok, in his heavenly abode, can be happy in the knowledge that his family is well provided for, the institutions that he has served with and helped grow are all healthy and thriving, and all his affairs are in good order .

Dear Ashok, you touched many, many lives during your lifetime, and you left all of them enriched. Thorough gentleman and dearest friend, may you rest in peace always.