Reunionists

From 69er Barbara Rossi in Italy:

Dear Jacob,

Today was a busy day shovelling snow as it started to snow early in the morning and then never stopped....

and by law you must keep your pavement clear here in town so that those who walk on their way to and from their homes do not slip and do not have to climb mountains...
we do have a man who does these tough jobs, but today he was sick and remained in bed, warm and dry...

and so I didn't answer immediately like I do usually

what I wanted to say was, are you happy the puzzle is complete? Miss Hayeem was looking for me and Jehangir, and has found us BOTH - 35 years have passed, we now read and write fluently, we have improved our musical skills and also our general knowledge...

she now reaps the well matured fruit of her kindergarten!

Because it is so important to START WELL with a good teacher, on a rich soil, like the Cathedral School was and still is today......... and for this we are truly grateful!

and before I close... last but certainly not least, a big thank you to YOU for making it all possible!

Barbara

From 54er Gracie Hayeem in California:

Great Jacob,
dear Barbara has written such a sweet letter to you!
Lots of Love and Good wishes as always.
Gracie.

And finaly from 70er Jehangir in Pune (edited):

Hi Jacob,

I had the pleasure of hearing of you only a couple of days ago through Miss Hayeem. Subsequently saw your interesting site yesterday.

We are a tribe of Savagers too. Co-incidentally my wife Jasmine too and therefore, naturally, the kids while they were in Cathedral.

You can certainly put my name up on your list as a guy from the class of '70 and Jasmine from '78.

> Do you know the some of the Cathedralites in Pune as 54er Sadhana
> Madhusadan (née Shah), 57er Fleur Madnani (née Ezekiel), 57er Sunil
> Sahani (former Research Director of Hindustan Lever), 59ers Adi Cooper
> (operates in bothMumbai & Pune) and Indarjit Shah?

Unfortunately I don't know any of the above. Have heard some of their names only in the course of the last few days. The only Catherdralite I know of that vintage is Dr. Jazz, Behram Badhnivala. However, there are 6 from '70 that I know of based in Pune.

Ciao and all the best.

-Jehangir

67er Reunion Photographs

Thanks to Antia watumull and Shobha Jhunjhunwala, you can view the first set of photographs, featuring mostly the ladies looking gorgeous in their resplendent outfits (can I be any more verbose?).

I will post the link to more photos shortly. Thank you Shobha.

Two years ago we lost an outstanding human being

He changed the lives of many thousands of people by his open and humouristic, yet thoughtful and understanding of life in general.

Mr. K. M. Mammen Mappilai with his wife: Photographer: Unknown

K. M. Mammen Mappillai (Kochappachen), youngest son of K. C. Mammen Mappillai, the man who founded MRF with seven of his brothers, his sister and one sister-in-law who lost her husband at an early age, ran the company in a most humane manner. Despite every possible hurdle, he drove it to the top of all Indian tyre companies.

Besides being the leader of a corporate giant, he was also an accomplished artist. It was this tenderness that dominated his handling of people. This photograph of a painting by Kochappachen of the family home on the island of Kuppaparam, in the backwaters near Alleppy / Kottayam in Kerala, raises nostalgic memories of my childhood days swimming in those "crocodile" infested waters. We used to swim only in the area near the far left of the picture where was the washing room on the waterfront. (Those were indeed dreamy days.)


Kuppaparam - Painting by K. M. Mammen Mappillai

He was ably assisted by his wife's brother, Kurian George (Georgie, to me), who retired recently from his post as Technical Director. His other brother-in-law, my father, Kuriyan Matthan, assisted him by giving him non-family oriented professional advice, whenever asked, and getting him the services of some of the best engineers (for example, Mr. S. K. Rao and Mr. C. P. J. Diaz) to help in setting up the company in its early years.

When the company was struggling for financing, it was the father of my Bombay Cathedral School classmate, Elijah Elias (Ooky), who had just taken charge of Corporate Financing of State Bank of India in Bombay, that came forward and trusted MRF and the family and provided the crucial funding necessary to set the company on its course. Kochappachen never forgot that help and always made it a point to remember Mr. Elias and his closeness to the family as was seen in the friendship I have had with Ooky for almost 50 years. Ooky probably never even probably knew this till much later in life. I remember his father quizzing me on all the aspects of the tyre company and our family when he was discussing the funding of MRF. In this process, the late Mr. K. C. Mathulla, who had a way of dealing diplomatically with all people, played a very critical role.

It was Kochappachen's elder brother, Mr. K. M. Philip (Peelukuttychayan), who was instrumental in setting up the collaboration with a small US tyre company, Mansfield Tire & Rubber Company of USA, in Akron, Ohio, owned by James Hoffman, so as to start the tyre divsion of MRF, which till then was dominating the Indian field in rubber compound for tyre retreading. The story has it that Peelukuttychayan met Mr. Hoffman in a YMCA and from there on the friendship blossomed into the formation of the Joint Venture.

After the starting of the company, when production problems were being faced, the family brought in Mr. T. Thomas, son-in-law of another brother, the late Mr. K. M. Eapen (Eapachayan), (Chairman Board of Governors of Cathedral School) who with his organisational management skill helped streamline the company. A tyre company consists of 7 indepndent operational streams and it is necessary to co-ordinate them perfectly to get the overall production to grow. At the time Thomas came in, the company was stuck at a level of 800 tyres per day. He helped to organise it so as to take the production to 3000 tyres per day - the breakthrough which brought MRF on par with the other tyre companies which were then operating in India - the multinationals Dunlop, Firestone and Goodyear, whose only interest at that stage was to see the collapse of this Indian owned and managed company. This reduced production cost and brought the company on the road to profitability.

T. Thomas was over-ambitious, wanting to become the Technical Director and eventually, Managing Director, of the company. So, it was necessary to part company after he set the company on its course. At this stage a major family crisis developed as Thomas was the son-in-law of a respected brother. It was my mother, who was loved to the skies by all her brothers, who firmly held the brothers together and ensured that this problem did not result in the collapse of the family which would have led to the ultimate demise of MRF.

Thomas did not do so badly, however. He was the first person who was ever re-employed by Hindustan Lever, going on to become the Chairman of that company and then a Board Member of Unilever Headquarters in London. He knew how to play the rat race game!!

There were many who contributed to the growth of MRF. Among them I would count my very dear friend, the late Prem Sadanand, who came in from Borosil Glass Ltd. as the Staff Assistant to the Managing Director, and the late Mr. N. P. Abraham, who came in from the Marketing Division of the drug giant, Sandoz Ltd. These two people earned the trust of Kochappachen to a degree that I saw in none other. They disagreed with him on many issues, but he knew that they always had the interest of the company at heart when they gave him advice. That, he respected above all.

At a most crucial stage of the company much later, Kochappachen's late son, Ravi Mammen, a product of the Jamnalal Bajaj Institute of Management Studies in Bombay, with a very socialistic vision of management, turned around the company from its major problems, especially labour and corporate image. He helped break the stranglehold of the destabilising unions, interested only in their power and least interested in what the workers welfare, with his very direct and honest approach.

The company is now being ably captained by Kochappachen's eldest son, Vinoo Mammen, and his youngest son, Arun Mammen.

In his lifetime, Kochappachen set up the company so that it was professional management combined with love and affection, which is only possible in a family managed company, that was the basic principle of running this great company.

Above all, he insisted on quality.

Kochappachen had the patience to listen to advice from everyone, small and big, and used that information to ensure that the company benefited from it.

Let it not be thought that the other brothers, whom I have not named, the late Mr. K. M. Cherian, the late Mr. K. M. Oommen, the late Mr. K. M. Varghese Mappillai and Mr. K. M. Mathew, were sleeping partners in the process of creation and running of MRF. They were crucial pins in the development of MRF. One day, maybe in the future, I will reveal some of the intricate past and the roles of each of these in building this corporate giant, as only I know it from an objective viewpoint.

My 80,000 friends!!

One of my corresponents (who shall remain unnamed) wrote to me

"Dear Jacob,

Even I would have 80,000 friends if I forwarded all the e-mails I got to every one I know !!

Just kidding.

Somehow, I prefer a more personal approach, more one-on-one-- too shy to have my mails all over the place."

Actually, I rarely forward emails unless there is a specific purpose
to be served.

I replied thus to my correspondent:

Hi,

What you say is absolutely true that the number of contacts
could grow by forwarding emails, but in my case there is a slight
difference (and my fault) in that I get personally involved with all
the people I deal with.

For instance this is an email I got yesterday from my a Finnish and
a Hungarian friend whom I introduced day-before-yesterday to a
Mumbai couple:

"Hi!

Had dinner last night with Ashok and Malathi, and they
invited us to stay with them already on the phone
before they had met us. .......

Today, we will call Fazila at 4 pm and we should meet
her tonight unless something came up. Malathi asked us
to invite her for dinner at their's tonight as well,
so we will call and ask to see if that is ok.

They are really great people and thank you for linking
us up (ildi's words)."

You see how it works.

All my worldwide friends are great and wonderful people and I
always try to link the right types, knowing each person's
background and character.

That cannot be done by only forwarding emails!!!

When I started "Findians Briefings" as a free hard copy in-house
journal, it was just for a few hundred Finnish and Indian
businessmen interested in trade between the two countries.
Within three months it had snow-balled into 7000 copies
which I could no longer afford to produce it as hard copy.
That was why I started putting it on internet.

Within a year the readership was in 90 countries and covered
over 50,000 people!! And it grew and grew. I was producing it
from my attic with an obsolete Mac PowerBook.

When I launched Seventh Heaven and Kooler Talk, it again
blew up out of all proportions.

The secret was personal "nostalgic involvement" (and it still is).
Plus it is a close one-to-one relationship with my audience which
involves a 24 hour reply and action cycle. Some contact me once a
year, some as often as two or three times a week. Their husbands /
wives, children, grandchildren, are all important to them (and me).

Again to give an instance, Shallu, mother of Rohit and Rahul read the
blog, got her 90 year old mother involved, generating a huge
audience from Madras and Bangalore. Now Rahul's photography
is on the blog. Within a few hours I had readers clamouring for more.
I posted the short note about Rohit's wife's (Kavita's) book "Brahmins
and Bungalows : Travels Through South Indian History by
Kavita Watsa" . That has generated an enormous response
from people I had never heard of before yesterday!!

To give you a couple of examples that you would be more familiar
with: How else would I have stepped in and taken care of Sadhana's
daughter, and her relationship leading to marriage with a Finn, even
though I have never met Sadhana in my life? Or why would I search
and locate Barbara Rossi for Gracie as I have never personally met
Gracie in my life (knowingly)? Both Sadhana and Gracie are part of
my absolutely lovely personally unmet friends, but we know each
other intimately through our correspondence!!!

In the old days it used to be called "pen-pals" whom I have termed
as "e-pals".

When I wrote the article "Greed : Missile of Black Gold", I had
literally hundreds of people all over the world (professors to
housewives) who were saved from losing large amounts of money
and life in the Nigerian Scam. All of these people have become
dear friends even though I do not "know them from
Adam"!!!

When my domain name in Canada collapsed, there was utter
chaos, but now it is slowly getting back to normal as I restore
normal communications with this circle of "friends". (JM:
This has proven to be the most difficult of the tasks that I have
ever undertaken.)

There are hundreds of journalists and writers that I know who send
out automated replies when people write to them about their
articles. I have never done that, so that is why my circle of friends
and readers is so large and growing. Of course I get criticism,
but I answer them with a principled answer which may conflict
with the opinions of the correspondent. But we soon agree to
disagree and remain friends. (Unless of course it is so blatant
as in the bizarre exchange of e-correspondence with the
"educated" American!!)

What is the secret behind Malayala Manorama and its immense
readership? My grandfather's personal involvement with his
audience, something I learnt from him in the 50s!!

It is a philosophy which is built into the organisation and does
not depend on who is in charge today. Rajen, Thambi and Chacko
are really introverts, but Malayala Manorama continues to grow
because of a philosophy laid down in its early years which has
remained unchanged.

Regards

Jacob

Doubt! Now I am reconsidering a decision..

My daughter, Joanna does not believe that I have over 80,000 personal friends around the globe. She says that it is impossible to remember 80,000 individual names and intricate details of their lives.

Although I have never met most of these 80,000 and more people, each one is closely entwined in my daily life in numerous ways. And many of their lives are entwined in ways that even they do not know - till they discover it on my blog!!!

I was seriously considering splitting my blog based on the interest groups. Joanna also told me yesterday that I was long-winded on my blog. That is a matter of debate as Omenakochamma from Bangalore wrote:

"Thanks for the update. It sure feels good seeing all the details recorded not only for the information of today's generation but also for posterity. We sure need to thank you for this - THANK YOU!"

Then she added:

"Stories of yours are very interesting. I do hope many more will write in!"

Joanna, on the other hand, wants me to write my thousands of stories as children's stories, and little Samuel wants to illustrate them for me - he is a great computer artist at the age of 8!! He certainly would do them justice.

Then, when I received Cathedrlaite 69er Shyla Bogla's email late this evening, I have had to seriously reconsider this line of thought. She wrote:

Hi Jacob,

It's such a small world...

I have a friend in Poona, Jehangir, (also class of 69) who knows
Gopa who is in Finland now. I remember you writing about
her on your site.

Earlier this month we returned from Kerala, after attending Riyad
and Keya's wedding.

The Tharakans are dear friends...

this too I read about via you, reference the Mathews!

Regards,

Shyla

I have sent this reply to her and to several others:

Hi Shyla,

Small world indeed - I think we are all living in the same 50 foot
square compound called EARTH!!! :-)

Riyad's dad, Thambi, is my cousin and a Stephanian.
Abe is also my yearmate from St. Stephen's!! (I don't have Abe's
email address, so do send him a copy if you can or send him my blog address!)

I do not know Abe's kids as yet, unfortunately, although they are
now my nieces!

You may have seen a picture of Thambi and Bina (from my archives)
on my blog, as also his elder brother, Rajen, with Clinton, when I
blogged about him getting the Padma Bushan. I am waiting for a
picture of him receiving the Padma Bushan from the Indian
President earlier this year!

On the blog there is a youthful picture of Thambi's dad (my
mother's younger brother Padma Bushan K. M. Mathew) at the
wedding of another Cathedralite, Sen Philip, 53er, which also
shows 58er Dr. Peter Philip (also a Stephanian) in the corner.

Gopa Haikkonen (daughter of 54er Cathedralite Sadhana (née Shah)
Madhusadan) is my foster daughter in Finland - speak to her often
as she adjusts to life in this torrid (wonder whether I can really use
that word) climate!!

In fact, Gopa rang me yesterday morning to discuss some
aspects of life and other common friends (Malathi and
Ashok (Dr.) Khembhavi) in Mumbai whom I had introduced
to her mother, 54er Sadhana. I spoke to Malathi and Ashok
yesterday as my dear friends Ilari Sohlo, from Finland, and
girlfriend Ildiko Hämos, from Hungary, are going to meet
today as they land in Mumbai after travelling overland from
Hungary, through Turkey, Iran, Pakistan!

Ilari used to write a great column for my now being revamped
online web fortnightly Findians Briefings. Ilari was a classmate
of my daughter, Joanna, when they did their Masters in English
Philology from Oulu University.

Ashok has been a doctor who has been selflessly working in
the Dharavi slums for years and years, still charging Rs. 10 to
Rs. 20 to treat a patient!!! Malathi loves Finland as she spent
a year here looking after a physically handicapped young man.

All of us in Finland love her immensely.

She and her sister, Lalitha, originate from my hometown,
Bangalore, are close friends of the Indian supermind, Anil
Ananthakrishna, also from Bangalore, who for almost 40 years
has been developing the electric vehicle, and is the brains
behind the petrolless Electric Scooter, which is being
launched all over the world by many different groups!!

In Finland this is being done by a former Motor Cross
Champion driver, Jussi Kynsilehto, right here
from my present home town, Oulu, using the "Solifer"
brand name, which is like using the "Bullet" brand
name in India. Jussi has a great sense of humour as he has threatened
to call a forthcoming model as "(Harley) Jacobson"

Jussi and me at the opening of his Petrol Station in Pulkkila.

Just invited Gopa to get the gmail email address as yahoo
and hotmail are no match to what google is offering. Also
I am persuading Gopa to install Skype so we can talk more
frequently at no cost.

54er Sadhana (Gopa's mom in Pune) has become a dear dear
friend and was instrumental in getting the 54er reunion
together in cooperation with Suhas Phadke and Gracie Hayeem.

I was so happy that they mentioned me on their reunion video!!
(I do understand that especially you helped them
considerably.) And through Gracie (in California, USA), the
circle got completed when I organised her reunion with
your classmate, Barbara Rossi, in Italy who was
in her kindergarten class!!!

And for all this I must say it was my "Seventh Heaven" web
page started way back in 1996 and that later reported the
tragic and early passing away of 54er Head Girl Pamela
Ballantine, which brought so many of different years of
Cathedralites together on my web page. That was because,
Aubrey, Pamela's younger brother, in Canada has been
online with me for several years.

Now, after your email, I am seriously wondering whether
I should split the blogs into my interest groups?

Maybe it is just my torrid (and here I use the word correctly)
political musings that should be split off?

Regards

Jacob

Prakash updates me from Mumbai

First book published on the internet in 1994

Dear Jacob,

It was great to hear from you.

I have tried to keep in touch with all my batchmates of 1969. Not 1959 (JM: But thanks Prakash, as I have always enjoyed your updates). Many of them don´t even bother to reply or even acknowledge an email / letter because they all seem to be too busy with their lives and many don´t have such great fond memories of school as I do (JM: or all of us 59ers - we had a great batch - both the A and B Sections).

My sporadic news has declined as I have undergone some surgery, and this has kept me housebound for over a month.

Last weekend I happened to bump into Pierce Brosnan (JM: For those who do not know, Pierce, who is now about 52 years old, was born in Ireland and is one of the great character actors. He has acted in over 50 movies starting in 1979 and has produced 6, and the next will be "The Topkapi Affair") who was in Mumbai at the Taj shopping arcade, strolling casually, when I noticed him at 9 am. I got an autograph saying "Love Life" from him. This was published in the Asian Age, where the newspaper got his autograph analysed.

Then a fortnight back, the Norwegian Consulate held an event to promote salmon from Norway (JM: I love lightly salted salmon for breakfast, while the very traditional Finnish salmon soup in cream with rieska - a light chapti type bread - is simply superb). I was invited to meet with chefs from several hotels and restaurants and discussed Indian preparations for salmon, as I had won the MEN CAN COOK CONTEST with my signature dish "Chicken with dill sauce". (JM: Dill sauce with anything is GREAT.)

Several art auctions are being held in Mumbai, including "Concern India and Harvest 2005", after the success of the Osian auction, that raked in nearly Rs. 5 crores (Rs. 50 million). The famous Satish Gujral, Delhi based artist and sculptor (former Prime Minister's brother) had his show at the Jehangir Art Gallery and Sharukh Khan, the leading Indian Bollywood star, picked up his most expensive painting.

December was a month full of weddings and parties with all the NRI's (non resident Indians) (JM: Except Jacob from the frozen Arctic) in town avoiding the bitter cold of Europe, England and USA.

Natasha Advani got married to Kabir Hingorani (ex-Cathedraite) who is based in New York and is in the garment business.

Mohamed and Sartaj Noorani's daughter Aida (JM: I remember Aida as a baby and then as a little girl - she was such a delightful looking and well behaved tot, taking after her mother, Surtaj, who is a 62er and the daughter of a true Nawab. Surtaj's brother, Zaffar Hai, was a year senior to me in St. Stephen's College, Delhi. Surtaj's husband, Mohamed has been a close close friend for over 40 years, ever since we met in Germany in 1964.) got married on 2nd Feb at the Taj in a beautiful ceremony followed by a memorable dinner.

An article recently published in the Newsweek mentioned the increasing availability of synthetically made diamonds from a Russian company. This has given food for a lot of serious thought.

With the Internet family growing, the number of book lovers and readers has dwindled, resulting in bookshops having sales at over 50% discount on their regular prices. (JM: Books are books and Internet is Internet - I think both have their place in this world and neither can replace the other - although I was probably one of the first to publish a book by my wife, Annikki, in toto, on the internet.)

Nowadays, how many youngsters have the time for Coins, Postcards, Stamps? (JM: That all depends on how this is cultivated. Grandparents have a great job cultivating love of beautiful things in their grandchildren as parents have little time for that. And that is what Annikki and I have been trying to do.)

The only tangible items left is ART and Property. Art and paintings sales are not regulated in India, prompting helpers of
artists & con artists to produce fakes, many of them circulating with collectors and galleries. So its really high time a Regulatory Body was set up in the interest of promtoing ART and keep both the interests of the artists and collectors in mind. (JM: I agree with Prakash here, except that the Mona Liisa profile by Annikki obliterates the original by a mile. Also if the knowledge of art is not cultivated in youngsters, they will fall prey to pseudo and fake art!!)

Sadly, the older and established Galleries have not moved with the times and the recently started galleries with younger management have adopted modern sales gimmicks to promote and sell art, which is working, as there is the demand and the turnout at the Sales bears witness to the large crowds attending.

More news later after my return from my trip.

Do keep in touch.

Cheers

Prakash Thadani (69er Cathedralite - Adopted 59er)

2005 Cathedralite Golf Tournament, Mumbai

Best of luck to our Cathedralite Golfers - May the best one win!!

11th Alumni Golf Tournament on Saturday 5th March, 2005 at WSC.

Dear Alumnus

The 11th Alumni Golf Tournament has been scheduled for Saturday, 5th March 2005 at the Willingdon Sports Club (WSC), Mumbai.

Tee Off Time : Between 11 am to 12 noon

Entry fee : Rs 400/-
Note : Non-WSC members please bring IGU card along

Draw : Will be available with WSC caddie master from 3rd March evening onwards

Contact : To register please contact

Kiran Kanwar or
Harsh Amersey