‘A Delicate Shade of Pink’ by Dr. Erkki Tuomioja, Minister for Foreign Affairs, published in India.
A book by Dr. Erkki Tuomioja was launched/published on 6th May 2013 at the Embassy of Finland, New Delhi.
During the visit of Dr. Erkki Tuomioja, Finnish Minister for Foreign Affairs, to India , a book launch of ’A Delicate Shade of Pink’ was organized in cooperation with the publisher Wisdom Tree. The award-winning Finnish edition of the book was published in 2006 by Tammi. The book launch was followed by a reception by Pekka Voutilainen, Chargé d’Affaires a.i. of the Embassy of Finland. The book was launched in the presence of Dr. Shashi Tharoor, the Honorable Minister of State for Human Resource Development of India, who is himself an active and much published author.
’A Delicate Shade of Pink’ tells a story about the roles of Hella Wuolijoki, a famous Finnish playwright, and her sister Salme Pekkala in the political turmoils and the international socialist networks during the two World Wars. The book has an interesting connection between Finland and India, since Salme Pekkala – whose complete name was Salme Pekkala-Dutt – was married to Indian-origin Rajani Palme Dutt. The couple played a significant role in the British Communist Party.
In his publication speech, Dr. Tuomioja described the process he went through while writing the book. He related how family ties to her grandmother Hella Wuolijoki facilitated the – especially searching for new sources of information and connecting seemingly unrelated things was much easier as he remembered the topic having been mentioned at home. Dr. Tuomioja also revealed the origins of the name of the book to the audience: It had been said that Hella Wuolijoki, compared to her sister Salme, was only “a delicate shade of pink”.
Apart from Dr. Tuomioja, speeches were given by Dr. Shashi Tharoor, the Honorable
Minister of State for Human Resource Development of India; Mr. Aapo Pölhö, Ambassador-Designate of Finland; Mr. Pekka Voutilainen, Chargé d’Affaires a.i. and Mr. Shobit Arya, the representative of Wisdom Tree. In his speech Dr. Tharoor remarked that the book is “An interesting exploration of European history through the two World Wars, and with an intriguing Indian connection.” He acknowledged the role of Rajani Palme Dutt in literature concerning India and brought up the fact that his work is widely known in India even though he had barely spent time in the country in his lifetime.