Board Members

The Finnish-Indian Society is led by the board of members. The board is elected once a year at the autumn annual general meeting of the society. The meeting is open for the members of the society and invitation is sent to all members. Every member has a voting right in the autumn AGM meeting. In autumn 2022 AGM, Shefali Arora was elected as President of the society and was re-elected as President in 2023 and 2024 . The profiles of all the present board members can be found below.

Shefali Arora , President

I am from New Delhi and living in Finland since 2002. I am working in Wärt-silä Corporation, leading Product Engineering & Lifecycle management Services globally from Wärtsilä IM. I am responsible to provide IT solutions to enable Sustainable societies through innovation in Technology & ser-vices. Sustainability is close to my heart. I am people’s person & forward-thinking leader who makes things happen. Besides work and being a mother and a wife, I lead an active social life. In my free time, these values also reflect in my persona. I am easily approach-able, trustworthy and treat people with respect. I enjoy arranging events, watching Bollywood movies, cooking, travelling, and learning Finnish lan-guage. I am associated with Finnish-India-Society since 14 years and 12 years as part of the board and actively arranging various events. I have been con-tributing selflessly to be a bridge & building closer links between India, over-seas Indian community in Finland through these cultural events. Being part of our society, I am contributing towards both the cultures and learning Finnish culture at the same time. Besides multiple professional awards & public speaking in Technology world, I won WODESS Woman of the Year award in 2018. My motto is: “If you want to go fast, go alone, if you want to go far, go together”.

Tiina Karjalainen, Vice President

My name is Tiina Karjalainen, and I work as an Application Specialist for a device manufacturer called Profound Medical. My job includes training doc-tors and MRI Technicians in the safe use of our devices around the world. I first visited India as a tourist in 1988. I was traveling for a month with a friend. I fell in love with the culture and people of India already then. After all, India is a country that cannot be compared with any other country. For my work, I was sent to India for 1.5 years to lead the clinical testing of our new device. During this time, I became acquainted with many new peo-ple and the wonders of India. So, no wonder that after coming home I joined the Finland-India Society. My motto: What goes around comes around.

Sari Päivärinta, Treasurer

I became a member of the Finnish-India-Society’s board in spring 2025, after being an active member for few years, especially, with the wonderful events we arrange. I’ve always had a keen interest in all matters cultural and have been most privileged to have had the opportunity to get to know people from all over the world as well as visit over 40 countries during my long career, particularly with technologies and education export. Directly India related activities that I have been working on are the OP Financial Group’s annual Diwali’s, which I concepted, coordinated and hosted for 3 times. The close cooperation with OP and SIS then ignited my interest to join this smoothly running and super fun society too.

Despite travelling for decades, I still haven’t experienced India yet I’m finally planning to go there soon – I’m very fortunate to have the most fantastic Indian and so many other friends that are interested in the incredible India.

Rajiv Arora, Board Member

I moved from India to Finland on a job rotation in 2001 for 1-2 years and here I am still after 22 years. I am an entrepreneur and provide Project Management Services to major technology companies of Finland. I love Finnish nature and keep exploring it by travelling in different parts of Finland. Being an Indian, I am a natural cricket player. Few years back I developed a liking for Golf and since then have spent many summer days in golf courses around Finland. Snow and winter darkness does not bother me much, however, snowstorms and icy roads are not my favourite. I like movies, music, festivals, and different cultures. With two home coun-tries, Finland and India, it’s a very natural motivation for me to be a part of Finnish Indian Society and work towards cultural exchange between the two countries. My Motto – Be Honest, Be Truthful, Be Ethical.

Sandeep Shah, Secretary 

I guess you could really call me a citizen of the world. I was born in Africa; I grew up in an Indian home and my roots are in India. And in the United States I have spent long periods of time. But I have always considered Finland my home country, after all I came here when I was 2 years old. For almost 15 years, I have worked for the development of the vitality of the capital region by attracting foreign companies to invest here, succeed and create jobs. Many of these companies are ol-leet Indians. In the Finland-India Society, I want to continue to increase interaction be-tween Finland and India, especially through interesting club activities and cultural exchange. It has been gratifying to see how Finland has increas-ingly become aware of Indians, e.g. through increased tourism. The same applies to those Finns who are interested in India and bravely set out to explore this wonderful country. You can do that from your own couch through movies, music and literature, or by participating in numerous India-themed events that are offered throughout the year. It’s a short jump to visiting the place – 9 hours and a direct flight.

Ashu Patpatia, Board Member

I am born & brought up in northern India. I come from a big family and active social circle. I moved to Finland 30 yrs back after getting married. Initially it was a cultural shock, but snow was exciting part for me. I got connected with Finnish-India-Society in year 2002. It was a new be-ginning for me to meet new people & spread Indian culture through our festivals. I love arranging events & with our society we started to arrange Diwali & other events. I like socializing, enjoy traveling & love cooking.

Reetta Flink, Board Member

My first contact with India was through Bollywood movies. At the time, I was studying editing and decided to do my thesis on musical scenes of Bollywood movies. At the turn of the year 2005-2006, I was in Mumbai on an international internship, during which I visited various movie sets and interviewed directors, choreographers and producers.

After returning to Finland, I launched a blog called Bollywoodista, gave lectures and wrote articles for film magazines. At the same time, I practiced various Indian dance styles, performed in the Bolly Beat Dancers and Bollywood Kamlees dance groups. I directed two Bollywood-themed dance theater plays and made a few music videos. Since 2023, I have been involved in organizing India Day and in 2024 I graduated as a cultural producer (YAMK). I have been a member of Finnish-India society since 2005 and board member from 2025.