Visit of Indian Ambassador to Oulu

Ambassador Om Prakash and his wife Vineeta 

Thanks very much to Asheesh, the CEO of Medipolis I GMP in Oulu, the Indian Ambassador to Finland, His Excellency Om Prakash and his wife, Vineeta, were invited to Oulu to meet the top city officials and also to share an afternoon with the Indian Community here.

Indu and Asheesh, Aruna and Mahesh and Nushrat and Arindam took the lead and organised a wonderful event. They were assisted by a small band of youngsters who also helped to clear up after the event.

On Thursday, Asheesh rang me and asked me to give the introductory address about Indians in Oulu.

I spoke for about 10 minutes highlighting the arrival of Annikki, Susanna, Jaakko and me to Oulu in 1969 when we were en route to India. This was followed by our visits in 1975 and 1979, till we moved here in 1984. I also gave a glimpse of the relationship I had with two former Ambassadors, Fabian and Cherpoot, both of whom were our guests in Oulu on official visits to the Unversity.

I told the audience of Fabians outstanding talk on the "North South Dialogue" which was published in full, with his permission in my book "Seven Year Hard Labour in a Finnish Holiday Camp - A Finnish University".

The historic dual citizenships (Now vanished!)granted to our children, Joanna and Mika, the close links between the Microelectronics Laboratory of the University of Oulu and the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, and the way in which Oulu had become our home and how the Indian Community here had grown and become strong, featured in my short talk. There was much to say, but I did not want to bore the audience!

Mahesh then gave a a very well done presentation about the history of the City of Oulu. It was quite embarassing as he kept referring to my contribution in the aspects of Oulu life. (I was assisted by several people and it was embarrassing to be referred to it as the sole architect!)

The Ambassador gave a speech, which was a little sad, as he informed us thet he was just a few days from returning to India. I discovered that he was from the same University as me, Delhi (1971, Hindu College), considerably junior, and he had served under both Fabian and Cherpoot and also knew my good friends, Ambassadors Niranjan, Siddarthand Aftab, andf also Tony (former Chief Commissioner for Jammu & Kashmir), all of whom were Stephanians of my years in college (1960 - 1963).

The afternoon snacks provided by Nushrat and Arindam (Indian Cusine) were well received by the medium sized audience.

I was a little surprised why several prominent members of our Indian community did not come. Although most of them got the message through O-India, and the event did not cost a dime to attend, the lack of enthusiasm by one section of our community is a little sad.

I hope that in future we will have a better turnout, as these events help to cement a bond between the Indian ex-pats who are almost all doing well here in Oulu.

I also later suggested that in future the invitation to our Indian Ambassadors should be made at the start of their tenure as then we could get recognition and co-operation over the 5 years of their term in Finland.

After the event, Atul, my co-moderator at the O-India Group, has asked for a regular Coffee (Beer) Club session of our community, something that I started with CHAFF (Chamber of Assistance for Finns and Foreigners) and all ethnic minority communities and Finns, several years ago. That had been a huge success, but after I handed it to the members, it died a slow death.

All such Groups need a motivator and a theme. Just a casual get together may work for a few weeks, but one which needs to succeed over a longer term needs the undivided attention of a couple of people who make it an exciting event to attend. In short, they must get some personal value out of attending!

Let us hope Atul succeeds in his adventure of forming this group.

And I thank all those who organised the event and our Indian Ambassador, His Excellency Om Prakash and his wife, Vineeta, for the chance to share a few moments with all many Indian friends here in Oulu.

Jai Bharat.

Kudos to Aruna and Mahesh

Posted on my Jacob's Blog, the CHAFF Blog and also on the Findians Google Group Pages.

Yesterday, Annikki and I were able to attend the Diwali Celebrations in Oulu organised by Aruna and Mahesh Somani.

It was held in a lecture hall in Oulu University, thanks to the kindness of Professor Pentti Karjalainen of the Materials Science Department of the Technical Faculty. (Mahesh works with Prof. Karjalainen as a senior researcher.)

Lord Ganesha sat in one corner and blessed the celebrations. The sandalwood armies of Ram and Sita sat on a chessboard in the corner. Colourful lights twinkled around the room.

Prof. Karjalainen and his wife graced the occasion. To me it was a great occasion to meet up with him again as he was the very first contact I had with the University of Oulu in May 1984 - and I had my diary to prove it.

Entry on May 29th 1984 is phone call to Prof. Karjalainen.
Entry on May 30th 1984 records my meeting with him!

We had arrived in Oulu on 29th April 1984. I had attended the Scanplast Exhibition in Gotherburg, Sweden. Immediately on my return I had found the Materials Science Department at the University of Oulu. I had spoken to the then Associate Professor Karjalainen on May 29th and met him on May 30th.

We had common friends in Prof. Gunter Mennig from the German Plastics Institute in Darmstadt, West Germany. Prof. Mennig had previously been the Professor of Polymer Science at the Indian Institute of Technology in Madras. I had shared many common scientific research interests with him. Prof Mennig had been in Oulu in June 1983 and had given the keynote address at the Third Scandinavian Symposium in Materials Science which had been organised by Prof. Karjalainen.

I did not take an assignment at his department as I was able to join the Microelectronics Laboratory, which was just one floor above the Materials Science Department. Although I did not work with Prof. Karjalainen, I did edit several scientific papers written by staff and students of Prof. Karjalainen as well as a few by Prof. Karjalainen, himself!

It was through the kindness of Prof. Karjalainen that Mahesh was able to get the use of lecture room to hold the Diwali celebrations.

Aruna and Mahesh truly did a great job of organising this event. The number invited had to be restricted to just 50 because of the size of the lecture hall. But well over 70 people turned out.


Little Hannah with her engineer mother, Nisha,
from Kerala, watch the lively proceedings.

There were men, women and children from every part of the sub-continent who joined to celebrate what is a global festival today. From the tip of Sri Lanka, Kerala and Tamilnadu to the very north in Nepal, Lahore and Delhi, from the West in Bombay to the East in Meghalaya and Bangladesh, Findians of all ages, shapes and sizes thronged to the University.

Aruna and Mahesh had organised a full programme of song and dance from classical karnatic music to the latest from Bollywood. A superb slide presentation of Glimpses of all faces of India was as highlight.

There were outstanding performances by many participants, among them, Prasad and Vamsi, Feroz, Prabhu, the Sri Lankans, the Nepalese, and in fact finally, almost all those with the youthful heart and soul that only Diwali can bring out in people.

Food had been brought by the participants. There was so much of totally vegetarian dishes that almost 50% was taken back, even after everyone had had their fill. There were delicacies from all corners of India prepared by the Findians, almost 6 different rice preparations, plenty of spicy dal and channa preparations, wonderful dishes of peas and potatoes and a wide variety of Indian sweets - from halva to cakes. The Indian Pickles and the Mango Juice that Annikki and I had brought for the occasion were greatly relished. (We discovered the delicious Mango Juice from Nisha and Sunni and it is on our daily diet sheet now!)

The audience was not lacking in Finns or people from around the globe. Besides dear wife Annikki and son-in-law Tony, among the international guests were Prof. Karjalainen and his wife, Lisa Viren, Project Manager of the Oulu Setlementti Friendship Organisation (where Aruna works) which works on integration of Foreigners in Oulu, and her husband, Iranian Shahnaz Mikkonen, who heads the Ville Victor International Centre in Oulu, and her Finnish husband, Yrjö, Gisela Tauriainen, wife of the late Associate Prof. Antti Tauriainen with whom I had the pleasure to work with till his untimely demise in the late eighties, there were a few more dear friends.


A section of the Findians audience.

But it was the people of the sub-continent that dominated the proceedings. There were Indian engineers, scientists, teachers, architects, researchers, students, husbands, wives, children, babies and everyone, besides enjoying the scrumptious spread, had a great evening.

And there were two retired participants - Annikki and me!

Both Annikki and I were deeply touched by the generous (totally undeserved in our opinion) praise showered on us as the oldest residents of this community in Oulu. We have been blessed with so many friends who show us so much respect that it is truly embarrassing.

(The last event we had organised in the University was the wonderful dancing of International Star Shovana Narayan, accompanied by her sister, Ranjana Narayan, Supreme Court lawyer, and their dance and music troupe maybe in 1990!)

But we are immensely happy that Aruna and Mahesh have taken over the responsibility that Annikki and I once enjoyed as being the Ambassadors of our wonderful Indian Culture amongst the citizens of Oulu. Aruna is fluent in Finnish and her work at the Oulu Setlementti has been not only amongst Indians but women of all nationalities in Oulu.

Mahesh's Mac PowerBook (yes, he is wisely also a Mac User like me) contained songs from every era, videos of all major Indian superstars. It had the audience roaring, laughing, dancing and singing. The excitement was contagious as people of all age groups joined this wonderful festivities in the true spirit of Diwali, our festival of Light and happiness and the beginning of a great new year ahead.

Truly this had been Diwali, the Festival of Lights and Friendship, for all of us, so far from our homeland and brought together to feel that we were not alone or forgotten in this near Arctic location.

The wonderful warmth of our motherland, Mother India, embrace was there for all to feel and enjoy.

Thank you dearest Aruna and Mahesh.