The seamier side of my life

Yesterday, I told you of my first love - my Miss Universe who has been at my side for 44 years and as my partner for 41 years.

But alas, man is weak, and there have been several women, besides my wife, who have shaped my life.

My latest love affair is just 9 days old, and is a girl who has not yet got a name. She is a great bundle of joy. I call her "Kochmol", which means "Little Girl".

She is the latest addition to our family, born on Sunday, the 20th of January (9 days ago) here in Oulu.

Our new granddaughter, whom I am calling Kochmol,
till her parents decide on a name for her!

She joins a beautiful young lady, Asha, who has been a great joy in my life for the last 10 and a half years.


Asha in 1998 (Photo by Susanna).


Asha in Newcastle in 2008. (Photo by Susanna.)

Asha entered my life 10 and a half years ago, and there is not a day when I do not think of this beautiful baby who has grown to be a poised young and highly talented lady and, above all, a loving granddaughter.

When I think of my grandchildren, I must say that the two ladies, my gorgeous daughters, who have "ruled" my life started as similar beautiful babies:


Susanna 1968.


Joanna 1971.


Joanna 1989.


Susanna 2006.

Although one of them describes me as an "anarchist hippie" and the other as a "workaholic", I still love both of them dearly. If they love me even 10% of how much I love them, they remain the apples in my eyes. (Fact: I have not ever been and am not an anarchist, hippie or a workaholic!)


Nalini as a baby in 1938.


Nalini with the British Queen Mother in 1960,
at the Opening of the new wing YMCA in Fitzroy Square, London,
just a few months before her demise.

Another lady, who has by her very absence, been a lasting influence on my life is my late elder sister, Nalini, who died after childbirth in 1960. I know her spirit in my heart has been watching and looking after me all through these last 48 years.

The lady who has most influenced my life was one so simple and kind and yet so powerful that no one realised her shrewdness. An only daughter and the only sister to 8 brothers who loved their sister dearly, she held them together to control them to build the huge family publishing and industrial empire from the time her parents passed away in the early 1950s till her own demise in 2000.


Ammachi in 1934 when she graduated from
the Women's Christian College, Madras.


Ammachi with her dog, Tippu, in 1976,
after returning to Bangalore.

My mother, Ammachi, inherited her kindness and gentleness from her mother, Valliammachi, my grandmother, and her shrewdness and business acumen were from her father, the late K. C. Mammen Mappillai.



One personal example will show you the nature of my maternal grandmother.

In 1950, when we were visiting Kottayam, the family of uncles and cousins, several tens of us, decided to go on a trip to Periyar, the Elephant Sanctuary. The day before, I ate too many jackfruit causing me severe colic pains. I was really ill. It was decided by the powers at the top that I should be left behind as it would be too dangerous to take me on such a long trip.

I was heartbroken as only a child of 7 could be. I was left in the custody of Vallammachi. I was feeling as fine, but was really feeling emotionally upset. Valliammachi had been instructed to keep me on a total light liquids diet.

In Kottayam, in her home, such an atrocity was just not possible.

Within minutes of the family members leaving for the elephant sanctuary, I was treated like a little Prince and given every delicacy she could summon, including a healthy dose of the offending jackfruit which had caused the colic problem initially.

I could not have had a better day in my life than that in the company of such a grand lady!

And this remained a secret between us till today!



The last lady who played an immense effect on my life was my paternal grandmother. A tiny woman, no one would have suspected the powerhouse that she was.

She brought up her 10 children, 5 boys and 5 girls with a whip hand to make all of them outstanding students and the 5 boys became top professionals during their life time. (One was a senior administrator in the Mysore Government, the second headed Tata Consultancy Engineering Services, another worked for the Shri Ram Group as their senior Administrator, one headed various sections of Indian Railways and also the Intergral Coach Factory in Perambur, and the last ended his career as the Chairman of the Life Insurance Corporation of India!

As the wife of one of the Mysore Maharaja's senior administrative officers, she was formal enough to run her household in accordance to all the rules laid down by the aristocracy. She ruled her dining table with such firmness that children knew they were children to be seen and not heard.

Yet she was a mellow as a lamb outside of her hours of duty. In her later years she was a loving character who could not have enough of the company of her grandchildren. She outlived her famous husband, Dewan Bahadur Mysore Matthan by over 20 years.

During that time she was respected and adored by all her grandchildren.

My love affairs with these 9 women are what made me what I am TODAY:

They say that behind every man is a woman.

I am proud to say that behind this poor human being there have been 9 outstandingly great ladies.

Sand castles at Kampitie

Over the years, Annikki has created a beautiful sea side scenario at Kampitie that the kids feel that they are actually at a beach. The sand has been carted over the years from the sea shore bvy Annikki and me with a lot of help from Samuel.

This summer they enjoyed many many hours of playing in the sand pit area.

Some cats in the neighbourhood thought the main sand pit area was ideal for their personal purposes.

To protect the area, Annikki created a kota (a Laplanders wigwam) out of chicken mesh. She covered the outside with a colourful cloth which made it look like a wigwam.

The two older kids, Samuel and Asha, had a better use for that wigwam.

As Daniel was jumping all over their lovely sand castles, they enticed him to play in the wigwam, while they had free reign over the rest of the sandy beach area.

Cats out, Daniel in!

A day before Daniel and Samuel left for England, Asha and Samuel created an entire sand castle area, each their own. It took hours to build and i watched them work so diligently building their own areas, trading land to extend their own kingdoms.

It is now over two weeks since Samuel and Daniel left, We have had a very stormy early autumn with plenty of rain. However, the sand castle village created by the two grandchildren has weathered the worst of this storm.



Now, as the autumn leaves are coming down, it is time to rake down the village.

I went out this sunny morning to record the state of things. I was surprised to see how strong the constructions, which are still standing, the kids had created are!

Annikki was especially insistent that this scene should be captured for posterity.

Joanna and Susanna are back in the UK

It has been a long summer, but one where Annikki and I were able to enjoy our two girls, their husbands and our grandchildren.

Joanna returned early from Newcastle in the beginning of July as she was not well and got permission to appear for her year end exams in mid August. She returned at the beginning of July with Tony and the boys, Samuel and Daniel.

Before Joanna came back she had made me promise that I would be able to spend quality time with the kids so that she could study.

I would wander across to their house every day at around 11 am, when they were finishing breakfast. I would push off with the kids to all sorts of places - the Oulu Traffic Park where they could drive pedal cars, the Oulu Speed Park which has greatly expanded its offerings for children, the Oulu Zoological Museum, the Oulu Botanical Museum, the Oulu Geology Museum, the Oulu Car Museum, the beach, various parks, and take Samuel for his football training and football tournaments.

The photographs give an idea of the varied

things "we kids did this summer". 

At the Traffic Park




Samu striding out Kimi-style



Samu on his final drive at the Traffic Park



Daniel fills petrol



Daniel drives

 Daniel pedals

At the Speed Park



Asha driving the motorcycle




Asha and Samu driving the electric vehicles



Samu fires a gun



Daniel shows me he is turning left



Daniel at the car computer game

At the Zoo

 

Asha and Samu covered in Plastic Balls



Daniel in the Plastic Balls



Asha and Samu trampolining


Asha, Daniel and Samu at the Zoo

At the Market Square



Daniel at the market square



Asha sees how Finnish drunks,
even invalids, are handled

Jogging in the Park



Building an appetite, jogging!

At a football match



Asha watches a football match

We would end our wanderings at some friend's restaurant (Pailin, Goreme, Royal Garden, Nispero) so that the kids could tank up on their goodies.

I always carried chocolates and crisps in the car. Crisps were doled out "one-by-one".

On a few occasions, Samuel would go out with me on the scooter while Annikki minded Daniel.

I would return back to our home in Kampitie when I knew Annikki was rested and she could also spend quality time with the grandkids. She would rustle up some food, usually chicken nuggets and chips or turkey sausages with something else. We had plenty of ice creams of all sorts on offer. We were all spoiled and Samuel put on about 5 kg, Daniel a couple of kg and me - 8 kg!

The kids just loved to play in the Kampitie garden creating a mess in the sand pit. Even as late as 9 pm the kids did not want to return to their home - Kampitie was where they wanted to be!

We were blessed with a great summer, so very few days had to be spent indoors. Samu did spend some time on the computer getting me all sorts of stuff in my Penguin Club Account.

In mid August I drove Joanna to Tampere (5 and half hours) to take the Ryan Air flight to Newcastle via Dublin. I picked up Susanna and family and drove back to Oulu. Susanna gave us a scare en route when she had a bad attack of gastroenteritis. I stopped at a friend's place about a 100 km from Oulu at around 5 in the morning and got his son to call an ambulance to transport Susanna directly to the Oulu University Central Hospital, where they checked her out and after doing all the necessary released her the next day.

We celebrated Asha's 10 year birthday one day early to allow Tony to take the two boys to Newcastle to rejoin Joanna after her exams.

Susanna, Chris and Asha insisted on staying in the Kampitie cellar, although Joanna's house was empty. Asha and I had a great time doing what I had done with the boys earlier, except the Traffic Park, which had closed as soon as schools started in Finland. We did a lot of mileage on the scooter and we had some great experiences.

Asha and I could not also visit the Car Museum due to a shortage of days.

Last Sunday, Chris drove Asha and Susanna in the SAAB to Tampere, where they met up with Kannan. They handed the car over to Tony who drove back on Sunday night so he could get back to work on Monday morning. He did the return trip in less than 5 hours!

Joanna gave us a scare saying that she may have fared badly in her exams. When she did not get a call for a Viva, she was half convinced that she had failed and was even contemplating quitting her medical studies.

Yesterday she got her results.

She got Merits in everything except in one where she missed her Merit classifiucation by just 0.3%. I was hopping mad with her as she certainly gave us a scare.

On the other hand, more fool me. I should have known as Joanna has been an outstanding student right from kindergarten!

We all will get back to our routine now that summer is over and the autumn leaves have started to fall.

Annikki is back in her elements have turned the living room topsy turvey and rearranged it, all by herself. The kids are waiting for the photographs, which I shall endeavour to have in a day or two.