An important request to ALL our readers

Dear Readers of all our blogs,

It is with great sadness that we have to announce that we will now have to make all our major blogs accessible only to those who register with us.

The subjects we have covered over the years include the wrestler Dara Singh (probably the most popular and controversial blog entries, ever), St. Stephen's College, Delhi, Cathedral and John Connon School, Mumbai, Bishop Cotton School, Bangalore, the UN, talk Shows in the USA, politics, the Kandathil and Maliyakal families, Kampitie, Vesaisentie, Annikki's creative art, achievements of our children and grandchildren, CHAFF (Chamber for Assistance of Finns and Foreigners), Findians, our numerous friends, relatives, our travels, recipes, and life in general. Above all, t they contained the nostalgia the people love.

Due to circumstances far beyond our control, which affect the lives of many of our loved ones, we have to create the SETTINGS of our blogs so that only those whom we invite can read them. This is very sad as our blogs have reunited many friends across the continents.

With over 120000 readers around the world, some reading more than one of our blogs, for a decrepit old blogger and his wife sitting near the North Pole, this will prove to be a Herculean task, but one which has to be done for the safety, security and well being of many of our loved ones.

Please take the time and effort to send us an email telling us which of our blogs you want to be added to so that you can access them freely.

Our sincere apologies to each and every one of you lovely readers who have kept us going for almost a decade and a half by your readership, your inputs and your outputs!

Yours in great sadness as technology besides being a positive aspect of life can also be a very negative one.

Annikki and Jacob Matthan
Oulu, Finland

Time to catch up

As I am posting on my other blogs, only this one will be active during this Indian trip. All my readers to my many blogs will have to come here and read our experiences, whether whether they are my school or college friends, my Oulu friends, our Findians community, our CHAFF friends, our O-India friends, etc.

We landed at 00:25 on Monday morning. Monday was a full day of getting acclimatised and above all meeting my uncle, Mr. K. M. Philip (97, Peelukuttychayan, Pappa) and Chinnammakochamma (Mummy). I will update you from the time we left Oulu till this morning in subsequent posts.

It was so good to see my uncle who even walked to the lift to see us off. He is looking forward to playing golf again this week as he had been banned from playing golf for six months as he had a pacemaker installed. 97 years and looking forward to a round of golf!

It is now Tuesday morning. I am sitting in the wonderful Guest House of Malayala Manorama in Mumbai. Budiram from Nepal is the caretaker. A fine person always at your service. He has been with the company for many years.

It overlooks the sea. Annikki and I are fascinated with the view of watching the waves coming in. It is the start of our visit and holiday in India.

There are three bedrooms, all beautifully furnished and maintained. Bedclothes and towels are changed everyday. Better and more intimate personal service than a hotel. This should be our aim in Raantel Oy.

Annikki and I are in one bedroom. Mika is in another. The third is for Manorama persons. Last night, a second cousin once removed (an Indian way of saying a cousin through marriage relationships) arrived. We had a long chat. It was wonderful to meet Raju who looks after the Company Affairs of the Malayala Manorama.

This Guest House is what we term in Oulu as a shared apartment, but it is totally non intrusive. There is no cooking by the residents. Breakfast is served. Other meals are not offered and one can order the food in from any of the many restaurants in the vicinity.

Yesterday evening, Annikki, Mika and I went to a clean and neat vegetarian restaurant next door. Mika had a masala dosai and a pineapple milk shake. Annikki had a paneer palak with a methi paratha and I had a channa bathura. We also had two extra nans and a couple of Sprites. The damage was less than € 5!! We would have paid € 5 for just the Sprites in Oulu!

Raju's cousin, Apu, studied at the same time as me in London. He did Rubber Technology and went on to be Head of the Research and Laboratory group at MRF Ltd. His late father was a wonderful eye doctor. I was so pleased to hear that Apu's mother, Sosammakochamma is still doing well at the age of 90+. Apu's father passed away many years ago. They used to live quite near us in Bangalore several years ago.

Raju's aunt's (Kunjattykochamma) husband was my Godfather, Mr. K. M. Eapen (Eapachayan), one of my mother's elder brothers. Also known as Vakil Eapenachen, as he handled all the legal matters regarding our family businesses.

I just learnt from Raju that he is my mother's second cousin - so making him my uncle!

Sadly we are lacking a camera as the one I received on my 65th birthday fell and does not take snaps. It will be given for repairs today.

I now have a local Indian mobile. The phone number is

+91 9619621265

Unfortunately my Finnish Mobile is not locating an operator for some reason. So please use the Indian number to send me text messages.

More later. I am already sure that this is going to be an Incredible India visit.