Work load keeps increasing

Many thanks to so many of you for the kind advice on how to handle my increasing workload.

But, it is not that simple when one is a writer and unofficial legal advisor.

I presently have four books under preparation, and each requires that I suffer no writer's block.

The first book is the Coffee Table Book of Cake Designs, called "Edible Art" by Annikki.



The fact that we very successfully did the Coffee Table Book for our Mumbai Cathedral School 59ers 50th Year Reunion, (ruined by the ICICI Bank with no remorse, of course) has only driven Annikki to complain that I have not given enough thought and put in enough effort to complete her book. That is true, as all of the work is on my table, Annikki having done her part in producing those fantastic cake designs over the last 25 years.



The second book, a real life story called "Last Will and Testament" will be on hold so long as some of my older relatives in India are still alive. I have completed this book. Recent developments only helped confirm my suspicions. Now I have the required proof of the misdeeds of the people concerned. But this book is on hold, although I continue to work on it at regular intervals.

Oulu "Lawyer" Kari Kantakoski outside the house
he has illegally appropriated for himself!

The third book called "Inheritance Nightmare" is another thriller real life story of the degree of corruption prevalent in Finnish Society. Although the original manuscript was ready many weeks ago, new facts keep coming to light which makes it mandatory for me to update the chapters till I am sure that I will not have to change it again for a couple of years. It shows the handiwork of a Finnish Master Conman working through the corrupt Finnish System!



The fourth book, which handles the ineffciency and incompetence of Banks in India, primarily with Annikki and my recent experience with the ICICI Bank, was originally just going to be a letter or web page.

But the grossness of their actions and their inability to take responsibility, plus a whole lot of new evidence which came to me through the internet and also by contact with persons who have had the horror of dealing with this bank, made us change it from the internet / letter idea, to a full fledged book.

Let there be no mistake about this - if you deal with the ICICI Bank, you do so at your own risk Ask my friend "Mr. N." who was promised a Housing Loan Application to be cleared in 48 hours. It took over 3 months!

Or take the experience of someone who, because of tragic circumstances, defaulted on a loan given by ICICI Bank. The bank, in a manner chosen especially to embarrass the loan taker in front of his community, sent the collection goondas at the midnight hour, to stir up a dramatic scene and cause the embarrassed individual to lose face.

I am assured that ICICI bank is the only Indian bank that follows such a horrible degrading practice.

But all this pales into comparison with what Annikki and i experienced between October 27th 2009 and January 2010. If any person was to view the data which is now contained in the book, whose title is yet to be chosen, I think they must be real fools to keep their money in this bank.

But more fool them then us, as we have already withdrawn all our funds from the ICICI Bank!

So this book, is now raring to go, once I find an appropriate title. Any suggestions?

In addition I have one application for justice to file with the European Court, another application to be filed with the Finnish Chancellor, another application to be filed with the European Ombudsman, and several small but major litigations to handle in Finnish Courts at different levels.

Most Finnish Lawyers are untrustworthy. Their only intention is to line their own pockets. These litigations and applications, therefore, have to be done personally by me! Annikki steps in whenever a Finnish Translation is required.

So this workload can never decrease, as each day sees many more steps of work coming along the way.

Oh, to be retired!

Back in Oulu, and What! Oh! What!

The first picture is the absolutely delightful gift given to us by the Patni team in Bangalore after they hosted us for a great dinner.



Now, in its proper location in Oulu in our living room. The birds and the background lighting, in a special place chosen by Annikki for this work of art, makes it truly magnificent.

Thank you boys - Uncle Jacob cannot thank you enough for this stupendous gift which made it BACK in one piece back to Finland.

It was late on Wednesday evening when we hit Oulu. I drove the 600 km rather slowly and carefully as I was really tired. The roads were clear, and while the sun was up, it was brilliant and a beautiful clear blue sky. The temperature during the journey was hovering between -15 and - 18 C, but the car heating was perfect.

We saw the sun set at 14:30 when we were passing through Jyväskyla, about halfway through our journey from Helsinki to Oulu.

What a difference, when just 6 months ago I stopped at 02:30 am to see the sun rise at Jyväskylä!

Today afternoon, Annikki gave me a shopping list of urgent provisions to obtain so that we did not starve! I went to our local supermarket. As I was coming out I bumped into one of Joanna's friends, Terhi-Liisa. She stopped to say hello.

The first thing she said was that she had read most of our experiences I had blogged of our trip around India. She asked how Annikki's cough was faring! So she was really reading the blog. (Terhi-Liisa told me that just recently lost her dad, so I conveyed condolences from our family.)

I decided to check through my readership statistics. Normally I have about 60000 to 80000 readers for all my 10 active blogs put together. From what I was able to gather, I had a possible 130000 to 135000 readers from all over the world who were reading of our Indian exploits on Jacob's Blog.

Phenomenal as it may seem, considering that many of the readers sent me email (such as Shilpa from the Middle East) and one (Ebbi) actually took up the phone in California to ring and speak at length to me, shows how much the blogging was appreciated.

I was happy that several of the older members of my immediate family, who know nothing about computers and blogging, actually got people to print out my entries so that they could keep track of this journey through this Incredible India.

Cathedralites, Stephanians, Findians, Facebook friends, Twitterers, LinkedIn professional friends, Orkut friends, Plaxo companions, Oulu University staff and students, O-Indians, Chaff friends, Kandathil and Maliyakal relatives, and stray readers searching on Google for keywords - what a cosmopolitan mix of readers.

And what is wonderful is that I was able to hold them together for the last seven weeks!

Many thanks to the younger generation for activating a readership which I thought I would never reach!

Does Salegram look like my chauffeur or my dear friend?

But I am jumping the gun again. Let us go back to Delhi when we were leaving last Friday. It was a very emotional farewell for me to say goodbye to my friend from my adolescent days, Salegram. He looked after Annikki and me so well. He is such a lovely man who has given devoted service to our family and family companies, that it shows above all that some of my family members in India have retained the principles espoused by my grandfather, the late K. C. Mammen Mappillai.

My problems with the ICICI Bank went on till the very last minute of my stay in India. When I left Delhi, they had assured me that everything would be just perfect from then on. They gave me two debit cards saying that I could use them in Mumbai.

Boy, were they sadly mistaken.

They said that another debit card would be delivered to me on Saturday morning.

What, oh, what do you think happened?

I had a terrible amount of shopping to complete in Mumbai. I went to Akbaraly's in Flora Fountain and bought a lot of stuff! When I was about to pay using this brand new debit card provided that morning by the Delhi Regional Manager of the ICICI Bank, the cashier told me that I could not use that debit card for paying - all I could use it for was to draw money out of an ATM!!!

Luckily I had cash with me so I was saved another devastating embarrassment.

I went promptly to an ATM, only to find that the cards were not usable - I had not been provided with the PIN numbers!

What competence, what efficiency, what in-depth knowledge by a Regional Manager and his staff of smart goons!

The next morning at precisely 9 am, I rang the Customer Service Manager who had organised the debit cards I told her that I could not use the card and the reasons. She confirmed that the cards they had provided me were only ATM withdrawal cards.

She then said I could call Customer Care and generate my own PIN!

Of course, the Regional Manager was most apologetic and assured me that the PIN would be generated from the phone number they would give me.

About half an hour later, I received a Bombay phone number and went through the entire rigmarole of generating a PIN, only to be told by the human being at the end of this long winded process, that as I was an NRI, the PIN could only be sent to my communication address IN FINLAND!

I rang the Regional Manager and he assured me that the PIN would be delivered to me. That was at 10:42.

In the meantime, the other debit card which was to be delivered by 12 noon had not arrived. Then I got a call from the Mumbai Branch stating that the man had gone back to the office as he could not enter my building, or he had found some other address, or....!

It transpired that he had come to the gate of my building and instead of ringing me, as my phone number was on the delivery slip, he had just gone away as the Security Guard did not believe his story. He appeared at about 11:30 and gave me the so-called debit card. When I opened the packet I found there was no PIN to use that card and it was an International Debit Card, which was no use to access my Indian Rupees in my NRI account!

I was in a rage as all my money was locked out.

When the Customer Care phoned me, I threw my fit at him, telling him what a nin-com-poop bank he worked for. I slammed down the phone as I had had enough of this nonsense.

Promptly I got a call from the Delhi branch telling me that if I waited another hour or so, the PIN numbers would be delivered to me.

I had other plans and asked them to stuff the PIN where you think it should be stuffed. I had wasted half a day and was at a position worse than my starting state.

At least at that point I had hope.

I went to the largest ICICI Bank and drew out 80% of the money in my rupee account, leaving just enough to see what would happen and as I had no chance of stopping the dividend cheques that would be deposited this week!

With cash in my hands I was able to do some of what I had planned to do, but communicating with my suppliers in Kottayam and Cochin late on a Saturday afternoon just was impossible, leaving most critical parts of my tasks undone.

Of course, when I reached home, there appeared the messenger from the ICICI bank, bearing the PIN numbers.

Later that evening I decided to give a try to the PIN received - and do you know what was the result - The ATM spewed out a receipt which said

Transaction Declined
Unable to Process

Does this bank even understand the chaos that they caused in my life, the embarrassments that I had faced, the humiliation that I was forced to undergo?

I do not think so.

They are immune from the realities of the banking world.

When one looks at their online banking page, this is more than obvious. It is a confused presentation showing that they expect their customers to do everything out of one page, and that is why their online banking is doomed to be a complete and total failure.

I am so sorry to bore you with this experience, but we have almost 40000 to 50000 NRI readers of this blog, many trusting their money with this bank.

They could ask for no worse experience in their life than what I was forced to undergo in my 7 weeks with ICICI Bank!

Let us move on to more delightful things.



Dinner was to be with Malathi and her husband, the Dr. of Dharavi, Ashok, and also Malathi's brother from Bangalore, Chandu. Malathi and Ashok's younger son Dishan, joined us later in the evening.

Annikki was not well. heer cough having become chronic, that I advised her to stay at home. But she would have none of it and undertook the arduous long journey to the finest fish restaurant in Mumbai.



I had fried fish, crab, tandoori fish and finished with one of the best prawn biriyani that I have ever tasted. Annikki managed to eat a morsel or two, but she was very very poorly.

Despite the late hour we went to Malathi's beautiful home in Powai and they showered us with gifts.

We finally got home around midnight.

On Sunday morning I had an early lunch with my uncle Peelukuttychatan (97, Mr. K. M. Philip), my aunt Chinnammakochamma (91) and my cousin Suresh (Peter Philip) and his wife, Meera. (Fear of passing on whatever infection she may have to Peelukutychayan and Chinnammakochamma prevented her from joining us.

I rushed home to see Annikki was OK and then rushed to second appointment with a few of my 59ers, as we were celebrating Noel's birthday with a chocolate cake before he left for the USA. I was so happy to meet Ranju Lalwani (58er) and his wife, Anju. Piloo, Ooky, Rivca, Suchita and Vijay were there for the occasion to say farewell to us two 59ers. It was an emotional parting.

Annikki still had some urgent shopping to do, so we made an attempt to reach Phoenix High Street in the early evening. About 100 metres from our Guest House I realised that this was a foolhardy attempt - we would probably miss our flight at 2 in the morning if I decided to get this shopping done. The traffic was abominable.

So we returned home. As I was going to buy some medicines from the nearby pharmacy, Annikki, accompanying me, spotted a hole in the wall shop, maybe 1.5 metre wide and 5 metres deep. In it she found all that she had intended to buy! Cotton vests, nightdresses, etc., etc. Incredible Mumbai, where one even has a bookstore at every traffic light, in between the cars!

We set off for the airport by around 22:45.

I think I should leave the next part of our trip for my next blog entry.

Running behind schedule...

My spat with the ICICI Bank, now rated as the worst bank in India, has delayed my overall programme and also my blogging. I have been sitting for hours in the bank, trying to solve this enormous problem.

I was able to quote the Rs. 50 lakh fine slapped onto their Delhi Branch by the Delhi Consumer Commission as an example of how bad a bank they really are.

This is a comment from my Facebook page:

The Delhi Consumer Commission fined ICICI Bank a whopping fine of Rs 50 lakh for employing "goons" to recover a loan and deplored the practice of banks intimidating consumers to pay installments.

The Branch Manager kept trying to tell me that this was a one off case. I assured her it certainly was not as from the correspondence and Facebook comments I have been receiving ever since the story hit my blog, I know differently.

Yesterday, I spent more than a hour and a half with the Branch Manager of the Pragati Vihar Branch giving her a bit of my mind, which was not for very long, as I am a man of few words, but then waiting over 40 minutes just to get a cheque book to make one payment.

The new password given to me failed to function yet again.

This exercise was done in the bank in the presence of the Bank Manager.

Now they are trying to get me another password - another month down the tube?

I think ICICI should give up trying to be a online bank. They are clueless on how such a system should operate and they have no idea how to solve the problems of online banking. The use big words as back end, etc., but they have not got their front ends or their back sides, which needs a kick in the pants, working!

Of course, their normal banking operations are also in a mess if it takes 40 minutes to get hold of a cheque book!

To them, the time of the banker is important, forgetting that chaos they cause in the lives of their customers because of their incompetence and inefficiency.

Absolutely no prizes for guessing whether I have changed my mind.

Sunday was a great day as we had been invited by my niece, Shilpa Pookkatt (née Eapen, daughter of Mammen Eapen, aka Kunjumonchayan), to a party at the Indian International Centre Annexe. She had said she was just calling a few friends over for lunch.

We were, of course, among the first to arrive with our Finnish Time Module, where only an old-school ICS Officer and his wife being there before us. We were greeted by Shilpa and Joseph and the co-hosts, his partner in the law business and his wife. I still did not guess the reason for the event, but I recognised that this was no small event.

My computer throws up the birthdays of all my main friends and relatives on the morning of the day. It was no wonder I did not recognise it was Joseph's birthday, as it was being celebrated a day ahead of schedule.


The birthday boy and my gorgeous niece.

A young man of 40, and now with a fabulous reputation as a Supreme Court lawyer, his wife, Shilpa (also a very competent lawyer but now spending time bringing up her children), had called his many friends in the legal profession and also many from the colony where they live, for this occasion. A large cake with 40 candles, the singing of Happy Birthday, and a fantastic spread of food, personally chosen by Shilpa, was the order of the afternoon.

Both Annikki and I had a whale of a time, meeting many old friends like former Indian Ambassador to Finland, K. P. Fabian and his wife and their most interesting son, who is now working for the UN and settling down in Bangalore!?! We met several senior retired IAS and IFS Officers and even an ICS Officer, plus many lawyers and their wives, which made for a great deal of fun and discussion on topics which we have been writing about.

We did not find a single soul who disagreed with us on all the topics we have touched upon: the demise of Bangalore, the lack of civic sense among Indian citizens, the hypocrisy of the Indian top leaders starting with the President and Prime Minister of India, the absurdity of the planning of cities, and also the rating of ICICI as the worst bank in India. (So it was not only the common man who holds this opinion, as we had thought earlier.)


Joseph, Shilpa and Ilyaan


Yohaan.

Shilpa was gracious and her two children are adorable.

I recalled my close association with Shilpa's dad, who was in fact my closest cousin for the formative days of my life in Banaglore when he was virtually my next door neighbour.

We spent the evening with another niece, Ayesha. She is the daughter of my cousin from my father's side, Arun Matthan, and his wife, Yasmin, who hails fronm Hyderabad. Sadly, we had not been able to meet Yasmin during our visit to Bangalore, so Ayesha updated us on the family as we enjoyed a nice Thai meal at Khan Market in a restaurant called The Kitchen.

She had not slept for three nights as she had been completing her assignments. Yet she looked so radiant and so full of confidfence. Great spirit. We were greatly honoured that she came to meet us despite her schedule.


Ayesha, another stunning niece. (This picture is from her Facebook page, as I was not carrying my camera - and she really does look like this picture itself!)

Ayesha is a graceful young lady and with a great brain. She has one important characteristic - she thinks before speaking. In my humble opinion, she is one of my nieces who is going to make it big in the world that lies ahead of her. She only needs to focus on what she really wants to achieve and it will be there for her taking.

She has the talent and drive of her maternal grandfather (and also her mother), whom I had known during his career in Vazir Sultan of which he became Finance Director, and is still doing well at the age of 91 in Hyderabad.

On the whole it was a delightful Sunday, only overshadowed by my depressing banking problems!

ICICI - Untrustworthy Bank; I eat my words

This should be in a new blog - Best Buy; Worst Buy - India!

After the experiences we have had in India during the past two months, maybe it is time to start this blog!

A few weeks ago, I was in raptures about how the ICICI Bank had treated us, Annikki and me, when we went to open our NRO / NRE accounts.



When I started to use the bank, I found that their entire online, as well as regular banking system, does not work. It is in chaos.

In addition, their staff have been taught to fabricate false information and give it to their customers. Their only objective is to take the money out of the customer!

Because of this, the bank has put me into immeasurable hardship. Jobs which I had to complete before I left for Finland on 13th December cannot now be completed, causing me immense additional expenses and embarrassment, and wasting my entire time reorganising things due entirely to the incompetence and inefficiency of the ICICI Bank.

On Saturday morning, I went to the ICICI Branch in Pragati Vihar, New Delhi, to meet the Branch Operations Manager, who is also in charge of Complaints. I had already met her to discuss the problem a couple of days earlier.

She had not kept her promise of the day before.

Today she swore that the password to my account would be delivered to my residence by 8 pm, even taking the name of my caretaker, whom I had alerted especially to receive the documents.

I reached home by midnight.

No password had been delivered.

Why do people lie?

If a bank employee lies to the customer it shows the nature, not of that employee, but the policies and methods of the bank.

Not only has the bank been incompetent and inefficient, but to make its employees tell blatant falsehoods shows that the ICICI bank cannot be trusted with ANYTHING.

My advice to my international NRI audience is that the quicker you shift away from the ICICI Bank, the better it will be for you and your money.

Believe it or not, when I opened my account in the ICICI Bank, my drivers in both Bangalore and Chennai, told me that what I had done was make a very very bad decision. They could not explain why, but they had been categorical about their observation.

Now I know why!

I have had problems with many companies in my life, Finnish and Indian. Only on a few occasions have I had someone blatantly lie to me. But in this instance, it was not just once, or twice, but several times in the space of a week.

Would YOU do business with such an organisation?

Now let us get down to specifics.

Due to problems with Indian Bank, with whom I had been banking for the last 30+ years, I decided to open accounts with ICICI, a private Indian bank. Annikki and I visited their office in Bangalore, and has been recorded in another entry, they treated us like royalty and opened our accounts with no hassles.

However, I should have got warning bells at that time, as in the process, they did not give me my NRO debit card and cheque book, only my NRE debit card and cheque book.

When an NRI is in India, he or she would first like to consume the NRO account for purchases as the NRE amounts can always be repatriated or converted back to the foreign currency.

It was only when I used the debit card for the first time, I realised this problem.

At that time I had been to Chennai and Mumbai and had reached Ahmadabad.

I reported this to the branch in Ahmadabad, and I was told that these instruments had been sent to my Finnish address.

The persons I had met in Bangalore knew that I was going to be in India for two months, so what was the use of sending instruments I needed in India to Finland?

Stupidity or incompetence - please answer that yourselves.

The first few times I logged into my ICICI login account, there was no problem. However, the third time I logged in, I was told on screen that due to security problems, I had to login again using my original user ID provided by the bank and the related password.

I did so, and it was rejected, saying that I had two more attempts, after which I would be locked out.

I made one more attempt, and again it failed.

Instead on making the third attempt in isolation on my computer, I went to the local branch in Ahmadabad in Pralahad Nagar, and explained the situation. I told them I urgently needed access to my online account for several reasons.

Using the bank's computer and in the presence of two bank employees, I made the third attempt exactly as was dictated on the screen. It failed - locking me out of the account altogether.

The bank employee seemed to understand my situation and immediately placed a request for a new password, etc. . In my presence, she gave specific instructions to deliver the same to me at the nearest branch to where I would be staying in New Delhi. Golf Links near Khan market.

I was leaving for Delhi in a couple of days and things were quite desperate, as I was using my international debit cards to survive while my funds were locked away in my ICICI accounts. Foolishly, I had already transferred most of my funds in Indian Bank to the ICICI accounts. So even that avenue had been knocked out under me.

When I reached Delhi, at the first opportunity I went to the bank nearest my residence, in Pragati Vihar. The first shock I got was when the Operations Manager, who was also handling Complaints, told me that my password had been dispatched by DHL to Finland. Short of having a fit, I told her that the employee in Ahmadabad has specifically asked for the password to be sent to Delhi, in my presence.

Luckily for me, that employee in Ahmadabad had been over zealous in trying to make me make investments in ICICI Bank and in the process had given me her phone number. So, then Operation's Manager in the Pragati Vihar Branch was able to call her and determine that the instructions were specific to deliver the password to me at the Karol Road Branch.

The first question to be answered was why the instruments were being sent to Karol Bagh in North Delhi, whereas I was living in South Delhi.

Incompetence on the part of several layers of bank officers as I had specifically told them I wanted it delivered to me at the closest branch to Golf Links near Khan Market in New Delhi.

My driver, therefore, in Delhi had correctly taken me to the Pragati Vihar Branch in New Delhi, which is also next to the Regional Office of ICICI in New Delhi.

After having determined that what I was saying was correct, the Operations Manager said she would tackle this herself and would get the password immediately delivered to the Karol Road Branch. She said she would call me that evening and inform me when I could collect the same.

I have a busy schedule in Delhi and each visit to the bank takes over a hour. The lady failed to phone me that evening or the next morning, so I had to again make a personal visit to the bank on Saturday morning.

She tried to explain all the banks problems to me, which were of little interest to me, and I told her so. All I was interested in was that I received the instruments to do my work.

She made several calls, and it was obvious the bank had goofed on several fronts - the password had obviously not even been processed, so then the lying started.

This Manager told me that the password was already in Delhi with the courier company and could I collect it from the Karol Road Branch in the evening. I pointed out that being Saturday, the bank closed at 14:00 hours. She told me that the bank employees would be working till 18:30, so all I had to do was go to the bank and tell the guard, and he would let me in and I would receive my password.

At 16:30 or thereabouts she rang me and said that the instruments would be delivered to me in the evening at my residence. I told her that I had a dinner engagement and would leave by 19:30. She told me it would be delivered at 20:00 hours and so could I give her the name of the person authorised to receive it. I did so, and therefore had to change my entire afternoon and evening schedule, the programme for my car and driver, at a huge cost to me.

I got home at midnight and my caretaker told me that no one from the bank had come and delivered anything.

What does one make of this?

To me it is case of the employee of the bank telling falsehoods to cover up the total failure of the bank to meet its obligations.

My entire Indian programme has been thrown into disarray because if the incompetence and inefficiency of the bank plus the untruthfulness of employees of the bank.

We are scheduled to fly out on Sunday of next week. Payments had to be made tomy suppliers in Kottayam, Changanacherry in Kerala and to another in Bangalore. Material has to be made ready based on these payments, shipped from one place to the other so that the final product could be put together and given as a complete product next Sunday, before we fly out from India.

Now that is impossible. It is impossible for me to change my flight schedule as not one but three tickets are involved and we have obligations in Finland.

As I said, I was not interested in the problems inside the bank, just as much as I was not interested for the bank to know what my operations entail. The job of the bank is to provide me with a service they promise.

ICICI Bank has failed on every count in this instance - that is in Bangalore, Ahmadabad, New Delhi, as well as their online operations.

Who is going to tackle the responsibility. Who is going to compensate me for the immense reorganisation that I now have to undertake to ensure that this operation is completed? Who is going to apologise for the embarrassment that has been caused to me.

As I said earlier, the ICICI bank is not a bank that can be trusted. It should be struck off as a banking organisation.

I should have listened to my drivers, the common men, who knew what I was letting myself in for.

I intend to meet the ICICI Regional Manager in New Delhi on Monday and lay this out in front of him. Let us hear his explanation! Will he hear mine?

Do not hold your breath!

Jumping a day again to Bangalore

(Sorry no photographs till I can upload to my server in Finland!)

Although Thursday was a most intriguing day in Cochin, I will come back to it later as I jump to yesterday, Friday, in Bangalore.

Our hotel is in the most crowded part of Bangalore, but as it is on a side street, it is relatively quieter that the rest - but I emphasize, relatively. I had finished blogging last night at around 4 am so I went back to bed and was up by 7. I had asked the driver to come by 8:30, thinking I would let Mika and Annikki sleep through the morning.

But the brightness and the noise had both of them up by 7:30, and they were ready by 8:30, so we trooped off to MTR for our breakfast. Annikki was still to full from our meal at the Mainland China to have breakfast. Mika downed his masala dosai and coffee, while I enjoyed the idli and masala dosai with a mug of tea. It was just too much for me. The place was crowded as usual and the atmosphere was the same as when I had last been here. Time has stood still in many ways at MTR!

We then visited my Basavangudi home on Market Road. I cried when I saw how my mother's carefully crafted garden, our childhood home, had been destroyed by the developer. It is a tragedy caused by "greed".

As Brinda had told us she would inform the owner’s of my grandfather's home in Basavangudi to show us around, we went to "Grace Home" To enter the compound was sheer joy as not only had our old childhood paradise been kept well, it had been improved upon significantly.

The owners had left the previous day for London. When we informed the caretaker, Kamala whom we were, she allowed us to see the house. It was so wonderful to enter this home which has been preserved in all its glory and also, like the garden, improved upon. I wiped away tears of joy as I went around this home, knowing that my grandparents would have approved of all the changes. I remembered the wonderful times I had spend in this house, hiding under the staircase, running around carefree, sitting with my grandparents around the enormous dining table, playing cowboys and robbers in the lush garden. It was a joy to be here.

Next port of call was Infantry Road to see some cousins and see what had happened to my dividend cheques. We were surprised to get one handed oer to us, and find that Indian Bank had returned two cheques deposited there last year.A tidy sum was lying there for us which we had no knowledge of!

I also met the binder who is the father of one of the employees there. He promised to bind the Coffee Table Book by 7 pm. A lot of compromises, but I was sure that I would get the job done before I left for Chennai.

Off too open an account at the ICICI Bank. Annikki and I were surprised at the wonderful way we were treated at the bank at a special NRI Counter. The process was long but the experience was rewarding as we left with two accounts in the bank - a NRE and and an NRO Account.

On to Indian Bank where the atmosphere was completely different. No wonder our nationalized banks are in decline! The Manager accepted the failings as there was proof of everything we had said, and he could offer no explanations whatsoever for these.

I managed to get our accounts updated, new balance statements and new check books. i will use them to close the accounts if I see no improvement in the next few months!

Visit to my eldest cousin (George Natthan) on the Matthan side in Bangalore - Baluchachen. A wonderful feeling to meet him and enter another of our childhood haunts. We spent a couple of hours till Nirmalakochamma returned home. These two looked so young.

On to Somakochamma and Georgekuttychayan's (Mr- & Mrs. G. K. O. Philips) place which was surrounded by chaos as the roadworks extended around their home in every direction. Again a paradise in a concrete jungle, The only bit of preserved lawn where we spent a pleasant afternoon with our two eldest cousins from the Kandathil side in Bangalore. We were joined by their youngest son, Peter, whom we had not seen for over 25 years. He is such a great lad. Such a joy to be with our cousins and nephews. Georgekuttychayan is preserved and Somakochamma zips around in her little car People in our family do not age in India!

Then it was time to visit the binder (Sree Kanyaka Parameswari Power Press). He had promised a 19:30 delivery. We reached there at 18:45. I watched him work diligently is a ramshackle place, but he knew what he was doing. Chaos became the work output of a craftsman with nimble fingers as he lovingly created the hard cover for the Class of 59 Directory. He handed me the final documents at 19:40.

No time to go to the hotel to change before going tom meet our Patni friends in Electronic City. Our driver, knowing our time demands, asked whether he could drive as a "Bangalore driver" as he weaved through the traffic and got us to the wonderful hotel about 45 minutes late. i was overjoyed to see my old friends from Oulu patiently waiting for us. The dinner was simply exquisite - a buffet and as none of us had had a morsel since morning we scoffed the wonderful food with relish.

I had said that they were my guests, but they outsmarted me and paid the bill behind my back. Then just as we were leaving they brought out a gift from them. I cried at the gesture, as I was expecting no such thing as these were my children whom i loved so much and who had given me much joy when they lived in Oulu Annikki was also overjoyed at seeing them and feeling their great love and affection.

Thank you boys, and remember you are always welcome back at Oulu as my friends

The return journey did not take as long but even at this hour of around midnight the roads were throbbing with traffic.

Exhausted, we crept into our beds after midnight. I was sure i would be up early to put up my entry of another day of our visit to Incredible India.