Pre-publication information: Handbook for Survival in Finland (2024 Edition)

We are thrilled to announce the forthcoming edition of our popular "Handbook for Survival in Finland", initially unveiled to readers in 1994. 

Immerse yourself in the splendour and intrigue of Finland with our latest update! 

Cover of the First Edition of "Handbook For Survival in Finland", (1994)

The updated edition, projected for release in the autumn of 2024, promises a renewed and expansive insight into the heart of the Nordic nation.

Highly revered for its humorous, satarical and accessible style, the guidebook leverages our four decades of personal experience and research, offering an extensive survey of Finland's geography, history, politics, economy, culture, language, and everyday life.

This blog post, one of 2000 blog entries by us over 28 years, aims to navigate you through the contents anticipated in the new edition. 

We are proud self-publishers of an array of books, including 

“for the hour of his judgement is come;…”, (1994)

“Seven Years Hard Labour in Finnish Holiday Camp - A Finnish University", (1994)

"Sports as an Effective Tool for Integration of Ethnic Minorities in Oulu", (2001)

"Raising a Child the Montessori Way", (2004)

"59ers Golden Reunion", (2009)

"Edible Art" (editions in both Finnish and English), (2011)

"Freedom of Speech - Whose?", (2014) and

'.

"The Titanic Called India" (2015).

Our comprehensive expertise and four-decade-long research journey have established us as esteemed authorities on Finland. The forthcoming edition is predicted to offer a trove of indispensable knowledge and insights that only we, with our caliber of experience, can deliver.

Our updated edition pledges an in-depth analysis of Finland's myriad facets, from profound geography to intricate politics. This ambitious endeavour aligns perfectly with our proficiency and the guidebook's core objectives. As we unmask new details, we understand readers' anticipation and skepticism, which we hope this announcement will address.

In the world of cultural guidebooks, a new edition generates thrill and intrigue. The promised extensive exploration of Finland's nuances presents a beacon of hope for readers longing for enlightenment. For now, readers can only hypothesize the wealth of knowledge concealed within the forthcoming edition.

When assessing the credibility of our updated "Handbook for Survival in Finland", it's vital to recognize our qualifications. With 40 years of dedicated research and understanding, we are proven authorities on Finland. This profound knowledge lends credence to the potential value of the new edition for readers seeking comprehensive insights into this captivating country.

From our inception as founders of the global Findians (Finns and Indians) Community, we have offered a distinct perspective on Finland. 

First Issue of “Findians Briefings” (1992)

We have been publishing “Findians Briefings” from 1992.

As readers eagerly await the release of the new edition, they can expect a cornucopia of updated information and fresh viewpoints on Finland. Be sure to watch for updates on the availability and pre-order details for this highly anticipated guidebook.

The forthcoming edition is reputed to be a comprehensive guide, offering a wealth of information on Finland's diverse aspects. As we draw from our extensive store of knowledge and experience, the credibility of the new edition remains indisputable. Our dedication to unveiling the mysteries of Finland has earned us recognition as authorities in this field.

We promise an enriching journey into Finland's heart, converging information about the language, daily life, and cultural tapestry. The promise of updated data and new perspectives underlines our commitment to enhancing the reader's knowledge of and experience with Finland.

As the anticipation builds for the autumn 2024 release, readers can look forward to diving into a wealth of meticulously curated information. We take pride in our profound understanding of Finland, and our commitment to accuracy and authenticity shines through in our work. Our upcoming edition of the "Handbook for Survival in Finland" is a must-have resource for anyone interested in the intricacies of this Nordic nation. 

With us as your guides, readers can trust they are in skilled hands, steered by experts genuinely invested in showcasing the best (and worst) of Finland. Our unique viewpoint and commitment to sharing the richness of Finnish culture make us stand out as guidebook authors.

The forthcoming edition is a wonderful opportunity to learn more about the wonders of Finland from two dedicated and passionate individuals. We invite you to stay tuned for more updates on this exciting new edition!

I learn a new sport theoretically -,Cage Cricket

 Last Friday I got an invitation to watch on YouTube a demonstration Cage Cricket match between two sports teams from Jyväskylä.

This was followed  on Saturday and Sunday by a men’s snd women’s tournament called  Cage Cricket.

Most Valuable Player of the Tournament - Ritu Ghanghas

I had not encountered this form of cricket earlier  and even an AI Search did not yield much data. However, it did say that the  Finnish Cricket Association was organising a tournament on Cage Cricket as part of its schedule! 

With great interest I watched the first demo match. Not knowing the rules of the game,it seemed a very messy game to me me. Having been a  Cricket buff all my life,  I soon worked out the issues with the sport.

As two Oulu teams were taking part in the tournament, I did send a message to a friend who was attending the event that if Oulu weanted to do well, they had to develop a new startegy in keeping with the rules of this game.

For instance, I noted that if a bowler bowled a perfectly good ball, it could yield between 3 and 7 runs for the batting side, whereas, if the bowler bowled  a wide ball, it would yield just 2 runs. So the incentive on the first four overs of every batting pair would be for the bowler to bowl wides and give away just 30 runs.

As I watched the games unfold, there was just one lady captain who had understood this and I could hear her telling her bowlers  to bowl wides to good batters!

There were several other inconsistencies in the rules showing that this sport was in its infancy and would have to be developed condiderably to be considered to be an interesting sport! 

Of the teams, only one player, a young lady from Oulu, Ritu Ghanghas, was head and shoulders above everybody else.

I had seen the cricketing genius of Ritu Ghanghas  when I had attended the launch of the Oulu Women's Cricket inauguration last year. Her skill was not because of cricket but because she had a super eye based on her skill at frisbee.

Others may play Cricket but this is a new sport and it is not  traditional  cricketkng skills that are important,

I hope that organisers of cricket understand  this and make their decisions of choice of teams and leaders based on the skills necessary. Even in normal cricket there are totally different skills that are required by players of T20, one day Cricket (T50) and 5 day test matches. Even the selectors have to have different skills. The Cricket Boards should  understand that no size fits all.

Me sitting on the floor!!

Cage Cricket in Finland

The Jyväskylä tournament was well organised and my congratulations to the Jyväskylä Cricket Club which won the Men's Cage  Cricket Trophy. 

The last time they visited Oulu, the whole team turned up, after the game, at my house with flowers! Thank you guys.

.

History repeating itself?

Annikki and I were enjoying our regular Friday buffet lunch (with a speacial spicey chicken vindaloo) at The Royal Garden restaurant in Oulu when a young couple walked in. 

Michelle showed them around and they settled at a table. (Obviously they were new!)

MG University, Kottayam (School of Chemical Sciences)

(Photo from Mahatma Gandhi University website.)

As they came to the buffet table I asked the young gentleman where he was from. He was from India, then Bangalore. 

Having established our primary connection I dug a little deeper and found out he was a Polymer Chemist, and then came the shocker, when he said that he did his degree from Kottayam.

I had to travel 7000 km to do my studies in Polymers. At that time only London and Akron, Ohio, USA had reputed courses in polymer science and technology in the English speaking world. Although there were excellent courses in Germany, France and Italy, those were not an option for me.

As my brother was already in London, the choice was automatic, as Ohio seemed to be a little too distant for me.

When I did a little digging I found that the director of the Dept of Chemical Sciences at the Mahatma Gandhi University is a Prof. Dr. Anitha C. Kumar. She had done her Polymer Science degree from the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras, with which I was actively cooperating with in the early seventies when Prof. Guenter Menig from Germany was there to start the department. 

Prof. Menig and I had worked on similar research areas, especially the use of the Brabender Pladtograph to characterise the processing behaviour of polymers.

When Prof. Menig left back to Germany, we took his maid, Susheela, to look after the children as she spoke English. Annikki was at that time just starting to learn Tamil.

I hope to share a few evenings with Anupam, just to catch up on what is happening in the polymer field. I have more or less stopped reading stuff in my primary area of work for almost 15 years!

The only subject I do keep abreast of these days is the controversial topic about Polymers and Recycling technology.

Welcome Anupan and Juyel to a great city, Oulu, Annikki and my  home for the last 40 years

This is indeed a very small world!

Has O-India Ry been involved with Tax Fraud?

Annikki and I are not members of O-India Ry as we terminated our membership with immediate effect when we witnessed criminal behaviour towards us by Board Members of the Association. 

Just a few days ago, after the visit of our friend Shashank Subramanyam to Oulu, which we did not attend, we were sent a copy of the accounts of the performance by some friend as he wanted our comments. 

The accounts appear to have been circulated to the Association members.

These accounts make hilarious reading!

How can an Association give a grant to itself? 😂

If that was the extent of the problem, that could be passed off as just ignorance.

There is a more serious problem with these accounts.

Tickets were sold for this performance, directly and through the ticket sales service.  

When any tickets are sold in Finland for a public performance, there is an important aspect that value added tax (ALV) has to be collected and remitted to the tax authorities. 

Withholding of such tax is tax fraud.

Where is this liability shown in these accounts?

Additionally, when an entertainer performs in Finland and is paid a remuneration, income tax has to be deducted and remitted to the tax authorities. 

Why is this liability not shown in the accounts?

This can also be a case of  tax  fraud!

Recently, one prominent O-India Ry member posted a Facebook post which is very interesting!

Certainly, we too would wish this, but luckily being pensioners, we have paid our taxes while working and are thus enjoying the benefits of having paid our taxes in full, and quite in excess of what we paid!

In May 1988, the Indian Ambassador HE  K. P. Fabian called me and said that a well known Kathak dancer would be visiting Finland. He asked whether would I be interested in organising a performance in Oulu. 

As we already had a performance by Daksha Seth organised by Martti Antila,  a well known photographer in Oulu, the previous year and the Oulu City Hall was packed to the brim with an appreciative audience, I said I would take on the challenge.

The first problem was to get a suitable auditorium. As the City programme for the year had already been finalised, no regular auditorium was available. 

I looked around and found that if we did some adjustments, the main lecture hall L1 in Oulu University could be used. It had a capacity of around 500 - 600 seats.

Annikki and I set about the task of meeting all the right people and organising the budget. 

With the cooperation of all the appropriate people we decided that we would not charge any entrance fee, because of the tax implications, and as we felt we could underwrite the expenses as the lecture room was free for me and I could get the appropriate sound system from my local friends in the business. Also I got three furnished guest room apartments in the University for them to stay.

Shovana Narayan and her troupe of 5, including her singer sister, Ranjana Narayan, a Supreme Court Advocate, arrived in Oulu. I made sure they met all the important people of Oulu when they arrived.

Shovana Narayan

Shovana Narayan is one of the outstanding classical dancers of India. For her incomparable contribution to the Kathak style of classical dance, she has been decorated with several awards, including Government of India's coveted Padmashri and Sangeet Natak Akademi awards. She has bestowed Kathak with dignity and enriched it with a deeper and wider canvas of expression and dimensions. She is at once, an explorer, a performer, a choreographer and an artiste par excellence, with values and a cause. The explorer and researcher within her have seen her author six books on Indian dance, which bespeak of intensity, depth and gravity. She has also worked closely with nationally and internationally acclaimed Indian and western dancers and musicians from various streams of art. Shovana's palette contains other media, including films and operas as well as being a dedicated guru whose disciples are creating their niche in the world of Kathak that once again bears testimony to the intensive training being imparted by her. She is also a senior serving civil servant belonging to the Indian Audits and Accounts Service (1976 batch). Married to Dr. Herbert Traxl, Austrian Ambassador, the two have a son, Erwin Ishan Traxl. Her younger sister, Ranjana Narayan, is a lawyer and a classical singer. Other books by the author: ˜Kathak: Rhythmics Echoes and Reflectioin- (Roly Publication); ˜Dance Legacy of Patliputra' (Publications Division, govt. of India); ˜Indian Theatre and Dance Traditions" (Harman Publications); ˜Performing Arts: A Policy Perspective" (Kanishka Publications); "Kathak" "A Handbook (Wisdom Tree Publication); "Indian Classical Dance" "A Handbook (Sterling Publication).

That paid dividends as the auditorium was full, as Finns turned up for the performance. 

We were even able to have the University restaurant open during the intermission. We had a children’s play area for those who came with small children. We had a Red Cross facility on hand for any emergency.

Shovana performing with Rev. Patrick Dickson 

during the performance.

Shovana’s troupe.

Shovana’s accompanists

(All above photographs by Jacob Matthan.)

Picture from Kaleva newspaper reporting on 

Shovana Narayan’s performance.

Report from Kaleva which covered 

Shovana Narayan’s performance.

The whole event was a success. It was duly reported by Kaleva. 

Although the costs were minimal, we had important sponsorships in kind for the group, as we were not an official organisation, but whomsoever we asked put their hands out, generously, to help us. 

Our Finnish friends took care of all the formalities so we stayed within Finnish law!

Four years of groundwork by Annikki and me amongst the community had paid off. 

From there onwards, whatever we arranged were successful events, always involving the whole of Oulu, which at that time covered just under 100000 people. 

Every ethnic community joined us in making this and all other events successful, fostering the multicultural  attitude we were promoting. 

And remember, at that time the only Indians in Oulu were my two children, aged 17 and 15, and myself!

That comfortable situation prevailed for many years as no one was seeking glory. We were all working for our communities to be integrated into Oulu society.

The performance of our friend and international superstar, Shashank Subramanyam, in August 2011 was to a packed audience in Valve in the Oulu City Centre, where the hall of 175 was filled with even people standing at the doorway to hear him play.

Shashank Subramanyam 

Shashank Subramanyam (born October 14, 1978) is an accomplished flutist from India, specializing in Indian classical music. Having displayed exceptional musical talent from a young age, Shashank began performing at the age of 6 in 1984 and has continued to showcase his artistry for over three decades.

In recognition of his contributions to the arts, the Government of France honored him with the prestigious title of Chevalier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres for the year 2022.

Shashank is also noteworthy for being the youngest recipient of the Government of India's Sangeet Natak Akademi's senior award for the year 2017, and bestowed by the President of India at an investiture ceremony held at Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi.

We had active participation from not only O-India Google Group (not O-India Ry, which did not exist then) participants and wonderful suggestions from the local Indians to make the event appeal to the Finnish audience.

Yrjö Mikkonen (from the Finnish music academy) and his wife, Shahnaz (Head of the organisation looking after migrants to Oulu), made sure that all the technical and organisational arrangements were perfect.

Oulu City officials cooperated with us fully as they realised an international superstar had agreed to come to Oulu. 

We even had the cooperation of the airline to ensure everything was perfect with no cost to our small community. 

And the cooperation of our Indian Embassy was of paramount importance, although we did not request any financial assistance as we were not a registered society at that time.

We were all working for one goal to ensure that we had a perfect performance in Oulu. 

No one was working to further himself or herself. 

We had an Organising Committee headed by a Finn and composed primarily of Finns, those mainly in the Oulu music business. We had the cooperation of all the media, print and radio,.

The success of the event was evident.

After that, the series of problems with my health from 2014 onwards caused Annikki and me to quietly withdraw from the organisational  scene, but we continued to take part and help  the organisers to conduct successful events.

But things changed!

In our post “Why we terminated our membership to O-India Ry" speaks for itself.

 

The doom we predicted has hit the Indian Community of Oulu faster than we thought, and it has been brought on by itself. 

It was decided to bring Shashank Subramanyam again to perform in Oulu. 

As we did not want to associate with O-India Ry, we opted out of taking part in the event and informed Shashank the reasons, so our absence would not be misunderstood by our friend!

After pressurising every Indian in Oulu, night and day, less than 100 Indians (out of 500) turned up for the Shashank performance. The auditorium was less than a quarter full.

And out of 180000 Finns in the Oulu region, not even 30 turned out for this show!

There was utter confusion in ticket pricing (Euro 21, 23 and 28?), and also who could or could not attend. 

Finns are cost conscious and not fools. They know when one is being cheated! 

And advertising in Flea Markets and in Oulu University showed total absence of sanity in the organisers. 

People who go to Flea Markets go to save money! 

Two Indian Oulu University students who visited us told us that they could eat pizzas for three days for that amount of money!

The poster they produced for the event was fine but how many Finns know the meaning of Raaga Murali? 

Is it a common term as Classical, Hip Hop, Jazz, Pop, Rap or Rock?

This was a true case of the blind leading the blind!

Such an event flop may have destroyed all the good work that has been put in for 40 years to get our Indian Community appreciated in Oulu. 

Did Kaleva or any media even cover this event, (pre- or post) of an international artist.

Shashank, an international superstar,  performed to an empty hall. 

I was told that the sound equipment was sub-standard or the people handling it were not able to understand the demands of this type of music.

Who takes the blame for such shambles?

Anyone of O-India Ry willing to stand up?

We noted that some were patting their own backs on social media trying to avoid telling the world the truth and what a mess they had made of this event!

These people have been ready to take glory for someone else's work but when it came to failure, everyone is running the 100 metres backwards at twice Usain Bolt's record.

In our case the behaviour of O-India Ry was criminal by the Board Members of O-India Ry. That made Annikki and me to take the drastic step of terminating our membership with immediate effect.

In the case of the Shashank performance, 

O-India Ry appears to have gone a step further in possibly committing tax fraud in Oulu.

Is worse still to come?

Was it prudent on Annikki and my part 

to distance ourself from O-India Ry?

A Blast from My Past -

 While going through my ancient files, I came across this little blue notebook with my pet name on the cover.

SUSHIL is my Indian name, a tradition started by my paternal grandfather. 

In the past, we were given our official name, in which the first was the House name that you belonged to from your father’s side. Then you added your father’s name and finally your own name.

The own name would then be made Malayali and would be used by your family and family friends. Occasionally, you also got called by a “pet” name which could be associated with your standing in society, your contribuion to society or just endearment.

My eldest maternal uncle  was the late Padma Bhushan K. M. Cherian (Chetpet Appachen), . He got the name Cherian as being my grandfather's eldest son, he was given his great grandfather's name - Cherian.

Padma Bhushan is the award he was given by the Indian Government for his contribution to Indian journalism and work for Indian Independence. K stood for his family House name, Kandathil. M stood for his father's name. which was  Mammen Mappillai.

Take a look at the names of all my mother's  brothers in order of birth.

1. Padma Bhushan K. M. Cherian

2. K.M. Oommen

3. K.M. Eapen

4. K. M. Varghese Mappillai

5. K. M. Jacob

6. Padma Shri K. M. Philip

7. Padma Bhushan K. M. Mathew

8. Padma Shri K. M. Mammen Mappillai

The ninth member of the family was my mother, whose name should have been 

Padma Acca K. M. Mariam (Padma Acca being my personal title for her) as she held 7 fiery brothers together to help them build MRF Ltd. , Malayala Manorama, MM Rubber Co. Ltd. amongst a host of other companies. 

(Her brother, K. M. Jacob, died early and my name is Jacob as I was born shortly after he died. )

Without her strong hand  and mutual love and affection with her brothers, this family would have broken up into fragmernts a long time ago. (This story will appear in my memoirs in due course.)

So you will note that each of them has the K. M. prefix before their own name.

My paternal grandfather took another route. 

His name was Raja Mantra Pravina Dewan Bahadur Maliyakal Kuriyan (Mysore) Matthan.

Raja Mantra Pravina Dewan Bahadur was the title conferred on him by the Maharaja of Mysore for his services to the State of Mysore. The House name is Maliyakal, which is also my house name. His  name from his father was Kuriyan (which be also spelt as Kurian). The pet name "Mysore" was given to him by the people of Mysore for his contribution to the state. His personal name was Matthan, but he turned it to his surname name. This was because he saw it as part of the western society he had become involved with and he changed from being a Syrian Christian to a member of the Protestant Church.

So his male children were

1. M. George Matthan (Commissioner Mysore Government)

2. M. Kuriyan Matthan (CEO Tata Engineering Consultancy Services, after being the Chief Engineer of the B. E. S. T. in Bombay)

3. M. Matthan Matthan (DCM) 

4. M. John Matthan (CEO BHEL & CEO Integral Coach Factory)

5. M. Jacob Matthan (LIC Chairman)

My mother's family were all professionals and business  oriented, while my father and his brothers were all professionals, all of whom reached the pinnacles in their professional life.

Coming to my name, it should have been Maliyakal Matthan Jacob, but as my paternal grandfather turned around the system, I got the name Maliyakal Jacob Matthan, but an Indian name was also added, which is SUSHIL. (My elder sister was Nalini, my elder brother is Ranjit, and my younger sister was Thangamma.). Sushil is used by my other family members and family friends who have known me since childhood.

But this is a digression, as the reason for this blog is that I found a small notebook a couple of days ago which had an article written by me in 1975 about the potential for trade between Finland and India.

Written by me 48 years ago, when I was just 32 years old, there may not be much technology  significance today.

What interested me is not the content of the article but that I was able to write an article before my access to a computer in beautiful long hand, something which vanished when I returned to Finland in 1984, 9 years later, as my handwriting skills vanished. With the advent of the computer, and arthritis hitting me quite hard simultaneously, I resorted to using the compuiter for my writing to avoid the pain.

When I joined the University of Oulu, I was given access to IBM XT and AT computers, along with the IBM Mainframe. 

My earlier computer access was when I was working in MRF.  IBM opened their computer centre in Madras. All we had was preparing punched cards relating to the stocks in store. 

I did not stay with the IBM Computers for long as I spent most of my time trying to remember key strokes and functions and less time creating my documents.

One day, a young lady arrived at the door of my University room from a company called Systema Oy. She convinced me to look at what she was selling. It was an Apple IIC computer which had a "mouse" and the commands were simple to remember.

I took to it immediately and my productivity went up 2000% compared to that of my colleagues. 

Soon I had others working on my Apple IIC all day creating all sorts of scientific experimental stuff. 

I had to wait till they went home to get my work done, which became quite simple as it was productivity oriented. What took them 4 hours on their computers, my productivity with my Apple Macs took hardly 2 hours! (This was at the time of the cumbersome DOS system.)

Within a year, all my colleagues were clammering for their own Apple computers, but I had moved on to a Mac, the Mac Plus,  the Mac SE and then the Mac Portable and then the Mac PowerBook, my first own computer. 

There is an interesting side story when I bought my PowerBook. I claimed it as an expenses and claimed depreciation for the whole year, although I had bought it only in December. 

The Oulu Tax Office declined to give me the depreciation for the whole year. I went to Oulu Court. There I showed that I could do a whole year's work in less than three weeks. The judge ruled in my favour. 

After that the Oulu Tax Oflice never questioned me on my claims!

I was continually ahead of my colleagues who were always playing catch up with me.

I would go in on a Saturday morning and upgrade all the software on the Macs of my colleagues.

As a result, despite being a third world country intruder in Finland, I got upgraded from an ordinary researcher to the Laboratory Manager and then to the Chief Engineer.

The secret of my success was that they needed me more than I needed them! 

I do hope you will enjoy this handwritten 20 page article of mine. 

It shows my vision of 35+ years ago, even  before I moved to Finland. It also shows my commitment to promoting India and its culture, products and technology to Finland.

Remember one of our Guiding Principles:

"Go where you are appreciated!"

Appendix:

50 years relationship with Finnish and Indian Ambassadors

Our first interaction with the Finnish Ambassador to India was when Her Excellency Riitta Örö took over as Finnish Ambassador to India in 1974. One of her first visits out of New Delhi was to visit her only subject in Madras, Annikki, in 1974.

Ambassador Her Excellency Riitta Örö

Ambassador HE Örö was a beautiful and imposing personality, from Rovaniemi, graduate of economics and political science. She was a close friend of the Finnish President Urho Kekkonen and his wife Sylvi, as she had served in the Finnish Presidential office.

At that time there was a British elderly gentleman who was the Finnish Consul in Madras and he was due  to retire soon.

Ambassador HE Örö called us to lunch to the Madras Club and asked Annikki whether she would consider taking over as the Consul for Finland in Madras. She explained that the main task would be to look after the interests of Finnish sailors who had problems in Madras.

I had to inform Ambassador HE Örö that, unfortunately, Annikki would not be able to take on that responsibility as we had already made our decision to move our residence to Bangalore in early 1976. 

(Cricketer C. D . Gopinath, who was the CEO of International Services, later took over this task of Consul. C. D. Gopinath is probably the oldest living Indian cricketer today.)

A few years later Annikki received a letter from the Finnish Embassy in New Delhi asking her to register her personal details so that in case of any turmoil, she could be evacuated

Annikki’s reaction was immediate. She told the Embassy that in such situation she was not likely to leave her Indian husband, two British national children and two Indian national children behind to seek safe sanctuary in Finland!

The reply was immediate that in case of an emergency the whole family would be able to travel to Finland as a unit.

I regularly visited the Finnish Embassy to meet the commercial attaché to discuss business propositions. Ambassador HE Örö always made it possible to spend a few moments with me to ask after Annikki and the children.

Once we moved to Finland, Annikki and I have had the good fortune to interact with many of the Indian diplomats who have been posted as Ambassadors to Finland. 

Our initial contact was quite negative. 

On arriving in Finland, Annikki found that our two Indian children were not entitled to the basic social  benefits that Finnish children were entitled to, such as the child benefit. Annikki was asked to apply for Finnish nationality for them.

They were granted Finnish citizenship almost immediately. The reaction of the Indian Embassy was immediate as they read about it in the Finnish Gazette. They asked me to immediately return the childrens passports as dual nationality was not permitted for Indian citizens.

I addressed a letter to the President of India, Zail Singh, and explained my wife was looking after the interests of our children while I was making the decision to retain the cultural roots of the children. 

I sent a copy to the Prime Mimister, Rajiv Gandhi.

Rajiv Gandhi's secretary sent me an immediate reply saying that dual nationality was not permitted for Indian citizens.

The President, however, sent my letter to the Ministry of External Affairs.

I got a reply from the Ministry of Extetnal Affairs stating that our children could retain their Indian citizenship till the age of 18 while also enjoying their Finnish citizenship.

This was followed by an apology from the Prime Minister’s Office.

The then Indian Ambassador, His Excellency K. P. Fabian, was quick to apologies to me and then started a long friendship which exists even till today.

New Ambassadors to Finland are taken to visit the Finnish ice breakers  which are stationed in Kemi not far from Oulu. Ambassador HE Fabian made it a point to stop over in Oulu so as to meet me.

Indian Ambassador HE K.Fabian visits the Microelectronics and Material Physics Laboratories in Oulu University and was hosted by Professor Seppo Leppävuori and me.

Ambassador  Fabian with the Vice Rector and Dean of the Electrical Engineering Faculty, Professor Paavo Uronen, and me during his visit to Oulu University.

I then organised his official visit to Oulu to see the University, address the University with a talk about the North-South dialogue  (this was published in full in my book about Oulu University in 1994) and to have dinner with the Oulu Governor, the former Finance Minister of Finland, Ahti Pehkala. Annikki was asked to act as the official translator between these two economic stalwarts.

Over the years we had some interesting encounters including having had the most expensive cup of tea with Ambassador HE K. P. Fabian. He always asked me to spend time with him whenever I visited Helsinki. On one occasion we got involved with a long discussion and on returning to my car parked outside the Embassy, I found I had an expensive parking ticket. :-)

Every time a leading Indian artiste visited Helsinki, the Ambassador would arrange for their visit to Oulu. Outstanding dancers (as Padma Shri Shovana Narayan) and musicians were brought to entertain the Oulu audience. I had the cooperation of all the Oulu authorities to have full houses for them. 

On one occasion, it was at very short notice, and all the normal venues were booked. I organised the event in the largest lecture hall in Oulu University. Shovana danced to a packed audience.

Shovana Narayan's troupe taking a bow in Oulu.

Shovana Narayan performing in Oulu.

Our  interaction was not only on the cultural front. The first agreement between a Finnish University, Oulu, and an Indian University, the Indian Institute of Science, Banaglore, was forged during Ambassador HE Fabian's tenure. We had a continuous exchange of students and professors. I had the good fortrune to address the IISc during my visits to India.

The last in the series was when Professor B. S. Sonde visited our University. I was able to show him how the Technology Parks in Finland functioned. He then modelled the Indian Technology Parks on the same pattern. Professor Sonde later became the Vice Chancellor of Goa University.

Ambassador HE Fabian used to use Annikki and me as persons to look after Indian interests in Finland. He appointed us as the responsible persons to look after the interests of Indian children adopted by Finnish families.

When articles which were derogatory and misleading about India appeared in the Finnish media, Ambassador HE Fabian would ask Annikki to reply to them knowing she knew Indian and Finnish culture to give a fitting reply.

When President R. Venkataraman visited Finland, Ambassadir HE Fabian asked me (and Professor Brig Sharma) to lead the reception for the President. The President was well known to our family as he had been Industries Minister in Tamilnadu where he had given MRF Ltd. all support to fight against the foreign tyre companies who had a cartel against our Indian effort.

Ambassador HE Thangkima Cherpoot with Professor Seppo Leppävuori and me in the Microelectronics and Material Physics Laboratories

The next Indian Ambassador to Finland was HE Thangkima Cherpoot. He too was my guest to Oulu. He visited  the University, lunched with the Vice Rector of our University and attended a dual language lecture given by Annikki and me about Christianity in India.

Ambassador HE Cherpoot signing the Microelectronics Laboratory Guest Book.

Ambassador HE Cherpoot attends a lecture by Annikki and me about Indian Christianity in the Oulu Seventh Day Adventist Church.

He also organised cultural visits to Oulu by Indian artistes, so we in Oulu were fully exposed to the culture of India. 

We were fortunate to be able to fill the venues with Indian culture lovers because of the cooperation of the Oulu Administration.

Once I left thhe University, my interaction with the Embassy was on a different plane, mainly being business oriented. 

With the help of the Ambassadors, I organised visits of leading Oulu technology companies as QPR, Acta Systems, Buscom, Noptel to Bombay and Bangalore.

When I worked for the Oulu City Sports Department and the Northern Finland Sports Federation (PoPLi) heading the Alakko Nää Mua? (Will You Play With Me?) Project from 1999 on integration of ethnic minorities, and was involved in organising International Events in Oulu I had the good fortune to host Ambassador HE C. R. Balacahandra, who gave an interesting lecture in Oulu about Buddhism in India as part of the 1999 International Days.

When I organised the ETHICS 2000 conference in Oulu, with the help of the Ambassador, the opening ceremony had a reading of the translation of the Finnish epic, the Kalevala, in Sanskrit prepared by  Professor Gopalakrishnan of Calicut University who was holding a tenure at  Helsinki University at the invitation of the Indian Embassy.

The visit of Ambassador HE Om Prakash to Oulu in 2010 is covered in my blog entry on his visit.  Ambassador HE Om Prakash was from my alma mater, Delhi University (Hindu College), though considerably junior to me.

Many of these relationships with the Ambassadors and many senior Embassy staff have continued over these 50 years. 

(When I visited India several years later, HE Fabian arranged for me to visit the NGO he was heading. We share many common interests. I still keep up reading his many insightful publications on diplomatic affairs.)

Onam celebration in Espoo with Ambassador HE Ashok Sharma and me.

Ambassador HE Ashok Sharma and me at the Oulu International School.

I was quite taken aback when Ambassador HE Sharma paid me a huge compliment at his inaugural speech to all the business executives in Oulu. I was no longer active as I had officially retired from all activitiers, only going to events when invited to by the organisers

When Indian President Pranab Mukherjee visited Helsinki in 2014, Ambassador HE Sharma asked me to bring a delegation from Oulu to meet our President.

Annikki and me (with Raji Rawat, wife of Dhanpal Rawat at the official engagement in Helsinki to meet President Pranab Mukherjee. I was surprised to find my junior Stephanian alumni, Sharmistha Mukherjee (a very talented Kathak dancer), was the President's daughter.

Ambassador HE Sharma was also from my alma mater Delhi University. 

When Annikki and I visited Helsinki, I was surprised that he rushed over to the Indian Grocery shop in Hakaniemi to meet us and have a cup of tea with us at a cafe opposite the grocery store. 

He talked at length about his student days when he was quite an activist and he knew of our history of activism in Finland to fight for the rights of ethnic minorities.

When Finnish Prime Minister Juha Sipilä visited Bombay, Ambassador HE Sharma asked me to make arrangements so that he had a successful visit.

This was the email we received from Prime Minister Juha Sipilä’s office after his visit to Mumbai:

Dear Mrs and Mr Matthan,

 

Many thanks for the kind message you sent to Prime Minister Sipilä prior to his visit to India! We had a memorable and successful trip – and do hope it will lead to many more contacts between Finnish and Indian businesses, educational institutes and other walks of life. Mumbai was buzzing in the spirit of Make in India.

 

It was heart-warming to read about your remarkable contribution to the Indo-Finnish relations, too!

 

Wishing you all the very best,

Kind regards,

 

Anna-Kaisa Heikkinen

Special Adviser to the Prime Minister (International Affairs)

Prime Minister's Office

Annikki and I were invited to attend a dinner with Ambassador Her Excellency Vani Rao when she visited Oulu.

Ambassador HE Raveesh Kumar and me in Oulu.

When Ambassador HE Raveesh Kumar visited Oulu, I (but not Annikki) was invited to attend the reception to meet the Ambassador. On this occasion I was a little surprised as a newcomer to Oulu was asked to give the introductory welcome speech to the Ambassador. There was no mention of how much Oulu had contributed during the last 50 years in Indo-Finnish relations.

I share the same alma mater eith Ambassador HE Raveesh Kumar, Delhi university. He studied in Hansraj College. He is much junior to me.

I later did send a link to Ambassador HE Raveesh Kumar of the work done in Oulu and in Finland. He was kind enough to send me a reply which read as follows:

“You, along with others who came to Finland, a few decades ago, have indeed made valuable contributions towards building a positive narrative about India in this country.” 

Now, at the age of 80 and Annikki at 79, we have done our share of work for the Indian Community in Finland. 

We only hope that the groupism that we tried to keep away from our community in Oulu will not invade our culture and destroy the longstanding results of the hard work we have established here in Oulu. 

United we will succeed but divided we will soon be in ruin!