A rare chance for photography

It is not often that one goes to the Tivoli, as I did with Annikki, Joanna and grandchildren, Samuel and Daniel. It is even rarer that one gets to ride in the Giant Wheel, as I did with Samuel.

It was the first time I have been up in a Giant Wheel with a cheap digital camera in hand.

I took some random shots from the cage while we were rolling around.

Thought you may enjoy what our small little town of just 100000 people looks like from on high.

View to the North East East - where we have a small hydrostation on the left of the picture.


View to the South - our homes are under the clouds in the centre.


View to the South West - overlooking the sea - a saltless one!


View to the South West West - looking over the small boat docking station and the old harbour way over the buildings.

Samuel's Football Match

Monday was away game time for the Tervarit Chelsea Jrs team, for which Samuel plays.

Samuel has developed to be a great little player. Having been tried in different positions, his unbounded energy has now propelled him into the position of centre half, playing wherever the ball is!!

And even after two full games, he was still going strong.

Here are a few shots from his latest encounter with the Oulu Panther side.

Samuel warming up pre-game.


Team meeting with the coaches.


After the game, Samuel is flushed but ready for more!!

His game has improved so tremendously. He is the only one who plays the game in the spirit it should be played - no time wasting. If the ball goes into the goal, he charges in, picks it up, and rushes it back to the centreline so that the game can go on!!

Samuel is going to be great player if he keeps on improving at the rate he has done in the past three weeks since he joined the club. He is becoming a strategist as he plans, with pencil and paper, how he should play his next game, learning from the mistakes made by the team in the last one. And he is kicking that ball hard!

Suomen Tivoli in Oulu

The Suomen Tivoli is the fun fair which travels around Finland. (Suomen = Finnish) There are all the usual entertainments for children like the Giant Wheel, lots of high speed brain spinning rides, and Dodgem Cars. They also have cotton candy and delicious softee ice cream.

As Tony was away in Vancouver (Canada) for a conference, Joanna decided she would take the kids to the Tivoli. She asked Annikki and me to accompany her.

We did so with great pleasure, as it gave us a chance to be children again and get a chance to enjoy some of the things which we cannot do unless we are acccompanied by our grandchildren!!

As soon as we entered there was cotton candy for Samuel, Annikki and myself - Joanna finished Samuel's and shared some with Daniel. The process of eating was a bit mesy with my beard!!

I then took Samuel on the Giant Wheel. He scared the beejeezers out of me as he pranced around each time the wheel reached the top.

Samuel rocking and shocking me in the Giant Wheel

Then, Samuel enjoyed a few rides on his own and the Mexican Swirling Hat with Joanna. Even looking at this from afar was enough to make one's brain swirl and twirl!!

Annikki took Samuel and Daniel through the Mini Zoo and they came out quite satisfied with their experience.


Samuel in the Rocker



Samuel in the stomach churning Dropper

But what Samuel enjoyed most was the Dodgem Cars. Given a chance, I too would also have been there enjoying them as I did as a child in Bangalore way back in the fifties. Sadly, there was an actual age limit so I was denied my chance.



Samuel in a Dodgem Car


Samuel in a Dodgem Car

And here is one of Joanna and Annikki relaxing while Samu was enjoying one of his rides.


Joanna and Annikki at the Tivoli

All in all a great day followed by dinner at a friend's restaurant, a very nice Thai couple.

It was a great "Grandfather's Day" for ME!!

Catching Up

Last week has been hectic as Annikki's mother has been in the Old People's Home. We have had a lot of things to do to get ready before her return.

Also, with the great Midsummer weather, Annikki had a lot of work getting the garden ready. (And I do mean Annikki as I am only a not so active helper. I clean the pond pumps and get rid of the floating debris in the pond, but not much more. I am also the chauffer for Annikki.)

This meant a lot of shopping around for things for the garden. I sit patiently in the car while she does her buying.

In a series of posts following this, I will update you on some important and interesting events that took place during the last week.

Today is when we celebrate Midsummer in Finland which is the first weekend after Midsummer's Day (21st June).

Joanna and Tony, Samuel and Daniel, are visiting Tony's parents today in Kalajoki, about an hour and a half's drive from Oulu. So it will be a quiet day here in Oulu, allowing me to do this catch up.

Hamilton Naki - a moving orbituary

Who was Hamiltion Naki?

"A man who stole with his eyes"?

Read this most moving Orbituary about this outstanding human being, the best "gardener" the world should have known?!

Many thanks to Dorota and Patrick for pointing me to this item. (The Economist Orbituary will only be available for a few days - so read it QUICK!!)

Finland and New York Times

The Sunday edition of The New York Times carried an article After Sibelius, Finland's Rich Bounty of Musicians in its Travel Section called "Cultured Traveler".

The author, RICHARD B. WOODWARD, got many of the facts right but used them out of context and applied all of them to his "level" in society.

Although Woodward mentioned the Savonlinna Opera Festival and the Kuhmo Music Festival, he failed to mention the Pori Jazz Festival, the Kaustinen Folk Music Festival and probably the one where most Finns take part - the Seinäjoki Tango Festival, which has drawn 1.6 million visitors over the last 20 years. None of the other festivals has this mass appeal!!

Woodward gives the prices for the expensive hotels, but in our town of Oulu, a family of 4 can live in a beautiful beachfront cottage, fully equipped for just € 70 per night!! Such fantastic offers can be found all around the country if one wants to really enjoy the sights and sounds of Finland cheaply.

Woodward makes this claim:

"Not only is Sibelius an icon on the currency but he also acts as the country's permanent ambassador by being its first, and still most, internationally recognized name."

This is preposterous.

Sibelius is only the symbol of a certain class of Finns - the ruling class and their counterparts, worldwide.

Names such as K. K. Rosberg (1982 Formula 1 World Champion), Mika Häkkinen (1998 and 1999 Formula 1 World Champion), Mika Salo, Kimi Raikkonen, the absolutely world renowned "Flying Finns" which include Rauno Aaltonen - 1965 European Champion (BMC), Timo Mäkinen, Simo Lampinen, Pauli Toivonen - 1968 European Champion (Porsche), Tapio Rainio, Hannu Mikkola - World Rally Champion 1983 (Audi), Pentti Airikkala, Markku Alen - FIA Cup (WRC) Champion 1978 (Fiat/Lancia), Leo Kinnunen, Lasse Lampi, Ari Vatanen - World Rally Champion 1981 (Ford), Henri Toivonen, Timo Salonen - World Rally Champion 1985 (Peugeot), Juha Kankkunen - World Rally Champion 1986 (Peugeot), 1987 (Lancia), 1991 (Lancia), 1993 (Toyota), Mikael Sundström, Tommi Mäkinen - World Rally Champion 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999 (all Mitsubishi), Sebastian Lindholm, Marcus Grönholm - World Rally Champion 2000, 2002 (Peugeot), Toni Gardemeister, Jarmo Kytölehto, Harri Rovanperä, Tapio Laukkanen - 1999 British Rally Champion and Pasi Hagström - 1999 Finnish Rally Champion, are just a few who are living legends in Finland and the world.

In the field of Winter Olympics, Matti Nykänen is an unsurpassed name. Finnish javelin throwers have excelled through generations and their names are on the lips of every sports fan which far outnumber those few classical music enthusiasts.

1981 World Rally Driver Champion Ari Vatanen and myself (2003)

Even in the music world, the focus is not at all on classical music, as is sort of implied by Woodward. Local Choirs are found in every nook and crany. The Shouters (with their outlandish musical noise) and the Leningrad Cowboys (with their outlandish hair style) have made their mark internationally in most unconventional ways. Even amongst the indigenous people, the Angelin Tytöt, the Sámi girls, Ursala and Tunni Länsman, from the small village of Angeli in the very north near Inari, have a huge following worldwide.

I could go on and on.....

I would certainly not agree with the viewpoint of Music Conductor Osmo Vanska who said: "If you asked who is the most important figure in Finnish history, 8 of 10 Finns would say Sibelius."

Finland and its people are not living in the past. It is creative and has produced and is producing many top notch people outside of music from Alvar Aalto, to my own humble wife, Annikki, whose talents as a creator (edible art, regenerated art, recycled art, etc.) are second to none - not even Sibelius!!

Sibelius is just "one" of the bricks in a very large wall. The history of Finland grows by the hour and Sibelius means historically little to most "commoner" Finns.

Samu's first football matches

Here is a picture of great football star in the making - Samuel Benjamin Matthan:

June 2005: Samuel Benjamin Matthan,
Tervarit Juniors Chelsea 97
Samuel is crazy about sports - ice hockey, football, Formula 1, are some of his great loves. Mom, Joanna, has gots him lots of books. Whenever there is an international match involving a side he is interested in, such as Finland, or our local ice hockey team, Kärpät, which has for 2 years in a row won the Finnish Championships, or when Finn Kimi Raikkonen is at his best, as winning 3 out of the last four Formula 1 races (he tragically lost the one before the last when he was leading on the very last lap!!), then I go over and we watch it on TV together.

However, Samu loves to also play the games and sports he is interested in. Grandpa has been helping out with football, despite being quite weak at the knees. But Grandpa is there for moral help and also to key him to play better and to follow the rules and decorum of the game.

This year he has joined the Tervarit Juniors side called Chelsea 97, which are mainly composed of kids about the same age as him. He goes for practice once a week and there are league matches to play. They had the first two league games last Sunday.

The team is still in the early stages of formation. Samu played well but unfortunately the team did not click. They lost their first league game 8 - 0 to a very disciplined Kello FC, while they lost their second one 6 - 5 to a well-schooled Tervarit Juniors Arsenal 98 who fought back from a 3 goal deficit.

Nirupa wooshes through Oulu

Our very dearest of nieces, she was such a chatterbox when she was a little girl, Nirupa, passed through Oulu - Monday to Thursday. Flying in from Boston for a conference at the eastern city of Kuopio, Nirupa took a couple of days off to visit family. We all were greatly pleased to see her.

She stayed at Joanna and Tony's place but visited us and spent a lot of quality time with Annikki, Mika and me. Mika recognised Nirupa although it was over 11 years since they had both met.

Here are some photographs of Nirupa in Oulu.

Nirupa chatting away as we always remember her!!

On Tuesday night, I took them out to a friend's rather nice fusion food restaurant. There was much discussion later as I wanted to take them out again, but Joanna said that she did not want to go another of my "kuttukaran's" restaurant, as every second restaurant in Oulu, with good food, is owned by a "kuttukaran". So she took Nirupa, Samuel and me, to HER "kuttukarthi's" (who is the ex-wife of my kuttukaran) restaurant!! :-)


Nirupa and Joanna at Joanna's "kuttukarthi's" restaurant

On Wednesday night, Nirupa took us out to the best Mexican restaurant in town. I had some delicious super spicy sauce with my turkey filet.


Nirupa ready to leave for Kuopio with Joanna and family

Sadly, Annikki and Mika could not join us on our dining out sprees, but I brought back some good food for them.

It was sad to see Nirupa leave. I hope she will come back again SOON.

Siloo one of the 100 Most influential people

I was very pleasantly surprised when I discovered the identity of one of the 100 most influential people in finance as was published in the publication
Treasury and Risk Management.

Seems to be a problem with the link above so enter this URL in your browser to reach the site:

http://www.treasuryandrisk.com/issues/2005_06/careers/416-1.html

The name I came across was Sara Mathew. It sort of rang a bell. But I could not place it exactly. Then, surprise, surprise, a faithful blog reader, Shalu, wife of Anand Matthan and daughter of the late Dr. Nainan Varghese, wrote and asked me whether I had read about her sister, Siloo.

It fell into place.

Siloo did her Bachelor of Science degree in Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics from the University of Madras, India. She then got her graduate degree in Accounting from the Institute of Cost and Works Accountants, also in India. This was followed by a MBA in Finance and Marketing from Xavier University, Cincinnati, Ohio.

Siloo joined Procter & Gamble (P&G) in 1983. It was a meteoric rise up the corporate ladder. She progressed through finance, brand management and customer financial service roles. In 1995, she was named Assistant Treasurer and Director of Investor Relations. In 1997 she became Comptroller for the Paper Products division and in 1998, was named Comptroller and CFO of the Global Baby Care business unit. Siloo was promoted to Vice President of Finance in 2000. She was responsible for the ASEAN region including Australia, Asia and India. In this capacity, Siloo led all aspects of finance for the region including Profit and Cash Management, Tax and Treasury. She was also responsible for strategic planning, organizational development and training.

In August 2001 Siloo joined Dun & Bradstreet (D&B) after her 18-year career with P&G. Dun & Bradstreet is the world's leading provider of business information. It has been enabling business-to-business commerce for 160 years. D&B's information and technology solutions help businesses reduce credit risk, find profitable customers and manage vendors efficiently. Businesses also use D&B's information and technology to authenticate and verify potential trading partners online, increasing their trust and confidence in e-commerce transactions. Over 90 percent of the Business Week Global 1000 rely on D&B as the source for information they need to make their business a success.

This new award shows that Siloo's performance at P&G and D&B were not just flashes in a pan. Well done Siloo. You have done Mallu ladies proud!

Siloo is married to another high flyer in the corporate world. Jacob Mathew (Renjy) has had a great career with P&G through a range of assignments in finance and finally as head of strategy development. He then started his own consulting practice. The mission of his “The Strategy Company LLC” is to provide strategy development and shareholder value services to large and small companies.

Renjy’s background in a large consumer products company allows him to facilitate strategy development at the business unit, sector, and corporate level. Within small companies, the focus is primarily on business development, with technology licensing being an important part.

Siloo and Renjy have two boys, Rohan and Nikhil. Rohan is in college and Nikhil who is six years younger, is still in School. Siloo is Shalu’s “kid” (Siloo - not my description!!) sister, as she is 8 years younger than her!!

Nirmala, Vikram, Renjy, Rohit, Siloo and Shalu; photo: Gulden

Here is a picture taken after Suchi's (Rachel Matthai, wife of Michael Bettua) house-warming party at Hobokken. Gulden, husband of Nirmala Kuriyan (née Thomas, daughter of Chinchaya, Mrs. M. M. Thomas) (left) is missing as he took this picture. Next to Nirmala is Vikram, her son. The guy in the black shirt is Renjy, Siloo's husband. Next to him is Shalu’s son Rohit. Then we have the two gorgeous Nainan Varghese girls, Siloo and Shalu. Thanks to Shalu for the photograph.

Kodin Kuvalehti carries story about Kampitie Garden

Kodin Kuvalehti is Finland's largest circulating women's magazine. Malayala Manorama's women's magazine, Vanitha, although it has a circulation of almost 0.6 million copies fortnightly, can certainly learn a lot from the quality of this Finnish publication.

About a year and a half ago, Annikki wrote a small piece and submitted a couple of photographs for a reader's contest organised by the magazine. Annikki wrote about how she had designed the garden at her mother's home around an old metal bath tub which did not find its way into the skips when we were clearing and renovating the house, and how she had created almost everything by recycling materials found in the compound.

Bath tub around which the Kampitie Garden was created

The Garden Editor of the magazine, Sinikka Sarrola, liked Annikki's article. This submission was shortlisted for a further stage. This involved Sinikka, accompanied by a professional photographer, Pirjo Sillanpää, visiting the garden at the height of last summer, interviewing Annikki and taking photographs, maybe around a 100 or more shots.


Kodin Kuvalehti Garden Editor Sinikka Sarrola, Annikki and Samuel


Annikki and Kodin Kuvalehti Garden Editor Sinikka Sarrola

Based on this Sinikka wrote an article about the garden and about Annikki and our family.

Three gardens are featured in the latest issue of the magazine, which is due out in the news stands tomorrow morning. The feature is entitled "Three Readers, beautiful, special gardens".

And one of the stories, with absolutely glorious photographs, is about Annikki and our family and her tribute to her mother in creating the garden for her.

The text is hilarious. Some of the last lines symbolises Annikki's character "She can create anything from anything"!

Thank you Kodin Kuvalehti, Sinnika and Pirjo for such a beautiful presentation in a great magazine. (My photographs are nowhere near the quality of the professional, Pirjo.)

If you are interested in a copy of the magazine with the English translation of the text, please send me an email.

Congratulations Tanya Matthan

Tanya is the daughter Arun and Yasmin (née Shah) Matthan.

Arun is the youngest in the Matthan Martthan (Babyappapen) family.

I received information today of a truly outstanding performance by this Shah-Matthan prodigy.

Tanya got 95,55% in her ISC 12th Standard Board Examamination. Tanya stood 1st in her school. She is also in the first 15 in the country.

Tanya will be trying for an Honours course in Lady Shree Ram College, Delhi.

Congratulations Tanya and hope you do well in the next phase of your education programme.

More news on the Bangalore tragedy

I do not want to put the graphic details of this gruesome event on the blog so I give a link to the newspaper article on line

News -- Bangalore: Two Brutally Murdered in Broad Daylight - One of Mangalore Origin, Daijiworld News Network - Bangalore (GA), Bangalore, May 17 2005

I am still in a state of shock to think that just a few minutes before he was to leave to reach our home in Finland, this horrific event could have taken place.

Two family demises

Dear Maliyakal and Kandathil family members,

I have, with great regret, to announce the demise of two very dear members of our family.

On Wednesday May 11th 2005, Dr. M. V. Kurian (Thambichayan), husband of Graciekochamma (Accahi), father of Padmini and Mohan, left us to await his meeting with our Maker. Son, Mohan, in Canada, who attended the funeral, sent me the news on his return to Canada.

Thambichyan was "one of us" when we were children. I will miss him dearly.

On Sunday May 15th 2005, Babykochamma, wife of K. O. Kuriyan (Vellichayan), mother of Ashok, Rajeev and Pratheep, also left us to await her union with her Maker. Georgie in Madras updated me on this information.

I was a little boy when I attended the wedding of Vellichayan and Babykochamma. I always considered her as one of our most beautiful sisters-in-law. Quiet in word, she had an enormous sense of humour which was ever-present with that slight smile on her face. And she always had a kind word for anyone that crossed her threshhold.

I have conveyed our condolences to all family members via the appropiate channels.

Tragic news

Late this evening, just around 11 pm, I was expecting a guest from Bangalore, India. "Tiny" S. Mazumdar, formerly of Hindustan Lever, a friend of Ashok Kunte, who is a IIT classmate of Cathedralite 59er Elijah Elias (Ooky), my long-standing family friend from my Bombay days.

Tiny must have been just planning to leave his Bangalore office en route to the airport to fly in to Helsinki. He would then have proceeded to the Helsinki Railway Station to enjoy the train trip to Oulu.

His visit to Finland was to see for himself conditions here as his son has been admitted to Kuopio University in Eastern Finland to do a course in biotechnology.

Tiny's stopover in Oulu was to meet me and see what my opinion was about his son's stay in Finland, and to possibly help Tiny get a leverage into the Gherkin market as he is a large exporter to Russia. I had organised lunch at a friend's restaurant along with other friends of mine in his line of business.

This morning, just as I visited my email site, there was a message from Ashok Kunte in Thane telling me that Tiny had been murdered in his office yesterday afternoon.

I had just had an email yesterday from Tiny that he had managed to get me some home-made Kerala papadams.

Over the last few weeks we had become quite close friends as we had spoken on many issues for many hours using Skype Voice Over Internet. He had become an avid reader of all my blogs.

I will miss a good friend I made in the recent weeks and it will take some time for me to recover from this shock. My deepest condolences to his family and friends.

Visitor from India

Jitendra Sachdev is an old friend from Bangalore. I was a Director in one of his companies. Although I have been speaking to him, on and off, on the phone, and visited him on our infrequent visits to India, I had not met him for the last 13 years.

He decided to make a visit to Finland. He is here for a week. He is staying at the beautiful Beach Cottage camp, but unfortunately, due to very heavy booking I could not get him one of the self-contained cottages. We meet daily and I have been able to show him around. I drop him back around sunset, which these days is around 11 pm. He has been able to get a few colourful sunset shots at that time.

Last week was the Great School Children's Exhibition in Oulu where over 40,000 children from all over Finland have been entertained to the best that Oulu could offer them. In our Oulu Sports Dome there were several booths with all sorts of handicrafts and ultra-modern technological events for the children to take part in.

Son-in-law, Tony, had a set up where his team has designed an interactive game where each participant is given his own avatar and they play an interactive game centered around the Oulu Castle. 30 children, each with their own computer station equipped with sound are able to interact and play this game which including the introduction time, takes about 2 hours. They see on the computer screen exactly what their avatar would see.

Grandson Samuel was anxious to take Grandpa around the exhibition. He had a pass, which he was very proud about, but we had to get the assistance from Tony to get in to see the insides of what was happening in the Sports Dome. Samuel had great pleasure in taking Jittu and me around the exhibition to show us what all the children were up to. It was extremely interesting see children using not just computers but using all forms of traditional equipment, as leather stitching machines, etc.

Jittu and Samu, May 2005

This is a picture of Samu and Jittu relaxing at the exhibition. The poster in the background is about "Ludocraft" which is the Game Design Center in Oulu University under Tony in the Information Processing Department of Oulu University.

LudoCraft in Brief
LudoCraft studies games and applies the theoretical knowledge into game design. The approach combines theoretical, technical and artistic expertise in serving both the academic and the practitioner communities. The mission of LudoCraft is to distribute the knowledge of analytical gamers and game designers for the benefit of wider audience.
Ludo - Theories of game and play
Craft - Art of game design and development
LudoCraft = The Art of Designing and Creating Games and Play

Mother's Day 2005

Sunday was Mother's Day in Finland.

Here, in Oulu, we had a get together of four generation - Hilja, Annikki's mother, Annikki, Joanna and Joanna's two children - Samuel and Daniel.


Hilja, Annikki's mother on Mother's Day 2005


Annikki with grandson Daniel on Mother's Day 2005

I went to buy flowers on behalf of Annikki and her sister, Anneli, who lives in South Finland, for their mother. The flower shop was packed solid with people on the Sunday morning. As I watched the people walk in, I suddenly realised how important Mother's Day is in instilling some values in children, as the largest group of the shoppers were children with their fathers choosing some pretty flowers for their mothers.

The afternoon was a good sports day for Finland with a great performance by Finnish Formula 1 driver, Kimi Raikkonen (Finland) McLaren - Mercedes, leading the race from start to finish in what was a great display of his driving skills given a car which will last the race. Narain Karthikeyan (India) Jordan-Toyota, did not do so badly in that he managed to finish the race yet again, even though it was 3 laps behind the Finn.

Finland also managed a draw in the Ice Hockey group match against the Canadian team. They should have won but the Canadians made a spirited come back in the last session when the Finns were up 3-1.

Daniel on his 1st Birthday

Daniel on his 1st Birthday

Grandson Daniel's birthday today

There was a small get together on 23rd April to celebrate son-in-law, Tony's birthday.

Tony on his birthday - 23rd April 2005
Photo by Samuel


Daniel with his brother, Samuel - 23rd April 2005
Photo by JM


Daniel with grandma, Annikki - 23rd April 2005
Photo by Samuel

Grandson Daniel is celebrating his 1st birthday here in Oulu. I have been there twice today, first before my 13 km walk (2 hours and 23 minutes) and once afterwards as grandson Samuel wanted me to tell him the story of the Bubble Journey from the Enchanted Forest of Gurva to Namibia and down the Zambesi spring to save the people from the naughty lady who was washing her hands in the spring source way way underground!!


Daniel following his father's footsteps as a drummer boy,
Photo by Samuel

93 today and going strong

Dearest Pappa, Mr. K. M. Philip, oldest surving son of the late K. C. Mammen Mappillai, is 93 today.

Please join Annikki and me in wishing him a very very happy birthday and many many more.

Here is a recent picture of Pappa in Chennai addressing the gathering at the 70th birthday of Mammen Eapen (Kunjumonchayan).

Pappa 2005 Chennai at Kunjumonchayan's 70th birthday;
Photo supplied by Shilpa

I am sorry I have not been blogging on this channel for a few days. I have been busy getting fit, redoing our upstairs kitchen, looking after Daniel and Samuel, getting our car fixed, etc.

Will catch up on the news, especially a birthday, wedding, etc, in the family. Susanna has been active on her blog so do not forget to check it out at

http://smatthan.blogspot.com

Lots of great pictures, especially from Nitya's wedding.

I am trying to get fit

Now that the weather is really great I have started walking. In so doing I came across the first flowers in the city.

First Spring Flowers in Oulu

I have a Polar Electro Watch cum Heart Rate Monitor. With it I can see where I am going as far as my fitness is concerned without overstressing myself.

Polar Electro is a Finnish company and also it is an Oulu headquartered company. My former colleague in the Electrical Department in Oulu University, Professor Seppo Säynäjäkangas, is the one who started this and has made a small fortune. He is today one of the most promnent industrialists of Finland.

Polar Electro was founded in 1977. It is the leading brand in improving health and well-being through the understanding of human physiology, performance and environment and providing measuring devices for this combination. Polar Electro is the world's leading manufacturer of sports instruments and heart rate monitoring, registering and evaluation equipment.

I laid out a 8 km route, walking to town and back. I laid out the route that after about 15 minutes I have to go over a rather steep overbridge. This was to help to put my heart rate up into the "In Zone" where I am doing some real work.

I walk into town, stop for a cup of tea, and then walk back along a slightly longer route and cross over the overbridge, finally to slow down the last 15 minutes. No measurement is done during my tea stop.

The important aspect is to ensure that I stay within my heart rate exercise limits. My normal heart rate is 80. My exercise heart rate range is 124 to 158. The low level of 124 means I am not very fit and it should increase as I get fitter. The maximum heart rate should not exceed 220 minus my age of 62, which is 158. If it does cross this figure I am overstressing my heart and it is not healthy or acceptable.

Given below is the results of my last five days. One day in between was a rest day, which is also recommended.

The results are excellent in that my walking speed has increased considerably, and my efficiency of walking has improved. My average heart rate is steady at a reasonable figure. The number of minutes I am staying in the acceptable heart rate is also excellent. My average heart rate is now 140, which means I am now reaching my best fitness level with no stress. The calories I am burning every day is also helping to reduce my weight. My cholestrol levels will automatically drop and my blood sugar levels will also come well within the acceptable range.

The first day I was feeling bad after the first 15 minutes. I had to slow down considerably when going over the overbridge. Now there is no problem.

Date	Distance	Total Time	Efficiency	In Zone	Average	Calories	Fat	Walking Rate	Total Calories
	km	min	%	min	Heart Rate	kcal	%	min / km	kcal
16.04.05	8.00	124.00	100	56.00	132	1872	40	15.50	1872
17.04.05	8.00	117.26	105.44	69.10	135	1832	40	14.66	3704
18.04.05	0.00		0	0	0	0	0	0	3704
19.04.05	8.00	104.18	115.98	75.29	140	1739	30	13.02	5443
20.04.05	8.00	100.38	119.05	69.59	140	1748	25	12.55	7191

If any of you need help in setting up your walking schedules, or any advice on gym training, please do contact me. I have managed to keep reasonably fit with the help of a couple of great Personal Trainers in a couple of gyms.

Celebrate the 86th Birthday

Please join Annikki and me in wishing a wonderful lady, known to most of us as Pallammachi, a very happy birthday today. She is a very graceful 86 years.

Pallammachi at Succhi's wedding 1999

How many of you know that I was named Jacob after her late husband, my uncle, K. M. Jacob, who was known as Chackochayan. He passed away tragically in the Chikmagalur Estate way back in 1941. I was born in 1943. My mother decided that I should have the name of her late brother.

Pallammachi has been a picture of great courage, in the face of much tragedy in her life. Besides her husband, she lost all her three sons, Anian, Roy and then Kunjumonchayan, in their prime. Despite this, this gracious lady has lived a life dedicated to God and her families, both in Pallam, as well as her in-laws, who considered her as one of their most important members. She is blessed with a most loving daughter-in-law, one of my dearest friends, Bibikochamma, three grandchildren, Anil, Roy and Rachel, who have wonderful partners, all of whom dote on their grandmother, and a few great grandchildren.

Kochappachen, the late K. M. Mammen Mappillai, who headed MRF, would never make a major decision without discussing it with Pallammachi. He valued her words and that of his sister, my mother, as two outsiders of the mainstream family business, and it was this that made sure that the whole family stood together through many trials and tribulations, for many many years.

Happy birthday dearest Pallammachi.

In Oulu we are celebrating

Yes, we are celebrating something that probably of least interest to most of you.

Our local Ice Hockey Team, Kärpät, has just won the National Ice Hockey Cup for the second time in a row.

I went over and watched the match on TV, which was being played in Helsinki, with Samu. Samu is not allowed to watch TV on his own.

It was a great game for Kärpät in that they did everything right and won 2 - 0.

The opposing team was called Jokerit and it is the top team from Helsinki.

There will be a great home-coming at the Airport for the team when it returns late tonight. Oulu will probably celebrate through the night, so it is better for us to stay at home. Finns and alcohol are not the best combination to mess about with.

I am sure very few of you may know anything about ice hockey. I, too, know very little except that I do support our local team.

Kärpät won the championship way back in 1981, before I moved to Finland. So it was nice to see them win it last year. They played good ice hockey for most of this season. There were a couple of bad patches, but they topped the League.

Then in the Play-Offs, which is between the top eight teams, they did not have much problem and won most of the games quite easily.

Well done Kärpät.

Sorry for the absence

I was quite well, thank you.

Many of you emailed me because I was not active on the blog last week. The reason was not me, but grandson, Samuel, was not well last week. Nothing serious - a bad cough, but enough to keep him away from school. Joanna was also a bit stressed and tired and grandson, Daniel, was overactive - so I was there to entertain Samuel.

I created my new "Ram and Krishna Indian Magic Forest" series for him. Three new stories - the Bubbles, the Bamboo Pipe and the Well. He was enthralled by these that one day when I had to go for a meeting for just 40 minutes, Samuel was not very happy!!

All are well now.

We had a bit of winter again last week as, last Wednesday, when I came out of Joanna's home, I found the car covered with an inch of snow. I had just changed my tyres back to suummer ones, but luckily the weather was warm the next day that there was no ice on the road.

We are back to bright spring days and I have started my walking. I am using my SIMPUTER as the mp3 player and listening to a collection of songs from my iTunes library as I walk the 10 km. Also I am using my new walking shoes!

Another 60 year birthday

A couple of weeks ago we celebrated the birthday 70th birthday of Kunjumonchayan.

On a quieter note today we can wish his better half, Omenakochamma, on her 60th. I have been favoured with a snap of Omena with Shilpa taken just a couple of weeks ago.

Omena & Shilpa, 2005

Happy birthday Omenakochamma and may you have many many more happy ones.

Great news - Another blog to visit

Great news, as daughter Susanna, in Billinghay, Lincolnshire, England, has started her own blog.

Its been a long way from here:

Susanna in Shawbury 1968

So you can see that side of the news from England directly from her.

Her blog address is

http://smatthan.blogspot.com

and you will always find the link to her blog in my sidebar.

Welcome to blogging, Susanna. I enjoyed your first few entries.

Listen to Susanna on Radio Lincolnshire today

Susanna and family, Chris and Asha, have been on an experiment to not use a credit card for meeting daily living costs. This is an effort to break the viscious cycle of living beyond one's means or falling into debt caused by depending on the plastic (usual terminology for using various plastic credit cards.

I missed the first interview which was about 6 weeks ago. (See an earlier blog entry about this.)

(Click on the picture to listen to the interview of her today by Dave Bussey of BBC Radio Lincolnshire. This is the first time I am trying this so the file (large) may be downloaded to you computer and then it may have to be played using iTunes or some similar player. Please tell me if there are any problems!!)

The kids, Susanna, Jaakko, and Joanna and Mika (holding
their cousins), in 1984 in Oulu§, before Susanna left for England.
Sound is Susanna on BBC Radio Lincolnshire in April 2005

Susanna left Finland in 1984, about 6 months after we moved to Finland. Annikki and I had a difficult time making ends meet as we had to support all four kids. Susanna needed a reasonable sum to live by herself in England. However, we managed that without any plastic AND by keeping detailed accounts of all what we spent.

In 1994, Annikki and I authored a book called "Handbook for Survival in Finland" which was meant for foreigners who came to live in the most expensive country in the world.


Book cover with a picture of Annikki's father, Matti,
with an 18 kg salmon he caught from the local Oulu River

Finns used to believe that they had the highest standard of living just because everything was expensive. Most of them did not know the difference between "standard of living" and "cost of living".

The book, which was quite explosive (see Annikki's warning note in RED on the cover), was a best seller with all copies sold out in a just a few days. It was written and self published by Annikki and me, using my Apple PowerBook 170 portable computer, Desk Top Publishing software, a laser printer (colour printing was done at a contract facility and using their colour photopier), the kitchen stove for binding the book, and a small plastic to paper laminator!!

Kimi on the podium, Narain out in 3rd

Finnish driver Kimi Raikkonen drove a great race to come in third while his team-mate, stand in for Pablo Montoya, Pedro de la Rosa, had a exciting fight with Mark Webber to bring the second McLaren - Mercedes in in 5th position in the Bahrain Formula 1 Grand Prix a few hours ago.

Good to see Kimi back on the winner's podium.

However, Fernando Alonso, driving the Renault was on his own finishing a full 13.409 seconds ahead of Jarno Trulli in his Toyota. Champion Michael Schumacher had a hydaraulic problem, spun out of control, and gave up after 13 laps by driving back into the pits.

Indian Narain Karthikeyan had a miserable race as he was out in lap 3.

Here was the final result of the Bahrain Formula 1 Grand prix:

1 Fernando Alonso (Spa) Renault 57 laps one hour 29 minutes 18.531 seconds
2 Jarno Trulli (Ita) Toyota +13.409secs
3 Kimi Raikkonen (Fin) McLaren - Mercedes +32.063secs
4 Ralf Schumacher (Ger) Toyota 53.272
5 Pedro de la Rosa (Spa) McLaren-Mercedes 1:04.988
6 Mark Webber (Aus) Williams-BMW 01:14.701
7 Felipe Massa (Brz) Sauber-Petronas 1 lap
8 David Coulthard (GB) Red Bull-Cosworth 1 lap
9 Rubens Barrichello (Brz) Ferrari 1 lap
10 Tiago Monteiro (Por) Jordan-Toyota 2 laps
11 (ret) Jacques Villeneuve (Can) Sauber-Petronas 3 laps
12 Patrick Friesacher (Aut) Minardi-Cosworth 3 laps
13 Christijan Albers (Ned) Minardi-Cosworth 4 laps
R Jenson Button (GB) BAR-Honda 11 laps
R Takuma Sato (Jpn) BAR-Honda 30 laps
R Nick Heidfeld (Ger) Williams-BMW 32 laps
R Michael Schumacher (Ger) Ferrari 45 laps
R Giancarlo Fisichella (Ita) Renault 53 laps
R Narain Karthikeyan (Ind) Jordan-Toyota 55 laps
R Christian Klien (Aut) Red Bull-Cosworth 57 laps

Kimi 9th and Narain 18th on grid

The pole position for today's Formula 1 in Bahrain was grabbed by Fernando Alonso (Spa) Renault with a time of 3:01.902 while Michael Schumacher (Ger) in his new model Ferrari has taken second place on the grid with a time of 3:02.357.

Finnish driver Kimi Raikkoenen (Fin) in the McLaren-Mercedes has taken 9th position on the grid with a time of 3:03.524.

Indian driver Narain Karthikeyan (Ind) in the Jordan-Toyota clocked a time of 3:10.143 and will start at the 18th position on the grid.

Here are the exact starting grid positions:


Final qualifying result at Bahrain Grand Prix:

1 Fernando Alonso (Spa) Renault 3:01.902
2 Michael Schumacher (Ger) Ferrari 3:02.357
3 Jarno Trulli (Ita) Toyota 3:02.660
4 Nick Heidfeld (Ger) Williams-BMW 3:03.217
5 Mark Webber (Aus) Williams-BMW 3:03.262
6 Ralf Schumacher (Ger) Toyota 3:03.271
7 Christian Klien (Aut) Red Bull-Cosworth 3:03.369
8 Pedro de la Rosa (Spa) McLaren-Mercedes 3:03.373
9 Kimi Raikkoenen (Fin) McLaren-Mercedes 3:03.524
10 Giancarlo Fisichella (Ita) Renault 3:03.765
11 Jenson Button (GB) BAR-Honda 3:04.348
12 Felipe Massa (Brz) Sauber-Petronas 3:05.202
13 Takuma Sato (Jpn) BAR-Honda 3:05.563
14 David Coulthard (GB) Red Bull-Cosworth 3:05.844
15 Rubens Barrichello (Brz) Ferrari 3:07.693
16 Jacques Villeneuve (Can) Sauber-Petronas 3:07.983
17 Tiago Monteiro (Por) Jordan-Toyota 3:09.428
18 Narain Karthikeyan (Ind) Jordan-Toyota 3:10.143
19 Christijan Albers (Ned) Minardi-Cosworth 3:10.422
20 Patrick Friesacher (Aut) Minardi-Cosworth 3:11.261

A pleasant email from Saroopya

I was very pleasantly surprised to get an email from a young engineering graduate from Madras, Saaroopya Gollapudi.

Vishnu, Veena, Saroopya and Sahitya
Photo: Copyright Jacob Matthan

Hello uncle,

How are you all? We are all fine here.

Last time when Sussana and Joanna came home, mom was very happy to see them.

Mom was curious to know whether it was a baby girl or boy to Joanna. (Uncle Jacob: It is a lovely baby boy, called Daniel. Here is a picture of Samuel, Daniel and Uncle Jacob.)

Samuel, Daniel and Jacob, February 2005
Photo: Copyright Dr. Balakrishna Janardhana

I emailed you some months back but the mails bounced back to me. (Uncle Jacob: That was when findians@findians.com collapsed due to spam overload. Now my only email is jmatthan@gmail.com )

They enjoyed mom's Dosas...(Uncle Jacob: Don't we all. And her great Rasam!!)

When are you people coming to India. (Uncle Jacob: Not so long as we have the responsibility of taking care of Annikki Aunty's mother)

We have shifted our house again now. The address is :

S-106, 4th Main Road,
Anna Nagar, Chennai - 600040.
Ph: 91-44-26266115 / 26269065

Dad is fine still touring now and then. Mom has a back pain and she has been advised rest for 2 months. (Uncle Jacob: Veena should go and see a retired Wing Commandewr in Mysore and she will be cured overnight.)

Sahitya is fine doing his third year in engineering.

I have completed my engineering and now I am on the look out for the job. (Uncle Jacob: It is important you are active so that you increase your CV on a daily basis. Otherwise Job Interviwers will think you are not motivated enough.)

Hope I get one soon.

Is there anything you can advise on how I can go about this. (Uncle Jacob: Lots of advice - but I am so out of touch with India, I cannot really be useful other than tell you what I would do.)

Uncle, grandfather and grandmother are all fine.

Nothing more uncle..

Regards to everyone there.

With love,

Saroop

Wasn't that a nice letter from a well brought up young engineer. The boys get their good behavioural talents from a lovely couple, who are our good friends and also from their grandparents, fine people. Vishnu used to be my close and sincere working partner for many years. I learnt much from him.

News from Madras

Susanna wrote to me from Billinghay, Lincolnshire, England:

Did you know that Shirin and I are also in the same line of work?? We both are trained to work with children with special educational needs and I think she runs a school for children with autism in Bangalore. We ended up talking shop for ages at a gathering in Madras. And we got on like a house on fire when we were last in India! Yes, we are both garrulous and it has served us well. Haven't got an email address for her though, so you could help out there.

Love, Susanna :-)

Susanna and Jaakko, Peddar Road, Bombay 1970
Shirin has promised to help here.

I am happy to report that Kunjumonchayan's birthday party went off very very well. It was extremely well attended. My Madras correspondent reported thus:

I wanted to send details of the party yesterday itself. But could not do so.

Shilpa was the Mistress of Ceremonies.

The party was held at Connemera Hotel. All most all the family members were there. Peelikuttychayen and Sen, Mohan and Shanta from Bangalore, as also Roy (Bangalore Kunjumon's son), Bapu, Thampan, Ashwathi and Thambi, Susan and Prem, Tara and Arun, Mammy and Kuttachen, Susy, Anita and Chacko, Meera and Rajive, Geeta and Rajesh, Ammini and Kunju and Sujit, Kunjukochamma, Vinoo and Ambika, Arun and Ciby, Meera and Aditi, Shilpa and Sherin and family, and also Omena's relations and Joseph's father and mother.

Pappa, Mummy and Omenakochamma - 1999 December
There was dance by Ilyan, Kavi, Adarsh and Anika. Before this, there was Thanksgiving song by Dr. Chinnammakochamma. Then this was followed by a prayer by Dr. Chinnammakochhmma. Then there was a small talk by Papa down the memory lane.

Shilpa asked if any body wanted to say something they could go up to the stage. I went and told of some of the Bangalore St Josephs College Hostel days, how we played cricket with Kunjumon and everytime, we bowled him, he would take of the stumps and run to his house, and also complin to Eapachayen, that we were cheating him. I told them you used to get all the firing from Eapachayen, as we all quietly slipped away. (Sushil: Actually Eapachayan, being my godfather, never really scolded me but told us not to play with those rotten bigger fellows from the college!! But we would do it again in a few days as childhood memories are quite short!!)

After this there was a sumptuous dinner. All enjoyed the party which ended at 11 pm!!

Our special Madras correspondent - Georgie (Georgeammachen to most of us)

I felt great to get the update so quickly from Georgie who also told me that a small memorial service (Qurbana) was held for Ravi last Friday (Good Friday) followed by breakfast at Mambalam.

I wait for a complete report with photographs of the Kunjumonchayan event from Shirin on her return to Delhi.

By the way, correspondents posts for this blog are available in different locations around the world. This dinosaur has to give way to the young!!! Kindly apply by visiting me in Finland.

And let Annikki and me wish nephews recently wed Stephanian Rahul Mammen Mappillai (Vinoo's son) and Karun Philip, (Sen's son) very happy birthdays.

Mammen Eapen - 70 glorious years

Some people do wondrous works to get recognised.

My dear cousin, Kunjumonchayan (Mammen Eapen), son of the late K. M. Eapen (Eapachayan, my godfather) and Kunjattykochamma, has been the opposite. He has proved that by being simple and straightforward, you get the love and respect of your neighbour and that your neighbour is the common man.

Kunjumonchayan at Suchi & Michael’s wedding,
Chennai, December 1999, Copyright Jacob Matthan
Kunjumonchayan is loved by all the common folk that have crossed his path on a daily basis. The grocery store shopkeeper, the bookstore owner, the drivers, the peons in offices, the coffee-man - and me.

In our 58 year friendship, I have always had great love and affection for my cousin, because, unlike others he was a great playmate and deeply loving person.

We played together in Kuppaparam, as can be seen from this old photograph (1948-9). I am the one with torn shorts standing in front of Kunjumonchayan. Although I was the mischievous one, Kunjumonchayan always kept me out of serious trouble!! He had a special way of looking at me over his rimmed glasses, and wag his head to say "SUSHIL"!!

Kunjumonchayan and me in Kuppaparam
We rowed, we fished, we swam - we romped, we had fun as happy children. What wonderful days they were.

I relive those days many times when I am trapped inside the cold and frozen Arctic winter. I share these happy times with my grandson, Samuel, as I tell him true life stories about our happy childhood days in Bangalore, Mysore, Kottayam, Kuppaparam, Madras, Bombay. And in those our dear Kunjumonchayan features many many a time. Just last Friday, Samuel rang me to say that he was bored and he wanted to listen to these stories from my past childhood!!

Later, when Eapachayan, Kunjattykochamma, Marykochamma and Kunjumonchayan lived in 31 Lalbagh Road, Bangalore, we moved into 33 Lalbagh Road.

Kunjumonchayan and I became fast friends, climbing the trees, catching dragonflies (and shudder: pulling off their wings - what horrid little boys we were), tadpoles and frogs from the little pond in the garden of 31 Lalbagh Road, tearing out Kunjattykochamma's hair with our constant running in and out of the house. She would give as all sorts of pallahrams (white and black halwa, chooretas...) to eat just to keep us quiet.

The gardens in 31 and 33 were like paradise for us - so many fruit trees, juicy red fleshed guavas, bright purple pomegranates, and just plain TALL trees for climbing - something we, as kids, enjoyed more than anything else. No mother's telling us not to do this or that. Freedom unlimited!!!

And, of course, we were given responsibility - we were authorised to watch the milkman who came with the cow to milk it in front of us in the garden of 31. We had to ensure that he did not add water to the pail to dilute the milk!! The process was that before he started milking, he had to hold the milking can upside down to show us there was no water in the pan. Then he would milk the cow in front of us and we would accompany him to the house when he handed over the pail to Kunjattykochamma. For the life of us we could never figure out how in that process he managed to add a lot of water to the milk!!! Indian magic, no doubt.

We used to play ludo and monopoly in the living room of 31 - in which Marykuttykochamma also joined in. And she was usually the winner. We went to eat Masala Dosais at the India Coffee House in Cubbon Park. And as described in an earlier blog entry, to the Chinese Restaurant on Brigade Road with Varichanappachen as our leader. (Chinese chicken noodle soup, fried rice, American chop suey, sweet and sour pork, ++++...) We came out stuffed.

Kunjumonchayan was not in the same school as me as he used to go to St. Joseph's while I went to Bishop Cotton's. But the common school holidays, Saturdays and Sundays, were great fun times as, besides cricket (which Kunjumonchayan was not very interested in to play), we used to fly kites, play marbles, spin tops - all the things that chilldren of our time loved to do. I used to rush to finish my homework so I could go and play at Eapachayan's house - which would always be permitted by my mother!!

I was very sad when they moved away from Bangalore as Marykochamma could not take the colder winter temperatures of Bangalore because of her asthama. I lost my dear friend.

But, our close friendship, however, has lasted over the years. I miss him dearly here in Oulu.

When I returned to India and settled in Madras, I used to see Kunjumonchayan in the office of Devon Plastics whenever I visited there. Most of my work was in the Devon Plastics factory. If I wanted a sensitive decision on some important matter, it was always through Kunjumonchayan that I used to transmit the information to Eapachayan, who had a difficult task of balancing the rat race between his godson and his daughter's brother-in-law!!

My strategy always worked. Kunjumonchayan always understood the reason I was asking for something. Others did not understand that we had a relationship where we both have great trust in each other.

A few words about Kunjumonchayan's family. Omenakochamma, his wife, is a wonderful person, strong minded, firm, but yet full of fun and joy. She is such good company. She has been a great wife to a great man.

In 1970, when we lived on College Road, Madras, we put our eldest daughter, Susanna, to the kindergarten in Good Shepherd Convent, which was just across the road. One day, when I went to pick her up, I asked the teacher how Susanna was doing.

Susanna, who was then just less than 3 years old, had been especially quick to learn nursery rhymes and was quite garrulous (she hasn't changed :-)!!). The teacher complimented Susanna very much and then she pointed to another sweet little girl who was in the class and said that the two of them were a great pair as they were far far ahead of the rest of the class.

Of course, I knew who that was - it was Omenakochamma's and Kunjumonchayan's elder daughter, Shirin!! Shirin is about 3 months younger than Susanna!!

Many years later, I was chatting with with my nephew Rahul Matthan on one occasion (I think it was at Nandini's wedding in 1995) in Bangalore when he asked me whether I knew my niece, Shilpa. I said I knew her as my niece, but I had not had the chance to really know the little girl as she was really small (about 4 years) when we had left Madras. Rahul told me that she was turning out to be one of the finest lawyers in law school in Bangalore!!

It is great credit to Kunjumonchayan and Omenakochamma that they have turned out two of the finest brains in the Kandathil family, for which I must give full credit to their good parentage.

Greatness is rewarded in many ways.

Our dear Rajen got a Padma Shri for his 25 years of devoted hard work in raising the Malayala Manorama enterprise to its present heights. I would, in parallel, give Kunjumonchayan my Padma Shri for being a simple and honest individual who is loved by all the simple common people who surround him in daily life!!

Thank you, Kunjumonchayan for being my dear friend for the last 58 years. And Annikki and I join all our cousins, in spirit, who have got together in Chennai to wish you a very very happy birthday.

Happy Easter

Happy Easter to all of you from Oulu, Finland from Annikki, Annikki's mother Hilja, Mika, our cat, Iitu and myself.

Joanna, Tony, Samuel and Daniel will be joining us for an Easter meal later today.

There was no asking them as Samuel asked me on the phone on Friday what time they should be here for dinner on Easter. When I asked him why he wanted to come, he said he wanted to have the roast lamb and the "Pasha", which is special sweet that Annikki makes on Easter day - a great hit with Mika and Samuel!!

Here are pictures of flowers and cards and another of Hilja with her flowers and cards as she celebrated her birthday a couple of weeks ago.


Flowers and cards for Hilja

Flowers and cards with Hilja

Road chaos in Finland

Thursday before last we saw traffic chaos in many parts of Finland never before witnessed in this country.

I was taking Mika out that evening. As I drove out of the front gate, I realised something was horribly wrong as it became virtually impossible to steer the car. I drove at just a few kilometres per hour, managed to reach the destination to drop off Mika, and drove back equally cautiously. On return I told Annikki about my experience, as she had in passing, earlier in the day, mentioned some accidents in Helsinki. She then told me about the chaos that had taken place in south Finland, 600 km south of Oulu.

The weather had been quite fine and warm and then it had begun to snow. It was a very light powdery type of snow. With the sunshine being quite strong, the top layer of ice on the roads melted and froze again to resemble an ice-field. The powdery snow on top of it acted like chalk on a carrom board. Road conditions deteriorated so quickly that before drivers realised it there was no way to control trucks and cars as they slithered everywhere involved in pile ups on the highways. Three people died and dozens were injured in a series of pile-ups. Eight people with serious injuries were taken to hospital in Helsinki, a further five to Hyvinkää, and some to Porvoo. Dozens more were treated for minor injuries at local health centres.

In the space of just 10 minutes, at around 8 a.m. during the morning rush-hour, four main arteries into the Finnish capital were blocked by wrecked vehicles, as fine, powdery snow and freezing rain took drivers unawares. Police and rescue services, seriously stretched by the simultaneous occurrences, blamed excessive speeds for the carnage.

Road chaos in Helsinki.
Photo from road webcam of Finnish Road Association
"Being in the line behind an accident gave little protection; on each of the Lahti, Porvoo, and Hämeenlinna motorways there were two separate crashes of similar scale around a kilometre apart from one another, as drivers ploughed into stationary traffic. Two of the three fatalities took place under these circumstances. One woman was run over after stepping out of her car when she had been rammed from behind." Helsingin Sanomat

Finland is always well equipped but it was likely that the drivers were over-confident and did not link all the factors together.

In all my 21 years in Finland I have not driven in such adverse conditions nor seen such carnage as that day.

Happy Birthday Anand

Annikki and I would like you to join me in wishing Anand (Beaver) Matthan, younger son of the late George Matthan Sr., husband of Shallu (née Verghese) and father of two brilliant sons, Rahul and Rohit, a very happy 64th birthday.

ç
Anand, wife Shallu and his sister,
the late Ammnikochamma (Mrs. M. A. Abraham),
Bombay 1970
Anand did his schooling at Bishop Cotton's School in Bangalore and then went on to do his engineering at the Indian Institute of Technology in Kharagphur, when, as far as I can remember, it was possibly the only IIT. I should have been there when he was there but oped to stay on at St. Stephen's College.

After getting his engineering degree, I do believe he moved to Bombay. He worked at Bombay Surburban, which was a power supply company to the suburbs of Bombay, till his retirement and he started a small consultancy organisation in his home town of Bangalore.

He is a regular correspondent. Thanks.

Happy Birthday!!

A difference of culture

(I owe my secular, liberal view of life entirely to my life in my alma maters, Good Shepherd Convent, Mysore, Bishop Cotton's School, Bangalore, Cathedral and John Connon Boys' High School, Bombay and St. Stephen's College, Delhi.)

Today is Good Friday. The Finnish way of calling it is “Long Friday”, reflecting the long hours of suffering of Christ on this day of his crucifixion

This day demonstrates the vast cultural differences that may exist even in one family.

My father, from the house of Maliyakal, was brought up in the Anglican Church traditions, which was later to become part of the Church of India. The celebration of Good Friday is one which is sombre. First Church-going for the early morning service, usually 7 am. Back home and then again to church for the three hour service starting at midday. This service recreates in biblical words and music Christ’s journey to the Cross with a great deal of sorrowful expressions that are quietly demonstrated by the congregation. This atmosphere of sadness and sorrow is continued in all public and personal activities till Easter morning. Then there is joyous greetings all around from the moment one is in the church premises. There is a great degree of sincerity that is shared on this their joyous day of te Lord's resurrection after two days of mourning.

My mother, from the Kandathil family, had her roots in the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church (Jacobite) traditions. Here, the church service on Good Friday was one of personal sacrifice and suffering with a 9 hour service where one was kept in constant prayer by the priests. The major part of the service is still in the Syriac language.

Plaque at the Niranam Church, Kerala: Copyright Jacob Matthan


Niranam Church, Kerala: Copyright Jacob Matthan

Then it would be time to go home and eat a very sparse meal of rice water (kanji) and boiled beans (paiyara) with some spicy pickle to give the tasteless food just enough tang to be able to consume it. This would be also followed by a sad and sombre general atmosphere of mourning till Easter morning, when there would be joyous scenes, considerably more restrained than in the Protestant Churches.

As a child, I went through both of these, on some years one pattern dominating. But the Easter celebrations would always be in the Anglican traditions and this would be followed by a sumptuous meal so that we could break the 40 days of fasting, which was not really fasting but giving up eating of foodstuffs we really liked. The money saved would be given to some charity.

When I grew up and got married, the marriage was in the St. Mary’s Church in Shrewsbury. Annikki being an Seventh Day Adventist (SDA) by upbringing did not have strong views on many things except about keeping the Sabbath (Saturday) and about child baptism, which is not followed by the SDA Church. Baptism in the SDA was something that one undertook when one understood one’s commitment to Christ. In fact, Annikki, although a deeply devout Christian, was only baptised as late as 1984 when she was 40 years old!!

Soon, in 1967, our first baby, Susanna, arrived. The local priest, who had married us, on hearing of the arrival of our daughter asked me to visit him, as his house was just a few metres away from our flat. There, one evening, he talked at great length about Anglican church traditions and then started to lecture me about the importance of child baptism. Then, during his ranting, he went on to say that if I did not get Susanna baptised and she died, then I would not be able to bury her in the church graveyard.

This really got my goat. I departed from there promising to myself that I would no longer be a member of any organised church. Christ was something personal to me and I did not need the use of a burial ground to show where my faith lay.

So none of our children were baptised in any church before their age of maturity. We did not ever take them to church on Saturdays or Sundays. Sometimes they would accompany my parents to church. Sometimes one of them would go with Annikki to her SDA Church.

There was never any pressure ever put on any of our children that they should follow any principles that we laid down as far as religious observance was concerned.

It was my personal opinion that neither Annikki or I would pressurise our children to make any choices about their religious choices till they themselves were mature to make that decision themselves. They were, however, exposed to some of the scriptures in their school.

What I did was live, as far as possible, an exemplary life so that the values that the children saw were real values and not those that were lectured to from pulpits. I may have been wrong on many things, but I was willing to say when I did wrong, but I would never admit to doing wrong when I knew what I was doing was right in my God’s eyes.

And if we saw people doing something wrong, it was our responsibility to inform our children of our opinion of the events. But the decision about deciding what was right and wrong was to be solely theirs. There was never any telling them that they should do this or that, except what was necessary by the rules of their schools or the laws governing the society they lived in.

In my childhood in Bombay, as I was in the church choir, I had to go church twice on Sundays, morning and evening. I listened to no less than 300 lengthy sermons from the pulpit. Some were by Bishops, others by Archdeacons, some by priests and many by lay persons. I would sit in the front row, just under the pulpit listening to these beautiful words being pronounced from above me.

Do I remember the contents or message contained in even a single one of these sermons?

The answer is no!!

The principles that I imbibed were from the characters of all my friends in school, most of them non-Christians. I learnt about secularity and equality and about all the different religions. I learnt that all religions, Judaism, Christianity, Hinduism, Sikhism, Sindhi-ism, Parsi-ism, had one common flavour that one should not hurt anyone in a manner that you would not expect anyone to hurt you.

I learnt from my school and college friends that if anyone does evil to you, just turn your back on them and forget they exist. I learnt that it was not worth wasting one’s precious time and years on this planet chasing after people who are liars and cheats, as nothing I could do was going to make them change their evil ways. They are what they are and I knew they will get their just reward at the right time at the right place.

I spoke with my mother several times about this. She always agreed that my view was more Christian than any others she knew. She knew that I had passed through the very narrow gate called death and had been brought back to life as a gift to me. She knew that because of that experience I had a different view to life than any other of her children.

God had intervened and given me back my life from the jaws of death. She knew that because of my personal experience I was far more committed to religion and life than any others. She knew I did not fear death any more. She knew that I would live my life in truth and not as a hypocrite like many who merely claim from the mountain tops that they are Christians.

My mother never once questioned me about my church going or lack of it, although she felt very proud when I did go with her to church on a few occasions. She treated all my friends of so many different faiths with equal love and affection and as her own children. She knew, above all, that my strength in life was my friends who had seen what I had been through when I was drowning in Vasind.

A Count in Sadness

As a member of the Maliyakal Family we have been 16 cousins. In the Kandathil family we have been 30 cousins. God has blessed us with long life. Over the last 75 years we have lost only 2 cousins on the Maliyakal side and 6 on the Kandathil side.

Today we remember one of the most brilliant cousin who left us - Ravi, son of Kochappachen (K. M. Mammen Mappillai) and Kunjukochamma, at the very height of his career, 15 years ago.

I was shaken by the news of the passing of Ravi, as he was like a younger brother to me. I remember him when he was studying at the Jamnanlal Bajaj Institute of Management Studies in Bombay. He used to come over to our Cooperage Road Meher Mansion house for a meal, looking dog-tired. (Ravi usually also came in time to watch a football match being played in the Cooperage football ground as our house overlooked the ground.) Ravi used to tell me how exhausted he was at the study schedule they had to follow in the Institute. But he always told me that despite the gruelling pace he was enjoying every minute of it, and the forays to our home gave him enough sustenance to carry on for just a few more days at a time. Ravi was one who built his base piece by piece, and that was his success in later but tragically short life.

Ravi was outstanding in many ways. But, it was his simplicity, honesty and forthrightness that helped MRF overcome its labour problems when they were really plagued by political interference, both in Goa and Madras. Ravi appealed directly to the workers and they trusted him. He delivered!!

It was Ravi's great interest in sport that resulted in the start of the MRF Pace Foundation. There are so many public tributes to Ravi on the internet for his contribution on this front. It is still remembered by many leading sportsmen today.

However, it was the way that MRF stepped in at a very late stage and took over the organisation and execution of running the 1987 Cricket World Cup that really made MRF a household name to be trusted by every Indian in every corner of the country. All politics was eliminated in organising and running the event. And the credit for that was the quality leadership provided by Ravi.

I remember that I was invited to participate at a Conference on Microelectronics in 1989 in Delhi. When I was registering with my colleague, my professor, I was asked by the lady at the counter for my local address. I was staying at the MRF Guest House in Sunder Nagar. When I mentioned MRF, the lady put down her pen asnd asked how someone from Finland was associated with MRF. I briefly explained my connection.

From that moment onward the whole atmosphere at the conference, for both my professor and me, was like electric. We were the VVIPs. She explained to me that if I belonged to the MRF family, it was a honour to know me!! They refused to take my registration fee, even though I pleaded with her that it was not me but our University in Oulu that was paying the amount. The Conference Organisers felt that MRF had done the nation proud in organising and running the World Cup and they could not ask me to pay for taking part in the International Conference!!! (I managed to pay it quietly to another lady as otherwise I would have been in trouble with my University Accounts Department!!!)

On the Kandathil side, many times in Kerala I have been told that because I belong to the K. C. Mammen Mappillai family is enough to ensure my high place in society - something I could not ever accept. A few in the next generation has given us the same standing in society, Doctors Bapukuttychayan (K. C. Mammen) and Mohanchayan (K. O. Mammen), Ravi, and now, none other than our Rajen, who will physically collect his Padma Shri from the President of India in a day or two.

So, on this 15th Memorial Day of Ravi, let us bow our heads for a moment and remember, not only this outstanding cousin of ours, but also the other members of his family who suffered the tragic loss and have stayed together as a symbol of unity in his name. Annikki and I especially remember his mother, Kunjukochamma and Ravi's wife, Meera, on this day.

Hot Cross Buns

Hot Cross Buns are traditionally served on Good Friday (the Friday before Easter) and during the Lenten season.

My mother used to always have them on Good Friday as she picked them up from the Bakery on the way back from the early morning church service in Bombay.

I walked into the most famous, over 100 year bakery, in Oulu and did a literal translation of "Hot Cross Buns" into Finnish - which is "Kumaa Risti Munkki".

The sales girl stared at me in amazement - her eyes glazed over!!

So I recited the rhyme:

"Hot Cross Buns! Hot Cross Buns!
One a penny,
Two a penny,
Hot Cross Buns!
If you have no daughters,
Pray give them to your sons!
One a penny,
Two a penny,
Hot Cross Buns!"

I think I taught her the rhyme. She may teach it to her boss

But I did not get my traditional "Hot Cross Buns"!!

I'll try again next year.

Let us remember a great man today

15 years ago today the Kandathil family lost a great man. My uncle, K. M. Varghese Mappillai, Varichayan to me, and called by many endearing names by all his nephews and nieces, father of Thambachayan and Somakochamma, husband of one of our finest and most humourous aunts, Thandammakochamma, passed on peacefully to the other world.

Varichayan and Thandammakochamma (1974?)

When Annikki and I were leaving for Finland in 1984, both Varichayan and Thandammakochamma insisted that they had to take us out with the whole family for dinner - and knowing what we liked best, it was the finest Chinese restaurant in Bangalore.

This revived many memories of when I was a small boy when it was always the two of them who would start a family revolution to go and eat at the Chinese reatuarant on Brigade Road. They would reserve a special family room at the back of the restaurant and would pre-order the food so we did not have to wait for service. Chicken noodle soup, fried rice, American chop suey, sweet and sour pork, was the basic order and then there would be special dishes to suit each ones taste. And the atmosphere was of great fun and laughter led by the two of them. And the bill was always paid by Varichayan!!

Those were really the days.

But, simultaneously, Varichayan was the mainstay of order in the family. He worked in the Chickmagalur estates. When he moved to Bangalore, he took over running of Young India Agencies. He stayed in a small house in Gandhinagar. When we came from Mysore we stayed at his place. It was much much later that the house was built at the bottom of Grant Road.

I could go on for hours about this wonderful man who took me on my first hunting trip in the estate when he shot a flying fox. He took us on our first all night shikar when they shot a samba deer. Somewhere there exists a picture of me standing with a rifle on the samba!! We had wonderful holidays in the Estate when he lived there. He showed me where to listen to Radio Goa (wonderful music) when it was still under Portugese control. We could only listen to it when we were at the estate!!

My memories of this great man are all positive. His joyous nature at all the weddings was like plague as it spread to everyone. He was always the butt of jokes - at his own bidding. I wish I could be like him to all my nephews and nieces!! A man who gave, gave, gave and gave!!

So on this day, with this very short tribute, let us remember my uncle, a wonderful kind and gentle human being whom we all loved and all miss, even 15 years after his passing.