Happy birthday Annikki

Close to 15 years ago, when we were visiting Susanna in the UK when she was studying at Exeter University, as we walked down the High Street, Annikki felt like having a cup of coffee. We walked into a rather nice coffee parlour which also sold fresh ground coffee.

She smelt a delicious aroma and ordered a cup of coffee, which, to me, seemed to be priced at an astronomical figure.

One sip and Annikki was in heaven. She exclaimed loudly that this was the finest coffee she had ever tasted. I could not know as I had given up coffee drinking about 8 years earlier.

So I asked her to buy a kilo or two to take back to Finland.

Annikki asked the price and I was dumbstruck by the figure quoted. It was priced almost as much as a pot of GOLD!!

It was a coffee called as the "Jamaican Blue Mountain Coffee".

The shopkeeper explained that they managed to get only a few kgs in a year as the Japanese usually buy up the entire crop.

A couple of days ago, when I had a friend from India visiting us, I took him to the main market and found a shop which sold tea and fresh ground coffee. I asked whether they had Blue Mountain Coffee . They had - just 150 gms and at THE price.

I went out early this morning to buy Annikki all that was available in Oulu as her birthday present!

Our grandchildren left for England yesterday, but they dropped by to say goodbye to their grandmother and me. Here are a couple of shots of Annikki with Daniel and Samuel in the Kampitie garden yesterday.

Annikki with Daniel and Samuel


Annikki with Daniel

Happy birthday to my love of the last 42 years.

A depressing week

Joanna was really stressed packing for her departure for Newcastle. I was available for looking after Daniel while she packed.

Here are some photographs I took while I looked after him.

Daniel with his wry mischievous smile


Daniel with me


Daniel with me


Daniel with me

It was such a pleasure looking after this little fellow who loves to sit on my lap and for me to read to him!!

Hilja, Annikki's mother, came home at the end of the week. She is excellent health and great spirits. here are a couple of photographs.


Hilja enjoying her afternoon meal


Hilja enjoying her afternoon meal

It was sad and very depressing when Joanna and family left last Wednesday to spend a few days at a summer cottage in Kalajoki before their departure for Newcastle. I was exhausted as well.

They have rented their house to three student ladies and will get it back when they return next summer. Tony will stay in the Kampitie cellar till he leaves for Newcastle at the end of September.

Last Sunday in Oulu

It has been another hectic week and a very depressing one for Annikki and me. But more about that in a later entry.

Last Sunday appeared to be quite a nice day when Samu accompanied me to attend the weekly meeting of the Co-operative of Foreign Small Business Owners of Oulu. The meeting was held at the usual time of 14:00 hours at the office of Saikou Marong who runs an Internet cafe, a Western Union Money Transfer Service and an International Phone Call Booth Centre in the heart of Oulu.

The crowd is growing every week. Here are some of the photographs from the meeting. It was not a formal meeting but a general get together, this time, under the rotating Chairmanship, of Jussi Määttä.

Jussi (Finland), Nick (Kenya), Bill (China), Jussi 2 (Finland)


Bill (China), Jussi 2 (Finland), Tingting (China), Saikou (Gambia), Tapon (Bangladesh), Kamu (Zambia)


Tingting (China) & Jussi (Finland)

Zeddy, the Zambian football international, was also present at the meeting as he missed his Sunday match for the Finnish side he plays for, ROPS, because of injury. Football star of the Matthan family, Samu, got a photo-op with Zeddy, his buddy.


Samu and Zambian football International, Zeddy

After the meeting, Samu and I went off to the football game where Samu was playing in a match for his side, Tervarit Chelsea, against Tervarit Arsenal.

It poured with rain over the football pitch and even hailed. But the teams played on. All of us were soaked to the skin. Samu said he was playing with as if he had heavy armour on him!!


Drenched to the skin, Samu poses


Exhausted team, but fresh as daisy Samu, being assembled by coach


Cheers for the opponents - Samu looks unruffled

As I rushed Samu home, I called Joanna to get the sauna ready for him to thaw him out. I went home and had a half hour shower in vitually boiling water to get the chill out of my bones!

Busy week being lazy in Oulu

I was unable to do my regular blogging this week as the weather was just great and I spent most of my time outside.

Monday was Football match Day for Samu. It was a sad day as well, as the Coach of the side failed to turn up with the uniforms for the two matches. I asked another father to act as the coach. He did his best, but a dispirited team played two matches.

Warming up on a beautiful late summer evening


Three cheers for the opponents after the game

On Thursday, I had a great 3 hour walk in the morning. When I got home, Annikki wanted to go to the beach to collect some sand and stones for the garden. It was a wonderful day, with a cloudy sky with a warm breeze. I lazed on the beach while Annikki collected her treasures. I caught a few shots of the grey sky, which although looking foreboding, was actually desperately beautiful in all respects.


A warm afternoon at the Nallikari beach


The sunlight streams through in the afternoon at the Nallikari beach


The sea glistens in the sunlight

As through the whole week on days that Samu attended school (he missed Tuesday and Wednesday because of flu), I picked him up from his International School.


Samu's School

My good friend, Zambian Kamutaza Tembo, a graphic designer, works as a member of the Afternoon Club in Samu's School, which looks after children who do not go home when school finishes as their parents may still be at work.


Kamutaza Tembo

Saturday was lazy day. I popped over to Joanna's place. Joanna was busy making a cake for Tina-Maria, the daughter of her good friend Christina from Tanzania, who is studying medicine in Estonia and doing her work experience in the Oulu University Research Hospital.


Joanna, Tony and Daniel, Christina in the background


Daniel with me

Our cat was in the spirit of the lazy days and was rolling over to catch my attention.


Iitu rolls


Iitu slyly looks up to catch my attention

Hopefully this glorious weather will continue for a few more weeks.

Remembering, 12 years on...

It is with a degree of sadness in my heart that I recall the passing of my father, 12 years ago. Although he and I had our problems due to the fact that we were both alike in many respects, God took me to his side just a few weeks before his passing.

Appachen in 1935

Although failing in general health and unable to speak clearly, his mind was still very sharp. During the last few days together, he was man enough to say sorry to me for all the injustice he had shown to me.

It is difficult for any man to accept that he is wrong, especially a mathematician as great as my father. But that was his greatness. He had realised his error in backing his elder son against me and he knew he had ignored the truth and that I had been cheated by him.

As he and my mother sat with me in the house, both of them sounded tragically affected by the wrong they had done.

In my usual self, I laughed and told them that I had no bitterness in my heart to either of them. In fact, I did not hold any bitterness at all to them and I said I would be prepared to give the wrong-doers a second chance.

Even as I said that, my mother shook her head and told me that it would not do any good as they had been corrupted beyond redemption.

It was then that my father recalled the very first moral lesson that he had given us as children. It had been given to him by his father - "Let not money be your master but your servant". This was from the lesson taught by Jesus:

"But never forget that, after all, wealth is unenduring. The love of riches all too often obscures and even destroys the spiritual vision. Fail not to recognize the danger of wealth's becoming, not your servant, but your master."

My father had explained to us, as little children, that it is not money that is the root of all evil, but as had been said by Apostle Paul, it was the love of money that was. (Holy Bible, Timothy, 6:10)

A few weeks later my father was no more. I could not be present during the last days and hours before his death.

Even as as he drew his last breath he told his other children at his bedside, especially to remember me and not to leave me alone.

They did so for precisely the time that the audience was present.

12 years after his death, his will has not yet be sent to me!! Not a penny of all that he worked for, for his children, has been accounted for, to me.

Out of sight, out of mind.

A few years later, in the year 2000, when again I was with my mother just a few weeks before her passing away, she recalled those few days at my father's side and asked me whether I harboured any bitterness for the injustices wrought on me by my elder brother and younger sister, and my nephew, the son of my late elder sister, who had been brought up as my younger brother.

I told her that although there was no bitterness, the less I had to do with people who were liars and cheats, the happier I was.

I asked her to recall the year 1955, when I had drowned, and how I had been given a chance to live a second life on this earth and brought back, alive, to her. I asked her to remember the poignant moment when we were reunited and how when she had hugged me in relief, and how she had felt when the son she had thought was lost was brought back to her by the Lord in whom she trusted.

I told her that since that very day, status and money and the accumulation of either had been the least important thing in my mind. Those who thought they were getting one up on me by stealing what was legally mine were sadly mistaken.

The guilt was on their heads - not mine!!

Every day, every minute, every breath truly has been a gift from God to ME.

I was happy to be in this world to live a second life, and that was enough for me.

I reminded my mother that God had blessed me with a wonderful loving wife and four lovely children, and at that time, 2 absolutely heavenly grandchildren (now 3). My life was complete and those who cheated me would have only themselves to answer for at the time of justice!!

Five years after her passing, her will has also not been sent to me and her wealth has been shared by the greedy!! Not a single penny of her wealth has been either accounted for or sent to me!!

As I remember my father today, I feel sad for those mentally warped and twisted people, filled with greed, who resorted to cheating and stealing!!

It is their loss, not mine.

Happy birthday dear Asha

Grandma and Grandpa in Oulu, Finland, have the greatest pleasure in wishing our dear granddaughter, Asha, on her 8th birthday, today.

It is sad that she could not come to Finland this year to spend a few days with us - but, we are sure, next year we will get to see her.

Here are set of birthday pictures of Asha - 1 to 7. (Sorry for the quality of some of the pictures - my bad!!)

Asha' s 1st birthday 1998, Birmingham, England


Asha, Chris and me - Asha's 3rd birthday 2000, Oulu, Finland


Asha and Samu - Asha's 4th birthday 2001, Oulu, Finland


Asha and Samu - Asha's 6th birthday 2003, Oulu, Finland


Asha's 7th birthday 2004, Billinghay. England

Happy birthday Asha.

And here is a picture I stole from Susanna's blog of Asha on her 8th birthday!!


Asha's 8th birthday 2005, No food at the Chinese?

Sad day for Indians in Finland

Yesterday was a sad day for us Indians in Finland when it was announced by the world governing body on athletics that India's discus thrower, Neelam Jaswant Singh (34), had tested positive for a banned drug during the 10th World Championships in Helsinki, Finland.

The International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) has provisionally suspended Neelam. She tested positive for pemoline -- a CNS stimulant, from a sample taken during the preliminary round on August 7 2005.

She failed to qualiify for the finals as she only managed a throw of 56.70 m, far below her personal best of 64.55 which won her a gold medal in the 2002 Busan Asiad in South Korea.

Neelam has been provisionally suspended under IAAF rules pending a hearing before the relevant disciplinary tribunal of the Athletics Federation of India (AFI). The sanction for a first-time violation for pemoline is a minimum of two years.

Neelam is NOT ONLY THE ONLY athlete to be tested positive in these games, but also the first to be tested positive in the World Championships!!

Just when we were rejoicing the good showing of Indian Anju Bobby George who came 5th in the Women's Long Jump, this was indeed sad news for us Indians in Finland.

Anju began with a bang and recorded 6.66 m in her very first attempt, her season's best effort. In her subsequent jumps, the world no 5 jumper recorded 6.59, 6.57 and 6.51 before wasting the fifth. In her last attempt, Anju, who had won bronze medal in 2003 World Championship in Paris - leapt 6.56. American teenager, Tianna Madison, won the title with a personal best of 6.89 metres. Madison, 19, who recorded the longest jump in qualifying, took the lead from Olympic bronze medallist Tatyana Kotova of Russia in the penultimate round. Kotova was second with 6.79 metres and France's defending champion, Eunice Barber, third with 6.76.

"Anju was born on April 19th, 1977 in Cheeranchira Kochuparambil family in Changanasseri, Kerala. her parents K.T. Markos and Gracy. She was initiated into athletics by her fathe. Interest was furthered by her trainer, Mr. Thomas, in Koruthode School.

Anju did her schooling in St. Anne's High School and CKM Koruthode School. She graduated from Vimala College. In the School Athletic meet in 1991-92, she came first in 100 m hurdles and relay and second in long jump and high jump events and became the women's champion. Anju's talent was noticed in the national schools games where she won third place in 100 m hurdles and 4x100 m relay. She was the Calicut University Champion during her college days.

She started as a Heptathlon athlete but she later began to concentrate on her jump events. She won long jump medal in the 1996 Delhi junior Asian championship. In 1999 Anju set the national record for triple jump in the Bangalore Federation Cup and Silver medal at the South Asian Federation Games in Nepal. In 2001 Anju bettered her own record in long jump to 6.74 m, her best till date in the National Circuit Meet at Thiruvananthapuram. In the same year she also won gold for triple jump and long jump in the Ludhiana National games.

Anju reigned supreme in her events in the Hyderabad National games also. Anju became the first Indian woman to win a bronze medal clearing 6.49 m at the Commonwealth Games at Manchester 2002. She also won the gold medal at the Busan Asian Games.

Anju was awarded the prestigious Arjuna Award in 2003 for eminent sports persons from the government of India after her success in the World Athletic meet.

Anju ranks 3rd in the world. Anju's jump from rank 61 in 2001 to rank 3rd in 2003 within a short span of two years, was one of hard work and planning. The credit for her success is shared with her husband and coach, Bobby George, who according to her was the biggest influence who helped her in realising her potential and achieving the goal.

Bobby who is a Mechanical Engineer and a former National Champion in Triple jump himself. He gave up his career to become a full time coach to Anju in 1998. He belongs to a prestigious sports family and is the younger brother of the famous Volley ball player Jimmy George. Anju and Bobby, realising that international exposure is essential for competing in world class events made necessary arrangements and trained with Mike Powell, a world record holder before the World Athletics meet which gave her valuable exposure in technique." (Data about Anju from WebIndia123.com.)

Yu Weili, team manager of the Chinese national team, said in Helsinki on Tuesday, that a total of 17 Chinese athletes out of the 34 competing in the 10th world athletics championships were tested for drugs. Blood tests were carried out on 10 athletes including all 9 walkers.

It should be noted that athletes from all the other countries and regions were also treated the same way. Helsinki has seen the most strict doping control in athletics history.

The Finns are very sensitive to doping since the scandal erupted at the Lahti Nordic World Skiing Championships in 2001. This is after the national shame caused by distance runner Martti Vainio, who was tested positivein Los Angeles Olympics in 1984.

The Martti Vainio case was historic, as was reported in
The Inside Dope, By Daniel Yi on Jul 01 '05:

PRIOR TO THE 1984 ROTTERDAM MARATHON, Martti Vainio pumped his body full of anabolic steroids. These hormones went to his working muscles and caused them to produce a flood of protein. The extra protein allowed his body to run both faster and longer.

One of a group of accomplished distance runners known as the "Flying Finns," Vainio was also an incorrigible doper. By 1984, Vainio was using up to 27 different artificial supplements on any given day. He had also begun experimenting with various sex hormones, to great effect. The drugs helped Vainio hit his peak at 33, an age when most distance runners are declining. At Rotterdam, the benefit of Vainio's drug use was on full display as he cruised to an impressive third-place finish. Unfortunately for him, his doping was also easily detected, and he was nailed for using illegal steroids....

more....

Restoring credibility requires honesty and openness. The Finns have gone some way along this path and it is hoped that the Indsian authorities will clamp down hard on a practice which is abhorent. It does not matter whether the Indians win any medals, but let their competition at all levels be fair and above board.

Kampitie receives two more high profile visitors

Fellow Cathedralite / Stephanian, and dear family friend, Professor Ajeet Mathur, accompanied by Arne Nystedt, visited Kampitie.

Arne, who lives in Helsinki, has taken over a Managing Director of Aivoairut Oy, a company which was set up several years ago to expand knowledge.

Arne Nystedt in Oulu

What is `Aivoairut´ ?

We are an organisation in Scandinavian Europe with affiliates active in Finland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Iceland, Germany, Holland, Belgium, Slovakia, India, Australia and Nepal. Our activities are strongest in Finland and India. In Finnish, the word `aivo´ is associated with brain-power, thinking and thought processes. The concept of an `airut´ (anchor) arises from harmony of birds in flight from the notion of an anchor-signaller in communications networks that link, connect, usher, herald and facilitate new thinking and new actions of navigation through the journey of life.

Aivoairut is a forum created for persons to come together around common, shared or complementary interests. It aims to foster new sources of value by promoting actions based on knowledge creation and to test thresholds of knowledge itself. Do you wish to discover the power of knowing what knowledge is of most worth to you, your family, your organisation ? Do you dare to disturb the universe (of information) to seek and manage knowledge ? How prepared are you and your organisation to manage new technologies or profit from new opportunities ? Does your internationalisation concern Finland or India ?

Annikki, Ajeet and another friend Teemu Torvelainen were the original promoters of Aivoairut Oy.


Arne, Annikki and Ajeet

Arne greatly appreciated Annikki's creations in the Kampitie garden. It was his first, and hopefully not last, visit to see us in Oulu.

Arne is getting married in a few days. Annikki and I extend our warm greetings to him for the happy occasion and wish him and his fiancée a great life together.

World Athletic Championships in Helsinki

The World Athletic Championships started in Helsinki yesterday. The highlight was the 10,000 metres for women. The Ethiopians swept the medals, with Tirunesh Dibaba coming in first with a time of 30:24.02 mins, Berhane Adere getting second place with a time of 30:25.41 mins and Ejegayehu Dibaba (Tirunesh's sister) coming in 3rd with a time of 30:26.00 mins. The fourth Ethiopian, Werknesh Kidane with a time of 30:32.47 mins came in sixth. It was an absolutely superb performace in the last 400 metres when the three Ethiopians left the rest of the field standing after the gruelling 9.6 km!!

The outstanding performance by walker Ecuadoran Jefferson Perez was also worth watching. Adam Nelson of the US won the shot putt with a throw of 21.73 metres. He was a great and amusing performer.

This was followed by the second part of the Opening Ceremony, the cultural programme. It started at 10:30 pm Finnish time. A maximum of 10 athletes per country was allowed to take part in the athletes march. Most had only a couple, while some had none and a Finnish representative carried the flag for them.

The Indian Contingent at Helsinki

The event was MC:d by a Professor X in a Time Warp machine who visited all the major athletic World Championship sites.

The evening was, unfortunately, in pouring rain in the open air. But with true Finnish Sisu, the entire programme was carried through with a great band international performers doing their acts drenched to the skin. It was a tribute to all of them who did their acts as if the rain was part of the show. The light and fireworks effects were stunning, with the rain actually complementing the entire show.

Finland has been an introverted and arrogant country. Normally, the Finns ignore all others to satisfy themselves. They go first, unlike practice in civilised countries where the guests precede the host.

In this instance, however, I was very pleasantly surprised that the Finns behaved truly internationally. The Finnish representatives in the parade of athletes were the last to enter the stadium. The various winners of previous Gold Medals who came on the stage were from all around the world, not just Finnish Medal winners.

Most of the cultural programme was by artistes from outside of Finland. Lift off was the Finnish Leningrad Cowboys. It was sad to see their weird hairdos sort of lilting under the heavy rain, but they sang their number, Goldfinger, without any break.

The other performers included Laura Bono from Italy, Nemo (from Belgium?), three absolutely great lady drummers from Japan (sorry, but I missed the name of the group), and the Swedish Rednex country music group.

There was a song by Geir Rönning who represented Finland in the Eurovision Song Contest in 2005. An excellent Finnish group called Värttinä, consisting of three ladies, Susan Aho, Mari Kaasinen and Johanna Virtanen performed a special brand of Finnish music. The speed of the vocals is equal to or even faster than what one hears in rap. Annikki told me that this group (singers have obviously changed over the years) has been making this unique Finnish music for as many as 20 years!!

The Spanish Guitarist Vicente Amigo was amazing. The Greek popstar Helena Paparizo gave a rousing performance.

The other Finnish groups that performed were the heavy metal band, NIGHTWISH and APOCALYPTICA (Eicca Toppinen, Paavo Lotjonen, Perttu Kivilaakso).

The rain sort of cleared up near the end. But it did not matter for those of us who were able to sit and watch it on TV, feeling sorry for all those who had to brave the weather. They obviously must have seen something spectacular, as even on TV, although not as expensive as in other international events as the Olypics, it was a great show.

VIP visits Kampitie Garden

Like Annikki, our son-in-law's mother, Maire Manninen, is also a extremely talented and creative artist.

Joanna and Tony are very busy redoing their house so that they can give parts of it on rent while Joanna is away in Newcastle. So they asked Maire to come to Oulu for a couple of days so that she could look after little Daniel and samuel while they got the work done. Tony's father is doing some work on the outskirts of Oulu.

Today morning, just as I returned from my walk, I was called out by Samuel who had come over with grandma Maire and little brother, Daniel. Maire had not seen the Kampitie garden, so Annikki was ready in a jiffy to show it to a fellow artist.

Samuel took some picture during the visit of the two doting grandmas, which I share with you here!!

He then spent the rest of the time hosing the garden, one of his greatest thrills as he gets himself drenched in the bargain!

(Click on the pictures to see a larger version)

The first picture shows our 8 year old's talent with the really bad digital camera. This fantastic shot shows that it is the creativity that really matters when photographing. He has inherited the artistic and creativity talents from both his grandmas.


Daniel and Maire in a twirl

A great shot of Maire captured by Samuel


Maire at Kampitie

And here are the grandmas with their younger grandson, Daniel.


Annikki, Maire and Daniel

Samuel caught Maire here in an expressive mood.


Expressive Maire

A poppy just opened in the greenhouse.


Newly opened poppy flower in the greenhouse

And here is an example of how Annikki took an old wheelbarrow of her late father and some stones and turned them into an art form.


Annikki's late father's wheelbarrow and
some stones becomes an art form

Annikki and Maire at the greenhouse.




Maire and Annikki get Daniel ready to go home.


Maire and Annikki get Daniel ready to go home

And I get a shot of Samuel ready to cycle home with Maire.


Samuel on his bicycle

An altogether pleasant and enjoyable morning for both grandmas and this grandpa!!

Padma Shri Award to Rajen (exclusive pictures)

Rajen receiving the Padma Shree Award
from President of India, Dr. A. P. J. Abdul Kalam

In January of this year I blogged the great news of our cousin being awarded the Padma Shree. I am now able to give you the exclusive pictures of the event as they were sent to me directly by Rajen.

The President of India, Dr. A. P. J. Abdul Kalam, conferred on Mammen Mathew (Kandathil, Stephanian, commonly known to all of us as Rajen, Rajenchayan) the PADMA SHREE Award.

This important news was announced on Republic Day at New Delhi.

Rajen studied journalism on the job at Bristol in Wales and then in the USA. In 2002 he received the rare honour of being appointed as a Reuters Trustee, the first Indian to be appointed to this position. He has been the Chairman of the Indian Section of the Commonwealth Press Union, President of the Indian Newspaper Society, and the Editors Guild of India, and has also been on the Press Council of India.

Today, he is the guiding spirit of the Malayala Manorama Newspapers Group, India's most outstanding newspaper and magazine publishing centre, founded by our greatgranduncle, Kandathil Varghese Mappillai, given shape by our grandfather K. C. Mammen Mappillai and then guided in turn by the late K. M. Cherian and then K. M. Mathew, till Rajen took the helm. 

Rajen and his family, wife (Prema) on his left, 

son (Jayant) behind him, father (K. M. Mathew) on his right, and daughter-in-law (Miriam) on the far right. Sachinanda Murthy who heads t Delhi operations of Malayala Manorama and The WEEK is in the top left.

Rajen's daughter-in-law, Miriam (Anu) Mathew (née Paul) was a leading executive in a US bank till she returned to India to take the helm of Manorama Online. Her husband Jayant, is also in the newspaper business.

The other Award Winners in our family:

1. The late Mr. K. M. Cherian (Chetpetappachen) - first awarded the Padma Shree and the later he was given the Padma Bhushan. 

2. Mr. K. M. Philip (Peelukuttychayan, Pappa) was given the Padma Shree three years ago ago. 

3. Mr. K. M. Mathew (Mathukuttychayan, Rajen's father) was given the Padma Bhushan, nearly a decade ago. 

4. The late Mr. K. M. Mammen Mappillai (Kochappachen), received the Padma Shree half a decade before he died in 2003. 

Mr. K. M. Mathulla, founder of H.M.T. (Hindustan Machine Tools - India's largest producer of machine tools) and a die hard Kandathil, got a Padma Shree some 20 years ago.