Happy Diwali, Happy Birthday Jaakko!

Today is the 1st of November 2005.

It is the 37th birthday of Jaakko, our eldest son, who lives in Birmingham, England. Our elder daughter, Susanna, and her family, husband, Chris, and daughter, Asha (8), will be with Jaakko to celebrate the day with him.

To brighten his birthday and also show you the grand festival of lights, I have chosen to use one of his most famous sunset photographs which uses "light", one of Jaakko's most favourite themes.

Happy Diwali to all of you. Happy Birthday, Jaakko.

Surprise, Surprise, from Honduras

We had our regular Sunday meeting of foreigners at the Internet Cafe. This has grown from three to quite an unmanagebale throng!

During the meeting I noticed a young man surfing the Internet just behind me. He was listening to our discussions and appeared anxious to also join in. But he was just a bit too reserved to make the first move.

When we ended our meeting and I was just sitting around talking to the hangers-on, he got up from the computer. As is my habit, I asked him where he came from.

"Honduras", said David.

He explained that he had just been checking if his house was still standing as Hurricane Beta was heading straight for it.

David explained that was a biotechnologist who had become an airline pilot and was flying for the local Honduran Airline. He said that he had come to Finland as his Finnish wife had come here to have their baby, which was now just three weeks ago. David said he would be heading back to Honduras next Sunday and would not be able to join our next week's meeting, but hoped his wife would join us.

He explained that his wife was an Oulu girl, 33 years old, and she had been working for the UN on Aids Eradication in Honduras when they had met.

One thing led to another and I speculated that, just maybe, that his wife knew our younger daughter, Joanna.

He went back to their flat, which is about 50 metres away.

Before I realised it, there was a familiar looking young lady standing in the doorway of the Internet Cafe.

She exclaimed that she had come to see ME!!

I looked at her. Although the face was very familiar, I just could not place her, till she said her name - Mantu Mankila!

Then everything fitted into place.

Mantu had been Joanna's classmate in junior, middle as well as in high school. She had visited our home several times. Her father, Pentti Mankila, had been Joanna's Physics and Chemistry teacher. Mantu's mother, Terttu, is a top reporter in our local newspaper and had come to our home a long long time ago and had interviewed our son, Mika, and written a story in the Kaleva about him!

Joanna thought that Terttu was a great mom!

I was just as excited as Mantu as we shared notes.

Unfortunately, I was not carrying my camera when we met. I hope I can get a few pictures of Mantu and her family for the blog later this week.

Mantu has done many things in her life and she is quite a lady, as I learned from the internet:

Here is just one quote that I picked up:

Mantu Mankila, Finland
Coordinator of the STD/HIV/AIDS Prevention Program - Department of Gracias a Dios
Foro Nacional de SIDA
Casa azul, a donde Digna Salmeron
Puerto Lempira, Olancho

Mantu Mankila works with Foro de SIDA, an organization that operates throughout Honduras. Mantu coordinates the Moskitia chapter of the organization. The Moskitia is the Honduran jungle; boating is the primary means of transportation, education levels are low, and the people live in poverty. Different ethnic groups living in this area include the Miskitos, Tawankas, Pech, Garífunas, and Ladinos. In this region, it is costly and time-consuming to get tested for AIDS, people are uninformed about the disease, and HIV/AIDS victims are stigmatized.

Mantu works closely with Dr. Yoel Sanabria and the Departments of Education and Health to implement a three-pronged AIDS prevention strategy. First, they train facilitators who then teach AIDS prevention techniques to local community members. Second, they conduct AIDS prevention workshops with doctors and local medicine men (zukias), who then deliver condoms and educational materials to community members. Third, they work directly with adolescents to teach them about sexually transmitted diseases. In addition, they distribute condoms and air radio spots in both Spanish and Moskito, the local language.

The world, from India, Finland and Honduras, is a very small place. It was truly lovely to meet this lovely couple - Mantu and David, and we are looking forward to seeing their baby. In the meantime we pray that their home in Honduras is kept safe from the elements.

Delhi blasts - Shocking! Responsibility?

Both Annikki and I were shocked at the blasts that hit Delhi yesterday evening.

I am particularly familiar with the Paharganj area as I spent many hours there during my college days and also my working life in India, as it is next to the New Delhi Railway Station and also near where our family company, MM Foam, had its Northern India Regional office.

We watched three major TV Channels, BBC, CNN and even the vile war-mongering Rupert Murdoch channel, the Unfair and Unbalanced FOX.

Although all the anchors of these channels were saying that the possible criminals were Islamic terrorists, I was not convinced by any of the arguments. The Finnish channels did not ascribe any motives and only gave a factual representation of what had happened and what was happening.

Let us look at the regional situation today.

The Earthquake has meant that all the Kashmiri terrorists are extremely busy trying to find news and help their loved ones. They are unlikely to be going about the business of destabilizing the situation which could save the lives of their loved ones. The only groups that are not happy with this are those who would like the continued tensions to exist between these two countries - and these are the major arms dealers, US, Britain and France. The US, in particular, does not want growing links in solving the problems as that would mean their efforts to keep their operatives in the area would be seriously disorganized.

The relationship between Pakistan and India is stable at the moment. It is unlikely that the Pakistan Secret Service ISI would have asked any of its operatives to have spent their time destabilizing this relationship. Once again, the only groups that are not happy with this are those who would like the continued tension to exist between these two countries - and these are US, Britain and France.

The Iran - India relationship, which includes a closer relationship with Pakistan, is exceptionally strong as the recent deal on gas and oil between these countries is one hand of friendship that has been offered by India in these troubled times. Once again, the only groups that are not happy with this are those who would like the continued tension to exist between these two countries are US, Britain and France and especially the Oil and natural gas giants in the international arena. India has been particularly active in the United Nations against the campaign by the US to whip up war-like tensions with Iran.

The situation in Afghanistan is particularly troubling, and the Al Qaida is taking a serious toll of the Afghan illegitimate Government and the US and its coalition forces. India is not co-operating with these and the recent visit of the Afghan puppet pResident to Pakistan was an effort to get propped up by them. Hence this farcical Government and its puppet masters, US, Britain and their coalition certainly would like to keep the stable destabilized.

The success of the Bonn Conference that established an interim government in Afghanistan owes much to US-Indian cooperation. Working together, American and Indian negotiators convinced Afghan participants to reach agreement on the Bonn Accords. But Bonn was just the beginning. Afghanistan will require constant and intense international attention and support in order to overcome the legacy of more than 20 years of violence.

Accomplishing this task will be exceedingly difficult for the Afghans, even with outside help. India-US collaboration will play a crucial role in meeting the challenge of restoring stability in Afghanistan. India, like the United States, has been a major contributor of relief and reconstruction assistance for that blighted country. (JM: But the US does not want India to destabilize their power structure there, which is what is being demanded by the group of other countries bordering Afghanistan (China, Russia, etc.) and with which India has shown sympathy.)

An even greater challenge, and one I anticipate with real optimism, is to repeat our mutually supportive diplomatic efforts for all of South Asia, the adjoining regions of Southeast Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East, and the world as a whole, including close cooperation within the UN system. The United States and India remain co-chairs of the Community of Democracies and will continue to work together to promote democracy throughout the world. Our collaboration can only make the world a safer and more just place.

The relationship between the Palestinians as well as Israel with India is particularly good. US is frightened it will not figure in the final equation, if India takes its status as a superpower. It is likely that as the strength of India grows, India will act as a mediator in many international crisis areas, including Israel and Iraq, Israel and Iran, Israel and Lebanon, Israel and Syria, as well as Israel and Palestine. This is especially troubling for the US, which was the reason the recent reform of the UN and the expansion of the Security Council was thrown out by the US.

The relationship and trade between by India and China is growing by leaps and bounds, much to the horror of US and the EU countries. Every effort is being made to ensure that this ship is rocked, both by putting pressure on China on its currency and on India by any means possible.

The increase in co-operation between Venezuela and China and India, and the increase in cooperation in trade and exploration for oil, is particularly troubling to the present US malAdministration. hence destabilizing each of these countries by any means possible is on the top of the agenda of the the secret service. "After Iraq it is Venezuela - the next oil confrontation between America and Euro Zone and this time a new super power coalition of India, China, Russia and Brazil makes the difference"

The deepening crisis of the Bush administration both on the domestic and foreign policy means it is looking at any means possible to turn the focus away from what is happening, both in the US and in Iraq. It is not the first time that the US administration has used diversionary tactics to draw attention away from itself.

Although I have no proof in physical form, my gut instinct and my review of policies in place in each of the countries listed above, and I am usually right, tells me that the blasts in Delhi were engineered by US undercover operatives and not by Islamic terrorists, as only someone with the death and destruction criminal brain of John Negroponte, of much fame of being associated with the hit squads in Ecuador the Reagan era and also the present hit squads of the occupation of Iraq, has the focus to ensure this type of diversionary tactics.

I hope the Indian Government looks deeper at the techniques, issues and likely instigators, before associating these terror blasts with Islamists. To me, it points directly to the PNAC (Project for the New American Century) destabilizers. Remember that it was PNAC that put forward the vision for the invasion and occupation of Iraq!

Remembering 2 great people

I remember 2 great people today, both of whom were dear to several of us.

My grandfather, the late Dewan Bahadur Kuriyan Matthan, of the Maliyakal family, was born on this day in 1877. He died in 1951 when I was still a small boy.

Till today I can remember him in all his glory as a great upstanding individual.

I want to share a picture which was sent to me by a niece, by marriage, where her great grandparents share the high table with Dewan Bahadur. Ahalya is Rahul Matthan's wife. Rahul is the son of Anand and Shalu Matthan. Anand is the son of the late George Matthan, who was the eldest son of Dewan Bahadur Kuriyan Matthan. The late George Matthan was also my godfather.

Here is the story in Ahalya's own words.

I took a keen interest in the family tree that you built. Before Rahul and I met in Paris we had no idea that our families knew each other/ knew of each other, and this photo that I will attach is our favourite conversation peice. In the picture are my great grand-parents, Rao Bahadur Justice Medapa and his wife, Mrs Medapa (who passed away when I was 18); and with them is Diwan Bahadur Kuriyan Matthan. Apparentely, they were friends and knew each other, not only because of their work environment but I believe from my grand-mother that they got on well. I don't know if this will be of any interest to you, we cherish this photo! I have a whole album of this particular event that my grand-mother gave me - it shows them sitting at the high table, at an official tea-party - and is interesting in the kind of lifestyle and professional obligations that they obviously followed because they represented the judiciary and bureacracy of the state of Mysore.

Thank you Ahalya for sharing this with us, as Dewan Bahadur Mysore Matthan is fondly remembered, not only by many many members of the Maliyakal family worldwide but also thousands of people whom he reached out and helped with no thought of return, a rare trait in this world.

I hope you will share with us some more photographs from your collection.

The second person whom I want to pay tribute to today is my late dear elder sister, Nalini, who left us on this day 45 years ago. I loved her dearly. As each day passes I think of her in fonder terms than the day before.

Her cherubic face is well represented in this photograph as a baby.



Here we have her, in all her beauty, on the day of the wedding reception in Bombay in 1959.



Let us humbly remember these two people, both of whom are revered by many of us for what they stood for - love of our Lord.

Berries drop on iced pond

The birds swarmed to our garden this morning. The last tree filled with berries in the Kampitie garden was covered with hundreds of birds.



Here is one bird busy at work getting filled.



But they were a bit messy as they dropped half their food on top of the now thinly iced pond.



The next few days will be interesting as we observe some skating birds!

"The Little Dutch Boy"

There is a story, which is a myth, about the "little Dutch boy" who, on his way to school, saw that there was a leak in the dyke. He stuck his finger in the hole to stop the leak and stayed there till a passerby saw him and rushed for help.

The story originates in America, but it has a moral.

Well, here in Finland, we now have the story of the "Finnish grandma" and that is not a myth!

A few months ago, when we bought a new refrigerator cum deep freeze, Annikki redid the small room in the upper floor. Annikki found the floor to be not level. She was going to rip up the floorboards to remove any offending material to level it. I strongly objected and quickly made a small platform with four legs whose height could be adjusted so as to level the base of the fridge.

It was in place for several months, although Annikki was never happy with the solution.

Last Friday was a terribly tiring day. I went to bed early, about 11 pm. I was fast asleep in a couple of minutes. Around midnight, Annikki came up to put off the light, as I normally do not put it off before jumping into bed. I can sleep through anything.

Annikki was planning to get to bed early as she intended to go to church on Saturday morning, something she has been unable to do for several months.

Just then she saw the refrigerator, which stands just outside the bedroom door, shaking dangerously. She cried out to me to tell me that the fridge was going to topple over. In my sleep I told her to just forget it and let it topple over if it had to.

She shut the bedroom door.

I slept like a baby lamb right through till 5 o'clock in the morning. I usually sleep an hour longer on Saturday mornings. I did not find Annikki in bed.

When I opened the bedroom door I saw her sitting on a stool holding up the fridge. She had been there all night!!

I was shocked as I had no idea that the situation was that desperate. Annikki had heard me snoring right through the night, so she had not woken me up!

We got the fridge off the stand and on the floor in a couple of minutes. I found one of the legs had collapsed, causing the platform to rest on just three legs.

Annikki got to bed by 6 in the morning, missing her church.

After she had rested, she explained her vigil, which she described with great laughter and tears. She said that she kept shifting positions, and occasionally dipped her hand into the deep freezer to attack the chocobars which were housed inside. She managed to get her Bible Study book and read through part of the night.

She insisted she go to the church, even though the service was over, to explain why she had not been able to get there in time. She laughed when she got back to the car. She had obviously given a very garbled explanation to her church friends, who must have wondered what she was saying!!

The reason Annikki has a terror about platforms is because of an episode which happened in Madras, India in 1974.

We had a very heavy piece of machinery in our Velacheri garden which was resting on a platform. Our elder boy, Jaakko, and the son, Anbu, of our cook, who was Jaakko's best friend, were playing near it on a tricycle.

The cook, Neela, was making masala dosais. When they were ready she called the children in. They rushed into the house to eat their dosais. Just as they came in the piece of machinery toppled over and flattened the tricycle on which they had been playing.

It was just a couple of seconds that saved the kids from becoming chutney for the dosais.

Ever since, Annikki has an aversion towards platforms of any form.

This episode of last Saturday convinced me that I will not be building any platforms in future!

Fish come in and tragedy strikes

The weather has been growing colder and any day the outside pond is lkely to start freezing. For many days Annikki has been trying to catch the goldfish in the pond to bring them in to her indoor aquarium.



This is the famed table-top aquarium, the only one of its kind in the world, and definitely the only Cat TV in this Universe!



Finally, with a great deal of perseverance with a fishing net, she managed to catch not only all our three goldfish, but also 5 of the six baby fish that have appeared, mysteriously, during the summer in the pond. They are not the young of the goldfish as they are beautifully jet black. We have no idea how they appeared in the outside pond!





All the 8 fish were happy in their new environment. Annikki was jubliant with her work.

There was a large conch shell in the corner of the aquarium, and the little fish made it their special place.

However, just after I went to bed, there were cries of distress from the living room. Annikki came up in tears as one of the goldfish had swum into the conch shell, and feeling cramped, had swum at a high speed round and round, decapitating one of the tiny black fish.

The offending conch shell has been removed. A proper funeral was given to the dear departed.

Winter arrives in Oulu

Today, we had the first snowfall in Oulu.

However, as the ground temperature was just above zero, it melted faster than it came down. (One public temperature display was showing -4 C, but two showed +0 C and +1 C.)

It was almost like saying that there was just sleet. But, the snow-flakes, unlike sleet, were rather large in size.

Annikki had just put up three beautiful arrangements in the garden.







When one sees this beautiful summery colour in the garden, one hardly feels that winter is already here!

Wedding report from Calgary

I received an album full of pictures from Beena and Rana about the wedding of their daughter, Nidhi, to Anoop in Calgary, Canada, on August 27th of this year. Anoop belongs to the Pullivellil family in Bangalore and his parents also live Calgary.

I asked Beena and Rana to choose 3 pictures for the blog. I am so happy with the selections that they made as they reflect the true Maliyakal traditions, where we blend with the best of our surrounding culture while retaining our traditional and strong family values.

The first picture is Beena, Rana, their youngest daughter Nameetha and the happy couple, Nidhi with Anoop.



The second is of the absolutely stunning couple, Nidhi and Anoop.



The third is a group picture of Maliyakal and Beena's Poyanil families who attended the wedding.



Thank you Beena and Rana for sharing this with us.

Huge void in lives of Finns

This is the seventh visit of Amma, the Indian from Kerala who hugs peoople, to Finland, since she first visited in 1998. Amma enjoys her own web site in Finland and a record attendance was witnessed in Helsinki yesterday.

Amma has an estimated 8000 devout followers in Finland.

The Amma group is operating in 11 major cities in Finland (not in my home town: Oulu)!

* Hämeenlinna
* Jyväskylä
* Joensuu
* Kemi
* Kuopio
* Lahti
* Pori
* Porvoo
* Rovaniemi
* Sodankylä
* Tampere

In a country with such a small population as Finland, (5.2 million), this is an enormous spread.

Amma even gets news coverage during prime time TV news!

Like the Beatles ran after the Maharishi Yogi or transcendental meditation fame, leading Finns, such as the Finnish Minister of Culture, Tanja Karpela, a former beauty queen, are running after Amma.

Amma hugging a follower at Helsinki

In India, where we have an Amma in almost every small Panchayat, it is indeed strange for an Indian, from Kerala, to watch Finns fawning over this lady from his own home area.

Hope it does them some good to be hugged by her. They desperately need help if they need someone like Amma to fill their lives.

Two lovely Chinese visitors

Yesterday Zhongli Yao and her brother Zhongfei Yao, from Shanghai, China, visited me along with my good friend, and their cousin who lives and works in Oulu, Bill Zhang.

Zhongli Yao, Bill Zhang and Zhongfei Yao

We discussed many topics of potential interest including printing of this year's "Edible Art" calendar for Annikki.

After they enjoyed walking around the Kampitie Garden, we went to Michele's Chinese restaurant, Royal Garden, for dinner. I had spoken to Michele earlier, that we were coming. Unfortunately she was not there but she spoke to her cook, who is from Shanghai.

They prepared a great dinner for us.

A delicious soup, a starters of sliced duck which had be rolled in a type of pancake with sliced cucumber and cellery and eaten with a sweetish dark brown sauce, and three dishes, a salmon, a beef and a fish dish, served with rice.

All were delicious. Quite different to Indian Chinese or Finnish Chinese food.

Bill said that this was the first time he had had really original Shanghai food in Oulu and also that it was really good.

I learnt a lot about how the Chinese consume their food - and I do not mean using chopsticks. I canot use them because of carpel tunnel syndrome that I suffer from.

It is about who takes the first morsel from each dish, how when drinking beer, the Chinese don't eat the main meal, etc., etc.

It was quite informative, as Bill led me through these customs, which are diametrically opposite to our Indian customs.

We enjoyed a great meal and I took back some more traditional Michele Chinese food for Annikki and Mika, who could not join us at the restaurant.

Ildi and Ilari are back

Ildi (Hungary) and Ilari (Finland) have been on a great working trip to South Asia. They travelled by rail and road from Hungary, through Iran and Pakistan, to India. In Mumbai they met up with a Finnophile, Malathi.

They worked in Rajasthan for awhile. Ilari has gained expertise in growing Aloe Vera. They then went to Thailand, and to the Far East travelling up through China and across Russia back to Oulu, Finland.

They have a fabulous collection of photographs from all the different cultures that they met on these travels. Ilari showed some of them to me.

From the few they sent me, I chose one from their time in Iran which shows this young and adventurous couple whom we are privileged to be friends with.

Ildi and Ilari relax in an Iranian restaurant

Ilari was our daughter Joanna's classmate in Oulu University. They both did their Master's in English Philology. Ilari then became a close friend of our son, Jaakko. And then he has become a close friend of Annikki and me, despite our generation gap.

Ilari has worked for me in different capacities over the years. He had a very popular web page as part of our online web fortnightly - Findians Briefings. He wrote hard-hittting short articles in both Finnish and English which contributed, in no small measure, to the enormous readership of our web fortnightly.

Ilari and Ildi, jointly, have written a book, "Culture Shock - Finland" which has been published in German. It is on sale in German speaking countries. It is also available on the internet.

They are presently documenting parts of their recent travel through the Middle east, Asia and Russia. We should be reading about it in some of the leading travel publications in Finland.

Not content with this trip, they are planning their next adventure travel.

Take care, dear friends.

5 years on I sleep in peace

I remember, alone, in a distant land from the land of my birth, my mother, who went to rest, five years ago.

Ammachi with grandchildren, Joanna and Mika

Ammachi was an unique personality.

She knew right from wrong. She also knew who was right and who was wrong.

She was constrained in one respect.

Her absolute loyalty to her husband, my father, meant that she could not, in one instance, and one instance alone, when she had the strength to do so, stand for what was right instead of what was wrong.

It was not until my final meeting with my father, in July 1993, just a few weeks before his death, that she was released from that enormous burden. That was when he apologised to me for his wrong-doings in front of her.

But then, after his death, she was alone and marginalised by her other children and her grandchild, her 5th child, who had hi-jacked her for their own financial ends.

She was deliberately isolated from me. She was kept from talking to me.

Whenever, without the knowledge of the others, she got to talk to me on the phone, she warned me, again and again, about the criminality of her other "children".

In March 2000, just 7 months before her passing, fate took me to her side.

There was much consternation among the other children about my visit. On the day I went to Bangalore, on her advice, and discovered the devious plan afoot to dispose of the family property, which the other "children" had no right to do, I came back to Madras in the evening, and I asked her how they had managed to do what they had.

Ammachi, old and tired, did not stop speaking till very very late that night. She could not shut her eyes till she told me what the real situation was.

I tried, again and again, to reassure her that I was not bothered about what her other "children" did, as I was a happy man.

By 4 am the next morning, the stress of her confession drove her into a coma.

I sat silently at her side, stroking her cold forehead, as only I knew what had caused this coma.

Despite pressing commitments in Finland, I could not leave India till I knew that she would come out of her coma.

I sat by her side for long long hours as I watched the other "children", hypocrites, every one of them, show great "emotion".

It was only the dedicated effort by other family members, especially her brothers, Kochappachen and Mathukuttychayan, and her nephew, Bapukuttychayan, that pulled my mother out of her coma.

Her "children" were ready to "let her die". They were planning "euthanasia" for their own benefit.

I prayed fervently at her side, just as she has prayed for me on many many occasions, that she would come out of her coma. Otherwise, I knew would never be at peace, as only I knew that it was me that had caused this situation.

Hours before I was to leave for Finland, she came out of her coma.

She looked at me, so lovingly. She knew that I had not left her side during many of those last few hours.

That night, when I told her what had happened, she told me, as only a mother can tell her son, that God would be with me always.

I told her that ever since that fateful day in 1955, when God gave me a second life, God had always been with me and would always be with me.

She sent me back to Finland with a clear heart and mind.

From that day, there was every effort by the other immediate family members to prevent her from talking to me, right up till her passing away.

Greed is a horrible habit.

And it is a habit.

Sadly, those who claim to be my "brothers and sister", are consumed by it.

Five years on, they continue to be consumed by it.

So be it, as the only one who sleeps in peace, enveloped by the love of my father and my mother, is ME!

A lighter blog entry today

Several of the last few entries were a bit too serious for my personal blog.

So, looking through my archives, I found a set of photographs from last summer, which I thought would provide a lighter feeling for this Saturday morning.

Since 5 am and I have been listening to my favourite Talk Show Host, Mike Malloy, who makes me feel that all is not lost against the war criminals, pResident Bush and Poodle Tony Blair, today who are destroying the world.

Mike was talking about Yusuf Hamied of Cipla. So I sent him an email. Mike just replied. Cathedralite 56er Yusuf Hamied, features in my latest blog entry on the Cathedralite Seventh Heaven Blog

The place that Annikki loves most to be at, is the beach. She loves to walk along the sea front, looking for stones, collecting sea sand for the Kampitie "beach front", and enjoying the wind in her face.

Another who shares this joy is grandson samuel. He likes to play on the sea front throwing stones into the sea, splashing water all over his "tolerant" grandpa, and generally ignoring all the shouts and commands from his grandpa and grandma.

This summer, as we drove to the sea front we noticed a new Children's Park just across the road from the beach. It was colourful and seemed quite different from the normal Children's Parks that we have been to.

We promised Samuel that after the walk on the beach, we would stop and play in the park, time permitting, as mother, Joanna, is rather strict about the times Samuel has to be home!

Indeed, it was a most intersting experience in this new park. Annikki and Samuel enjoyed the park and I marvelled at the use of polymeric materials and the layout of this absolutely simple play area, which captivated both ends of the age spectrum from grandson, Samuel, to grandma, Annikki.

General shots of the park

The map of Finland is made from crumb rubber, which has found many uses in the park. The little mound representing the Finnish seal is just adorable.

The swings are suited to all age groups as you can see both grandma and grandson making hay.


Safe swings for all age groups

One pair of the swings is made from car tyres. I had sent pictures to my late uncle, Kochappachen (K. M. Mammen Mappillai, former Chairman of the tyre company, MRF Ltd.) many years ago (pre 1990) and he had installed one in his backyard made from MRF tyres. I have a picture he sent me and will blog it one day. The other pair is made of steel which is rubber coated. Both swings will not hurt anyone should they slip and fall. The ground under the swing is made from crumb rubber. It is truly wonderful. Not only is it colourful, but it is extremely safe for the children.

Other uses of this crumb rubber allows children to have fun. Here are some close-ups of this material.


Crumb rubber is really beautiful

The use of crumb rubber is not the only use of rubber. A great fun area for the children is the "Stepper Area" where children can hop along a path made of old tyres buried into the ground and various wooden logs also buried into the groud.


Stepper area made from tyres and wood

And here are some shots of Samuel enjoying playing on this stepper area while Annikki sits at the end waiting for him, and enjoying the warm summer evening sunshine.


Samu enjoying the Steppers

The hopscotch, sand pit and ship's mast are also quite unusual.


Samu enjoying the Steppers

The igloo area is great fun as well. More about this "igloo" which is a model of an igloo in the town centre, will be in a later blog entry as I focus on the destruction of old Oulu.


Cement igloo and totem poles"

The Castle in the centre of the park is a great thrill for the children as it makes the slides a great thrill besides just for sliding down.


Castle area is for sliding

And it certainly is for all age groups!


Samuel and Annikki enjoy the slide

Certainly a great day for the entire age spectrum!

World Exclusive: Finnish Red Cross in hot water

Tins of pork meat which were sent
by Finnish Red Cross to Pakistan

In response to my informing the Finnish Red Cross by email that they would be sending Pork to Pakistan, Ms. Outi Sanmark, Assistant, Communications, of the Finnish Red Cross, tried to explain in her email to me the situation that the pork shipped to Pakistan was not as part of the Aid for the disaster victims, but that it was food meant for the field hospital staff who were going to Pakistan from Finland.

The TV Clips which were played day-before yesterday on Finnish Broadcasting Company's News Broadcasts did not convey this impression as the clips tried to spin that it was part of the aid for the disaster victims.

I do not think that donors to the Finnish Red Cross would have liked it very much if such shipments from their contributions were being used to feed the field workers.

However, this explanation from Ms. Sanmark, is even worse for the Finnish Red Cross.

I explained this in my email to Ms. Outi Sanmanrk earlier today.

Dear Ms. Sanmark,

Further to my reply of yesterday, may I draw attention to this fact:

"General Advice

Pakistan is a Muslim state. Importation of alcohol and pork products into Pakistan are forbidden by law. Homosexuality is illegal, as is co-habitation of a non-married couple. Close fitting and revealing clothing should be avoided.
It is advisable to carry a photocopy of the data page and Pakistani visa from your passport at all times.

Medical insurance must be taken out, including medical repatriation costs, for all travellers to Pakistan. Anyone trekking or climbing in northern Pakistan should be aware that recent changes to the helicopter rescue system mean a US dollar 6,000 bond must be paid before a helicopter search or rescue will be launched. Further details on the procedure for this can be obtained from Consular Division of the FCO in London or the Consular Section of the British High Commission in Islamabad.

This is from the website:

http://www.worldsurface.com/browse/static.asp?staticpageid=1366

Or this:

Customs

Pakistan is a strict Muslim state and therefore alcohol and pork products are forbidden by law. Homosexuality is illegal. Women in particular are expected to dress and behave decorously in public; even in the large cities shoulders and legs should be covered, and men should not wear shorts. Westerners should expect to be stared at - this is not considered rude in Pakistan, and is purely because you are new and different. Religious customs should be respected, particularly during the month of Ramadan when eating, drinking and smoking during daylight hours should be discreet as it is forbidden by the Muslim culture.

This is from the website:

http://www.cheapflights.co.uk/travelguide/Pakistan/Index.html

There are several other references if you would like to have them.

Was the Finnish Red Cross not aware of this?

Yours sincerely,

Jacob Matthan

I pointed her to just two of many hundreds of web sites, both of which clearly indicated that it was ILLEGAL to import alcohol and pork into Pakistan.

If the Finnish Red Cross officials did not know that, then they are totally incompetent and do not understand the sensitivities of the countries to which they are providing aid and sending their staff.

A explanation from the Finnish Foreign Ministry is expected. None has come today. Only acknowledgement of my email to them has been received.

Stay tuned for further news on this world EXCLUSIVE!!

Kampitie today morning

The excellent autumn weather continues.

This morning I wandered around the garden. There were a couple of late flowering roses in bloom.

Late flowering roses

Annikki received a very nice ceramic hanging vase from Joanna and family for her birthday last September. She did not have a chance to use it till yesterday, and she has used it magnificiently.


Hanging ceramic vase

The greenhouse is just ablaze with colour and greenery.


Inside the greenhouse

The pond is also sparkling. The goldfish and a lot of little baby fish are swimming around. The large headed goldfish just loves to get its head under the fountain splash.


Goldfish enjoying a shower!

Because of the riot of colours and the water splashing, the whole sky above the garden is filled with birds. The trees have tens of birds just about to embark on their migratory journey, stopping over at Kampitie.

Our cat, Iitu, is thrilled at the thought of consuming a couple before they can depart, but the birds are too clever for her!


Birds galore and Iitu waits!

The Kampitie garden is a delight all through the year. Even so, late in autumn, the garden is alive with much beauty to offer the eyes of the beholder.

2030 hours news contains same shot

I was hoping that the 1500 hours news made a mistake. That was why I immediately informed the local Red Cross within 15-30 minutes of my noting it.

The 1700 hours contained the same video clip. One could possibly forgive the Red Cross and the Finnish Broadcasting Corporation of not having taken immediate steps to correct the impression.

However, the 2030 hours news, which is the main news of the day for the Finnish Broadcasting Corporation, had a re-edited version of the clip and it was sad to see that the image of the Pork tins en route to Pakistan was allowed to hold its place in this news bulletin.

Pork tins en route to Pakistan?

Has the shipment already left Finland?

Whom do we blame for this possible fiasco - the Finnish Red Cross or the Finnish Broadcasting Corporation?

Hope this is a mistake

I was watching the 3 o'clock Finnish news when there was a news item about the Finnish Red Cross and the aid they were sending to the Earthquake stricken region of Afghanistan, Pakistan and India.

As the images flashed across the screen, I noticed a container filled with tins - marked as Sika (or Sian)- liha, a white label with red lettering.

I told Annikki and I said I would ring the Red Cross immediately.

I rang the local office in Oulu and immediately informed the receptionist what I had just seen on TV.

The girl was horrified.

I advised her to make sure that she contact her bosses to see that the shipment did not contain that product!!

Hope I saved a diplomatic faux pas.

Why?

Sika (Sian)- liha - means PORK MEAT!

And they repeated this on their 17:00 NEWS. Here is a screen capture of the News Broadcast from the internet. The 15:00 was in greater focus than the 17:00 news broadcast!

Was Pork shipped by Finnish Red Cross
to a Muslim Country?

How does it feel to go through an earthquake?

My heart bleeds for the thousands of fellowmen in this world who have lost their lives and those who been injured, lost their loved ones, and have been through this horrific tragedy in the recent earthquake that hit Afghanistan, Pakistan and India.

The first earthquake that I have recollection of going through was in the early 1960's when I was studying at St. Stephen's College, Delhi.

I was sitting at a table playing chess with a friend in the Student's Common Room.

I saw the chess pieces and the chess board swaying in front of me. As I was in a winning position, I thought my friend was trying to upset the board. But, almost instantly, I felt my chair being moved around. Nobody said anything. About 10 of us in the room at that time sat their petrified, unable to move, except of being rocked around by the earth.

When we finally got the courage to run out of the building, the earthquake was over.

It was indeed a shock, but as the intensity was only in the order of 3 on the Richter Scale, we joked about it at dinner, and thought no more about it. It had not been one of the major earthquakes of the region.

After that, I have been through several minor quakes. I was able to recognise the shaking of earth as being part of an earthquake and take necessary action as either get under a table or bed or run into an open space.

That is, I conquered the biggest killer of all in earthquakes, "panic".

The next earthquake that really shook me to the core is described best in the book written by Annikki in Chapter 13 of her book "...for the hour of his judgement is come:..."

When I had reached this far in my thinking of what the Bible says in the Revelations, a strange silence descended on the court room. Suddenly I heard a sound like that of thunder when it is right overhead, but I realised immediately that this noise seemed to be coming from below. The sound was as though the very foundations of the earth were being scraped together. Without a moment's hesitation, I said loudly for all to hear "Earthquake".

I had never experienced anything like this before and did not know that such a sound could come from below the ground but it came to me immediately that this is what it was - an earthquake. This alarmed everybody and they were waiting for what would happen next. The awesome, dreadful rumbling sound continued and the earth started to move. The roaring sound continued and the earth started moving. Now I was not afraid. The people in the room were. I was sitting and watching them as if it were a film. The building started moving back and forth. People were running, grabbing what was theirs. Policemen snatched their motorcycle helmets, lawyers their briefcases and whatever else was important to them. They were running as fast as they could. We were sitting there and felt no need to get out.

Suddenly I saw Mika and Joanna hurriedly say something to each other and together they disappeared. Thinking about them and what may happen to them in such panic where people run blindly not knowing where, I got up and tried to walk. It was like a ship in a storm. I did not get very far. I managed only a few steps. I was trying to see where the children were to bring them back inside. I tried to walk and keep my balance, just watching the floor and my feet, when I had to stop, hardly able to stand. I reached a few feet from my bench and stood with my feet apart to steady myself. From there I called to the children, asking them to come back. Luckily they had not gone down the stairs but had only been hidden from our view behind the door. First one came in followed by the other. I told them to come and sit down.

In the meantime, Jacob seeing the people in panic, shouted "Don't run." Some people stopped. Soon after, the tremor stopped as well. We were all now sitting. We could not know whether it had stopped or would start again. We did not know what would happen. We calmed the children and told them not to be afraid.

One by one the people started coming back into the room. There was a lawyer who came from the lower floor and described what had happened there: how people had run out of all the court rooms and downstairs, a big crack had appeared on the wall of the building. It took some time before things settled and to know whether the court could continue with hearings.

This episode took place in a multistorey building. We were seated on the 4th or 5th floor. Although the strength of the earthquake was later reported as being on 4 on the Richter scale, the effect on all around us and on us was dramatic enough never to forget that incident.

When we came to Finland, Annikki and I identified several instances of earthquakes in our town, Oulu. However, the Finnish authorities had a policy that was not to cause fear among the people and they always had a "sensible" explanation for the tremors.

In one instance in 1984, when I was sitting in the local library, I felt a strong tremor. I knew it was an earthquake. I made a mental note of the time.

When I reached home, several kilometres away, even before I could ask Annikki, she asked me whether I had felt the tremors at exactly the same minute!

The explanation put out by the the authorities to the newspapers the next day was most interesting. They claimed that Swedish fighter jets had been breaking the sound barrier many hundreds of kilometres away, and that had caused the temors.

Having lived in Bangalore, where breaking the sound barrier by jets was a common practice, and never having ever felt such tremors when they had done so, taught us a lesson about Finnish psyche!

Iitu is a naughty girl

Every morning when I come down to read the local nespaper, our 14 year old cat is awake and ready to get her food. She sits in front of her bowl till I put some food on it.

I make my cup of tea and sit down to read the newspaper. But Iitu will have none of it. She finishes her food and jumps onto the table and lies down on the newspaper so as to prevent me from reading it.

Iitu on the newspaper

After making sure that I am no longer going to read the newspaper, she jumps off the table and waits at the window for me to let her out. Then she moves onto the roof, where she keep an eye on me and also the little birds that are flitting around.


Iitu on the plastic roof

Cats are intelligent beings, far more intelligent than all of us.

Musicians from Philippines

I had the great pleasure of meeting two delightful young men from Philippines. Like me, they have been in Finland for over 20 years.

They play as the back up for a Finnish singer by the name of Frederiic, who has a group called Dynamite. Sorry for the quality of the photograph - someone will have to get me a better digital camera! (hint, hint!)

Arthur and Eddie,
musicians from Philippines

Both of them speak excellent English and also good Finnish. They are taking part in a big Music Do at the Oulu Sports Dome tonight, proabably another Do to celebrate the so-called 400 year birthday celebration of Oulu City.

I think Eddie is keen internet user, so we may have another regular reader of this blog.

Welcome Eddie and Arthur. Do send me a better photograph, so that I can replace this crappy one I took!

Eddie asked me include the links to the web pages about the Slum in Oulu, so here they are.

Click here for the slide show of the Finnish Oulu Slum

Click here for the slide show of the Oulu Slum Clearance - Mission Accomplished?

Click here for the blog entry about a fake Indian Slum in Oulu and real life Finnish Slum in Oulu

Mika is 32 today

Several of you have been asking for recent pictures of our youngest son, Mika. Today, he is 32.

I am pleased to put up a few pictures that I took on a recent visit to the Nallikari Beach in Oulu. It shows his good health and his sense of humour!

Mika shows his muscle


Mika enjoying his cigarette


Mika walks on the beach


Mika points the way

Happy birthday Mika.

Interesting day

I had to get my old car certified today. I first took it to my regular mechanic who tested it, repaired a couple of things and said that there were only very minor problems, so it would be better to get it tested so that he could repair them when the official test report was issued.

I then went to a small private testing place in Ruusko, which is located directly opposite the big Government test centre.

Konetien Katsastus Oy

Called Konetien Katsastus Oy, there was no waiting. The lady organised the test to be done immediately, while she offered me tea and biscuts. I could opt to join the testing officer or watch it from the coffee room. I decided on the latter.

I was most surprised to see him test the vehicle and when he found some small mistakes, such as the exact focus of the headlights, he actually fixed the errors. This has never happened in all my time in Oulu. Usually, the testing officer marks the errors in the computer and issues a report, which means you have to come back, pay another hefty sum and get the car tested again (only for the errors noted).

After the officer finished the testing, he came to the coffee room, told me my car was OK and it had passed the test and that one small error of rust should be corrected within a month, but it was not important enough for him to fail the car.

So I have another year of trouble free driving with my 1985 jallopy, known to Samuel and me, as my "rabbit", a name given to it by Kamu, who runs two large cars, a Volvo and a Saab, but cannot keep up with this antique!

On getting home, Annikki was waiting to go on her jaunt to the Fleamarket. So off we went.


Oulu Pentacostal Church Fleamarket


Annikki emerges with her goodies
from the Fleamarket

Annikki has been carrying on an experiment this year. Usually Sweet Peas are used as climbers (creepers). This year she tried them as hangers from a basket, and they looked rather nice.


Annikki's experiment -
Sweet Peas in a hanging basket

And finally, after an exhausting day chasing a whole lot of little birds in the garden, Iitu, our 14 year old cat, fit as a fiddle, decided she would lie at my feet and be nice to me, licking my toes.


Iitu lounging on the living room carpet

Iitu is getting ready for winter, where she goes out only for a few hours a day, unlike spring, summer and autumn, where she hunts in her territory covering much of the estate in which we live. For a 14 year old (78 years on the People Scale), she is remarkably sprightly. One cat has been reported to live till the ripe old age of 34 (154 on the People Scale), so Iitu has plenty of life left in her.

What a comforting thought - she may live to see our great grandchildren, even if we don't! She will have plenty of stories to tell them, and believe you me, she does "talk".