All complaints listened to

Starting with daughter Joanna in Newcastle, and going around the globe, there have been complaints about the photo quality on my blogs. So I borrowed a camera from Pailin and have taken some shots of the snow creations of Annikki this winter, and just in time.

The warm rains of today may wipe out her work by tomorrow morning.









The Laplander and the Kota (Finnish Laplander's Wigwam) are truly outstanding creations.







The boat and the lighthouse are also fascinating. The candle lights look glorious in the night in this garden. Annikki has a clear mind as to where each candle and lamp should be.







The melting snow has a way of twisting, as can be seen from this shot of the snow on the bridge arm.



Iitu, our 15 year old cat, was most intrigued to know why the two of us were in the cold winter garden and came out to draw our attention - she climbed the Thai pergola leg in desperation to make us notice her.








The berry tree was in a fascinating state with snow and icicles. The snow covered tree against the night sky was a great sight.

Annikki may not have much time for the next month to create any new snow artworks, but expect to see some more later on during this winter.

Annikki still in creation mode

When I got back last night I was in splits of laughter as Annikki had created a Lappish snowman (hilarious), and a Finnish Laplanders wigwam in snow, called as a kota.

Sorry about the quality of the photographs.





She in in THE MOOD. More to come folks!

REUNIONS?

(Cross-posted on my Seventh Heaven Blog.)

The Mumbai Cathedral and John Connon School Founders Day programme will take place on the 14th of November and several class reunions will take place. (I have been especially involved with the 50 Year Reunion of 56ers, and may I wish them all a very very happy reunion!)

I am hoping that the Reunion Reports will be sent to me so that I can blog them.

This last week, I went through a reunion after 47 years, when Narayan Acharya (née Seshachar) took the trouble and made the time to visit me at this Arctic location. Ooky (Elijah Elias) is the only other classmate who has visited me here.

It was wonderful to establish a one-to-one reunion with Narayan.

Narayan joined school only in the 10th Standard and so was not a full-blown Cathedralite. He came from a great school run by American Jesuit priests in Jamshedpur, so Cathedral was not the "cat's whiskers" for him.

He made a few friends. He lived so far away from school, at Khar, that he could not take part in all the extracurricular activities which were part of our enjoyment of school.

But, as I remember, Narayan's entry to our class had a profound effect on the top echelon as he was a brilliant student, topping almost in every subject. His brilliance really shone when he topped the entrance exam to the Indian Institute of Technologies a little later in his life.

His likes and dislikes were based on his short exposure to the school, and were quite different from mine.

Our week together was really great as we exchanged opinions, agreed on many subjects and disagreed on many. We shouted at each other and on one occasion, when we had dinner at an Indian Restaurant, and we were the only customers late in the evening, we went at each other with hammer and tongs. It was great as it showed our Cathedralite upbringing in that we could argue on issues and not take offence!

This is something a Class Reunion does not accomplish. I have attended our class reunions in 1989 and 1999, and they were great events. (I do wish Shivi (Vijay Shivdasani) would send me the video and snaps from the second event!)

But there was no possibility to get to know each other as I got to know Narayan during his visit.

He went with Annikki and me to the Loy Krathong Festival, he saw the sights of Oulu as only I know how to show them, he met many of my friends, my adopted children (that is those who have adopted Annikki and me), and he even had dinner and listened to a lecture about Australia and the English Club of Oulu.

Like me, Narayan is a Jonah and Murphy’s Law follows him everywhere. His trip to Oulu was eventful with a series of mishaps, so much so that I went to the Railway Station several times and could not find him, till he finally found a landline phone to ring me. Most public phones in Oulu are dead as almost everyone has a mobile!

Narayan, for all his brilliance, has stayed away from new electronic gadgetry.

When I invited him here, I did not expect that Oulu would be anywhere near wintry conditions, but a few days before he arrived, we were hit by a blizzard and the temperature dropped sharply, so much so it appeared to be already mid winter. Narayan coped rather well in these conditions. I did feel sorry for having dragged him here under false pretenses.

He was able to see Annikki's Winter Garden.



This year we have a long boat - several metres long, and a lighthouse in front of our Thai Pergola! (More creations will appear shortly!)

Even before we both realised it, the visit was over and he took the train to Turku to catch the ferry to Stockholm, the train across Sweden to Malmö, the crossing to Copenhagen in Denmark, and the long journey from there to Frankfurt to take the flight to Philadelphia.



Thank you Narayan for coming and sharing your time with me.

Winter grips Oulu early

(Cross-posted on the Seventh Heaven Blog.)

Last Thursday we were hit by a blizard. As it ws still October, Annikki held out saying it was still autumn and this was something known as autumn-winter. She recalled having experienced snow in Oulu as early as the 1st of September.

It took me about half an hour to drive the 2 km from the City Centre to our home.

Come 1st November, Annikki announced that it was now winter, and the snow all around was sufficient proof to anyone that we were right in the middle of winter.

The tree in our garden was covered with berries. (I must apologise for the quality of the pictures taken with our crummy camera.)



Above is a picture of the berry tree against a dark night sky pre snowfall.





And here, above, are a couple of snaps the same berry tree after our blizzard a day later.

In real life it looks great to see the beautiful red berries being preserved with a thick layer of snow!

I invited a Mumbai Cathedralite classmate, whom I had not seen for 47 years, to visit me in Oulu on his way back from Bangalore to Philadelphia.

Narayan Acharya was known as Seshachar when he was in school. He joined school in the middle of our 10th Standard, and hence did not find friends easy to come by. But he was a really brilliant student and topped our class in almost every subject. (The last fact I did remember about Narayan was that when he sat for the entrance exam to the Indian Institute of Technolgies, he topped the list of several thousands who sat for that exam.)

A few years ago, when I was searching for classmates, I found someone by the name of Narayan Acharya, as I had been told that Seshachar had changed his name to this. So I emailed the gentleman. I found Seshachar's cousin who goes by the same name. Through him I got our Narayan onto our class mailing list.

After a rather eventful journey, as Narayan seems to be like me as far as travel is concerned (we both are living proof of the truth of Murphy's law), Narayan reached Oulu safely last night.

We have been catching up on our intervening years.

It has been a bit here, there and everywhere, but it has been really great meeting up with him.

But I digress.

When I invited Narayan I told him not to be worried about the cold, as November is usually not that cold. When he landed here yesterday the temperature was around -11 C.

He is going to experience one of our coldest Novembers.

Those who remember Narayan will think of him as being a small chubby person. He is now a handsome gentleman, standing quite tall.

I will have a picture of him in a couple of days, and hopefully, one of the two of us together.

Article about CHAFF in 65 Degrees North

(Cross-posted on the CHAFF Blog.)

An article about CHAFF has appeared on the front page of 65 Degrees North.

The location may change so the above link is only temporary.

An old friend checks in

Yesterday I received an email from a very old friend:

Dear Sushil,

It was such a pleasant surprise coming across your blog. A brother of mine happened to see the portion about St. Joseph's and hockey (January, 2005 issue)and suggested that I look it up. I was happy reading it but there was a tinge of sadness as well while going through the part about Kunjumon. He was such a fine person.

Now I'm going through the other postings on your site. They make interesting reading. I must congratulate you on the presentation and the language. You write really well. I am also impressed with the list of your publications and other career highlights.

The last time we met, I think was at Grand Hotel, Ernakulam where you had come for some meeting, decades ago. I was unaware that you had settled down in Finland. Otherwise, I would have loved to look you up while in Sweden some years back on work.

Your family is familiar from the postings in the blog.

If you have the contact details of Atul Shenoy and any of the St. Joseph's hostel inmates during my time there, 1951-55, please pass them on to me.

Will you kindly drop a line in reply?

Regards to you and family.

Sincerely,

Abraham Tharakan.

Abe was my dear friend in 1952-1953 when I was just 10 years old. He was a college student who lived in the hostel across the road from us in Bangalore. He was s superb hockey goalkeeper and that was why I became a goalkeeper in my life in Bombay and then Delhi.



Today, I remember my sister, Nalini, who passed away 46 years ago.

Well that is life.

My 80 year old Physics teacher sent me this

(Cross-posted on the Oulu CHAFF Blog, on the The Cathedral School Seventh Heaven Blog and the St. Stephen's Kooler Talk Blog.)



Willie Shiri lives with his wife Pushpa in Canada. He taught me Physics in the late 50s in Mumbai, for which I am ever grateful. We discovered each other on the internet a few years ago, and besides Physics, he continues to inspire me on many fronts.

This is a story he sent me. It cheered me up as I set out to launch our Chaff Help Fund. This story is not true but the message it conveys is very valuable and helps me to focus on little things that make differences in the lives of people around me.

Subject: MIRACLE

A little girl went to her bedroom and pulled a glass jelly jar from its hiding place in the closet..

She poured the change out on the floor and counted it carefully. Three times, even. The total had to be exactly perfect. No chance here for mistakes.

Carefully placing the coins back in the jar and twisting on the cap, she slipped out the back door and made her way 6 blocks to Rexall's Drug Store with the big red Indian Chief sign above the door.

She waited patiently for the pharmacist to give her some attention but he was too busy at this moment. Tess twisted her feet to make a scuffing noise. Nothing. She cleared her throat with the most disgusting sound she could muster. No good.. Finally she took a quarter from her jar and banged it on the glass counter. That did it!

"And what do you want?" the pharmacist asked in an annoyed tone of voice. I'm talking to my brother from Chicago whom I haven't seen in ages," he said without waiting for a reply to his question.

"Well, I want to talk to you about my brother," Tess answered back in the same annoyed tone. "He's really, really sick... and I want to buy a miracle."

" I beg your pardon?" said the pharmacist.

" His name is Andrew and he has something bad growing inside his head and my Daddy says only a miracle can save him now. So how much does a miracle cost?"


"We don't sell miracles here, little girl. I'm sorry but I can't help you," the pharmacist said, softening a little.

"Listen, I have the money to pay for it. If it isn't enough, I will get the rest. Just tell me how much it costs."

The pharmacist's brother was a well dressed man. He stooped down and asked the little girl, "What kind of a miracle does your brother need?"

" I don't know," Tess replied with her eyes welling up. I just know he's really sick and Mommy says he needs an operation. But my Daddy can't pay for it, so I want to use my money."

" How much do you have?" asked the man from Chicago.

"One dollar and eleven cents," Tess answered barely audibly.

"And it's all the money I have, but I can get some more if I need to.."

"Well, what a coincidence," smiled the man. "A dollar and eleven cents---the exact price of a miracle for little brothers. "

He took her money in one hand and with the other hand he grasped her mitten and said "Take me to where you live. I want to see your brother and meet your parents. Let's see if I have the miracle you need."

That well dressed man was Dr. Carlton Armstrong, a surgeon, specializing in neuro-surgery. The operation was completed free of charge and it wasn't long until Andrew was home again and doing well.

Mom and Dad were happily talking about the chain of events that had led them to this place.

That surgery," her Mom whispered. "was a real miracle. I wonder how much it would have cost?"

Tess smiled. She knew exactly how much a miracle cost...one dollar and eleven cents .... plus the faith of a little child.

In our lives, we never know how many miracles we will need..

A miracle is not the suspension of natural law, but the operation of a higher law.. I know you'll keep the ball moving!

Here it goes. Throw it back to someone who means something to you!

A ball is a circle, no beginning, no end. It keeps us together like our Circle of Friends. But the treasure inside for you to see is the treasure of friendship you've granted to me.

Today I pass the friendship ball to you.

Pass it on to someone who is a friend to you.

MY OATH TO YOU...

When you are sad.....I will dry your tears.
When you are scared.....I will comfort your fears.
When you are worried.....I will give you hope.
When you are confused....I will help you cope.
And when you are lost...And can't see the light, I shall be your
beacon.....Shining ever so bright.
This is my oath.....I pledge till the end.
Why you may ask?.....Because you're my friend.

Signed: GOD

Yes, many of us at CHAFF know how much miracles cost, so your small contribution to the CHAFF Help Fund, however small, could certainly do miracles for many many people.

Last week at the meeting one retired CHAFF participant gave me 100 Swedish Kroner (Euro 11) as his contribution. It was a wonderful feeling when I accepted this contribution to CHAFF to help someone, somewhere and at sometime.

A very special person

My cousin, Mohanchayan, (JM: The sufix -chayan is one we use to address elders as a mark of respect) is a surgeon, a brilliant one at that.

Mohanchayan with his wife Shantakochamma
at wedding in England in April 2005.
(Photo from our daughter's blog called as Su's Billinghay Blog.)

I remember one day in Bangalore that he was called to a hotel where two of the people in the kitchen had a fight. One brandished a knife and cut open the stomach of the other. When Mohanchayan arrived there was no time to take the man to the hospital and he performed the operation on the floor of the hotel and saved the man's life.

Mohanchayan is so well revered that people from all over the State of Karnataka come to see him. He treats the poor for free and he requests the patients who are better off to support these actrivities by giving donation of medical supplies to help the poor patients.

He has also been our family physician for all of us and we called him all corners of the country to have his advice whenever we or our children felt ill. He had a way with children who knew him as a person rather than as a doctor and felt safe and sound in his arms.

A couple of weeks ago Annikki and I sent birthday greetings for his wife, Shantakochamma (JM: Like the suffix -chayan, -kochamma is used for ladies), who like her husband is a truly wonderful person. I received this reply from him a few days ago. Just remember Mohanchayan will be 75 next January!

Hi Annikki and Sushil!

Nice of you to send a birthday message.

Shanta's birthday was on Wednesday and the children planned to give her a surprise package of a holiday in Singapore. They made all arrangements for us and sprang the surprise on her on Sunday noon.
.
While I was in the hospital making rounds earlier that Sunday morning I felt a pain in my chest (not in the front but the back) which moved like a description of a classical heart attack.

I quicky finished and walked down to my room and lay down. The pain became unbearable and and I had my Pulse and Blood Pressure taken. As they were as normal, as always, I tried to make light of it and got up to go home but could not make it to the car so I returned and asked to know if there was an internist.

As it turned out there was one. He came and checked me and told there was no cause for alarm. I found the pain was wearing off and he left. After 10 mins I was much better and, therefore, went to the car to go home.

The pain hit again. I returned and asked the doctor to come back which he did and took a cardiogram which looked just like the one he had done 4 days earlier for my travel insurance.

He gave me a pain killer and coincidentally the pain went off.

I went home feeling fine. I found the children there and they were waiting for me to spring the surprise on Shanta. They wanted to take us out to lunch but Shanta, who was nursing a bad cold for a few days, decided to skip the lunch out so that she can rest and be ready to take the flight on Wednesday.

After lunch I was working in the garden repotting. I felt pain coming back, so got into bed and called the doctor to say that I felt as if I was having a heart attack. He reassured me that it was not one and probably I was anxious about travelling. He knew I could not think of going out of India and was probably having a panic attack.

Reassured, I stayed in bed and fell asleep.

Monday I did a full days work of operations and after lunch completed the repotting and was well all day and night. Tuesday also I was ok till immediately after lunch and the pain hit again. I took a sedative and went back to the Hospital feeling fine, as I had posted an emergency operation for the evening at 4 pm.

As luck would have it I found my old friend with whom we had started the hospital in the late 60s. We are the two who have survived of our group. I just went into his room and told him of whatt had happened on Sunday and again earlier on in the day.

He listed carefully and said "You silly fool, you have had an heart attack go immediately to a cardiologist. I don't want an cardiogram to tell me."

He picked up the phone, called one made an urgent appointment and he even told him which vessel he suspected was Blocked!

As I was absolutely ok and it was time for the surgery I completed the operation and at 5 pm, Anna (JM: his daughter) took me from the operation theater to the Cardiologist. He did all sorts of fancy tests and actually showed me on his computer where my dead heart muscle was.

He took me into the ICU and at 8.30 pm Tuesday evening and he undid the block, put in two stents, all in 30 mins and me fully awake watching it following the catheters going into my heart and doing the job!

He discharged me Friday and I am home with no restrictions. Saturday and Sunday I took rest at home and am working from Monday!

I am feeling no pain I am working as usual and today he checked me and has started with drawing down my drugs.

The Miracle of Modern Science and Technology.

So Shanta's Birthday was in the hospital with me! She insists it was the best Birthday present she has had for if things had not gone on as it did I would probably have died on the plane and not been recovering in the ICU.

I cannot understand what God is saving me for! I have lived a full and useful life have been able to bring up a family and now see my two grand children. All doing what I enjoy doing, surgery.

Love

Mohan and Shanta

Our reply to Mohanchayan was quite simple:

Dearest Mohanchayan,

What a truly amazing incident.

We all want you well and around us for many a year. Just as you, Ammnikochamma (JM: My cousin who is a Physician and now aged 77) and Bapukuttychayan (JM: My cousin who is Pediatrician and now aged 76) have cared for all of us over such a long period of time.

That is why God is looking after all of you as each one of you are in the prayers of each one of us every single day.

Annikki & Sushil

Thank God for people like Mohanchayan whom God has looked after all the years so as he could perform God's work of saving lives.

Yes, he is to me and many thousands of his former patients, a very very special person.

All Those Lies

This is a great video. I and millions of others have known the lies for many many years. And now with 600000 innocent Iraqis dead, double what Saddam killed over 24 years, we know what this American regime is capable of!

I went to a football match

I took time off today to go to a football match today - AC Oulu against a team from Helsinki called Atlantis.

This was a crucial match for both teams. If AC Oulu held on for a draw they would get promoted to the top football league in Finland. Atlantis needed to win to be able to get there instead of AC Oulu.

I had intended to go, as Soda was going and he was going to be a ball boy. Yut was also wanting to go. As a pensioner I would have to pay Euro 5 for my entry and Yut would also have to pay Euro 5 as a student to get in.

I went home to get some warm clothes on. As I was checking my email, my private phone rang. It was Christian Thibault, my German friend from Helsinki. He said he was travelling by coach along with the supporters of the Atlantis team, they were 50 km away from Oulu, and asked whether I would be attending the match.

I said I would. I asked him to get me a couple of free passes for Yut and me. He said he would organise that.

We reached the ground, and it was filling up fast.

The Oulu crowd poured in.

It seemed as all the football lovers of Oulu, over 4700 of them had decided to turn up to witness this match.


The teams warm up.

The supporter strength of Atlantis was just 20! So I decided to stand with Atlantis and dragged poor Yut to play the drums for the Atlantis side. I had a wolf whistle to blow in tune with the drums and bells.

We met a young Chinese friend, Kevin, at the field. When I asked him why he was here, he told me he was reporting live on this game to China as it was listed in the betting sheets there!

An Oulu game on the betting sheets in China?


Johnny, a great footballer during his time had
travelled to Oulu with the Atlantis side.

Many many Oulu friends were at the game. They were astounded to see ME standing with the Helsinki side supporters. A supporter of Oulu Football for over a decade and a half and I was siding with the opponents!


Christian, the big guy playing the pipe and Yut,
playing the drums (not visible) were among the lonely
but quite loud 22 Atlantis supporters mingled amongst
4700 Oulu supporters!

The game was rather one-sided as Oulu were a class better on this day. They won 2- 0 without too much hassle. The Atlantis side played a lousy first half till they changed a couple of players. Then they started to play better. they missed a couple of sitters, while Oulu converted two of their chances. Oulu was well on top by then.

I was glad as I was well clad, but my feet froze. Although the temperature was just around -1 C, when you stand around, then you get chilled. If you are constantly moving, then you do not feel the cold. I was glad that Annikki had made me put on my woolies. Wished she had checked my socks and shoes also!

The Lady Blogger from Baghdad...

(Cross-posted on my Jacob's Politics Blog.)

makes me want to cry. She has been off-line for a long long time. On October 18the she came back on line with a posting The Lancet Study... .

Among the many important statements she makes, two stand out.

"For American politicians and military personnel, playing dumb and talking about numbers of bodies in morgues and official statistics, etc, seems to be the latest tactic. But as any Iraqi knows, not every death is being reported. As for getting reliable numbers from the Ministry of Health or any other official Iraqi institution, that's about as probable as getting a coherent, grammatically correct sentence from George Bush- especially after the ministry was banned from giving out correct mortality numbers...."

The statement about Bush and a grammatically correct sentence reflects clearly on the mental capacity of Americans. If he was "elected" once, we could point to "Bush Supporters". But to be "elected" twice labels "all Americans" as being irresponsible.

She adds:

"Let's pretend the 600,000+ number is all wrong and that the minimum is the correct number: nearly 400,000. Is that better? Prior to the war, the Bush administration kept claiming that Saddam killed 300,000 Iraqis over 24 years. After this latest report published in The Lancet, 300,000 is looking quite modest and tame. Congratulations Bush et al."

What are we in this world waiting for?

Do we want Bush to reach the figures of genocide that Hitler achieved before we do something to get rid of this despotic tyrant?

Our "irresponsible" Americans seem unable to do this and many on both sides of the political spectrum even cheer him on while he does his antics of destabilising OUR WORLD.

First video uploaded by me

(Cross -posted on the CHAFF Blog.)

Last Saturday, October 14th 2006 was the International Market in Oulu.

The Thai Community had a great show.

It was filmed by Juha Koskela and the video was edited by Unnop Khungrai. (They gave me a mention as the last line, though I do not know what I did to deserve that mention.)

If you want to watch this video, (it is the first video that I have uploaded) you will find it at this link. The video is about 37 minutes in length.

International Festival in Oulu

Also in the video is a Turkish Song by Hilmi and a dance by some Oulu Residents from Eritrea.

(Cross -posted on the CHAFF Blog.)

Going round in a circle?

People often ask me why I keep so much rubbish (?) in my room. Files and files of old junk (?).

Maybe this incident will explain why - although I would like to get rid of the all this useless (?) paper.

This evening I received a call from a lady, an Indian Citizen who lives in mid Finland, who is married to a Finn and has a daughter, who is also a Finnish citizen. They are planning a visit to India and was wondering about how long it would take to get visas for her husband and her daughter, aged 15.

I asked her why she did not have an Indian passport for her daughter. She replied that the Indian Embassy in Finland had told her that it was not possible to issue her with an Indian Passport and that dual nationality was not permitted.

The Embassy is certainly wrong about dual nationality, as it is permitted, but in case of her daughter, they are doubly wrong.

The following case will explain the correct position (hopefully?).

When Annikki and I arrived in Finland we found that our two Indian children would be denied their legal social benefits if they only held onto their Indian nationality. So Annikki, as their mother, who is a Finn, applied for Finnish nationality for these children.

They were granted Finnish nationality after a short wait. But within a short time of their nationality being granted, as the Finnish Gazette published this information, I received this letter from the Indian Embassy. (They were certainly following what Indians in Finland ARE UP TO!)

Letter from Indian Embassy.

I do not readily have access to the letter I wrote to the President of India, who at that time was Zail Singh.

In my usual persuasive language (you are all so familiar with) I told him that our two children were minors, that I wanted them to retain their Indian Nationality, while their Finnish mother wanted them to have Finnish nationality. In a symbol of defiance, I returned the Passports directly to him by Registered Post and copy of the Registration card, duly received by him, which was returned to me, is shown below.


Registration Card Side 1.


Registration Card Side 2.

I also sent copies to the Embassy of India in Helsinki, Finland and also to Prime Minister of India, who at that time happened to be Rajiv Gandhi.

I received a written reply from the Office of the President of India, who immediately forwarded the matter to the correct section in the Ministry of External Affairs.


Letter from the Office of the President of India.

On receipt of the copy of my letter addressed to the President, the Embassy of India immediately realised they had goofed. They quickly tried to correct the situation. It is not often that someone stands up to bureaucratic incompetence - and they realised that I was not playing any games with them.


Indian Embassy realises its mistake.

On the other hand, the Prime Minister's Office made their decision without any reference to the correct authorities.


Reply from the Office of the Prime Minister of India without reference to the competent authority.

Within a few weeks the Ministry of External Affairs gave their correct verdict which allowed our minor children to hold dual nationality.


Letter from the Ministry of External Affairs.

The Prime Minister's Office, however, showed their incompetence, as they did not refer to the correct authorities but continued to tell me that the kids could not hold dual nationality.


Letter from the Office of the Prime Minister.

But, the Ministry of External Affairs and the Embassy of India in Helsinki quickly put the Office of the Prime Minister right and they were forced to issue me with an apology!!


Apology(?) from the Office of the Prime Minister.

As a result of this incident, the then Ambassador, His Excellency K. P. Fabian, became a good friend and has remained one till today.

Annikki and I were able to help him out on a couple of sticky occasions about India and the Finnish media.


His Excellency K. P. Fabian, Indian Ambassador to Finland,
visited the Microelectronics Laboratory in the University of Oulu
- I am on the extreme left and Fabian is on the extreme right.
The Dean of the Technical Faculty is seen and my colleague,
Professor Leppävuori has his back to the camera.

His Excellency K. P. Fabian, Indian Ambassador to Finland, visited the University of Oulu as my guest where he gave a wonderful speech on the "North South Dialogue" which is published in my hit (and the most pirated book of 1994) book of 1994 "Seven Years Hard Labour in a Finnish Holiday Camp - A Finnish University".

The position today is a little different as not only children, but those who acquire another nationality by virtue of domicile, can retain their Indian nationality. (There are certain special circumstances, such as citizens of an enemy state, where this does not apply, but in all normal cases, the dual nationality is available.)

Not only that, spouses of an Indian nationals can acquire Persons on Indian Origin (PIO) status, which eliminates the need for a visa when they travel to India. However, I am not exactly sure of this issue, so please check it out with the correct authorities and do correct me if I am wrong.

I really had to laugh....

... when I received this email earlier today!

From: Rev Fr Luke Allan
To: lukeallan1
Date: 05-Oct-2006 23:04
Subject: Bequest of Dennis Thatcher

SS Peter & Paul Catholic Parish
7 Tetlow Lane,
Wimbome DORSET BH21 ILF
London, UK

Dearest In The Lord,

On behalf of the trustees and executor of the estate of Late Sir. Dennis Thatcher, I wish to notify you that late Sir. Dennis Thatcher, made you a beneficiary to his WILL. He left the sum of Nine Hundred and Fifty Thousand Pounds Sterling (£950,000.00) to you in the codicil and last testament to his WILL. This may sound strange and unbelievable to you, but it is real and true.

Being a widely travelled man, he must have been in contact with you in the past or simply you were nominated to him by one of his numerous friends abroad that wished you good. Sir. Dennis Thatcher passed away peacefully in the Lister Hospital London, after a short illness at the age of 88 years. He was businessman and husband to Margaret Thatcher, the former British Prime Minister. He was Born May 10th 1915; died June 26th 2003, and his WILL is now ready for execution.

Sir. Dennis Thatcher, until his death was a very dedicated Christian who loved to give out. His great philanthropy earned him numerous awards during his lifetime. In a tribute to him at a News Conference with Russian President Vladimir Putin, British Prime Minister Mr. Tony Blair said:

..."Sir Dennis was a kind and generous-hearted man, a real gentleman
who had many friends here and abroad".

According to him, this money is to support your activities and to help the poor and the needy in your country. Please If I reach you as I am hopeful, endeavor to get back to me as soon as possible.

Yours In His Service,

Rev. Fr. Luke Allan

Some clues contained in this email:

1. Obviously the Rev. who wrote this did not know that Dorset is not in London!
2. He did not know how to spell the place "Winborne" as he spells it as "Winbome".
3. He did not do his homework very well as he spells "Denis" as "Dennis"!
4. It is also interesting that like with the term "Mr.", he uses a the term as "Sir.".
5. The Rev.'s English is rather poor as he states "He was businessman and husband to Margaret Thatcher,...", forgetting the article before "businessman".
6. The Rev. writes "Please If I reach you as I am...", forgetting an important comma and also that the capital "I" in "If" is not the standard English of an Englishman.
7. This Rev, obviously came from the US to his UK position, as he uses American spellings as "endeavor" instead of "endeavour".

This dear Rev. unfortunately did not check to find out about my past before giving me this gift!

I was the one who exposed the Nigerian scam on the Internet almost 10 years ago when I published the article Missile of Black Gold. This article has earned me much respect on the Internet as it saved many people from being scammed! I still remember the profuse thanks I got from a Professor in Houston, Texas, and a mother and son in Canada!

Many such scams were exposed by me over 6 to 10 years ago in our former Internet start page Your Guide To The Findians Web Complex.

My special thanks to this Rev. Fr. Luke Allan for once again making me feel like a millionaire! :-)

Just out of interest, you may like to read some of our older articles that you will find on that page:

1. Western Recycling Doomed
2. Migraine Cure
3 Face to Face - The Tiger Sanctuary
4. Horror of Transiting through Moscow Airport

Those were the good old days when Annikki and I were writing our socially provocative articles!



Yes, THOSE WERE THE DAYS!

Transformation

(Cross-posted on the Oulu Chaff Blog.)

It is not everyday that Father Christmas gets transformed. Last Sunday was different, as Omena (which is the Finnish word for "apple") decided that Pappa (grandfather) needed to be transformed.

This:



was transformed to this:



If anyone wants a good hair stylist (during the weekend only) - call and reserve time from the Pailin Thai Restaurant (08 - 311 6919) who know how to contact this competent person.



This is Omena demonstrating another one of her many talents - graceful Thai dancing.

You never can tell where....

...the next phone call is from!

(Cross-posted on my Oulu Chaff Blog.)

I was speaking on Skype with my dear friend, Ajay, in Beijing, when my land line rang. I excused myself and answered the phone.

There was someone on the line who said his name was "uncle" and he was calling from Bangalore. His voice was that of a young man.

As many youngsters in India call older people "uncle", I thought he was referring to me as "uncle", so I kept asking him what his name was.

Seeing that we were going nowhere, I asked him to ring back in half an hour as I wanted to continue my conversation with Ajay!

When I finished, I went about my other business, forgetting completely about this call from Bangalore.

A little over half anhour later the Bangalore caller was again on the line. I finally understood that his name was "Ankur".

He had quite a story to tell, but being excited that he was speaking to me he got it all topsy turvy. I managed to discern most of it, but I think that he email he then sent me a little later explains the situation better.

From: ankur debnath
To: jmatthan.....
Date: 02-Oct-2006 14:06
Subject: hi sir. Could not contact Mr. Ishtiaq and Jawad Rahman!!

Hi Sir ,

My regards to you and Annikki mam.

I hope you remember me. I am Ankur Debnath. I spoke to you on Friday (the one with the Foreigner's Act problem). I spoke to Annikki mam too on Saturday. She must have told you about it. Sir,

I could not find Mr. Ishtiaq and Jawad Rahman's (are their spellings correct) Phone number or Address from the telephone directory or any helplines available. I am now thinking of going to Karnataka Bar Council to look for their address of correspondence.

I am really worried as I want to get in touch with them as soon as possible. Could you please give a rough idea of the place they had their office in that Cantonment market area, any Landmarks nearby or their residential address, or the address of any person who know them. Any rough idea of any such person's locality will do. Do you remember their Firm's name ?

In the meanwhile I shall once again give you an account of what has been happening so far ...

To begin with, I am a BANGLADESH NATIONAL, aged 21 yrs (DOB 20/11/1985). I have been studying in India for the past 11 yrs (starting March,1996). Presently I am studying in the 7th semester of Electronics and Communication discipline at B.M.S. College of Engineering sponsored by Educational Consultants India Ltd. I have been studying with proper VISAS from the Indian govt. (high commission) all over these years .

My problem is :

I have a case against me under the rule 7(2) of Foreigners Order,1948 r/w section 14 of Foreigners' Act, 1946, filed by the state of Karnataka for not registering in the Foreigners' Registration office within the period of 14 days of arrival of India, which I failed as my father FAILED TO SEND ME THE COLLEGE FEES in time DUE TO FINANCIAL CONSTRAINT as a result of which the college was witholding my bonafide certificate, which is required for the the registration.

I informed the previous ACP (foreigners' registration branch, Bangalore) of that time of the problem. He told me to come with the bonafide certificate and the fine of US $ 30. But when I went to register again, the ACP had changed and the new ACP ordered my prosecution.

I have a letter from my father claiming full responsibility for the delay in sending the fees. My father is a businessman in Bangladesh, regularly importing food grains, agricultural crop seeds etc., from India for the past 16 years. My younger brother too is studying in India.

I was arrested on the 21st of January, 2006 when I went to register myself in the FRO and was released on bail on the next day. I have regularised the offence now, but the case is still on .... The next date of hearing is 5th October. My present lawyer (She is my 2nd advocate, the 1st one was provided by the Police themselves. He did not know anything. He wanted me to plead guilty. It is because him that the matter went so far. The ACP would not have taken the case to the court if I went to him after getting the bail. But he did not make any such moves.) is cheating me. Her demands keep on rising every other day.

Thus I am completely helpless in this situation, as I have no relative or a guardian who can help me in this issue. My future is in such a danger. Till now the trial has not started. The next hearing is as close as 5th October, 2006.

Please help me in this. I shall be ever grateful.


Thanks , Ankur Debnath .

The reason he contacted me was that he had Google searched for cases under the Foreigners Registration Act problems and he landed up at the page Annikki, the creative gardner... and then the link to the book by Annikki "...for the hour of his judgement is come:...".

From somewhere, probably my Profile, he located my phone number and then called me.

I answered him thus:

From: Jacob Matthan
To: ankur debnath
Date: 02-Oct-2006 19:36
Subject: Re: hi sir. Could not contact Mr. Ishtiaq and Jawad Rahman!!


Hello,

I have lived outside India for over 22 years so I do not know the current situation there in Bangalore.

Jawad Rahim is a High Court Lawyer while his partner Ishtiaq was the one who handled matters in the lower court. Their office is near Russell Market. The best way I can describe it is that you walk to the end of Commercial Street. At the end, turn right and then turn first left. You should see a building on the right hand side of the road in which was the office of Jawad and Ishtiaq on the 1st Floor. However, all that area may have changed considerably, so these instructions may be quite useless today. (If you continue walking on that street, Russell Market is on the right hand side.)

If you cannot find them, immediately contact a lawyer by the name of Aditya Sondhi and tell him I (Jacob Matthan from Oulu, Finland) referred you to him. Tell him the situation and see whether he can organise someone to help you. I do not know his field of specialisation but is a highly respected lawyer in Bangalore.

--
Jacob Matthan
Oulu, Finland

Earlier this evening I had a call from him, yet again. This time his troubled voice seemed much brighter.

He had followed my instructions but did not find the office of the lawyers. So he went to a nearby shop and asked a person whom he thought was the shopkeeper for directions to the office of Jawad and Ishtiaq. The person asked him to explain why. So he unfolded his story, piece by piece, the person egging him on.

Finally in desperation, he asked the person for the directions to meet Mr. Ishtiaq, whereupon the person replied that HE was Ishtiaq and he was there as he was a close friend of the shopkeeper.

All excited, Ankur explained to Ishtiaq about the book and showed him the printed Preface which specifically thanks the lawyers.

Ishtiaq has extended his hand of friendship to this young man as he remembered Annikki's case well. He has promised to take some steps to try and sort out the situation.

I was not very confident that when I gave this young man directions to the office of the lawyers, whether the location had changed. I did a search on the Google satellite site and looked down at the location. Although not very clear at the very large magnification, it did look as if the small building which housed the office of the lawyers still seemed intact, although neighbouring buildings seemed to have become new monstrous constructions.

It was, therefore, with a tongue-in-cheek feeling that I had directed this young man to our former lawyers.

Hopefully, the problem will be resolved and Ankur has promised to update me as soon as things sort themselves out. Meanwhile, Annikki and I discussed this and felt that the purpose of putting the book on the inbternet over 12 years ago had served its purpose, at least for one young man!

So CHAFF is keeping to its character:

Chamber of Assistance of Finns and Foreigners!

An outrageous Saturday Puzzle

Lateral thinking allows your mind to really run wild.

In today's Saturday Puzzle I give you a final scenario and I would like you to think of a possible explanation of what could have happened for this situation to have occurred.

Let your mind wander and let thoughts flow. However improbable it may seem let it out.

It does not matter how wild the solution seems - but I want you to try!!

I will have a small prize for the most plausible "original" explanation that I get.

The SATURDAY PUZZLE

"Three men die.
On the pavement are pieces of ice and broken glass."

Let us see who comes up with the wildest suggestion!

Last week was as hectic as ever.



Autumn is really here - so we have a lot of yellow leaves strewn around the garden. Hard work ahead for someone. (Note: I have a bad back at convenient times!)



We had Annikki's mother going in for her interval care. She was in a good mood. We will be glad when she comes back in a short while. She usually snaps at the taxi driver of the InvaTaxi as he takes her down the front stairs in her wheelchair, but this time she was real nice to him.



I may have retired but I still went to the Vocational Guidance Exhibition held in the Oulu Sports Dome. The place was packed with kids looking at their possible future.

I tried to guide some of my young foreign friends to visit the exhibition. Sadly, none of them or their parents understood the importance of vocational guidance. One young boy from an ethnic minority home who attended with his school group was totally clueless as to why he had been taken there.

This shows a lack of appreciation by both immigrant or ethnic minority parents into guidance of their children to suitable careers, as well as a lack of initiative by the staff of the schools to guide these students, who actually need the most help, to take advantage of such occasions.



The most popular spot was the Air Force stall where they had a flight simulator where the kids could sit in the seat a guide their plane over large tracts of territory.



Another popular one was the stand of Noptel, a company formed over 15 years ago which produces a product that enables one to practice shooting at a target using a laser attachment to a gun and no real bullets.

Does anyone else see something in this "popularity" which I do?

I am grateful to a person who bothered to find out and run after me with the right answer to a question that I had posed.

No one asked me why I wasting my time at an exhibition for young people and why I was asking these questions!

Annikki and I were looking for new flea markets. We found a relocated Red Cross Flea market, known as Kontti. But it has become a high priced antique store rather than a flea market. They have copied the Salvation Army model. Although one must congratulate the Red Cross on opening such a shop, it can hardly be called a flea market as the prices are not the ones us fleas will pay.



We went on a road where in the first time in over 20 years I saw a goods train actually using the train track and the level crossing gate actually worked with the red lights flashing.

Last week, Annikki was busy changing the curtains in the house.


1984, Annikki in the blue saree at an English Club
of Oulu event where I gave a talk about India.

She left a piece of silk, which had once been her saree, lying on the bed.



Our cat, Iitu, thought it made a nice comfortable spot to have a nap and feel the smooth silk on her woolly coat.

Get out while you can...

(Cross-posted on my Jacob's Poltics Blog and my Move The UN Blog.)

Yesterday was a dark day in the US, not only for any foreigner living in that country but also for every free-thinking American who loves his freedom and the US Constitution.

The US Constitution was shredded by the US Senate and the compliant Democrats in that house rolled over and let it happen.

Am I personally upset about what happened - well, NO.

Then why should I waste my valuable time and my valuable space writing about it.

The reason is that I have many many relatives and friends in the US who are now no more free to say or do what they want.



The Bill which passed the Senate today with a vote of 34 against and 65 for, which included 12 Democrat Senators (Joe Liebermann / Bill Nelsons type Democrats) voting for the Bill allows the US Adminstration to torture if "King George" wants to. Also, the right to "habeas corpus" (habeas corpus is the name of a legal instrument or writ by means of which detainees can seek release from unlawful imprisonment), something that has stood the test of time for 800 years, was yesterday thrown to the winds, NOT JUST for aliens in the US but for every American as well.

The Bill provides for the fascist state to hold a person in communicado till his status as an enemy combatant is determined, the fact that one is an US citizen could take 2, no, maybe 5, no, maybe 10 years, to be determined!

What was surprising that the Senate Democrats could not even mount a filibuster against what was probably the worst legislation to ever pass the House and Senate!

As was written by Taylor Marsh on today's Huffungton Post Vote Pro-Torture Republicans in '06! about one of the amendments in this Bill:

The legislation before the Senate today would ban torture, but let Bush define it; would allow the president to imprison indefinitely anyone he decides falls under a wide-ranging new definition of unlawful combatant; would suspend the Great Writ of habeas corpus; would immunize retroactively those who may have engaged in torture. And that's just for starters.

It's a red-letter day for the country. It's also a telling day for our political system.

So if you are in the US and you are an alien or married to an alien be sure you know that when you answer that knock on the door and you are carted away to oblivion - there is none in the world (not even Amnesty International) that can do anything for you!!
'
If I were you I would ask your company to be returned NOW back to your country of origin. Do your work safely out of there.

If the US wants your services, then let it be in a situation where you live within the rule of law, not the rule of an idiotic fascist dictator who believes that God talks to him as he wields his Imperial Power.

This is from an article `Road map is a life saver for us,' PM Abbas tells Hamas by Arnon Regular on Haaertz.com

.....Abbas said that at Aqaba, Bush promised to speak with Sharon about the siege on Arafat. He said nobody can speak to or pressure Sharon except the Americans.

According to Abbas, immediately thereafter Bush said: "God told me to strike at al Qaida and I struck them, and then he instructed me to strike at Saddam, which I did, and now I am determined to solve the problem in the Middle East. If you help me I will act, and if not, the elections will come and I will have to focus on them."

Such a man belongs in a mental institution!

The US has now become one. So stay out of it is my advice to you.

So till you get to safety, may my God look after you!

If you care to ignore this warning - then do not complain at a later day, and remember these words during your very likely unending incarceration.

Topless....

Sorry again for not updating the blog, but I have been really really busy.

I got a photo from Kannan wheich he took on his recent visit to Oulu. And I discovered I was TOPLESS!!!



Here are Isaac, Bill, Tingting and George at Kampitie and with me with my back to the camera.



And here is the crucial part of the circled part of the earlier photograph.

To be brutally honest, I did not know that I was short of a tuft. I thought my mop was the same as when I was 18, except that it had changed colour!!

Kannan brought home the truth.

Thanks Kannan. Should I get a wig? :-)

More of Kannan's photographs later on my blogs. Stay tuned.

What does it feel like....

...when you get a phone call, and on the line is your very very best friend with whom you have not spoken or heard of for the last 24 years?

(Cross-posted on my Kooler Talk Blog.)

Today, just before 10 am Finnish time, I got a call, from China. Even before the person identified himself, I knew it was Ajay!

Ajay Verma was in St. Stephen's College the same time I was. He was doing Mathematics Honours and I was doing General Science.

We were virtually inseperable. We spent hours together, drinking coffee, smoking, talking, joking, playing tricks on others, playing table tennis together, playing basketball (in which Ajay was superb).

When I went for my holidays to Bombay, I waited to get back to Delhi and college to meet my very dear friends - Ajay and Niranjan (who was a couple of years senior to us and was doing English Honours).

Niranjan was an East African from Tanazia but of Indian origin.

The three of us got the group nickname Heap - Little Heap, Middle Heap and Big Heap, the last being me.

After college I went to London to study.



Ajay joined the Indian Army and Niranjan joined the Indian Foreign Service.

(Niranjan became an Indian Citizen and served as Indian Ambassador in many places including te Vatican and Switzerland. He appears to be is still doing what we three specialised in doing - exposing scandals (May 2006): "How Rajiv’s India was banned".

When I returned, after my studies, to India, I met up with Ajay who related why he finally left the Indian Army.

At the time of one of the stupid Indian - Pakistani wars, he was serving on the frontline. One evening, when he was in a bunker, he decided to go out to smoke a cigarette. No sooner had he taken a couple of puffs, a shell landed on the bunker. He was the sole survivor.

That experience made him leave the army. He got a job in the Bata Shoe Company and he served in Mathura and Calcutta, but he got fed up of shoes (who wouldn't) and decided he would try his luck abroad.

He landed in Copenhagen without a dime in his pocket. But being the survivor that he is, he soon established himself and worked in the hotel industry, working long hours, earning the language and becoming a master of this trade.

Ajay and Else with Sita and Robin.
Youngest girl, Maya was not born then.

Then he met a beautiful Danish girl, Else, and they got married. They moved to a small town in Sweden, Lund, near to Malmo, which is just across the narrow straits that separates Denmark from Sweden.

Ajay set up a small import company and started to market Indian garments and handicrafts. It was tough going. That is when I visited him and met Else and two of their children, Sita and Robin.


Little Sita, was at one time a replica
of our younger daughter, Joanna.

When I was setting up a business in India, Ajay and some of his friends invested a small amount in the company.

But then we lost contact after his visit to see me in 1982.

When I moved with Annikki to Oulu in 1984 I tried on several occasions to try to contact Ajay, but to no avail. On one journey to England by bus from Oulu, I tried to get in touch with him when we passed through Malmo.

But there was no sign of Ajay and his SITA boutique in Malmo.

Annikki and I often thought of my good friend. I used to search the internet regularly, using Google, to see if I could spot him anywhere.

Then a few weeks ago he surfaced on my Kooler Talk Blog with a message. As messages posted on my blog are usually labelled Anonymous, there was no link to get back to him.

So I posted a pleading entry, asking him to contact me.

Ajay tried, using the email address in my profile - which unfortunately I had not changed. It was still showing my dead domain name and the old email address.

So, all his correspondence bounced.

Today, he found his old diary where the Finnish telephone number of my in-laws of the 70s was listed.

Ajay thought of trying it.

I had just come home as I had a busy schedule planned for the day.

I knew it was Ajay after I heard him say a couple of words, a much matured with Ajay, but with the same inflexions and the same humour that endeared him to me over 45 years ago.

We talked till he had to get back to work - and during the time we exchanged emails and got our contacts all correct.

Then he rang again and we talked and talked till Annikki also appeared and she too was thrilled to get news of Ajay.

Annikki knows that there is no one more in my mind than Ajay. The happiness of our telephonic reunion was infectious to her.



Ajay is the Manager of the Radisson SAS Hotel in Beijing, China. It is his second stint at the hotel as he was there when it was started in 1992. He has served in various locations of Radisson including Istanbul.

Now, in December, he will retire and return to Lund where he has bought a small piece of land where he may do some farming.

He gave me news of his mother who lives in the Pondicherry Ashram with his sister. She is now 90 years old. Ajay also updated me about their children and one grandchild! (Ajay, your kids have some catching up to do! We have three.)

Today has been one of the happiest days of my life to be reunited with someone I thought was lost forever. Such joy is unsurpassable.

I want all of you to know that it is such an emotional issue that I am glad that I started these web pages and blogs over 10 years ago - just to feel this emotion that I felt today.

It is all of you that have helped me keep these web pages alive through all these years - and now I feel I can redouble my efforts so that others can find their loved ones and share in that depth of feeling that I experienced today.

We will be having our personal reunion before Christmas 2006 - of that I am sure!

Pictures of Nang and the baby

Those of you who have been asking for pictures of Nang's baby, thanks to Unnop, here they are:

Monlaphat (Ulla) Torvela


Mother Kannaphat(Nang) Mahasing with Monlaphat (Ulla) Torvela


Father Sami Torvela with daughter Ulla

Parents and baby stopped by at the Pailin Restaurant on their way home from the hospital!

Apple Mac Problems

(Cross-posted on my Jacob's Politics blog.)

Posted as a comment today in the Steve Clemons Washington Note Blog entry: "The Midwest, Iran and a Great Piece on John Bolton":

Thank God, Steve, you are in a better position than me. I have 5 Macs running 24/7 online and with no virus protection software for many many years. I had a small "sound out" problem on one of my Macs last week. As I was busy I thought I would try to find a repair shop. I went to every computer repair shop in our "high tech" town and not one had a Mac technician. I finally landed up at the shop I had bought my last Mac from. The owner said, pointing around the repair shop to many tens of PCs in for repair, that he had not received a single Mac for repair for 2 years! So his Mac repair technician pushed off to another bigger town. I repaired the "sound out" problem in less than 10 minutes using online data and help! (The minimum cost of looking at a PC here is Euro 103. So you can guess who wants you to buy a PC!)