Last Saturday night, the eclipse

I forgot to mentioin that last Saturday night I rushed off to Samu's house and picked up his telescope as Annikki wanted to see the total lunar eclipse.

I set it up at the bottom of the garden. By 10:20 pm I was ready.

However, Annikki had miscalculated as the eclipse only started at 11:22 pm.

Shadowy Annikki peering into the telescope.

We watched the eclipse start. As it was progressing slowly, we kept going indoors as it was freezing cold outside.


The red glow of the night sky.

The eclipse progressed slowly. We did not see much red as was being described on the internet.

I was also watching the progress from a live webcam from somewhere in the Atlantic, where the moon was really quite red.


Total eclipse means RED.

We watched the eclipse till it reached totality. Only when the reverse process started did Annikki decide it was time to go to bed.

An evening well spent!

Samuel is 10

In many ways it was a sad birthday for grandson Samu.

His father, Tony, is away in Calofornia. His paternal grandparents are in Kalajoki, Finland and his maternal grandparents, Annikki and me, are here in Oulu.

Samu, our eager beaver football star

I had promised to ring Samu in the morning at 07:30 English time. Although I tried several times, the Newcastle line was not clear.

So as soon as I felt he would be back from school, we rang Newcastle, and in turn I and Annikki (in that order) sang our hearty "Happy Birthday" greetings to Samu. He actually tolerated his grandparents singing!

To give Samu something substantial, both sets of grandparents joined with Samu's parents, at Joanna's suggestion, to get him a new bike in England. So, when I was able to ask Samu whether he liked it, he described the colours, red and black as those of Real Madrid! Obviously he liked it as he was able to equate it to his love.

It is difficult to bear our grandchildren, all three of them, Samuel, Asha and Daniel, growing up so far away from us. They are children for so short a time that each day lost is a great tragedy in our hearts.

As I have told Samu many times, in a few years he will have many other interests and friends and his grandparents will be old foggies.

Samu has always expressed that it will never be so.

So long as we share the same interests - that is MY interest in HIS interests, we will remain as close as is possible for grandson with grandfather.


Samu, the Superdog

I am looking forward to "Superdog" returning for the summer holidays this year. Although it will be for just a short while, I certainly will enjoy every minute of our summer time together.

How I wish that little Asha will also be with us this summer, just as all of us cousins used to go to Kottayam to spend our holidays with our grandparents when we were kids.

Those are days that I can never forget, even in my old age!

One of my rare lectures

(Cross-posted on the CHAFF Blog.)

As you all know, I HAVE RETIRED!

So, when Emelia Frantsi asked me to give a lecture (in English) at the Oulu University to her social anthropology group about immigrants to Oulu, I was hesitant at first as I have not indulged in lecturing for many a year - probably six.



However, the fire still burns in my belly to share my experiences with students. Here was an opportunity to find out whether the time was ripe for the re-writing of our book "Handbook for Survival in Finland" that Annikki and I wrote way back in 1993 and released it in 1994.

Culture Shock, Authors, Inscription, Cover

I have been toying with this idea for several months. Since Ilari Sohlo and Ildikó Hámos, the authors of the book "Culture Shock Finland" in German are now in Oulu, I really have a burning feeling that between the four of us (two Finns a, one Hungarian/Austrian and a Findian) we should be able to turn out a middle of the road book, especially as Ildikó is now on several committees and sits on various organisations which are handling matters related to ethnic minorities and the problems in Oulu and to some extent, Finland.

I do not as yet know what I will use as a title for this lecture. I intend to use a few extracts from our previous book, which although 12 years old is still valid on several sore points.

If any of you are interested in attending this lecture on Wednesday April 4th 2007 at 14:15, I can ask Emilia for permission.

It will be many years till I give my next lecture!

Indian lady joins Nokia Board

The drumbeat is growing as Nokia woos India as the enormous market is just opening up for it. Nokia now needs India more than India needs Nokia. In that corporate game, Nokia has appointed a well-known financial expert, Lalita Gupte, to the Board of Nokia.

The Nokia Governance Committee will propose that Ms. Lalita D. Gupte, Prof. Dr. Henning Kagermann, and Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo be elected as new members of the Nokia Board for the term from the Annual General Meeting in 2007 until the close of the Annual General Meeting in 2008.



Lalita was the former Joint Managing Director of ICICI Bank Limited, the second-largest bank in India, and is currently non-executive Chairman of the ICICI Venture Funds Management Co Ltd. She is also member of the Board of Directors of Bharat Forge Ltd, Firstsource Solutions Ltd and Kirloskar Brothers Ltd.

Lalita joined ICICI in 1971. She represents half a generation away from me. It is likely that during my time in India, when I was on the Expert Committees vetting projects for ICICI that our paths may have crossed, but I cannot swear to that! I seem to remember that she took part in one investigation where I appeared as the Technical Expert for the project!

However, one story that I have told many times stands out at this juncture.

Prof. Seppo Leppävuori with the late Mr. K. M. Mammen Mappillai and his wife at their Madras home. Photograph taken by Paul Collander of Nokia Research (1987).

In 1987, Paul Collander, who was a Senior Researcher in Nokia Research in Espoo and my then colleague, Professor Seppo Leppävuori, went on a working visit to Singapore. At my insistence, they decided to stop over in India. They met up with my uncle, the late K. M. Mammen Mappillai, who was then Chairman and Managing Director of MRF Ltd.


A 20-year younger beardless me on the extreme left and His Excellency K. P. Fabian, Indian Ambassador to Finland on the extreme right, on his visit to our Microelectronics Laboratory, University of Oulu.

Backed by the then Indian Ambassador to Finland, His Excellency K. P. Fabian, I organised a visit for them to the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) in Bangalore, one of the best post-graduate research universities in India.

Both Seppo and Paul were very excited by what they saw. On their return, Paul published an internal report to the Board of Nokia about the immense possibility of using India as a base for advanced research for the expansion of Nokia.

Paul sent me the reply he got from the then Managing Director of Nokia, Kari Kairamo:

"Paris is too far for Nokia."

That visit did, however, set the stage for along and valuable cooperation between the IISc and our University of Oulu, Microelectronics Laboratory, with exchange of professors and researchers. On a couple of occasions I lectured to the Microelectronics and Electronics wing of IISc. We hosted Prof. B. S. Sonde, who was then the Head of the Electronics Department. Prof. Sonde later went on to be the Vice Chancellor of the University of Goa.

The appointment of Lalita to the Board is the culmination of a long battle to make this (Finnish?) multinational recognise the importance of India in the equation of world powers in the field of telecommunication.

Let us hope that this gentle lady will contribute to making the thinking of Nokia more humane than it has behaved in the last two quarters on 2006, where the company has caused great uncertainty amongst the many wonderful Finnish engineers working in their Finnish operations!

If you cut off the hand that feeds you for short term corporate gains, we in India know what will be the outcome. I am sure that, given her true skills, Lalita will play a role in correcting a now floundering multinational in the act of good governance.

And, dear Lalita - on your next visit to Oulu, do drop in and see us. We have now three current India related CEO's in Oulu (an Indian CEO for a Finnish company, a Finnish CEO for an Indian Company and an Indian CEO for an Indian Company).

However, you could meet the first member of this group, now happily retired, ME (CEO of nothing, nowhere!).

Finest leather products in Oulu

(Cross-posted on Oulu Best Buy Blog and the Oulu CHAFF Blog.)

It is quite a long time since we put up anything significant on the Oulu Best Buy Blog. We have recently put up one very negative entry, and another one is due shortly. All of a sudden Jacob was called to see what he thought needed to be a Oulu Best Buy entry.


Kasim, the football star in full flow.

Hasim with grandkids, Asha and Samu.

Kasim and Hasim, the owners of the Göreme Pizzeria in Ranta-Kastelli shopping center, Oulu, the best pizzeria in Oulu and probably Finland, have been Jacob's dear friends for many years. They are like his own children.

They have set up and built a fabulous reputation for their pizzeria over the years and that is because of their very personal involvement in the way the pizzeria is run. They are what we term "hands-on" owners who can cook, clean, serve and know every customer on a very personal basis.


Location map for both the Pizzeria and Leather Products Shop.

It is interesting to see that they have diversified their activities. They have started a fine leather products shop in Oulu, next to the Pizzeria, where they can make sure their personal involvement will keep their customers happy.

The leather products like jackets, coats, overcoats, handbags, etc. are designed by a top Finnish designing team in Vantaa, Finland. The designs are sent to Turkey where they produce the finest of soft leather from the goats. The goats are specially selected because there is no blemish on the surface and large hides are used.

Then the skill of the Turkish craftsmen produce the range of products which is being offered for the first time in Finland in Oulu.

Jacob was astounded by the quality of the leather products. But if one remembers that the Finnish word for fur id "turkis" which is because of the first fur traders to Finland came from Turkey, Hasim and Kasim are going to redefine the word "turkis" to mean the finest of Turkish leather products.

There is a 40% introductory discount on the products till tomorrow, Saturday, so make sure you rush there and see what they have to offer. Do tell them that Jacob sent you there.

You will get the same service which their pizzeria is famous for!

Spoilsport...

(Cross-posted on the Oulu CHAFF Blog.)

It is evident that why, whenever there is a contest or competition, relatives of the organisers are not allowed to take part!

Even before I had put up the competition in my last blog entry "Using metaphors", my dear daughter, Susanna, whose genetic code must be similar to mine, had this added as a Comment to that blog entry:

Tears are NORMALLY warm, not cold like Finnish rivers - no matter how fast or pure they are! The Ganga is normally associated with warmth.

Daughter Susanna is third from the left,
while daughter Joanna is second from right.
Photo taken at the reunion of cousins,
with families, in Florida, last Christmas.

Even I could not have written the correct interpretation as Susanna did.

So I shout "SPOILSPORT".:-)

Using metaphors

(Cross-posted on the Oulu CHAFF Blog.)



When we posted our last entry on the CHAFF Blog, we used a mataphor that the tears flowed like the River Ganges.

Several Finns and Indians resident in Finland were puzzled why we should use this metaphor, when there are lots of fast flowing rivers in Finland, with clear and pure water!

Valid question, but this metaphor was quite deliberate.



There will be an interesting prize for the first person who can guess why we used the River Ganges rather than our local river, Oulujoki! (Hint: No, it is nothing to do with pollution.)

Wake up and send us your thoughts on this.

Teaching driving

Ashesh and Indu bought Tony and Joanna's virtually unused car. Before I handed it over to them, I thought I would let Ashesh drive the SAAB for a few tens of kilometers, especially on a highway and a small town, so that he got a feel of the road and the flow of traffic.

So we took off to Raahe, about 80 km west of Oulu, as I had to return the projector I had borrowed for the Indian Evening from Lauri, and also a power adaptor which had been left behind by Mani Bhowmik. Tero Raiskio was with us, as he is Lauri's childhood friend, and he wanted to enjoy a drive while he played with his Geiger counter measuring some radiation on my Leather coat I had bought from the Flea market! :-)

We had a lively evening with Pooja, Mani and little Anusha. Karthik enjoyed himself playing with Anusha's toys while we warmed ourselves with some great tea brewed by Mani, while Pooja regaled us with her scintillating company.

Ashesh handled the SAAB delightfully, so I was quite confient that he could start driving his new car. On Saturday I went to deliver the car, but there is an Indian saying not to get anything new which is metallic on Saturdays. So, Saturday was driving familiarisation day for Ashesh on the streets of Oulu and he found the car to be just what he wanted. At times he had a problem to hear the virtually soundless engine.

The children's seat was too small for Karthik, so we will have to pick one up today.

I was driven all around Oulu by Ashes. Although Indu started off as a back seat driver, dreading how Ashesh would handle the car in the icey conditions, by the end of the day she was really comfortable to sit there with Ashesh driving.

In the bargain, I got a great vegetarian Indian meal cooked (rice, chapti or roti, dhal and a dry spicy vegetable served wiith sliced tomato, onion and apple, by Indu, and I got to play for a few hours with little Karthik. Karthik is truly a clever child and match you word for word with his logic.

Today, we will visit a Flea market and then I will be off to the CHAFF meeting where we will, very sadly, say farewell to our really wonderful CHAFF participant from Poland, Kasia Mazur.

The opposite of BEST BUY

(Cross posted on our Oulu Best Buy Blog and the CHAFF Blog.)

It is not often that we get angry or are deeply disturbed by an experience which will radically cause us to publish a very negative entry in the Best Buy Blog. However, during the last few weeks two things have deeply disturbed us. We felt we should let you know and add these shops and companies to a Oulu Best Not Buy list.

If you have a similar experience, please let us know.



The incident reported here is our experience with a large and well known organisation known as Instrumentarium. It sells medical equipment and also many consumer products including spectacles. Annikki and I have been so-called preferred customers in the shop and also our son Mika and Annikki's mother, Hilja, has been given this status. It was not our choosing but when we bought our glasses from them many years ago the shop added us to this list.

Last week the frames of the spectacles of both Mika and Hilja broke, resulting in us having to order new spectacles for them. As both are invalids in my care, Jacob, who handles all the outside work for them, took the spectacles to Instrumentarium to get them repaired, or failing which, to get new glasses for them. The latter turned out to be true.

The pleasant lady who took the order took all the details, and Jacob found that out would take a few days before the glasses would be ready. So she gave him a note saying that the company would intimate him when they were ready.

As glasses are quite expensive and since the financial matters of Hilja are not controlled by us but a Public Guardian, Jacob thought it would be best to get the bill for the glasses and give them to the Guardian well before the glasses arrive, so that it could be paid directly by the Guardian. Jacob's life is so hectic, he likes to get things done well in advance so as not to be rushing around at the last minutes sorting out issues.

He visited the shop and gave a notification to the store clerk of the details of the Public Guardian asking them to send the bill for Hilja's glasses to the Guardian. The store clerk tried to ring through to the 3 phone numbers provided but she could not get through. So, Jacob asked the clerk to make out the Proforma Invoice for the glasses so that he could take it to the Guardian so that they could pay the amount before the glasses arrived.

Strangely, he was told that this was not possible. The computer could not produce a bill unless he was willing to pay 30% of the amount.

This was a stupid demand, as an invoice is not a binding document. All Jacob was asking was for a document so as to pay the dues before the glasses were even available or taken from the shop. They were due several days later.

Jacob was met with an absolute blanket statement that this was store policy. The refusal was so ridiculous and illogical and there was no way that it could be explained why it had to be.

We handle the purchasing of many items for Hilja and we deal with many shops. In most cases we just have to give the Public Guardian's name and address and show Hilja's Social Security card. The shops take all the steps to ensure that the bill is sent to the Public Guardian. In one case, for her sanitary supplies, we just order it by email and request the bill to be sent directly to the Public Guardian. It has never been a problem.

But this totally illogical, customer-repellent attitude of Instrumentarium suddenly set our memory cells working.

We recalled that almost 6 years ago when we went and ordered glasses for Hilja, we were told that we could not pay the bill through the bank, but had to pay by cash. We had to drag my half-invalid then 81 year old mother to the bank to draw cash from her account and then return to the shop with the cash to collect the glasses. (At that time Hilja did not have a Public Guardian.)

The store clerk refused to listen to reason as the policy seems to be universally applied in Finland by Instrumentarium.

I have told the store clerk that she tell her management that this story would be publicised broadly on the internet through our blogs, that we would put them on our NEW BEST NOT BUY list and also inform the top management of the company of this incident.

If Instrumentaroum does not tender a public apology, inform us that this policy has been rescinded and we are not compensated for the waste of our time and money in this matter, Instrumentarium stay firmly posted on this list!

Further, this will be the last purchase we will make from this company.

Did you switch OFF?

(Cross-posted on the Oulu Chaff Blog.)

How many of you switched off all your lights and power units between 19:55 and 20:00 hours on 1st February 2007. (As was pointed out to us by 59er Peter Miovic.)

We did and sat in darkness with our living room flooded by the light of a full moon just behind us.

We did it not only to focus on the Climate Change issue but also as a protest to the "Oil Wars" being carried out by the US in Iraq and being planned in Iran!

As we looked around our small colony of 27 houses, we noted that one young couple with two small children had also followed the instructions, but 25 other families had been either oblivious or insensitive to the situation.


Eiffel Tower at sunrise.

The local newspapers did not cover the issue. It was only the television channels, as BBC World, which covered it by showing the switching off of the lights on the Eiffel Tower.

Today, there was much greater TV coverage of the report released today on climate change which stresses that there is 90% certainty that human beings were "very likely" to have been responsible for this.

We wonder why they stopped at saying "very likely" when it is absolutely certain and every scientist in the world studying this has no doubt whatsoever?

Hilmi Oral wins prize

(Cross-posted on the Oulu CHAFF blog.)

This morning when I opened the newspaper, I read with great joy that Hilmi Oral had won the prize for his work in helping Men.


Hilmi teaching a class of kids.

Hilmi Oral is a Turk who has lived in Oulu for the last 15 odd years. He has contributed to the well-being of the lives of many the foreigners who have come to live in this town. His work has not been restricted to men alone. He is regarded as the "BEST" teacher of the Finnish language! Hilmi does not waste time teaching the language based on the complexity of the grammar. He concentrates on helping people to communicate from day 1, just as a small child learns language.

Hilmi is an accomplished singer. He presently works as a Cultural Mediator for the organisation which runs the Oulu Settlement’s Friendship House. He has been working to integrate foreigners into Oulu life. He is soft-spoken and is loved by all of us in Oulu.

There is no one more deserving to have received the prize for this work. Hilmi deserves more than just this prize as he toils some 15 to 16 hours a day for the cause of furthering the life of foreigners in Oulu.

Just last Friday I took four new foreigners to Oulu to his office where he had organised an evening for men. He was so welcoming and humble of his accomplishments.

I feel proud to know a person such as Hilmi who lives in the same city as me!

Two links for you

Susanna has put up a blog entry to wish us a happy Ruby (40th) Wedding Anniversary. On it, little Asha, who is just 9, plays her violin interpretation of Elvis Presley's "Love me Tender".

It can be seen and heard as a UTube video (with father Chris accompanying her on the piano).

Very moving and it had both Annikki and me in tears.



I recently helped a young Polish girl, Kasia Mazur, organise a talk about India for her students of the Middle School.

She went overboard in thanking me.

She set up a great web site which gives an idea of the exhibition she organised.

I certainly do not deserve the praise she showered on me.

Instead, I must confess she turned my exhibits into something very impressive that reached the hearts of her students. Certainly a link worth visiting as it shows how an enterprsining teacher can motivate her students and yet teach them in an unconventional manner.

Thank you Kasia for showing my country in such a positive light.

40 years ago

(Cross-posted on the CHAFF Blog.)



It was 40 years ago that in a small but picturesque town of Shrewsbury in Shropshire, England, that we were joined together in "Holy Matrimony".









Today we celebrated our 40th Wedding Anniversary. Pailin and Unnop carved us a beautiful honey melon.

We received greetings from all corners of the globe which made us feel so humbled that so many of you remembered us on this very auspicious day.

Next target - our 50 years anniversary.

I refer you to my tribute to my dearest girlfriend, wife, mother of our children and a great grandmother of our grandchildren, which I created for her 60th birthday.

Fish food and spawning goldfish

Annikki has been at me for a few days for me to pick up the fish food as the current tin was being rapidly depleted.





She wanted a special sort of white pellet which she can crush and feed to the smaller goldfish in the upstair's aquarium. Out of 37 which were spawned in the outside pond last summer, about 12 have survived to winter indoors.





The two larger fish, the parents, are in Annikki's originally designed table top aquarium.

As I searched at all the pet shops in Oulu, it became obvious that this particular variety of fish food was not in stock anywhere and we would have to wait a few weeks to get hold of it.

So I struck up a conversation with the two young ladies who had just purchased an old established pet shop. They were very knowledgeable and offered me a suitable alternative.

As we talked, I explained that we had spawned a whole of lot of goldfish last summer. They were amazed.

Kampitie bathtub where the goldfish were spawned.

According to their understanding, no one, especially an amateur, has succeeded in spawning goldfish in Oulu.


Grandson Samu on the banks of the summer home
of the Kampitie goldfish.

I explained to them, how this had happened. They were truly interested to understand how we had succeeded.

I did not do a good job of explaining Annikki's unique table top aquarium, so I decided to do this short blog entry as we enter our 41st year of married bliss as this signifies how unusual and successful Annikki is with her ideas.

No credit to me. I just happen to be her greatest admirer!

Special action on 1st February 2007

(Cross-posted on all my major blogs.)

This message was sent to me by my friend 59er Peter Miovic for the widest possible circulation. Since I believe in this cause, I am posting this on all my blogs and groups.

Hope you will take heed and spread it within your circle.

Send this message to as many people as you know!

---

An action to bring climate change to the notice of Politicians and World Leaders

On February 1st 2007 take part in one of the biggest actions against climate change organised by the people.

L'Alliance pour la Planète (a group of environmental activists) send this call to all civilians:

Make our planet rest for five minutes!

Everybody is requested to dim his/her lights for five minutes between 7.55 pm and 8.00 pm on February 1st 2007.

This not only to save engergy for five minutes, but to bring this message in a way that will attract the attention of politicians and leaders.

It is time for them to take action and avoid the waste of energy.

During the 5 minutes we'll give the planet rest: it doesn't take long and it won't cost you a thing.

And it will make a statement before the Belgian federal elections that we as citizens want climate on the agenda.

And why February 1st 2007?

Because on that day a new file from the climatologic experts of the United Nations will be published in Paris.

Because it is with our Belgian neigbours, it is impossible to let this opportunity slip!

We have to get attention to the urgent matter of the worlds climatological situation. If everybody takes part in this action it will have an effect on media and politics that might have a real influence, this would be good on such short notice before the (Belgian) elections!

---

Make this message go around the globe, send it to friends, family and local politicians. Put it in your newsletter and your blogs.

Dinner with Asheesh, Indu and Karthik

This morning's newspaper brought news of another Indian acquisition of a Finnish facility, the largest Biotechnology facility in our region. The Indians have acquired 90% stake in the facility, the remaining 10% being with the City of Oulu.

Mentioned in the article was the Indian representative on the spot, Dr. Asheesh Kumar and the Chairman of the organisation based in London, Jaswant Shah. The company has deep roots in India in this sector. Asheesh did his masters and Doctorate from Roorkee University and has worked on several projects including ones in Mumbai and Bangalore. His wife, Indu, is an Analytical Chemist and is looking forward to spending some creative years in Finland.

As usual, Jacob rang and spoke with Asheesh soon after he read the news in the paper. They decided to have dinner together, along with me and Asheesh's wife, Indu. Jacob inquired and found both of them to be vegetarians. So he rang Michelle, the Indian owner of the Royal Garden, a Chinese Restaurant in Oulu, and asked her to organise the food.

We were pleasantly surprised to find their 3-year old son, Karthik, very clever and smart kid, also joining us for dinner. Michelle, although she does not normally stay in late, was on hand as our hostess along with Noushad, who is going to run the new Indian Restaurant adjacent to the Chinese Restaurant.

The meal was great and we spent a lot of time finding about each other Indu is a Punjabi, Asheesh is from Rajasthan and Karthik loves to eat meat!

Indu and Asheesh are a pleasant couple. They will find it easy to settle down in Finland.

We are on the lookout for an apartment and a car for them - which should not be difficult to organise.

We look forward to welcoming in Oulu Mr. Jaswant Shah, the 70 year old brain behind this venture, who resides in London.

My childhood friend is now blogging

There have been many people that were my friends when I was a child. Most of them were of my age group. I do not have contact with many if those who were my friends in Bangalore - the Wilsons, the Ealings, Om Prakash, Sahadev, Darius Sagar, Gerald Samuel, the Ferdinands (Peter, Leo), and many more.

In Bangalore, we lived across the road from a College Hostel. The sports ground of the college was also across the road. Besides the large cricket cum football pitch, the basketball court, and the tennis courts, there was also a gravel hockey pitch.

There I watched a great hockey goalkeeper. He fascinated me. I befriended this young college student, 9 years older than me, when I was just 9 years. I became his good friend.

In 1954, after we moved from Bangalore to Bombay, I lost touch with this young man. Many times I thought about him. I blogged about him quite recently.

I was surprised one day last year when I got an email from him. Someone had told him that he was mentioned on my blog.

Our friendship of over 52 years was renewed, as if it had not ended for a day.

Today, I went to read his new blog:Blog of Parayil A. Tharakan (Abe).

That he is an accomplished and published writer is evident from his blog. I enjoyed going through the 8 entries or so he has made so far. From it I learnt about his background, things I never asked when we were friends 52 years ago.

I am glad that he has started blogging. I have linked to his blog from all my pages under the list of blogs of my relatives and friends.

Great to have you on board, Abe. I can now enjoy your writings at the click of a button!

Attending a funeral

(Cross-posted on the CHAFF Blog.)

Raija Pojhanpalo

Today at 12 noon we attended the funeral of Raija Pohjanpalo at the Old Chapel in Oulu.

We took flowers and a card with us from Bill, Tingting, Unnop and Pailin and from the two of us.

Jacob read the message which said:

"The sun sets on a golden personality,
But the brightness will linger in our hearts forever."


The photograph was a beautiful sunset in Oulu, Finland
recorded by our elder daughter Susanna in 1990.

After the service, which was very emotional for all of us who attended, we joined the family and friends at the Kaukovainio Chapel for a get-together to celebrate the life of Raija.


Patrick and Leena.
Nephew Jari, who lived with Raija,
can be seen between the two.

Patrick Dickson, the South African priest in Oulu who has known Raija from 1976, organised the event.

His wife, Leena read a message from Pirkko Böhm, who ran the English Club as Secretary for many years with Raija as Treasurer, also when Annikki was Chairperson for the Club.

It is difficult in one's heart to let go of someone whom one loves very much. And it was evident that from the emotions we saw displayed, every single person present expressed their love and admiration with tears for the gentle personality of Raija.

Mallu CD Salesman on the phone

Mallus (Malayalees from Kerala) are everywhere.

The saying goes that if you reach the top of Mouut Everest, you will find Mallu with a tea shop waiting there with a hot cup of tea to greet you!

Of course, if you are nearing the Arctic Circle, you will certainly find one Mallu there ready to offer you a cup of tea!

This Audio Clip has been sent to me by several people. I found many of you have not heard it. (Click on the arrow to listen to the clip.)

The best part of life is to laugh at oneself. This is a good laugh at us enterprising Mallus.

malluphone.mp3

The ownership of this Clip is unknown, so copyright is acknowledged to whomever who owns the clip.

Another demise, another friend gone

As I put away my tears on hearing of the demise of one good friend from Oulu, the tears flowed yet again as I just received news of the demise of the man I most admired in the world.

K. R. Raghavan, blacksmith from Kottayam, Kerala.

Raghavan had been my friend for the last 58 years. He was the blacksmith at the Malayala Manorama newspaper when it restarted publication in 1947. He was a young man of around 22 years and I was just 6. He worked as the blacksmith in a small room just above the main house kitchen window.

I was fascinated by the bellows and the red hot blacksmith furnace where he melted lead and poured the new types for use by the newspaper.

As I stood by the doorway, he called me in. Within a few minutes he had me pumping the bellows, followed by pouring the molten lead. Soon I poured the lead for the letters that made up my name.

He then took me to the type-setting room and with friends I set the type for my own letter head. From there we went to the treadle press and he taught me to print the letter heads.

I ran excitedly to my grandfather to show him my handiwork.

Valliappachen asked that Raghavan be called. He told the young man that whatever I did, my safety was in his hands. From that day, Raghavan was my guardian angel, teaching me everything he knew, but never letting me wander out of his sight. He loved my grandfather so much that he could never violate the trust placed in him.

A couple of years later, Valliappachen called Raghavan, who hardly knew how to read or write. He asked this young man whether he could get together a few people to erect a rotary printing press.

Raghavan had never seen a rotary printing press. But the confidence he oozed was infectious. Together with four other workers, they unpacked a series of boxes received from Bombay. I watched this group of "illiterates" erect a printing press.

The way they did it was based on logic, common sense and a tremendous three dimensional vision where they looked at each part and put them aside to be linked to the next one they found which linked to it - without a single engineering drawing to refer to!

The press was set up and running in record time, and as the first pages rolled off the press, no one was more surprised than Raghavan himself.

During the next 57 years Raghavan has erected and commissioned innumerable state of the art machines, and did trouble shooting on the round-the-clock basis on any machine he was called upon to attend to.

Raghavan told me in one instance he was called by the biggest English newspaper in Bombay, put in a 5-star hotel and given full powers to erect a printing machine he had only a photograph of! And he did it in record time, although, he told me, he had never felt so much luxury in his life at the hotel, he was tempted to make the experience last as long as possible. But he was so worried about what was happening with "his" equipment at home base, he could not stay for a minute longer than it took him to put it together.

What I know about printing equipment, paper, inks, and anything else in printing was driven by the interest created in me by my friend. However, the amount I know would be about what would fit on a pinhead compared to the whole world of knowledge of this "blacksmith".

As I received a message from my cousin today, telling me about the passing of Raghavan, I wrote to his son, K. R. Ravi, sharing the grief with him.

I will miss you, my dear friend.

My first Audio Blog Entry

I received this from regular readers of Jacob's Blog, a great couple, Yakub & Shilpa Mathew, in the USA.

All Mallus should greatly enjoy this!

The song, "KeralaFonia" was written and sung by Shilpa's cousin, Dr. Yohan Chacko.

Listen to KeralaFonia.

Copyright belongs exclusively to Dr. Yohan Chacko and permission has been granted to me to put it on this blog! Copying and downloading is strictly prohibited without obtaining permission from Dr. Chacko.

Tears to shed

(Cross-posted on the Oulu CHAFF Blog.)

In 1984, when we moved to Finland, Annikki was looking for something to do. She saw an advertisement in the local newspaper calling on children of Finns who had lived abroad who wanted to continue to study English to register with the English Club of Oulu.

Two of our oldest friends in Oulu,
Pirkko Böhm and Raija Pohjanpalo.

Annikki contacted the Club and volunteered her services to teach English to the children. She met two people, Pirkko Böhm, the Secretary and Raija Pohjanpalo, the Treasurer.

A few months later, we were asked to give a lecture about India by the English Club. Annikki prepared some beautiful paintings of Indian birds and scenery and one of Mother Teressa for an exhibition of India. Jacob, dressed in a "mundu and jubba" and Annikki in a sari, presented a well attended lecture. Also present were many members of the English Club, including Raija.

Our friendship with Raija has lasted these 22 years.

When Annikki was the Chairperson of the English Club, Raija was at her side through quite difficult days as we tried to make the Club a really active entity.

Raija had a difficult life as she had to care for her invalid mother till she had died. Raija lived with her nephew, Jari, and they had some rough times. (Raija was the sister of Jari's father.)

But Raija was always smiling.

A couple of years ago, when she was really in financial trouble because of her illness, cancer, she asked Jacob for help. This was rendered. There was no consideration of it having to be repaid. But Raija, despite her ill health, worked and repaid that amount in full.

Raija helped many many foreigners including a few CHAFF participants with their accounts. Her ill health made it difficult, but she wanted to help all those who came to her.

A couple of months ago, Patrick Dickson sent a message to all English Club members through its Chairperson, Anna-Liisa Hirvenoja, saying that Raija was very seriously ill and advising those who knew her to pay her a visit to say their goodbyes.

Jacob had met Raija just a few days before this. Raija had been so optimistic that she did not give him any inkling of the terrible pain and suffering she was going through.

This week, Jacob received a call from Jari telling him that Raija had passed away on Wednesday, the 20th December 2006. Jacob broke down and cried, for this was someone that both of us loved very much.

Today, Annikki spoke to Jari when we visited him in their home where they had lived, two invalids taking care of each other.

Jari was very bitter with the medical system. He had advised Raija not to take the new medication that she was being offered. On the Wednesday, Raija had rung Jari from the hospital where she had admitted herself saying that she was feeling much better and she hoped to be home by Thursday.

On Thursday, Jari had a call from the hospital saying that Raija had passed away.

Medical malpractice in Finland cost Jari his leg which had been amputated. The treatment on his back by Finnish doctors has made him an invalid.

Jari is no stranger to the incompetence of the Finnish medical profession and the depth to which they cover up the mistakes of their brotherhood in the profession. In one instance the lawyer had told him that his compensation file would vanish - which it had!

Jari had begged Raija not to follow what the doctors advised her in the treatment of her cancer.

But Raija was the trusting type, and today, Raija is no more.

There was never a time when we met that Raija would not ask after all our children and grandschildren. And we knew that it was not just social chit chat, as she was really interested to know about them.

When she had a problem installing her new computer, it was our son-in-law, Tony, that went to help her out.

Raija was one of our family.

We are going to miss her very much.

The funeral service will take place at the Old Chapel in the Oulu Cemetery Grounds at 12 noon on Saturday 13th January 2007. There will be a gathering of the family and friends to pay tributes to the wonderful personality, at the Kaukkovainio Parish Premises immediately thereafter.

The cremation of the body will take place privately next Monday, as that was what Raija wanted.

May her tired loving soul rest in peace.

Delighted grandparents

It was the 1st of January 2007 when my Skype phone on my eMac rang. And behold, there were two of our grandkids waiting to talk to us.

However, we could not get the sound working, so we shifted to Gizmo and we talked and talked.



Today, I lifted this picture off Susanna's Blog - Asha and Samuel sitting in front of Susanna's new Mac PowerBook talking to us, the grandparents.

Glad to note that daughter Susanna is following her dad's example by sticking to the Mac.

Asha is now back in Billinghay with her busy schedule of ballet, gymnastics, violin practice, piano lessons. Samuel is back in Newcastle, football mad as ever, and back to regular school tomorrow.

Nobel Laureate attends Oulu CHAFF meeting

(Cross-posted from the Oulu CHAFF Blog.)

The first meeting CHAFF for 2007 was an event which showed that we are going to have an outstandingly great year. This first meeting was attended by persons from Germany, Hungary, India, Japan, Kenya, Liberia, Poland, Thailand, Zambia, and many many Finns.

The Restaurant Pailin went to no end to make sure the even was a success. Unnop is a master carver, but this time he allowed Pailin to carve her first water melon.

Carving in progress

Completed work of fruit art

An admirer


As is said, behind every successful man is a lady. In this case there are two ladies, mother and daughter. The watermelon was made as a gift to two of them behind the Nobel Laureate, Julista and her daughter Ildiko, who is one of our earliest CHAFF participants.


Ildiko and Pailin

Unnop, Nobel Laureate Arpad Hamos and Pailin


Unnop, Ilari, Arpad, Ildiko, Julista and Pailin

The meeting celebrated not only the visit of Nobel Laureate Arpad Hamos and his wife, Julista, to CHAFF, but also the marriage of Ilari Sohlo to Ildiko, the daughter of the Nobel Laureate, week before last. Ildiko and Ilari are the celebrated authors of the book "Culture Shock Finland" which has been published in German.

Arpad is an expert on the safe transportation of hazardous materials, especially nuclear stuff. Although now just retired from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), he is so young at heart and is eager to continue his work as a Consultant. With enormous projects like the Olkiluoto expansion of the nuclear power plant, there will be no shortage of takers for his knowledge!

The meeting was very much a family affair as besides Leena (Poland) and her husband, and two children, we had Ville and his wife, Fumi (Japan) and her baby daughter, Mari, at the meeting.


Prasad from Chennai, India, and
Ilari gets two thumbs up from me.

Besides Leena and her family, who were attending for the first time, we had three new Indian engineers working in Oulu also attending their first CHAFF meeting. Two are from Chennai and the third from Bihar.


Japanese formula soap - Made in Finland.
(Photograph from Ville's site.)

Fumi has just started an experimental project to make soap which is based on olive oil, palm oil and coconut oil. As was described by her, it is matured in the cold process, which lets the saponification reaction go slowly at room temperature. As a side product, the soap contains glycerol, which is good to keep the moisture in the skin and which is usually removed in commercial soap. The reason why Fumi has started this soap making project is this point.

This soap is good for the skin and also good for shampooing. After washing the hair with this soap, simply rinse the hair with vinegar water. (Approximately 2-3 shot glasses of any kind of vinegar for eating in a bucket of water).

Let us hope Fumi gets this soap into a production scale fast, as having tested her soap last night, I can say it certainly was a great experience as my dry skin was tingling with freshness!


Fumi, daughter Mari and Pailin.
Fumi is a biochemist doing research at Oulu University. But at the moment she is enjoying her first throes of motherhood looking after her beautiful daughter, Mari.

There was much work executed at the meeting behind the scenes. Connections were made to help those in trouble, and contributions were received to the CHAFF Help Fund.

We especially missed those who were ill, still away of holiday, those who were out of town, or those who could not make it to the meeting for reasons beyond their control! But the spirit of Tero, although feeling sick, made it to the meeting. Those who missed this meeting certainly missed an event which truly represents the enormous people power of CHAFF.

See you, as usual, next week on Sunday 14th January 2007 at 1300 hours at the Pailin Restaurant, Kenttätie 9, Kasarmi Area.

2007 vs 2006

(Cross-posted on all our major blogs.)

2006 was a wonderful year, better than 2005; 2005 was a wonderful year, better than 2004, and.......

So what lies ahead in 2007?

Our Symbol for 2007 - The White Orchid.

Judging by the first 6 days, it is going to be a hectic year ahead, far more exciting than the previous few years.

We can see several changes ahead.

Already, the blogging world has changed. We have started something different in that we have, besides the blogs, started our own Google Groups.

The first two Groups that we started are the Oulu CHAFF Group and the Seventh Heaven for Cathedralite 59ers.

In a matter of just a few hours, the 40+ people of the Class of 1959 from the Cathedral and John Connon School, both the Boys and Girls, were aboard the Group. In a matter of a couple of days the list of persons grew by over 10 so that we have now identified over 70 members of our years at school. All our Group members are scouring the world to locate the missing persons so that we can hold a great 50th year reunion in November 2009.

This 3-year project which has excited everyone from the Arctic (Jacob) across the globe!

The Oulu CHAFF Group is only slowly taking off the ground. But the restart of the meetings in 2007 have started with a real coup with a 2005 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, Arpad Hamos and his wonderful wife, from Hungary, gracing the first meeting on Sunday.

It is obvious that the Oulu CHAFF Group will have its work cut out for it during this coming year as there are literally hundreds of issues hanging over the fire. The amazing part is that those that once received help are now making significant contributions in helping others, taking the burden off the few that were origially involved in setting up this Assistance Forum. Much more ways of helping those in distress are becoming available and it is going to be an exciting year as CHAFF consolidates itself.

The main Jacob's Blog will remain intact and present a more focused look at the lives of two individuals, Annikki and Jacob, as it takes another major direction during 2007.

Important changes are just being discussed. But they are causing huge waves across the city of Oulu.

Several, we are sure, who will be quite happy to see the likes of us out of this City. But, there are an equal number who are appalled that we may make some move away from Oulu after the 23 years we have been here.

What is important to understand is that with the new power to the people of the internet, wherever we may be, in Oulu or in Newcastle, England or in Kerala, India, we will still be able to handle the problems, be parts of Groups, take part in the action in different parts of the world, without the need of the physical presence in any location.

In the computer world it is probably refered to as "virtual reality". Annikki and Jacob will be part of that virtual reality not only in Oulu, but in several locations around the world, throughout the year.

With that, both of us would like to wish each and every one of you a Happy and Prosperous New Year and let good health and vitality follow you wherever you are.

In that we share a greeting which was sent to us by Thomas Grorge from Helsinki:

May this 2007,
Blessings harrass you,
Happiness attack you wherever you go,
May misery be hijacked from you, and
May thieves pickpocket all your worries.