Doogle is disappointed!

Dorota and Patrick are friends in Oulu that I have been visiting regularly during my Saturday or Sunday daily walks.

Dorota in Kampitie, October 2004

I share a cup of tea with them and chit chat about goings on in our small town. They have a bushy looking dog (not sure whether he is a Welsh or Lakeland Terrier) called Doogle.

Doogle seems to like nothing better than lick my toes when I visit them.

In Finland, the custom is that you take your shoes off at the door when visiting someone. In late spring, summer and early autumn, I normally use open sandals without socks. Whenever I get to Dorota and Patrick's place, I would take of my sandals, much to Doogle's delight.

Today, being almost winter, I had my socks on.

There was almost a questioning look of disgust in this pooch's face.


Doogle questiions "Et tu, Brute?"

Dorota has gone to Oxford University to do her doctorate. Patrick is alone, which is evident as he has been trying to get out of the mundane task of cooking meals at home. He obviously is quite happy with the single meal which he has at work, and the liquid refreshments that keep him active in the evening. :-)


Patrick proves that a liquid diet can get your weight down!

Changing subjects, you might like playing with this great doll, like I did, even at this grandpa's age. Press those buttons a few times as there are a variety of actual statements to listen to!

Bon Voyage David

David, our new Honduran friend, leaves back for his home country tomorrow, leaving behind his wife, Mantu and son, Kai.

I am sure he is going to miss his baby son, Kai Antonio,

Kai Antonio, son of Mantu and David

We hope that he is able to return to Honduras without any problems. Heavy rains have been lashing the country after Hurricane Beta. It was sad to read about the coral reefs that stretch down from Mexico right to the shores of Honduras.

Safe journey, David, and hope you come back soon. Love to meet up with you again.

Destruction of the character of Oulu

Many of you will remember this picture of grandson Samuel in the cement igloo at the beautiful new park near the Oulu beach which I covered in an earlier blog entry.



While, on the one hand, the City Authorities are bringing new and wonderful creative designs to Oulu, with the other hand, they are intending to tear down some of the great history of this city.

Right in the centre of Oulu, just next to the Railway Station, there is a real granite igloo. Here are some photographs that I took last summer.

Granite Igloo viewed from the main Oulu street


Stunning view of the Granite Igloo



Back of the Granite Igloo


Close up of the granite blocks


Doorway set in reinforced concrete

The design of the Granite Igloo, the air raid shelter belonging to Finnish Railways, can be seen in this old design document which I unearthed from the internet.


Design plan of the Oulu Railway Station Air Raid Shelter

There are so many interesting things that can be done with this air raid shelter to make it a tourist's paradise and a children's dream come true.

However, the intention of the Oulu City Authorities is to knock down this beautiful landmark in the centre of Oulu, along with the characteristic railway station made of wood, and to erect a cement conrete glass structure which, to them, symbolises "International Oulu".

I am grateful that the tireless and ageless artist HILKKA INKALA, is campaigning against the destruction of this monument. I only have a Finnish version of her fascinating biodata.

I will be commenting in detail about this stupid idea of what THEY think to be the "International Oulu" concept in a separate blog entry (so stay tuned to this blog).

My blood just boils, just now, to think of the indiscriminate destruction they are planning for the memories of many Finns who went through much hardship during the war and after, and for whom these memories, as this air raid shelter, mean so much.

Ever break a glass table top?

I remember when I was in school in Bombay in the 1950's, I can home one day just wanting to eat some walnuts. I asked my cook, our very dear fellow and a wonderful cook, Krishnan, whether he could break open a few for me.

He got the walnuts and also a hammer, as we did not have a nutcracker, and sat down to break them open.

The first one split open. As he was cracking the second, the head flew off the hammer, right across the room and landed on the beautiful black glass dining table top, cracking it into a series of crazed patterns.

Krishnan was horrified, thinking he may lose his job as this table had cost a few hundred bucks.

It ended not so badly as he just had a reprimand from my mother! (Dad was diplomatically not allowed to blow his top.)

The table top had to been thrown out and a new one obtained, which must have cost quite a small fortune at that time.

It is a pity that we did not have Annikki around then.

Recently we had a similar incident at Kampitie.

Annikki was a bit disturbed for a few short minutes, but then she brightened up. She created this masterieceout of that cracked glass.



She tried a few different glues and then decided to use a quick-setting epoxy filler adhesive to stick together whatever pieces she had salvaged. Using some really good glass paint, she created this beautiful mosaic pattern on the glass, and we have a very unusual and unique glass table top!

This is not the first time she has applied her creative mind to restoring glass. A year or so ago one of our mirrors fell and broke. She used a black glue to create this artistic backdrop on our dining table.



An unusal item in this picture is the flower pot on the wooden stand in the front left corner. It is entirely edible with the pot, stems and leaves being baked out of gingerbread mix, the flowers being artiistically cut sweets and the mud inside the flowerpot being delicious cake! Here is a close up of the "Edible Gingerbread Flower Pot".



Send us your smail-mail address to receive a table top 2006 calendar containing 12 beautiful pictures Annikki's designer cakes. The calendar is just now being printed in China. This calendar will be mailed out FREE to the first 500 people who send us their snail-mail address. It will be mailed around the world directly from the printers in China.

The printers will later, in 2006, finally publish the beautifully bound 100 page hardcover book, with photographs printed on the best glossy art paper, by Annikki which is called "Edible Art".

We have not yet received the pricing for the book. We will blog it as soon as it is received so that you can pre-order the book.

Did I become Angus MacGyver?

Richard Dean Anderson acts as Angus MacGyver in the television series MacGyver

Now that the goldfish are safely in the indoor aquarium, Annikki asked me empty the garden pond.





With my bad back, I sat down to think what Richard would do.

I looked around the garden and frowned at the various size buckets Annikki had thoughtfully left lying around.

Unlike my dear wife, I am not a glutton for hard physical work.

Also, I had walked for quite a while this morning as I went to meet my young friend Soda. I had told him I would take him to his new school today. It had been a lovely morning for walking and I enjoyed my three hour walk. In addition, our car was being repaired.

After my walk, I arrived at Soda's parent's restaurant. Soda and I went by bus to his new school.

Soda at his new school - merikoski

When I reached home, after collecting the car, the MacGyver in me checked in.

I found the 3-year old Euro 15 water fountain I had been using in the pond.

What if I took off the foam filter, the plastic base, as well as the fountain stem, and attached a plastic hose to it, and then tried to use this as a submersible pump (which costs upwards of Euro 99)?

Voila! - it worked.

While I lounged around, every now and then telling Annikki what hard work it was emptying the pond, within a couple of hours all the water had been pumped out!

Iitu shared my secret as she appreciated my "smart alec" solution.


Iitu appreciates her master's hard work - mental

Happy Diwali, Happy Birthday Jaakko!

Today is the 1st of November 2005.

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

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

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

Surprise, Surprise, from Honduras

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

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

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

"Honduras", said David.

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

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

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

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

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

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

She exclaimed that she had come to see ME!!

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

Then everything fitted into place.

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

Joanna thought that Terttu was a great mom!

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

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

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

Here is just one quote that I picked up:

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

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

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

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

Delhi blasts - Shocking! Responsibility?

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

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

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

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

Let us look at the regional situation today.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Remembering 2 great people

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

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

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

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

Here is the story in Ahalya's own words.

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

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

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

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

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



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



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

Berries drop on iced pond

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



Here is one bird busy at work getting filled.



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



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

"The Little Dutch Boy"

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

She shut the bedroom door.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Fish come in and tragedy strikes

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



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



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





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

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

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

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

Winter arrives in Oulu

Today, we had the first snowfall in Oulu.

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

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

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







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

Wedding report from Calgary

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

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

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



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



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



Thank you Beena and Rana for sharing this with us.

Huge void in lives of Finns

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

Amma has an estimated 8000 devout followers in Finland.

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

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

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

Amma even gets news coverage during prime time TV news!

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

Amma hugging a follower at Helsinki

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

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

Two lovely Chinese visitors

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

Zhongli Yao, Bill Zhang and Zhongfei Yao

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

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

They prepared a great dinner for us.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Ildi and Ilari are back

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

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

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

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

Ildi and Ilari relax in an Iranian restaurant

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

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

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

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

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

Take care, dear friends.

5 years on I sleep in peace

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

Ammachi with grandchildren, Joanna and Mika

Ammachi was an unique personality.

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

She was constrained in one respect.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Greed is a horrible habit.

And it is a habit.

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

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

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

A lighter blog entry today

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

General shots of the park

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

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


Safe swings for all age groups

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

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


Crumb rubber is really beautiful

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


Stepper area made from tyres and wood

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


Samu enjoying the Steppers

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


Samu enjoying the Steppers

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


Cement igloo and totem poles"

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


Castle area is for sliding

And it certainly is for all age groups!


Samuel and Annikki enjoy the slide

Certainly a great day for the entire age spectrum!

World Exclusive: Finnish Red Cross in hot water

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

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

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

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

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

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

Dear Ms. Sanmark,

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

"General Advice

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

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

This is from the website:

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

Or this:

Customs

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

This is from the website:

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

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

Was the Finnish Red Cross not aware of this?

Yours sincerely,

Jacob Matthan

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

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

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

Stay tuned for further news on this world EXCLUSIVE!!