14 family member deaths narrowly averted!

Annikki has been working desperately to get the Kampitie garden to its very best. She worked hard when her mother was away in the Old People's Home at the latter half of April. Even after her mother returned home, every spare sunny period has been much effort on Annikki's part to make sure everything is right. (She rested in the hammock when she got tired!)

I pumped out the water from the pond and Annikki cleaned it. We were both surprised to find that the lotus had survived the winter at the bottom of the pond.







Annikki's new additions this year are a gatekeeper for the "Green Door" and a "farmhand couple" at the door of the "Greenhouse".






As we walked around the garden, it really felt that we were entering into a summer phase.









Having got the garden just right, we waited for a really "warm" day so that Annikki could reintroduce the goldfish from the two inside aquariums back into the pond.

Last week we thought that day had come. Annikki brought the goldfish down and very carefully reintroduced them into the large pond.

As we stood to admire our brood, we both almost entered a state of shock, just as the goldfish, as they went lower and lower down in the pond. They were literally dying before our eyes. The cold water was just too cold for our brood of 14 and they were keeling over.

Annikki acted quickly.

She got out her fishing net and, with a rapidity that was unbelieveable, she netted her brood and put them into warmish water in a bucket.

We held our breaths and waited.

Within a few minutes we saw the activity in the bucket increase as the fish were warmed to the fishbone!

Both of us were relieved to have saved our 14 family members from certain death.




We put them back into Annikki's table top aquarium. We found all of them none the worse from their life-threatening experience.

Hopefully, their trust in their feeder, Annikki, will be restored in the coming days!

Helsingin Sanomat changes its tune!

The Helsingin Sanomat is the only national newspaper in Finland.

It has been in the past rabidly anti-India, publishing some of the filthiest articles about the country, usually authored by a big-headed "journalist", Jari Lindholm, who did not like the idea that he could not order the Indian Ambassador to fix an appointment for him with the Prime Minister! Mr. Lindholm wanted India nuked because he was served cold rice in Orissa!

At one time he was barred from being given a visa for India, but our Ambassador thought he should not impose such a policy. The "journalist" went to India and then wrote a vile piece, and we were not even allowed the right of reply!

Now, as commercial interests dictate, they are cozying up to India as Nokia has appointed an Indian "lady" onto its Board.

They have a glowing piece about her in their latest online English version: New Nokia board member says mobile phones can bring bank access to rural poor - Indian banking pioneer joins Mobile Phone team.

If Nokia can change its view from when "Paris is too far for NOKIA" to India being the jewel in its crown, I think Helsingin Sanomat, in true Finnish journalistic tradition has every right to be a "time server".

23 years too late....

(Cross-posted on the Seventh Heaven Blog.)

(If you are wondering why the pictures of the children from the opening ceremony are so fuzzy, it is because of a child safety law in Finland which bars the inclusion of pictures of school children from any school event on a public forum without express permission each parent concerned!)

Thanks to Eric Mwai, I was invited to the reopening of the International School Campus in Oulu on Friday 4th May 2007.




The completely refurbished facilities now house three schools: The Leinonpuisto School, the Oulu International School and the International Baccalaureate (IB) of the Oulu Lyseo School.

The Opening Ceremony was truly amazing. It was so professional that it is difficult to believe that it was ordinary school children who were performing.



The choir, the acting, the blending of the Finnish Kalevala with cultures from many countries, including outstanding Bollywood dancing choreographed by the students themselves, were something I would not have missed in years.



They even had the Chief Guest, Ms. Elizabeth Rehn, taking part in their performance. It was so seamless, that one was astounded at their ingenuity.

Ms. Elizabeth Rehn, who after a very rewarding career in politics, being Finland's former Minister of Defence (Europe's first women to hold this post), former UN Under-Secretary General, special rapporteur on the Former Yugoslavia, etc., has been very active in gender and education issues.

The speech by Ms. Rehn was from her heart and to the point. She spoke of her work in the Balkans and the schools she was involved with there, where many different nationalities of countries in conflict live and study together.

This was what I always thought what education was about!



After the event, when we all enjoyed a very wonderful spread prepared by the Home Economics Department of the School, I took the liberty of meeting Ms. Rehn. (I have met her many many years ago when I was involved in work to help Ethnic Minorities.) I told her how much I enjoyed her speech. But, I added one comment - she was speaking of Cathedral and John Connon School, Bombay where I studied over 50 years ago.

I informed her how we students had stayed in touch and how we were organising our 50th Year Reunion in 2009!

These true values of education did exist during my childhood, both at Bishop Cotton School, Bangalore, and Cathedral School, Bombay.


Samuel in Florida in December 2006.

(Our grandson, Samuel, attended the Oulu International School when he was studying in Finland. I used to either drop him to school in the morning or pick him up from school in the evening, whenever required. Even then I was impressed by the courteous nature of the students and staff in the school. Samuel now lives and studies in Newcastle, England, where Joanna is studying medicine, and only spends his short summer holidays in his home in Finland.)


I was also able to compliment both Teuvo Laurinolli, Rector of the Oulu Lyseo, the school from which our younger daughter, Joanna, completed her higher education from in 1990, and Raija Perttunen, Rector of the Oulu International School, on the excellent programme.

How I wish such a situation had existed in 1984 when we shifted our residence to Finland.

It was with heavy heart that we had to break up our family. Within 7 months of moving to Finland we had to send Susanna, our older daughter, who had completed her schooling in India, to England to continue her studies. Five months later we had to send our elder son, Jaakko, to England to be able to carry on his studies.

These were heart-breaking events for both Annikki and me to break up our family at that crucial formative stage of the children's teenage lives.

Joanna, being extroverted by nature, and being much younger, was able to adapt into the Finnish system and complete her education right up to the Masters level. Our youngest, Mika, was broken hearted that we had moved to a country which did not play cricket. Once he became an outstanding Chess Player, and was placed in the Finnish Junior's Chess Championship, he was able to integrate, but was never quite at home as was Joanna.

To us, the International Campus has come 23 years too late.

We wish the 3 schools, the staff and the students, a wonderful existence promoting the values of life related to education and tolerance!

Invest in India Seminar

Yesterday morning, I went to a breakfast seminar in the Technology Park where the topic, to a group of Finns, was the possibility of investing in India.



The main talk was by an Oulu old timer, Seppo Keränen who presently heads the Indian operations of FinPro. He talked about the demographics and how Finpro has been helping Finns find their feet in India.

There were a couple of gross errors in his presentation. He said that Wartsilä was the first company to set up production operations in India. He obviously does not know that Airam Oy started a bulb factory way back in the 70s which went bankrupt for reasons of poor understanding of the Indian business environment. Already before we left India, Annikki was translating the drawings and documents from Finnish to English when the plant was handed over to an Indian group.

Also, Seppo had no idea of the failed consultancy project of Jaakko Pyöry in the late 70s when I helped extricate them from a horrible mess in Bhadravati!

On the whole, he quoted some interesting figures and statistics. But in India things are happening so fast these days that even before the first figures are released, they are out of date.

Pasi Vaara, the Director of Wireless Solutions, which is part of the Indian multinational, Wipro Technologies, spoke about being part of an Indian company. A short but quite useful presentation about how a professional Indian company works. This was followed by a talk by Juho Eväsoja, CRO of Systems Biology Worldwide Ltd., from Helsinki who is heading the operations of a joint group on the research and development of drugs.

Seppo Keränen was highlighting the benefits of Finnish companies moving to India, while the other two speakers were focused on the benefits of being linked to Indian companies.

However, the questions from the floor seemed to highlight a completely different picture. It was almost as if the Finnish companies were looking for a knight in shining armour loaded with lots of cash coming to their rescue in this tough world called globalisation!

There were a couple of questions about how one could get going in India. The answers were too shallow, showing a lack of experience or knowledge about what Indian industry is all about. The reverse outsourcing being done by major Indian companies hardly got a mention.

For instance a serious philosophical question would be how would a Finnish company going to india avoid following in the footsteps of the "Union Carbide debacle in Bhopal"!

Having had 23 years of experience in arranging collaborations between the academia and businesses in India with Finnish counterparts, the whole attempt of this breakfast meeting left me totally wanting in getting answers to serious questions.

I did make one comment in that I drew attention to Professor Ajeet Mathur's latest publication which assesses the potential for trade between these countries which has been addressed in an earlier blog entry in our alma mater blogs.

Title : Finland-India Business Prospects 2007-2017
Author : Mathur Ajeet N.
Working Paper No. : 2007-03-01

Abstract

Finland-India Economic Relations were researched for the first time in a study that analysed mutual trade and investment potential through the lens of revealed comparative advantage and identified profitably tradable goods at 4-digit and 8-digit disaggregated levels in the standard international trade classification (Mathur, 1998). This study was made freely available on the world wide web for five years through http:// www.uta.fi/kati as part of longitudinal action research to study how small and large players would take advantage of this freebie. This paper provides initial results of a sequel study initiated in 2005 to understand what happened thereafter, whether trade grew, and to analyse how trade could diversify from identification of new opportunities for product-services linkages after the expiry of the transitional period that brought GATS into effect in 2005. Finland's share in Indian imports and exports has grown rapidly and exponentially and the prospects are vast but the potential realised by 2007 remains considerably untapped and far below comparable figures for other EU countries. This study emphasises the need for policy research on institutional barriers to design new gateways beyond an increased frequency of contact between people from the two countries. The conclusion that robust bridges could be built through tripartite fora comprising business, government and academia points to the need for new institutionalities and deepening research studies, some of which initiated as part of the Finland-India Economic Relations project, are at various stages of progress and expected to be completed during 2007-2010

I was amazed to see that no one had heard of his earlier publication in 1998 which was published by the major Finnish organisation, ETLA. This was published when Prof. Mathur was Professor at Tampere Universuty.

I do wish Finnish organisations will look to get expert advice from people who have long term experience in both countries, rather than allowing the blind to lead the blind, which is what Finns normally do when both are blind! ;-)

Iitu and my package!

Iitu and the Papaya

Last night, I collected the fruits and vegetables that had arrived direct from Thailand. I told Annikki that I would be eating into one of them for breakfast.





In the morning when I unpacked, our 16 year old cat, Iitu, was greatly intrigued by the packaging and the contents.



When I unpacked, she tried her get her claws into it. However, when she smelt the papaya, she lost interest, and decided she would watch what I did with this strange object she has never seen before. She lay down on the table in front of me, appearing bored with the proceedings, but actually she was watching me through the corner of her eyes.





I cut the fruit in a way that I got my 1/3rd share. I consumed it the way I have been taught to, scraping down to the skin with my spoon!





The taste was good although Iitu obviously disagreed.

Being rather a connoisseur of papayas, as we used to have about 400 trees of several different types growing in the factory garden, I have tasted many types which were considerably sweeter than this, especially the seedless varieties that Philip John had given me to test grow. His factory, which was next door to mine in Maddur, Karnataka, extracted the papain enzyme from the white fluid that exudes from the skin of the raw papaya when it is cut.

Papain has many uses, the largest being to clarify beer. The main supplier used to be the Belgian colony, Zaire (Congo). With political instability in that part of the world in the 70s, the Belgians turned to India, and Philip John started to commercially exploit this fruit. He gave the seeds and help to the farmers to grow this and he would send out his tappers to get the fluid. This fluid would be concentrated and the papain extracted as a white powder. Since my factory garden had plentiful water, he used to give me seeds of all the different varieties of the fruit to plant in the garden. That meant plenty of lovely papaya fruit which we used to distribute to family and friends in Bangalore and Mysore.

One pinch of papain powder dropped into a vat of beer, removes the cloudy protein in the beer, making it sparkling clear. It is also used as a meat tenderizer. It became a hit in Oulu when I introduced some elk hunters to it. They cull the elk every autumn. The meat of elk is rather tough. I gave a small quantity to one of my friends in Oulu way back in the 1980s. He, and his elk hunting friends, were amazed that the elk meat, which normally takes hours to cook, was tenderised in just 15 to 20 minutes!

Papain is also marketed in tablet form to remedy digestive problems. It is also popular in the treatment of cuts, rashes, stings and burns. Papain ointment can also be made from fermented papaya flesh, and is applied as a gel-like paste.

Papaya is a great fruit to have for breakfast because of the health value in helping digestion.

I hope I can get the Pailin folk to find us the seedless variety!

In the meantime, I will try to grow these seeds in the greenhouse, just like I am trying to with the sweet Thai tamarind, brown, and the mango seeds I got from what I tasted last week. This service of getting fresh fruits and vegetables direct from Thailand is simply great.

Maybe we will try Rambutan next week, and then if we have the courage, we will get hold of ONE Durian fruit! I do not expect to be thrilled by the smell of this fruit, but I have heard the taste is great.

Oulu's Hyde Park Corner

Yesterday, being the Freedom of Speech day, worldwide, the local newspaper, Kaleva, and the local division of the Finnish National Radio Station, YLE, organised a 2 hour Free Speech Podium in the central Otto Karhi park in Oulu. They had originally announced that it would be London Hyde Park Corner style, with each speaker choosing his own location and podium, and speaking to his audience.

©Photographer: Eijas Sallinen/Kaleva

When I arrived at the park, I found the rules had been changed. They had organised a single podium with a recording mike in front of it. The speakers were asked to line up and take their turn in making their presentation.

I had set off from home with my own stand, a rickety steel frame with a wooden top which had been made by Annikki. When Annikki saw me leave on my scooter with this contraption, she was aghast and tried to get me to put it back. She felt that it would just fall to bits under my weight.

I was, however, adamant.


©Photographer: Eijas Sallinen/Kaleva

There was only me with a stand.

I was not too anxious to join the queue of speakers, as I knew I would not be able to say what I wanted in the short time one would be compelled to observe if one is taking a turn.





The audience was large. Several of my friends had turned up. I told them I would run my own show once the Finnish speakers had finished their presentations.


©Photographer: Eijas Sallinen/Kaleva


©Photographer: Eijas Sallinen/Kaleva

CHAFF participant Matti Moisa spoke.


©Photographer: Eijas Sallinen/Kaleva

Chaff participant Eeva-Maija Kolehmainen spoke.

I listened to several speakers who expressed the problems faced by them. It was obvious that they were all on the same page as they had no-one listening to or airing their genuine complaints. They hoped this public forum would be effective. These residents of Oulu were quite excited to have this chance to speak their mind. Obviously they were hoping that someone would listen to them.

I waited till the string of Finnish speakers were run through. When there was absolutely no one else approaching the main podium, I mounted it and did a 2 minute speel (Watch this on Windows Media Player using this link - http://www.kaleva.fi/video/fos001.wvm - it is the last speech on this video by Veli Pekka Tolanen).

I told the audience my main rant and introduced Annikki's new book "Freedom of Speech - Whose?"

The organisers were hit with a bolt of lightening as I pointed to THEM directly as being, not the solution, but the PROBLEM.

I directly threw down a challenge that my speech would probably be the only one not reported in the following day's report of this event!

When I completed this short speel, there was a great applause. I was now sure I would be able to make my longer talk from my own podium.

As I walked to my podium, several people asked me to continue, even though I was speaking in English. A large proportion of the audience were older Finnish folk whose English would have been strictly limited.


©Photographer: Eijas Sallinen/Kaleva
¨

©Photographer: Eijas Sallinen/Kaleva

I did not need much persuasion. Mounting my soap box. Actually I put a small soap dish under my platform so as to say I was standing on top of a soap box. (This humour was not lost on my audience.)

I let fly attacking the corruption prevalent in Finnish society including in the Police, the Judiciary, the Politicians, the Bureaucracy, and above all the Media. I used specific examples as to how each of these authorities were totally corrupt from the very top, as they all practiced a "Big Brother" mentality at the expense of the common man.

I shouted that I was now able to speak out as I was now retired. This was unlike my many hundreds of foreign and Finnish friends who were unable to make their voices heard as they feared being punished in their daily working life!

I introduced Annikki's new book which focuses especially on the censorship practices by the Media in Oulu, in particular the Kaleva newspaper. I also gave examples from our two previous books - "Handbook for Survival in Finland" and "Seven Years Hard Labour in a Finnish Holiday Camp - A Finnish University".

When I finished my rather emotional speech, from my podium it sounded as if there was thunderous applause, making it very clear that the truth had been told.

I received several congratulatory remarks from the listeners. I went home and told Annikki of the red faces of te organisers I had seen in the audience. Without doubt, I was sure that this speech of mine would not be covered by the media.

To my surprise, in this morning's paper, the Kaleva had fallen for the trap as they were forced to give my speech and my comments a special place. My picture waving my book about the University of Oulu got full exposure!

So as to blunt my comments, the main Editorial in the Kaleva newspaper was written claiming that, as per Freedom House, the Finnish Press was amongst the most free in the world.

Freedom House is either a totally incompetent organisation or it has fallen hook, line and sinker for the mastery of Finnish authorities to create an image.

(Is there any other country in the world where the Police rings up a suspected criminal and asks whether a crime has been corrected? If the suspect, a bureaucrat, says that no crime has been committed, the Police does not investigate! Is there any other country in the world where the media restricts the right of reply, if the reply is from the "common man"!)

In conclusion, I must include here an email I received today.

from: Eeva-Maija Kohlemainen
to: Jacob Matthan
subject: Re: Kaleva today

I think it takes enormous bravery to face and criticize Oulu's main media like you did. They can't just ignore it, because you reallypublically put yourself on the line there. I admire you and don't know whether I could do the same myself. Media has a lot of power and should be responsible for it as well. It's great that there are people like you to remind them for it every once and now.

I said to my sister that my young rebellious times are probably over, because I felt a flash of shame after my speech and the Kaleva-quote. After all, we have it so well compared to what used to be. On the other hand - nothing changes if people tape up their mouths. ;)

Back to painting Eerik's room and sewing a quilt for his bed.

Eeva-Maija

I think my speaking out is for little Eerik and my grandchildren, Samuel and Daniel, whose future in Finland rests in what we do to ensure their freedoms!

Freedom of Speech - Whose?

(Cross-posted on the CHAFF Blog.)

Annikki's new book is being released today.

Titled "Freedom of Speech - Whose?", it is a collection of her submissions to the local newspaper, Kaleva, over the last two years, who have ignored her powerful voice on several major issues, as she speaks the truth.



Out of 42 messages submitted by her, 34 were not published by the newspaper.

Last year, the newspaper asked for readers to submit their opinions on this subject. Annikki wrote a piercing piece, which was ignored by the newspaper.

From this Annikki got the idea to publish the text messages she has submitted to the newspaper which were not published.

She leaves it to the reader to decide whether she was censored, ignored, or whether her submissions were not worthy of publication.

As the newspaper and the local national radio station have organised a London Hyde Park style Speakers Corner in the main Otto Karhi Park in Oulu for today, I will talk on the subject of Freedom of Speech, Corruption and other matters, between 11 am and 1 pm.

Unfortunately Annikki cannot be there as she will be engaged in looking after her mother at that time.

The book, in Finnish, which will be only available from us, can be ordered from Annikki at

jmatthana@gmail.com

The price is Euro 15 including packing and postage. Payment can be made to the following bank account:

Nordea 249818-69968

with the Message stating: Sananvapaus - kenen?

Peelukuttychayan - 95 today! Happy Birthday!

I have not heard from my cousin, Suresh, for some time, so I hope all is well in Mumbai.

Annikki and I would like you all to extend Birthday Greetings to Peelukuttychayan, also known to many as Pappa, and to the world as Mr. K. M. Philip, former World Y. M. C. A. President. He is also known as the grandfather of the Indian Rubber Industry. He was instrumental in taking MRF from a being a Tread Rubber company to being a tyre producer. It happened due to a chance meeting with Mr. James Hoffman in a Y. M. C. A. in the USA.

His fresh tea and coffee shops that populate Mumbai stand as a honour to his dedication to service of the people of that great city.

Peelukuttychayan (extreme right) enjoying a drink in the company
of his brother-in-law, Dr. V. Kurian (Jollychayan) of Anand fame!
(Taken in 1999 at Suchi and Michael's wedding reception in Chennai.)

Peelukuttychayan is 95 today. He is my late mother's elder brother.

Happy birthday to you from both of us, Annikki & me, in Finland.

Dog poo!

Our daughter, Susanna, is trying to get into local politics in England by standing for election to the local council. She has started a Blog for this and on it she had mentioned the problem of "Dog Poo".

I told Susanna that in Oulu it has become socially necessary for dog owners to collect their dog poo in plastic bags and place them in special waste bins located all around the city.

Think I am pulling your leg? Here are a couple of photographs from TODAY!





Wonder what our blog readers in India think of this? Do they think we are nuts?

A long time in coming

It has been a long time since Annikki has created a cake!

Well, with the fresh mangoes we received from Thailand, enormous fresh strawberries she got from the large supermarket in Oulu, and with the price of lemons being Euro 0.10 per kg, she got into a creative mood and produced this superb looking and also fantastically tasting cake.





The sponge base was covered with delicious lemon curd. The decoration was the strawberries sliced so that they looked like tulips interspersed with the delicious mango slices. The rich colours were really pleasing and made the mouth water.

I wonder what she will create from the fresh ripe papayas that will arrive this Friday!

Susanna enters the politics chain

It has been a long time since anyone in the family has been in the politics chain.

Susanna's paternal great grandfather, K. C. Mammen Mappillai (KCMM), was a teacher and a headmaster when he entered and served for many years as a politician.

He was outstanding and many of his speeches of the 1920s on equality of sexes, against casteism and education are truly historic.



It is for his service to the people that he enjoys the title "Doyen of Kerala".

Even today, when I visit Karala, if anyone hears that I am the grandson of KCMM, I bask in that glory and respect.

Only yesterday I had an email from Canada:

from: George Varghese
to: Jacob Matthan
date : Apr 28, 2007 11:04 AM
subject: Re: GRANDDAD K C MAMMEN MAPPILLAI DOYEN OF KERALA Website

Dear Jacob Sir:

It is 1:00 a.m here in Fort Mcmurray, Canada and a search in Google with" Syrian kottayam bookstore" led me to your website on your grandfather "Mammen Mappillai ".

Recently I had the privilege of reading in a biography of Makarios Thirumeny of a journey in secret of your grandfather and Makarios Thirumeny to find the most fitting "Devalokam Aramana" for the prelate of the Orthodox Church In India. Also from Makarios Thirumeny's brother, Remban Lazarus, I have heard his first hand experience of the ability of your grandfather do many things at the same time.

Mammen Mappilai was truly a blessed man and may his example be an inspiration to others. Thank you for putting up the website.

George Varghese
Fort Mcmurray,AB

Note how he addresses me as "Jacob Sir"!

This was probably the very first page I set up on the internet, way back in 1996. It has been my beacon. Many thousands have read this page and emailed me, thanking me for bringing this great man alive in the new medium, which he, as a journalist and educationist, would have relished.


Susanna in 1967 in Shawbury, Shropshire.
The first rung of her life.

Susanna is entering the very first rung of the political chain to stand for a seat on the district council. She is using an internet blog "Becoming a District Councillor" to tell people her views and position.

To enter politics is commitment to a lifetime service to the people with sincerity and honesty, willing to face many turmoils in life.

KCMM spent many years in prison for the crime of fighting for the people and for Indian Independence. His brother died in prison. But, he saw India regain its Independence.

At the age of 73 he returned to restart his newspaper, "Malayala Manorama", in 1947, which today is the largest circulating one in India with a readership of many millions (circulation is about a million and a half.)

Another relative who went into politics was my oldest surviving cousin, K. O. Kuriyan, who spent many years as a political worker, fighting for his principles. But, as far as I am aware, he did not enter into the election fray.

We pray, and also ask you to also pray, that God will guide Susanna in this arduous task.

Taste buds explode! Real MANGOES in Oulu!

(Cross-posted on my major blogs.)
I was at the Pailin Restaurant early yesterday waiting for the postman. Around midday, he arrived, bearing two packages.

I waited patiently while Unnop and Pailin opened them - and then came that delicious aroma of fresh mango.


The name of this fruit comes from the Tamil and Malayalam word, manga.

They packed 5 of them them in a plastic bag and I "literally" scooted home. :-)

Annikki was up reading the newspaper. Before she could ask me where I had been, I was in the kitchen, ripping open the plastic bag and attacking one of the delicious mangoes.

This mango, although looking like what is referred to in India as the traditional Polymango, had the taste of a good Malgova.

The Polymango is what every school child in India knows. At the gates of schools all around the countrty used to sit that old man or woman with a basket of green mangoes, unripe ones. For one anna( less than Euro 0.04), they would cut one open, sprinkle in chilli powder mixed with salt. The kids would walk home eating this delicious spicy salt sour mango!

Even thinking of this makes my mouth water.

But this is not what the mango has been come to be known for around the world. The famous varieties in the western world are "Tommy Atkins", "Kent", "Keitt", "Madame Francis", and "Champagne".

In my humble opinion, all these are quite tasteless compared to the varieties we get in India.

The king of all mangoes, for taste, is considered to be the Ratnagiri Alphonso. As a small boy I used to wait for the day they hit the market in Bombay (Mumbai) in May My mother would get baskets of them.

Not many people in India can probably afford Alphonsos today!

But there are many tens of varieties which are actually considerably tastiers than the Alphonso - Bangalora (Kilimooku), Banaganapalle or Banganapalli (also called 'Banesha' or 'Began), Dusserli or Dasheri, Imampasand, Khaderpasand, Langra, Maldah, Malgova, Neelam, Peethar, Rasalu, Rumani, Suvarnarekha, and many more. each one has his or her own favourite and their favourite way of eating their "mango".

The sweetest mango that I have ever had grew in our garden in Defence Officers Colony in a suburb of Madras (Chennai). This used to be an old mango grove before ot was acqyuired by the army to build houses for retiring army personnel. we were lucky to be able to rent a house for a couple of years in this colony.

It was an old tree and the mangoes that it produced was probably a cross between a Rumani and an Alphonso. Each mango, which was bright yellow when ripe, weighed about a kilo and there was just the right blend of juicy content with fleshy content. I used to be offered a lot of money by the professional pickers for the fruit from this tree - but we never gave them up as they were so delicious.

Our daughter, Joanna, was just a few months old when we had the first crop. This was to the horror of the older folks. They considered the mango to be too "heaty" for a small child - whatever that may mean!

Joanna was brought up on the juice of thee mangoes, and I think there were no ill effects!

I digress.

The mangoes we received from Thailand were really delicious. There were 5 and together they weighed 650 gms.

As the photographs below depict, I consumed mine, traditional style, with juice dripping down my palm, in less than a couple of minutes!



I sliced it open and to smaller pieces the way I had been taught as a child.



I cleaned the pieces to the skin, hardly leaving anything on the skin or the seed!


I cannot wait till next week when our next consignment arrives. Hopefully a nice ripe Papaya will also be there.

Yes, we can get anything we like to eat here now in this small town of Oulu!

Thank you Unnop and Pailin for this great service.

Sharing this with you

I thought I would share this with you;

Hello Jacob,

You are getting this e-mail because last May you took the time to thank Stephen Colbert for speaking out at the White House Press Corp dinner. Thank you for that!

A dream has finally come true. After four years of hard work, the first of what will someday be thousands of the most trustworthy portals on the Web, is about to launch. It will be free of corporate/commercial bias, and FREE to the public forever!

Earth Portal (http://earthportal.org) is the result of 650 of the world's top scientists in 49 countries (so far) coming together to produce the highest quality, non-commercial, non-profit resource for information about our planet anywhere in the World.

Please go there and enjoy the vision video announcing the official launch this Friday.

Tomorrow (Thursday), we will webcast, the press conference in Washington DC at the Press Club beginning at 1 p.m. featuring Jane Goodall, Robert Corell, and Ambassador Richard Benedick among others.

And after the launch, please go back and register there to show your support for this breathtakingly ambitious effort.

Our children deserve no less. Our planet deserves no less.

Please also pass this on to everyone you know who cares about science and the environment.

The Earth Portal is a non-commercial destination on the Web for news, learning and debate about the state and future of our environment. There will never be any advertising on Digital Universe websites and it will always be free.

The Earth Portal will facilitate the emergence of a new community to emerge, directly connecting scientists, journalists, policy makers and you.

Join us and bring your children on April 27th at Earth Portal (http://earthportal.org).

More soon and thanks!

Cliff

Cliff Lyon
The Digital Universe
ManyOne Networks
Salt Lake City Office
801.274.0882

You may also view the Vision Video at:

YouTube: http://youtube.com/watch?v=zgqTTNzOY10

Google: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-2250726429896198491&hl=en

Update on Indian Grapes

On Saturday, I noted another large supermarket in Oulu offering Indian grapes about Euro 0.30 cheaper (Euro 1.69 per 500 gm). I decided to take a look.



Thos was yet another Maharashtrian grower offering a brand called "Sunripe" grapes. Malode Boraste More Grapes Pvt. Ltd. which is run by Arun K. More, is located in Nashik District. The variety of grapes were exactly the same.



The packaging was identical. I also noticed grapes from Chile with the same packaging. I must, therefore, offer my apologies to the Indian companies, as they are not the ones deciding on the packaging to be used.

The sweetness was as good as the other brands.

I noted that in the case of this Indian grower, the grapes were labelled as being imported by a company in Holland, Nico de Jong B.V,, owned 100 % by a Alfred de Jong. The arrangement with India is so new that the range of products offered by that company does not yet list India as a supplier.

I hope Indian grape growers can organise themselves to directly export to the centres around the world so that they get a higher return. Here in Oulu a small Thai restaurant, Pailin Ravintola, gets us Thai fresh vegetables directly from Thailand. An importer in south Finland brings in two flights a week directly to Helsinki and the customers get thr fresh produce cheap and with no huge profit makers in the middle.

The restaurant takes orders on Sunday and the fresh fruits and vegetables are in Oulu by the Friday, when people rush in and collect their orders. If the Thais can do this, I am sure surely our Indian exporters can get organised to do the same!

Surprised yesterday

Annikki and I went shopping yesterday and we finally landed up at our nearest supermarket to buy some provisions. Annikki saw some green grapes and as she picked up a plastic container, I was extremely surprised to see that it had been imported from India. Then I noticed there were grapes from two suppliers, packed in almost identical fashion and both were from India. So we bought one of each, 500 gm containers of seedless green grapes.





Reaching home, I checked to see where these companies were located. Both of them are located in Pune. Fresh Express Logistics is the brainchild of a Ranjit Patil, a highly qualified and experienced individual who has travelled extensively with a strong background in Horticulture and Post Harvest handling of perishables. A 1989 Bachelor of Mechanical Engineering (B.E.) from the University of Poona, Pune, and a 1992 Master of Business Administration (M.B.A.) from Georgia State University., in International Business, it appears that he still is on the visiting faculty of some well-known management Institutes.

The second company was Mahagrapes, in which Mr. Sopan Kanchan is the Executive Partner of Mahagrapes, Pune which is a co-operative marketing organisation for small farmers and the company has facilitated its farmers in producing good quality grapes. "MAHAGRAPES", is a co-operative partnership firm established on 19th January, 1991 with the help of the Maharashtra State Agricultural Marketing Board, Pune. The head office of Mahagrapes is located at Pune. Several Grape Grower Co-operative Societies are the member societies of Mahagrapes andf are located at, Solapur, Latur, Pune and the Nasik areas. The main objective of Mahagrapes is to boost the export of grapes for which facilities like pre-cooling and cold storages has been erected at each grape grower co-operative society. 'Mahagrapes' in the grape export, brand of Maharashtra's Grapes is well establish in the international market.

This took me back over 30 years when I used to visit (professionally) the grape growers in Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh, where yields of grapes per acre was phenomenal. I used to take back a few baskets of the really succulent grapes to Madras where Annikki and I lived. In those days there was not too much use of pesticides. As the years rolled on and the pests increased, it became impossible for me to eat grapes as my lips would swell up as a reaction to the pesticides which was absorbed in the skin of the grapes and could not be washed off.

Yesterday, I approached eating these Indian grapes with great care. First washing each grape thoroughly and then consuming one, then two to see if any reaction was likely.

I was pleasantly surprised to see that there was no allergic reaction. Some grapes were sweet and others sweet and sharp, but of extremely good quality. Annikki had chosen containers which had no damaged grapes. Unfortunately, before I could stop her, she had mixed the grapes from both containers, so I could not identify which were the sweater grapes.

I must comment that most of the containers in the shop had a lot of damaged grapes. This means that the handling and packing of the grapes is not quite perfect. It is likely that the sale in our local supermarket will not be quite as high as it could have been, as customers here are very sensitive to buying damaged produce.

The price we paid for each was around Euro 4 per kg., which is quite high for grapes in Oulu. Lidl, the German supermarket giant in Finland, offers grapes from many other location's around the world at substantially lower prices.

However, this seems to be a start for Indian fresh produce import to Oulu, and if successful, we may see more fresh Indian farm produce on Finnish supermarket shelves in the coming few years. Hopefully they will adhere to quality standards which would ensure a good price.

An update after 10 days

(Cross-posted on my main blogs.)
(Click on images to see enlarged versions.)

I have not been ill or otherwise indisposed. Just very very busy, happy, sad, and going through every emotion that man or woman is capable of.

Over Easter we were especially blessed to know that our three children, Susanna, Jaakko and Joanna, in the UK, were able to get together with their families and also join up with us over the telephone.

This has been recorded on several entries on Susanna's Billinghay Blog with beautifully emotional pictures of all members of the family. They especially enjoyed a buffet lunch at the Lahore Restaurant in Birmingham. Joanna, who has really become quite trim, did say that she did overeat on that occasion. (I must also note that Susanna has also become quite trim - but just wait till they arrive and start consuming their mum's cooking, when they will bloat, like me!)

The grandkids were in their element. Susanna has recorded and put up a few short video clips, using effectively the UTube service.

This has prompted Joanna to think seriously in investing in a better digital camera and to start her own blog - which would be just wonderful for us, the grandparents. Maybe, even Jaakko can be persuaded to start his blog once he gets the old iMac that Susanna is thinking of passing on - Old Macs never DIE. I had promised them my old software, but unfortunately much of te old system software discs are corrupted. Jaakko being an outstanding photographer would certainly add a new dimension to blogging should he decide to take it up.

Last Friday brought Annikki and me much grief when we lost a wonderful friend, a Cathedralite by the name of Behram Badhniwalla, who went by the nickname of Budni. Budni was a couple of years senior to me in school. He stood out as he had been afflicted by polio and was the only boy in school who was on crutches. But that did not stop Budni being one of us. During the latter half of our school years I had an excellent relationship with him.

When I left school, our paths diverged. It was not till 2005 when they came together again. He had been doing almost exactly what I had, in finding his classmates and then making sure that they were kept together.

Introduced to me through our former school Physics Teacher, William Shiri, living in Toronto, Canada, Budni wrote in his first email to me:

from: Behram Badhniwalla
to jmatthan@gmail.com
date 21-Oct-2005 10:15
subject Fwd: Hello again

Dear Matthan,

My name is Dr.Behram T. Badhniwalla (Wilson House Batch 57), in school I was 'Budni'!

I used to walk on crutches during our green years.

Of course, I left my disability behind in 1959-60 (Praise be to the Good Lord).



Today my Wife, Carmie and I, have retired, and live in Pune.

From all the Cathedralites of our generation, and many have met u. the common factor is we both are holding on to our flocks!

I am forwarding a message from our teacher Mr Shiri, and I hope we communicate more often!

We have regular get-together of the Pune Cathedralites and shall revert later with more information!

Cheers for Now

Budni

From that day we have exchanged many hundreds of emails on topics ranging from sharing pictures of our school friends, sharing our email lists, finding new alumni, our common interests in music, organising class reunions, his idea of forming a health foundation of retired staff and elderly alumni who were not so fortunate financially, and many more. Budni bounced ideas off me. If I gave him the go ahead, he went about his task of rousing the masses.

Not only that, both of us got on like a house on fire. We assisted each other sharing our ideas, agreeing and disagreeing on issues, but above all promoting our "school spirit". Although our styles were different, but the objectives the same.

Budni made everyone feel loved and happy and part of a beautiful family.

On the morning of Friday 13th April 2007, I had two emails from him in the space of just 10 minutes, te first telling me that he would be away from Pune for 10 days and he would take up an issue I had requested as soon as he got back. The second email was about school, pushing the joint working of my Seventh Heaven Blog to be linked with the official school alumni site.

Budni was thinking of what wonders could be achieved if we all worked together.

By evening I received a message from a common friend in Pune that Budni was no more.

When such tragic news reaches me, I become immobile, unable to speak or do anything constructive. Annikki was at my side when I read this email. She comforted me, as she too had learnt to know Budni and his spirit. I was roused to work furiously to let "our flocks" know of the demise of someone who had become my right hand just so much as I had become his left!

The sorrow, grief and the tributes poured in from every corner of the globe. For the past week I have been composing a web page which I will call "A Tribute to Budni". It is difficult, as each time I enter some text or put in a picture, the sadness that flows through my veins makes me realise the frailty of life.



On the same day, we got news that our granddaughter, Asha, who will be 10 in August, had passed her Grade 3 Piano Examination with distinction, 134/150.


Budni, on the extreme left, is crooning at a CAT bash in Pune a few weeks ago.

Susanna put up a clip of Asha playing the piano on her blog, which helped me greatly to face the sorrow of losing a friend, as he was a great musician.

CEO of Codenomicon, Isaac Sundarajan, has been really jet setting. He flew to Cannes to collect the Red Herring Award, flew in to Oulu, flew out to spend Easter with his wife and elder daughter in London, flew back to the US (San Francisco) to prepare for his next year's strategy meeting, and was here, back in Oulu, yesterday.


Royal Garden Menu

We spent the evening together at Michelle's new Indian Restaurant, The Indian Cusine Section of Royal Garden. The last time he had been there, he had said he wanted food as hot as "Jacob's". Michelle and crowd only address me as "Mr. Matthan". so Isaac was a bit disappointed.

This time, Michelle's brother, Philip, dished out a really superb Chicken Vindaloo and a spicy lamb off the bone curry, which both of us relished. This was followed by some Guju Tea, which is laced with Indian spices.

I think the levels of spice in Michelle's Indian and Chinese restaurants will have to have new labels - "Joanna's level" (which is our daughter Joanna's taste buds saturation point and super not), and then "Mr. Matthan's level", which is only slightly lower, but does bring a fair amount of sweat onto the forehead.

Isaac and I sat and chatted well into the evening. Michelle and Philip regal led us with stories of their life in restaurant business. they were surprised to hear from Isaac that "Indian Chinese" is the "in thing" in California - so Philip has promised to didh this up for us on our next visit!