The REUNON has begun

The cyclone warning in Mumbai after a continuous unseasonal downpour had us all in a tailspin(I do not know the nautical term for this!). But Captain Vijay Shivdasani kept the course of our boat steady, calming many nerves. He has been a wonderful Captain to serve under (A Captain is senior to a Commander!)

I set of early morning to get hold of Gita Simoes as I had to get some papers from her. That done, it was off to Colaba Causeway to meet the boss of Leopold, who is almost the same age as us (65) and was also a kid on Colaba Causeway when we used to listen to the jukebox in the cafe! I had a cup of tea, there, exchanged a few pleasantries with the owner, when he told me the jukebox had been removed in 1964.

Then to the CCI where I met Malathi and her colleague, and then tea with 64ers Rajiv Ved and Deepak Deshpande and their staff member, Richard Smith. Richard had not been there when we 59ers were there.

They asked me to bring the staff members attending our reunion to theirs, which I promised to do.

Then to the school to pay my respects to the Principal, Mrs. Meera Isaacs. She was on the steps of the school entrance seeing an orderly dispatch of the students home as the cyclone warning had meant closure of all schools, colleges and government establishments in Mumbai. I was surprised she knew of me when I introduced myself! We exchanged a few pleasantries and I was quickly off after inviting her to the "Evening with the Findians". She was courteous enough to ask me join her for a cup of tea, but I knew she was busy.

I walked in the rain to Akbarally's and bought myself an umbrella. Then to a Xerox centre to try and print something. Total failure and on top of that I left behind my new umbrella. Dementia has set in!!

Home to have lunch with Annikki and Mika, a rest and then get ready for our do. I got Annikki the medicines for her bronchitis and sinusitus, en route, prescribed by Ashok Khembhai, the selfless doctor of Dharavi!

The cyclone warning was still showing on TV with all people advised to stay at home after 5 pm. But our Captain knew better as he already had info that the cyclone had DIED!!!

Annikki and I reached the Middle School already by 18:05 for the "Breaking of Ice" to find Rivca Elias, Suchita Shivdasani and Jangoo Moos there. We pitched in to help. Got the silver memento, the much discussed keychain. It is beautiful. Changed my name tag from Jacob to "Dead Chicken".

The others started to roll in and the atmosphere was electric. What a wonderful feeling as we hugged each other. In a short time the gym was humming with a noise level of several decibels. The Reunion had begun and everyone knew that now it was for real. My concern - Would they GEL? I did not have to wait long for the answer - they did! The samosas were forgotten as the people spent time talking rather than eating. I had two samosas. Great.

From the Canada, US, England, Mauritius - and of course Finland. But we knew that from Australia, Germany, Canada, US, UK, Israel, people were with us in spirit, as was evident from the three typical messages that Shivi read out. Thank you Sigrun, Mark, Narsys, Sudhir for your wonderful words, which were shared with those assembled.

I was surprised to hear that over the years there had been 4952 messages exchanged by email between our classmates, but Shivi has had many many more! (GREATEST OFFENDER IS ME!)

David had some wonderful photographs from the past - Oh, I would like to get my hands on some of them. David was so thoughtful that he had brought me a book in which my dad is mentioned. Thank you David.

Several seemed to believe that I was instrumental in making this reunion happen. All my protestations were ignored - so I decided to keep quiet till I had MY opportunity to speak at our event.

As promised, with the help of Vijay Nayar's car, I quickly sped William Shiri and his wife, Pushpa, and John Billington, to the reunion of the 64ers at the Royal Yatch Club. There I met Mr. J. P. D.Souza and his wife and also the 64ers that had assembled. Billy Kapur and his wife were there and he promised to drop in at our evening function.

Despite much protestions, I whipped my care back to our reunion, hosted by Ooky and Rivca and Viney and Purnima, but not before they had had a wonderful time renewing contacts with another great batch of Cathedralites and also talking to another staff member many many miles away. Thank you Deepak, Rajiv, Rustom - you are doing a great job.

Back to the Bombay Gym where I noticed the usual Indian Purdah system had set in. The men at the drinks while the women sat in groups. I went from table to table, meeting many whom I did not know, especially the girls. I was just so happy to be there and meet many classmates that I had not known at school. I felt it was time to focus on those I had not had the opportunity to know in our younger days. I felt sad that I had not known them earlier. I loved them all.

But we missed many and tears were in my eyes when I met up with Madhu. She is so wonderful and brave. Everyone in our class loves her as much as we had and still love Ashok. His presence was amongst us as we laughed and joked.

My mind kept going back, not only to Bala Parasuraman, Dossu Pagdiwalla, Jaswsant Ghatge, Michael Colaco, Murli Balani, Pradeep Bhakle, Prem Goel, Virat Gidwani, Jacob Eapen, Flicky Shroff, who had not option and could not be with us, but the others who could have been here for some reason had not been able to make it. That was MY failure!

The food was excellent and I indulged in many gulab jamuuns, which I should not have. As I saw people leave, I was surprised they came to thank ME, also!?

I knew all of them were looking forward to today, where Vijay Nayar and his wife, Meera, will be our hosts.

Thank you Piloo and Vijay and Suchita, who have done such a stupendous job. Thank you ooky and Rivca and Viney and Purnima for the wonderful start to OUR Reunion.

We are going to have several more funfilled days ahead. Many surprises in store - so stay tuned.

PS: AS I look out of my window over the sea, the air is thick with cloud, but it is DRY. The green grass of the garden in front of me looks just perfect. I do hope Gita's roof garden grass is dry and strong, as that will make the best venue for Friday.

Taste of Mumbai

Woke up late yesterday morning so my blog posting was only after 8. I had a whole lot of things to do, so I made my list. Annikki was down with bronchitis and many other disorders caused by fatigue and heat.

After breakfast I set off to Colaba Causeway as I wanted a soft leather briefcase and to repair my hand held passport case. I used the city taxi and the fare was Rs. 70 (Euro 1). I cannot get onto a bus in Oulu for that price!

I then strolled down the street I knew so well and saw my many landmarks. I remembered the Saturday when I listened to Radio Ceylon, answered a question and ran full pelt down to Grand Bazaar to be the first in line for a Rs. 10 grand prize. I won and bought Rs. 9.50 worth of sweets and a plastic jar for my mother (before I had started to study plastics). My mom waß happy with the plastic container but not so happy with the sweets!

I went past my old Irani restaurant haunts which have now become famous for all the wrong reasons. Leopold used to be hang out for us Colabites as it served a great biriyani and also had a Juke Box which pumped out the hit songs of the fifties!

Memories flooded back but I was sad to see that many old shops as my favourite barber shop, Modern Hairdressing, was no more. The bus stand where I used to catch the bus to school, opposite Regal Cinema had been removed.

I went on to Trident where I was to have lunch with Mohamed Noorani. In 1964 Mohamed had been working at Bayer in Leverkusen, and although he was an expert in leather he was then working on Rubber Chemicals. He was assigned to look after me, and we have become fast friends from then. I had not seen him since 1984 and I was overjoyed at seeing him look so young and fit. Waiting in the restaurant was one of my dearest friends - Viney Sethi, whom I had introduced to Mohamed, and they had enjoyed a great relationship since.

The three of us joked and laughed through a very light lunch, as i was still full from the enormous meal I had had at Radisson the previous afternoon.

After lunch I strolled onto Marine Drive and went to the house of another old friend - Vijay Kumar. He used to be the Technical Director of the State Industries Corporation of Maharashtra when this state was the leading industrial state in the country. He was such an honest officer that he could not even buy a ticket to the cinema without thinking twice.

Then fortune struck him in the form of Dirubhai Ambani. Vijay became the advisor to that giant before he became a household name. He served Dirubhai faithfully and he was rewarded in many ways. Vijay, brilliant as he was and with a razorsharp mind, used to use me as a sounding board, and it is no small thing to say that many a Dirubhai venture in the field of Petrochemicals started with a conversation between Vijay and me.

It is a friendship which has stood the test of time, and even though difficult times fell on Vijay after he left Dirubhai (as he knew he would never fit in with the two sons), he was still smiling when I saw him today. He now has to spend Rs. 15 lakhs as his wife Veena is seriously ill and has to be flown in a private plane to Coimbatore to be treated.

Vijay will do anything in his power to look after his lifelong companion.

I heard news of Vijay’s two sons who had become part off our family.

Then it was time to go home and talk on the phone to my dear cousin, Susykochamma (Mrs. T. Thomas) daughter of the late Mr. K. M. Eapen (Eapachayan), my god father.

There is only one person who looks into the mirror and remembers me - that is Susykochamma. When I was born and the news arrived at their home in Bangalore, she was so excited she ran full pelt from the gate to the house to tell her father the news of my arrival into this world. She tripped and fell and injured her nose, but even so she yelled the news through her pain to her father.

That scar has remained till today.

Susykochamma was another one of my guardians while I was studying in Delhi. I loved to go to her place to be with her, although her husband was not a person I cared for much as he was too aggressive. Considering how aggressive I am, we had to disagree on almost everything.

I will not say much about him, known to us as Papachayan. I do not know whether I will meet him. I have not met him for over 30 years.

Susykochamma was not the joyous self that I had known her to be all her life. She seemed depressed and I discovered the many reasons for it. I too felt depressed talking to her and I have promised to myself i will go and see her and meet one of my dearest cousins, an elder sister to me.

It was then time to go to the Chembur Golf Club where the caterer for the Friday dinner had organised a tasting session. I left Warden Road at 18:00 hours, giving myself an hour and half to reach Chembur. It was an eventful journey in that although traffic continued to move, it moved at a snail’s place. At one stage I heard an ambulance wailing like a cat, behind our car. It was about three cars behind, but there was no way to get through, not that anyone would have given way. The cat wailing lasted for about an hour, all the time behind us. Then, when it came to side of our car, it had stopped the siren. I guessed the patient in that ambulance was no more and the emergency was now over.

I thought to myself how ridiculous all this was as I saw an ambulance rushing at snail’s pace in the other direction!

I reached the Club just after 20.20 for the tasting session. The taxi bill for the 20+ km was Rs. 280 (€ 4) which is what I pay for bus ride from my home to the City Centre in Oulu, 2.5 km away.

I will give you the delicious menu AFTER the dinner, but it is going to be wonderful with a couple of creations by the caterer himself. (As it was an air-cooled cab - it was 4 times the normal cab fare.)

I met with the decorators and Malathi, a Finnophile in Mumbai, and my organiser at this end, also joining for the final tasting session.

I went home in a normal cab and the bill was Rs. 70 - just € 1!!!!

I am set for another full day of things to be done before our reunion starts tomorrow at 18:45. I am excited, I have been 3waiting for this day for 12 long years - and the Mother of All Reunions is about to commence. Stay tuned folks.

PS: There was a tropical cyclone warning for Mumbai yesterday and a Police Alert last night. But I have trust in God that he will make the REUNION a total success! As I watch the sea out f my widow - it is quiet.

Last day in Chennai; On to Mumbai

Please accept my apologies - I mentioned Meyer Hillel as a girl - Here is Gracie's email:

Jacob,

Meyer Hillel

He was in my sister Vilma's Class, of 53. In fact, they were born in the same Hospital in Bombay as their Birthdays are in October.

It was a great sadness to hear of his Early Passing away in Israel where he lived and he was a famous Rabbi Spiritualist. He helped many people who were in bad health.

I hope that his sister, June, will write something about him, later.

I believe he was in Blue house. He was in Bombay for his 50th Re-union. I have not spoken to June yet as Mourning and prayers go on for 7 days.

Freddie Sopher was the brother of Solomon Sopher [who passed away many years ago as a result of Leukemia.] He studied to be a Dr like his Brother David in the J. J.Hospital in Bombay. Freddy is his elder Brother and was so well known in Bombay as he took care of the Bombay Jewish Synagogue and was in Fro men's Travel Book. To stop by and meet Freddy. He would take congregants to his home Friday and Saturday afternoon for Lunch and Dinner and Friday. All this for the Sabbath. A good man he was and A Big Heart.

He was a true Jewish Indian at heart. I am not sure what class he was in probably early Forties or late thirties. I still have to find out.

The same with Ruby Hayeem. Both Old Timers!

Ellis leave for Bombay tomorrow. I know he is VERY Excited about it.

Thinking of all of you.

Cheers

Gracie

53er Sen Philip was shocked to hear of Meyer's passing as he had spoken to him just a few weeks earlier. He had mentioned that he was sick, but not that ill.

My last day in Chennai was as hectic as the rest. I left home at 7 am to go to the Osler Diagnostic Clinic where I had had the Executive Check Up done 10 years earlier. It had changed slightly, but it is not like a train station as Apollo. I was the first patient and things moved quickly, but the doctors were late in arriving, so half way through I got blocked. However, once they got there, things continued till they told me I had to go and get something to eat to do another blood test.

I ate at Murgan's Idli Centre, which in Madras is as famous as MTR. The Idli, Masala Doasi and the complimentary Vada, were of superb quality. The place was clean and hygienic. I was served on the traditional banana leaf. So it is not a thing from the past as this restaurant has been using the leaf all the while.

I went back to the Clinic, and they then told me to come back an hour and a half later!

So I went home, packed and came back for the blood test. I had a meeting with the doctor who told me that physically I was in good shape, but he could not comment fully as the biochemistry results would only be with him in the evening. He promised that the results will be couriered to me in Mumbai and that I could ring him whenever I wanted.

We said farewell to Shashank and his wife, Shiri, and Shashank’s mother. Shahsank had made a compilation CD / DVD especially for me. Annikki and I are hoping to listen to it shortly.

Dr. Subramanyam had taken his daughter for a recording session and had said goodbye to Annikki. I am sure we will hear more of this young lady very soon.

We loaded the car and went to the book shop recommended by Abe - Odessy, in Adayar. Annikki found her slim book about Indian Butterflies!

On to Radisson for lunch and then to the airport.

We bade farewell to our driver Thirumeni, who had re-educated us about Chennai. A wonderful personality and extremely caring. A fund of knowledge considering his 28 years as a tourist taxi driver in Chennai.

The Mumbai flight was Air India crew but in an Indian Airlines marked plane. The service was much more streamlined and professional than the other Indian airlines we have flown in so far. And the soft drinks and dinner were free. Nothing to write home about, but still it was welcome to get a meal before we landed in Mumbai.

We had a new driver, Mahesh, us in Mumbai. He spoke Hindi and Marathi. He considered himself a refugee from Delhi, having settled here in Mumbai many years ago.

I dropped Annikki at the Malayala Manorama Guest House and got dropped at the Willingdon Club where the Cathedralite 64ers were having a session. I was welcomed like their family. The discussions were quite expressive at times. This was the first time I was personally meeting another year Group - and it proved to be quite an interesting evening.

Of course, a few of them did not know me, my blogs, my life in Finland nor my work as a social worker. How could they! Hopefully they will read our blogs and see that the actions speak louder than the words that Annikki and I put on the pages of our many blogs.

I was so happy to hear that many present are following these daily updates. I was also so glad to meet a fellow Mac User - I am an avid Mac User, like all Mac users!

It was so nice to meet all these who so far had only been images on my blog. A lovely crowd, and I was able to share a few words with all of them.

I promised to make an appearance at their reunion party on the 11th. It clashes with our own 59er party at the Bombay Gym, hosted by Viney and Ooky. However, they have managed to get Mr. J. P D'Souza and probably Mr. Jagdish Pande to attend, and I hope to have these two teachers can attend Annikki's and my get-together "An Evening with the Findians" on the 13th. Fingers crossed.

Mumbai is pleasant, but there were unseasonal showers late last night. Many of our reunion events are outdoors, so we have to keep our fingers crossed that dry weather prevails!

Today I have a few important people to meet from my pst life in Germany and Mumbai. Annikki can rest till the evening programme sets in. Brief you tomorrow - so till then, stay well.

Each day is more rewarding

As each day in India passes, I feel that I am being rewarded even more. The rain has been hitting Chennai and the friends are thanking Annikki and me for bringing them the relief. The dry spell of over a year has gone and the parched earth is soaking up the rain. Road traffic has been disrupted, but it still continues to flow.

In the morning I decided to visit Vishnu and Veena as I had a great desire to meet his parents before I left. It was a visit well worth making as I have great respect for Vishnu's father who was, like my other very good friend, my uncle, Kuriyan Matthan, a meticulous personality with similar traits. Vishnu's mother was still the same as when I last saw her. Vishnu's uncle, whom we refer to as "Tablet's uncle" was also there and also very much the same as when I had seen him last. Time has stood still and they have retained their youthfulness.

I was able to speak with Vishnu's brother, Gishnu, and also meet Vishnu's sister's son.

Many people do not realise that lesson's are learned from all around you. I have learned much from this family, and although they look at me with great respect, I think it is I that owe them a debt hat I can never repay.

I returned back having been fed Veena's rasam that is my ether of life.

Annikki was ready and I thought we would go to have a buffet at one of the good hotel's in Mumbai. I chose Chola, which is an ITC hotel.

The spread was stupendous and all of us did it justice, especially Mika, who ate two helpings of everything he liked and could lay his hands on. The cost was also high compared to what we have been paying, but by Finnish standards, it was still very very low for wahat we ate!

After dropping Mika back at the room, Annikki and I went to City Centre as she wanted to buy some books. Sunday afternoon, and I understood well that there is no recession in India among the middle class. The shopping mall was packed to the brim that we could not get a parking place. The mall was thronging with people of every shape and size, all dressed well and with money in their pockets. I sat near the doorway and waited till Annikki finished her shopping. She had gone to the bookstall to find a book about butterflies and found two, but one was too enormous to carry back to Finland.

A short rest and it was time to visit my dear friend Isaac Sundarajan and his wife Nalla. Nalla is doing what her heart wants her to do, rehabilitating destitute women. She has chosen a place far from the city centre and is building the infrastructure to execute her work. She is finding progress slow, but I did not see a dampening in her enthusiasm to do what is God's mission for her.

Isaac is jet-setting in his new job as Vice President of a wing of LnT. The two LnT guys in Oulu come under him as also all the guys who were my good friends in Oulu and now back in Mumbai. Isaac has promised that he would soon be back in Oulu and we certainly are looking forward to have him with us again in our midst there, even if it is only for a few days.

Nalla said a wonderful and moving prayer before we left. We could see the spirit of God in her life and I silently prayed that her mission would be successful.

It was along journey to our next port of call.

Abraham Tharakan is 9 years my senior, studied in St. Joseph's College in Bangalore in the early 1950s, stayed in the hostel across from my Lalbagh Road home , and was probably the greatest influence on my life. He told me that we had met once in 1975. I do not fully recall that meeting. In my mind I was meeting him for the first time after we parted company in 1954.

Abe is still the same as I knew him then. A character whose tenacity and will are as tough as then and who is still as gentle as a lamb. He is recovering from a heart by-pass surgery.

I felt terrible that I had kept him waiting for so long, but with the rains, all my well laid out plans were running hours behind schedule. I felt especially sorry for his wife, Annie, as our late arrival had meant she was dragged out of bed.

Many thoughts went through my mind when I met Annie and then the two daughters of Abe. I was glad that he had such a happy family around him and I hoped that our friendship which started 57 years ago would continue in the same spirit.

The daughters told me that he had been interviewed by The Hindu about his blogging. I hope he willlink to that piece when it is published.

I was surprised to learn that Abe had been one of the original promoters of Apollo Tyres before Raunaq Singh had taken over the project. When they started looking at the project, the cost had been estimated at Rs. 9 crores, but with the Oil crisis, it had shot up far beyond the financial capacity of the original promoters, leading to the entry of Raunaq.

Apollo Tyres is on the ascendancy again. The company has been buying projects in different countries. MRF, if it wants to be a leading global player, must watch out. It cannot rest on its laurels. MRF needs people with a greater vision about global strategies to survive in the next decade.

Mammikochamma had recommended a Chinese Restaurant in Adayar called Liu Waldorf, so we stopped there for a light repast as we were still full from our lunch. I remembered having been to this restaurant over 35 years ago when it was the haunt of IIT Madras students. The food was excellent and the prices very nominal. Well worth eating at if you visit Chennai.

Back home to ring Joanna and talk to her and for Annikki to spend an hour on the phone talking to grandson Daniel. Maria spoke to Annikki and to Annikki's delight and Joanna's chagrin (I know this is not the exact word I should use here), Maria decided that she should speak in Finnish to her grandma!

We had tried to ring our other granddaughter, Asha, but no one had answered the phone. Hopefully we can speak to her today!

Now another day has ended and a new one started. It is just near half past five in the morning and we leave for Mumbai in the evening. There is till much to be done as I will try to get my Executive Health Checkup completed where I had done it the last time a dozen years ago. Maybe I will learn what I should not be doing what I am, which of course I know. Indulging my food cravings. But as we are on holiday, i certainly will not change my spots till I get back to my strict routine in Oulu.

Our day in Cochin

I had missed posting my blog entru of our day in Cochin on Thursday October 29th.

We had arrived the previous evening, which we spent at the Cochin Guest House of Malayala Manorama and they had served us a great dinner.

I was up early on the 29th and found only the Malayala Manorama newspaper. I asked Dennis to get me an English newspaper. He got me some local business publication. As I thumbed through it I saw a picture. I glanced at the caption and it mentioned an International Standards Organisation Conference being held in Cochin. Stting in the middle of the photo was my very best friend from my days at the National College of Rubber Technology, London, from the mid 1960s.

I had not met Christie Robert since 1966 when we had finished our course.

I rang the hotel where the conference had been held. I was put through to Christie.

My driver arrived earlier than I had asked him.

I rushed off to the hotel and sat over breakfast with Christie. It was so wonderful to meet up with my old friend and his nephew, who incidentally lives in Lund in Sweden, where another best friend from my days at St. Stephen's, Ajay Verma and his family, live.

Rushed back to the Guest House. Mika, Annikki and I went to Thambi and Bina's (Mr. & Mrs. Philip Mathew) place for breakfast.

What a wonderful garden. Overlooking the river, the view is extraordinary, and the garden is simply marvellous. Annikki and I were in raptures over the garden.

Bina served up a wonderful breakfast of everything we just adore and miss in our lives in Finland. They are a wonderful couple. They are unique. With Thambi's two brothers and their wives who make up the great team that drives Malayala Manorama and all its associated publications.

Then it was off to the airport, but on the way we stopped at Kalamesserry, where my cousin Sarasukochmma and her husband, Annikunjuchayan (Mrs. a& Mrs. P. V. Jacob) live. I had last visited this house in 1958 (51 years ago) when it had just been built. I remember it as if it was yesterday and I was surprised to find that Sarasukochamma also recalled that visit.

The whole of that road is in chaos, so they have decided to sell the house and move to Kottayam, where two of their sons now live.

Then on to the airport. We had some time to spare so we decided to rest at the Malayala Manorama Guest House just next to the airport. What a wonderful building, designed by Nina, who is Apu's wife. Apu, is Sarasukochamma's eldest son.

Not only is the design unique and practical, and especially designed so that our uncles, Peelukuttychayan (97) and Mathukuttychayan (93) can use it when they arrive in Kerala. it is just 2 minutes from the airport.

Our flight was at 14:00 hours, so we were taken to the airport at 13:30 to be greeted by a Malayala Manorama representative who rushed us, with no hassle, through the check in formalities and sent us through the Security right into the waiting plane.

What wonderful organisation. Kudos again to my trio of cousins who run the Malayala Manorama in a manner which is exemplary! Wish India was run like this!!!

A great Saturday

Saturday is Annikki’s Sabbath and a day of rest. I located the Seventh Day Adventist Church in Vepery. We found the road filled with churches - but the Seventh Day Adventist one was the only one open on Saturday.

We arrived in the middle of the Tamil Service, so I dropped off Annikki and went to see Moore Market, one of my childhood haunts. Learnt it had burnt down in 1985 (some said it was a controlled arson) and found it filled with bookshops and pet shops.

A most depressing place except that I found an electronic's shop which put a new cover to my ancient Finnish Nokia phone, giving it a new lease of life for just Rs. 40 (€ 0.60)!

The guy was so nice that he took out the original keypad from my dilapidated old case and gave it to m. He told me that the new one would last only a short time after which I should put in the old keypad which would last me another lifetime!!

The rain was not abating and many Madras streets were flooded. The Toyota Inova with its high axle height was getting through whereas all around us auto rickshaws and cars were stalling - mainly because of the backwash into the exhaust.

When I reached the church, the English service was still on. I sat through a one hour sermon. Maybe it had meaning to the others, but to me the preacher was repeating what I have heard from different points of view sitting in the front pew in St. Thomas Cathedral, Bombay in the 50s when I was a choir boy.

I do not like sermons because of those 5 years where every Sunday evening I had sat in the front row listening the priest or the bishop rant on and on as they had to! They were expected to say something and spend 15 to 20 minutes - so they took up some topic just so as to fill that time. In my 5 years I probably heard just two sermons that held some meaning and had a message which I still remember!

Off to pick up Mika and lunch - Chinese again.

Recharged my Indian phone with another Rs. 2002 of airtime! This time they gave it as something known as "Full Talk" which meant I did not lose 10% as tax.

Then it was visit time and we went to see Ammnikochamma and Kunjuchayan (Dr. Mrs. and Mr. E. J. Lukose) as they had not been able to attend the family dinner. Finished the last two family visits of my generation, Senchayan (Sen Philip) and Kunjumonchayan and Ommenakochamma (Mr. & Mrs. Mammen Eapen). In the last we had the opportunity to meet their daughter and their two kids again. Truly wonderful family. Love them all.

Dinner was at a place recommended by our niece - Cedars, a Mediterranean restaurant. It was an unique experience of wonderful food and extraordinary service.

Service in most Indian restaurants of all types has generally been good - but this was outstanding as the waiter was able to really fulfill our needs in every way and lead us through a gastronomic delight. Not heavy but simply marvellous.

One of our top experiences in India and a change from our routine of Indian / Chinese - Indian cuisine.

Back home to hear a long philosophical chat between our 5 year old grandson in Newcastle and Annikki. Listening to his advice to his Grandma had me in splits of laughter. At one point he asked whether Annikki knew their house number in Newcastle so she would not get lost when she went there. When Annikki told him that she thought it was 36, Daniel told her that she was close - he told her it was 27!!! :-)

Dr. Subramanyam was there when we got home wanting to host us to lunch or dinner, before we left, which I sadly had to decline because of our heavy calendar booking for the next two days.

When I told him that his daughter's flute music was as good as his son's and I asked when she would perform, he confided in me that he wanted to be sure that he did not commit the same mistake twice. He had allowed his son, Sashank, to start his performance career at 12 with his first concert in Australia. He had neglected Sashank's general education and although Sashank had provided for the family for the last 21 years with his brilliance, there was always a nagging feeling that he had denied his son the chance of a general education.

He had made up his mind he would not follow the same course with his daughter. So her career as a flautist was second to her "education".

I may not agree with Dr. Subramanyam as the sounds from his daughter's flute are so unique that she is complementary to Sashank. I wish her a glorious career as a flautist. And she has a wonderful natural personality which will be a great asset in her career.

Many of you have written to me about the behaviour of my siblings and their spouses which i had mentioned in my last posting. It is their loss - not mine! Annikki and I were in no way disturbed by their absence at the family gathering - which showed that they did not belong to the family. Thank God!

We are welcomed...

The North East monsoon is here in Madras, a steady and welcome rain. Our driver, Thirumeni, who is store of history at every street corner and at every politicians house, said the Gods had welcomed our visit to Chennai with wonderful rains which had considerably cooled Chennai for our visit. He has a great sense of humour and although my Tamil is virtually non-existent, he speaks in a dialect that my Malayalam makes it easy to follow. He works for a company called Ganesh Travels and as he is not the regular driver for my other family members, does not know the addresses and locations of my numerous relatives in the city. But he is resourceful enough to find out fast!

On Friday morning I devoted myself to meet my two cousins and their husbands who were my guardians when I was studying at St. Stephen’s College, Delhi.

Mammikochamma and and husband, Kuttachayan, (Mrs. and Wing Commander (rtd.) A. G. Mathews) live in the Defence Officers Colony in Nandambakkam.

I first visited the house where Annikki and I had stayed in 1970-1971 in that colony. It was still lush and beautiful but the grass that Annikki had laid in the midday sun was no longer there.

My cousins were as sprightly as ever, even though they are late 70s and mid eighties. Mammikochamma produced her old albums of photographs, so much so that I vowed to return on my next visit with an efficient scanner and to scan her glorious collection. It is a goldmine of history and something to be treasured. Unfortunately, due to damp, many pictures have been damaged.

Their house is magnificent and designed very cleverly to accommodate children and grandchildren when they come. We laughed over many of our past memories together and they remain so dear to me.

On to my other Delhi guardians. This time I did see Chennai traffic in rush hour. With the rain having cut away almost two lanes on the major roads due to water logging, the traffic still moved, albeit slowly. There was no massive tangle we had witnessed in Bangalore.

We reached Ashwathykochamma and Thambichayan’s (Mrs. & Mr. K. M. Jacob) new house on the Thirvanmuyur outskirts of Chennai to be greeted by them and their daughter-in-law, Mich. Ranjeet and Mich are building a house nearby.

We laughed about how when Annikki had insisted on living on the city outskirts when we lived in Madras, we were scolded by everyone about living away from the city. At that time we were no more than 7 minutes from the city centre! Now the same journey takes between 15 to 30 minutes and no one complains!

We relived our wonderful times in Delhi, where my cousins Suresh and Rajen and myself would go and spend wonderful weekends in their home. It was so tiny but there was space for everyone and the food was glorious. Those were the days, but what is important none of us have forgotten the bond that was created during our childhood years.

When I reached home I got the news that Sashank’s father, Dr. Subramanyam, had invited us as his guest to a concert at the Bharat Sangeet Utsav 2009 to be given by Sashank. Could anything be more wonderful than that. Sashank has been invited many times in the last 25 years when he was a child prodigy, to this festival, the best in Carnatic music, but his international tour schedules never gave him the opportunity to take part. And we were given pride of place to be invited by him to witness his poweress.

Lunch at the Kabul where we tasted some authentic Afghani food, and while Annikki rushed to the shopping Mall City Centre to do some financial mischief, I caught up on my email. She was back in time for us to join Sashank and his father to go to the auditorium.

The performance was spell binding. Sashank and his friends were simply outstanding, and the music was electric. I have never been to a concert of Indian Classic Music, but it was worth every minute. The audience cheered as Sashank asked them what they wanted to hear and rendered each item with a gusto and precision that becomes only a maestro. His young years are not a hindrance. Later in the evening when I asked him how he managed to retain the compositions in his brain, he quickly responded that he had performed with ferocious regularity over the last 25 years, the music was imprinted in his brain.

There was no sheet music in front of any of the artists, but they blended so beautifully that I was amazed at the skill of these artists!

We rushed back home to get dressed and go off to our Kanadthil family dinner at the home of Kunjukochamma (Mrs. K. M. Mammen Mappillai) wife of the late K. M. Mappillai, the founder of MRF Ltd. over 70 years ago. He was my mother’s youngest brother and they were so close that much of his strength was derived from the brother-sister relationship. She had held the family together when it went through many of the major crisis which would have split the family.

Mika, Annikki and I were the first to arrive (Finnish style - on time) and only my aunt was there. It was good to renew our association after 10 long years which had seen the demise of my mother and her husband. She is still the wonderful personality she has been since I attended her wedding in the late 1940s when this home had been our family home. Although modernised it was still a home that generated most pleasant me mores of our past. A fitting place for a family reunion.

Almost everyone of the family of my generation and the one after and their children attended. The only major omissions were my siblings and their spouses. They did not have the courage to show their faces as the hypocrisy and their behaviour as criminals would have not have been missed by all those present. They would have to answer just one question “My father died in 1993 and my mother in 2000. Where are their wills and assets?”

The only inheritance that I received was the magnificent zebra cloth hand-stitched art piece that Annikki had made for my mother and which had hung as a centrepiece in her home for all her life in both Bangalore and Madras. It now hangs in our home.

All the assets of my parents as well as the personal possessions Annikki and myself, and my personal assets which we had had left behind in India, had been carved up between my brother, my sister and my nephew in Australia. I cared a damn as these ill-gotten gains would haunt them through eternity!

The evening, thanks to their absence, was something which I can never forget. The love and affection showed by my cousins, their children and grandchildren who attended, was a tribute to my grandfather and grandmother, whose memory lived in all of those of my generation.

From the Oommen family we had three sisters, Accakuttykochamma, Mammikochamma and Ashwathykochamma and many from the generations after. From the Eapen family we had Kunjumonchayan and also many from the generations after. From the Varghese family, no members from my generation but a grand attendance from the generations after. The Philip family was represented by Senchayan. And from the Mammen Mappillai family, besides our hostess, Vinoo and Arunm and late Ravi’s wife, Meera, and many of the subsequent generations including one who will next August become a member of the family, attended. Two Stephanians in the lot. There was no one from the Cherian, Jacob and Mathew families in Chennai to attend.

The dinner was typical Kerala and was catered by one of the leading restaurant groups in Chennai. The food was superb and the atmosphere was so beautiful. And Vinoo (K. M. Mammen who is presently the Chairman and Managing Director of MRF Ltd.), Meera (wife of Ravi, Mrs. Meera Mammen, who looks after the real Human relations of MRF Ltd. staff and workers), and Arun (Arun Mammen, who is the Joint Managing Director of MRF Ltd.), who were the organisers of this event should be proud that, if they want they can bring together the family in a spirit of their grandfather. Although Annikki and I will not be here to partake in such events, as was expressed by Vinoo’s wife, Ambika, they need such events where family can be family.

I remember my family home in Mumbai and Bangalore, and finally in Chennai, was the meeting point of many generations, spurred by my mother. I hoped that a lesson was learned and understood that without family unity, no one would have been where they are today.

Sad news follows me now

As I am blogging all my blogs here, I must share with Cathedralites the sad email I received this morning from 54er Gracie Hayeem.

Dear Jacob,

Three of our Cathedralite Family have passed away, very recently.

Ruby Hayeem in August, In Montreal Canada. Our cousin's Hayeems of fifteen children all went to Cathedral School!!

Freddy Sopher in October in London. Solomon Sopher and David Sopher's Eldest Brother,. He was a vibrant member of jewish and Indian Life.


The latest tragedy in November 3rd. Meyer Hillel, sister of June Hillel.She was a spiritual Leader in Israel.

All very sad news. Just for your Information for the Cathedral Family .

Hope all is well by you and Annikki. Soon you will be celebrating on Founders Day. I have heard Brother Ellis will be attending.

Many good wishes as always.

Gracie.

My deepest condolences go out to all the bereaved families. Our prayers are with you.

Bit rushed this moning

I came down as usual to do my blog at 5 am, but Sashank had unfortunately closed the door of the apartment, so I could not get in. He was awake and playing his flute. So I sat outside and listened to him. Glorious.

Then the rain came down and the power went off - so I went back and lay down till the power came on again -8 am!

This reminded me of some of the issues of why I had not been happy to live in India - no, not the rain, but the constant power breakdowns, was one of them.

Yesterday was a day to meet old friends - and the first is one of the most quiet yet powerful men in India. Ratnam was a trusted member of the MRF team till his retirement 3 years ago. He uses his power wisely and never to harm anyone. He keeps to himself and never interferes with anyone. We sat and chatted for two hours and he insisted that I have breakfast with him and his son. I met his 12 year old granddaughter and his daughter-in-law. Ratnam told me that unlike others, he was able to open up and share his thoughts with me - I felt so wonderful to have a friend like him, a friendship which has stood the test of time.

I picked up Annikki and Mika and we went to the beach - Anniki's greatest pleasure. We walked to the sea front where the heavy waves were pounding the seashore and a few guys were braving the onslaught.

We enjoyed the walk in the hot sun, while Mika parked himself on the beach sand till we returned.

Then it was time for a Chettinad lunch at a restaurant called Anjappar - and this was new to Annikki. Both she and Mika enjoyed the Biriyani with the Chettinad curry, while I had a great thali meal. We also enjoyed the typical Chettinad fish fry!

Annikki did some shopping and all of us were exhausted. A rest, and then I was off to see my cousins Mrs. & Mr. E. J. Lukose (Amnikochamma and Kunjuchayan) and Mrs. K. G. Kuruvilla (Accakuttykochamma. Moments shared that I cannot forget with two of my elder #sisters".

Back to pick up Annikki and Mika for another dinner - and it was just too much that Annikki and I could hardly finish what was on our plates. Mika downed his fried rice and fish curry with great relish.

I have not changed my mind about Bangalore and Chennai. But Chennai residents have warned me that the tide may turn and they too may be sucked into this global expansion which is nothing but chaos. I sincerely hope not.

As we came home we could hear the flute and we hoped that these values would remain.

Chennai a sensible city so far

Our first day in Chennai was hectic, but things can happen here.

Not only did I visit many old friends and have lunch with our son at New Woodlands, but in the evening we could with our very dear friends Vishnu and Veena and their elder son, Swaroopya, at the Madras Gymkhana.

The North East Monsoon showed a bit of its fury yesterday. still remember the school text books in Finland which called the North East Monsoon as a "dry wind".

In Chennai you are able to plan a day with plus or minus 15 minutes, keep your appointments. The roads and road traffic are organised.

Annikki was slightly unwell with the travelling, etc., and especially the air conditioning in the cars. But she was able to join us for dinner last night

Established telephonic contact with many friends and relatives and it seems that in the 5 days we have here we will meet all of them. We are not accepting any dinner and lunch engagements except group ones, as that is the only way to save time. But visits to all elders planned and they will be executed.

Mika is in his element and really enjoying his trip. He is getting to remember much of his early life in India. Loves the veg food but loves his non veg stuff to.

Heavenly flute music was floating through the house when we got in around midnight last night. Sashan was playing in the main house. We did not disturb him but went up and enjoyed the divine sound.

Apologies to many Bangaloreans

Annikki and I would like to express our very sincere apologies to the many Bangaloreans, relatives and friends that we were unable to meet. The reason is very simple. Time and Bangalore traffic.

In all sincerity we did not know the chaotic situation that exists in Bangalore, both in terms of the volume of traffic and the lack of the rule of law and road sense.

Trips that should have taken a few minutes took hours because of the volume of traffic, the total lack of planning in the way road directions are organised and the sheer stupidity of the expansion of Bangalore.

Our driver, Prem, a local person, is an excellent driver and a man with a great deal of initiative. He knew all the back streets that one needed to know. He knew all the major congestion points and the time to get through them.

But all that was not much use when a hand or bullock cart drawn vehicle appeared in a tight situation. Each driver was pushing the nose of his vehicle forward to gain an inch and a strategic position to push the next inch forward.

Before our trip to Mysore, Prem told me a lost of things we would come across on the highway: - overloaded bullock carts in the fast lane of the highway, cows and sheep strolling along, all slow vehicles occupying the fast lane, vehicles travelling in the wrong direction, people stepping out suddenly from the divider from amongst bushes, and many many more. The worst incident was when a tractor with three young boys travelling on open road cut into the fast lane just in front of us as we were about to overtake. Only the skill of Prem averted a major mishap.

So saying, being a meticulous planner and a stickler for keeping time, Annikki and I landed up almost an hour late to meet the Patni Computers boys who had called us to a wonderful hotel for dinner in Electronic City. I felt embarrassed and ashamed of my lateness.

It was just impossible to even try to meet all our friends and relatives. I set up a hierarchy system and only manged to achieve 10% of my goal. Some important things could not be put off - the visit to Maddur to meet the person who saved our son's life, Dussera lights and meeting Cathedralites 49er Naval and 54er Armaity, the Matthan lunch (where met almost 15 of our senior relatives in one go, visits to my older cousins on my mother's side, the visit to the cemetery to locate and see the graves of my parents, the visit to my alma mater (Bishop Cotton's) for the 5th General K. S. Thimayya lecture.

In all this we were only able to meet just two old friends in Bangalore, and on one occasion we were 3 hours late for a lunch appointment. In that case a Government bus took the rear end of our vehicle!

Annikki and I ask your forgiveness. The intentions were there but it was a physical impossibility. We did speak to many - but the situation lay outside of my capability.

Why chaos?

We arrived in Chennai at around half past seven last night. After Mumbai, Cochin, Kottayam and Bangalore, we expected another dose of chaos, dirty streets, unruly traffic.

What a surprise! Chennai is not in a state of chaos. There is heavy traffic, but it is orderly and moves fast. The streets are not paved with rubbish. There is no organized chaos.

More on this later.

Our last day in Bangalore was important for both Annikki and me. I left for the cemetery at 8:45 am and met Mr. James, who is in charge. I asked for details about my parents graves. He quickly found my father’s site from his date of death. He then found a grave listed for my mother at a different site.

Mr. James came with me to my father’s grave. To his surprise he found that my mother was buried alongside her husband. My brother and sister had been ostentatious, occupying three plots instead of just one or two. Why? It showed up their power and greed. My parents would never have done this. I felt sad.

I went back to the hotel and Annikki, Mika and I came back to the cemetery to pay our respects to our loved ones. Both of us were emotionally overcome.

I saw another elderly gentleman tending another grave nearby. He came to speak to us. I asked him which church he belonged to. The answer came as a surprise as it was the same one Annikki belongs to. He was tending the grave of his dear departed wife of 7 years.

We decided on an early lunch and I chose Parade Cafe. I had been at its opening in the early 50s. It had belonged to a cousin of my mother, Mr. P. O. Koshy. The opening had been historic as all the waiters had worn white gloves andthe floor had been constantly wiped clean by a team of cleaners. The food had been spectacular.

The restaurant we went into seemed dark and dingy. But that was an illusion as wed had come in from bright sunshine. It was not the spotless cleanliness personified interior of Mr. P. O. Koshy, but it was clean and neat. We chose a table near the back. When the waiter came, I asked who now owned the place. He pointed to the table just behind me and there I saw a gentleman who was a miniature replica of his father. Prem came over and was really overjoyed to hear who we were. He briefed us on his father, who had passed away, and offered us any dish as a blast from the past. We chose the mutton fry.

We ordered the rest of the food from the menu, and even before the meal was served Perm's brother, Santosh, was at our table side. He too was genuinely happy to share a few moments with us. His wife had worked with my father.

The food was excellent and the service, by a waiter called Anand, was really something to write home about. Mika downed an entire tandoori chicken and two nans. Both Annikki and I enjoyed the mutton fry, a chicken dish and the keema nan. I ordered the Koshy Special Ice-cream Nut Fudge with chocolate sauce, so much so even Mika was tempted and had one.

I went to say farewell to Santosh in his office and was surprised to learn that our waiter had worked 28 years, the same amount of time as Santosh, in this restaurant.

Thank you Prem and Santosh for keeping the food and service at the same quality as your grandfather, and then your father.

We went back and rested at the hotel and then left early for the airport. Even though it was not rush hour, driving on the streets and highways of Bangalore is nothing less than sheer bravado. Nobody follows the rules.

Prem, our driver was extraordinary to take us through the week safely. This young boy has great intelligence and will go far. He has become a good driver and whatever he does, he will do it well.

Thank you, Prem.

The Chennai flight was just 35 minutes and we passed through turbulence. We arrived and found a well organized but considerably smaller airport than Bangalore. It was a modernized old airport, but it functioned well. The roads out were a bit more complex than in the earlier days, but it was a well planned system. The traffic, heavy as it was, moved smoothly and fast. There was not the mad jostling as in Bangalore.

Annikki and I both noticed that the streets were clean, the Police were right on the spot with the right equipment to ensure that the traffic was not bottling up, and all the new road constructions made sense.

I analysed that the mad growth in Bangalore was the result of greed. That greed had spawned the chaos. The big companies were least concerned with the clvic sense of their city as they played the game only to better their own bottom line. It was obvious that in Bangalore the system was ruled by corruption, a corruption spurred on by the greed of the huge IT companies. There was absolutely no need for the chaos as it was. It suited these IT companies to generate chaos as it meant the heat would not be on them but on the Government and civic bodies. But, anyone with an iota of common sense would understand that it was the large IT companies which were behind this situation.

I have vowed never to visit Bangalore again as it is not a city worth visiting or doing business in. I value quality of life and that element is missing from Bangalore.

We arrived at our destination in Chennai and we were so pleased to meet the house owner and his family and even more surprised at the place of stay. It is a house of antiques! We met the French Consul and then met the son of the owner, who is the famous India flautist, Shashank Subramanyam. This young 31 year old is a leading classical flautist of India. Born in Rudrapatna in the Hassan district of Karnataka, India to Subramanyam, he was trained by his father and by the singers R. K. Srikantan, Palghat K. V. Narayanaswami, Sandyavandanam Srinivasa Rao and Pandit Jasraj. Shashank is married to Shirisha, a Bharatanatyam dancer, whom we also had the pleasure of meeting.

A soon as we put down our luggage we rushed off to get our essentials for our stay and we were surprised to find the nearby Spencer’s Department store open at past 9 pm.

We went to dinner at China Town, an experience not worth repeating. The food was good but the service was atrocius and imbecilic!

I set up my Mac and Shashank organized his wireless broadband connection so that I could do my blogging early morning. It is now 4:20 am and I have finished my update. Hopefully, in the next couple of days I will catch up on the missing entries.

Renewing old associations

Monday morning found me meeting an old school friend from Mumbai and his wife at the Bangalore Club followed by a trip to his factory at the Tamilnadu / Karnataka border near Hosur. He was inaugurating a new wing of his factory to undertake plating. A Rs. 12 crore outlay is a major expansion of his ÅPW President Systems Ltd which is the major supplier of the modular shells for all the major telecommunication and computer companies. Theey have a series of interesting product lines and several more in the pipeline.

The Managing Director of APW President Systems Ltd., Ooky (Elijah Elias) and I were together in Cathedral and John Connon School. His family and mine have a long and close association over the last 52 years. His guided tour of his factory premises was a treat as he runs is company as a tight ship. Rivca, his wife, is a lovely person and has stayed with my parents in Bangalore many years ago.

Everyone was expecting Rivca to cut the tape to open the new facility. But Rivca and Ooky had other ideas. In his true humble fashion, Ooky gave that right to the engineer who had been responsible to setting up the facility between January 2009 and November 2009.

Back to town and then to lunch with our dear dear friends, Gaytri and Raghu. It was a late late lunch as travelling in Bangalore is a real nightmare. It is not possible to keep an appointment on time as the traffic is totally chaotic and one sits in the traffic with one's heart in one's mouth. True to fashion, on the way a Government bus hit the back of our vehicle and damaged it. Our driver, Prem, was livid. What can one expect when in this city where no one follows the rule of law. Law is for the other person!

Since neither Annikki or I have visited the graves of my parents, we tried to see it at the cemetery. Wrong day as it was a festival and probably All Souls Day. The caretaker was nowhere to be found and the cemeteries were crowded. Annikki and I looked around but it was like looking for a needle in a haystack. We gave up after a long long hour.

Both Annikki and Mika were exhausted. I dropped them off at the hotel and paid my respects three of my dearest relatives in Bangalore - Bibikochamma (Mrs. K. C. Mammen) and Mohanchayan and Shantakochamma (Dr. K. O. Mammen and his wife).

Back to the hotel for a quiet dinner and an early night. A tiring but quite rewarding day.

November 1st in Karnataka

Probably the only State in India to have its own day, November 1st is Karnataka Day!

With no urgency in the air, I strolled out of the hotel at around 8 am to find an ATM. As I stepped out onto the side road, I observed a furious game of cricket being played in the middle of the street. The stumps were two large stone bricks. Undoubtedly India's second win in a row in the One Day Series against Australia had motivated these young boys to wield the stick and throw the ball.

I walked down JC Road and found a Dena Bank ATM. I entered an amount of Rs. 15000 and was led through a process through the machine, but at the end, it asked me to fill in my demand yet another time but coughed up no money. Then I noted that it was mentioned that if I did not have a Dena Bank Account, the maximum I could draw was Rs. 10000.

So I went through the process again, but the result was the same.

I saw the toll free number and decided to get some help.

I told “the lady” exactly what had happened, in the simplest of English and as slowly as possible. I was following my late mother-in-law’s principle who believed that if she spoke Finnish slowly, every foreigner would be able to understand her.

Sadly that was not the case here. As soon as I finished, this lady asked me questions which were answered exactly by what I had told her.

With great patience i repeated the story, this time a little more aggressively.

No luck, as she asked me to give her my card number. I was hesitant to do this, but finally I acceded to her request. Then she asked me to tell her what was written on the slip. When I told her I had not reached that stage, once again she asked me what Error Number was on the slip!

There was much to and fro after which she explained that there may not have been enough money in the machine, so would I enter Rs. 5000. With her on the line I went through the process, telling her exactly what was happening and the result was the same as before.

To my amazement she then asked me exactly the same questions as earlier.

I was quite angry by this stage and asked her to repeat to me what I had told her four times. It was obvious that this lady was not keeping any notes and she was clueless of how to answer an enquiry.

She changed her tactics and asked me why I was getting agitated. I did not fall into the trap and asked her again to repeat what I had told her - which I knew was an impossibility.

Again, after much to and fro, she asked me to enter a smaller sum, to which I asked her whether it was Rs. 100 she wanted me enter.

I was exasperated. As time was going on, I was also not wanting to spend time with a dumb head! Then she broke down and told me to go to another ATM!!!

I did, and 50 metres down the road was a State Bank of India one. In two minutes I was tucking the money into my wallet and I was off, back to the hotel.

On the way I stopped at a photo shop and asked if they had a trimming machine large enough to handle a double A3 size photograph. There was small one on the table. The man behind the counter answered me in quite broken English. It was obvious that he had no idea what I was asking despite my graphic description. So I dropped into Hindi and repeated my slow talk process. With great difficulty I extracted the information that they did not have a large trimming machine!!

At 11 am we set off to KC Das, the reputed sweet merchant, to buy Sweet Curd as our contribution to the pound party organized by the Matthan’s in Bangalore. We reached Pushpa’s house at just past 11:30 and had a wonderful afternoon in the company of my uncle Kochupapen (89) and his wife Anniekochamma (84) (Mr. & Mrs. Jacob Matthan), my aunt, Paapachi (81) (Mrs. G. T. Verghese), my cousins and their spouses, Baluchachen and Nirmalakochamma (Mr. & Mrs. George Matthan), Ajit and Omena (Mr. & Mrs. A. V. Matthan), Anand and Shalu (Mr. & Mrs. Anand Matthan), Malli (Mrs. Ninan) Nirmala and Gulden (Mrs. & Mr. Kurian), Gita and Moni (Mrs. & Mr. Thomas), Padmini and her grandchildren (Mrs. Isaac) and our dear hostess. Time flew and the lunch, Chinese, was simply delicious and it was followed by a sweet pf pumpkin halwa, which fell into my category of greats!

We were the last to leave, greatly saddened at having to part company with such a wonderful band of my family after we had recalled many a past of our exhilarating episodes in years gone by.

A quick rush to the hotel and we left for Mysore to see the Dussera lights on the Palace. En route we stopped at Sommanhalli, a village outside Maddur, and with help from the small merchant, tracked down the young man who had saved Jaakko's life by sucking out the poison from his foot 25 years ago when Jaakko had been bitten by a deadly Russell Viper. As per Jaakko's request, we giave him a small monetary gift, as no amount would have been large enough to compensate the life saved. Being Jaakko’s 41st birthday, this was Jaakko’s and our thanks to this man, greatly aged, but still there running a small tea shop at the gates of the entrance to the small village of Sommanhalli.

The pipal tree sapling that I had planted 30 years ago was now an enormous tree at the top corner of the garden. It was now outside the factory premisses as the villagers had made it their prayer tree. It was lush unlike the factory which was being renovated by a new owner. The old plot had been carved into two and work to create two factory shed was slowly progressing!

We stopped at S. M. Shanker’s house. I met Mrs. Shanker, as her husband was away in Bangalore. S. M. Shanker is the younger brother of S. M. Krishna, the current Indian Foreign Minister. I recalled past days. The lady wanted us to join her for a cup of tea. But our interest to reach Mysore meant I had to forgo such a prospect.

On to Mysore.

I would like to tell you the story of the experience of driving on a highway, but this I will leave to a later entry. It is so shocking that I do not want to spoil my dreams of my Incredible india story with such an experience.

Thanks to our wonderful driver, Prem, whom we discovered was a Christian, we reached Mysore in one piece. En route, I rang my seniors and friends, Cathedralite 49er Naval Patel and his 54er wife Armaity (née Mody) to tell them we would be there soon. He gave me directions to reach near his home. However, when we reached Mysore, we saw the chaos of Cochin and Bangalore roads had extended as far as this beautiful city, so we went directly to the Palace so Annikki and I could observe the wonderful sight, lit up as in my childhood days. It was truly glorious. I especially remembered my father who used to spend many a sleepless night ensuring that not a single light bulb was off during the Dussera celebrations in 1948- 1949, during our life in Mysore.

From there I rang Naval and we agreed to meet at the Southern Star Hotel (which we found later had changed its name to Regalis Hotel). I have never met Naval as he had left school 5 years before I joined. Armaity was in school when I joined. She looked as beautiful as the days I had seen her grace our school sports fields. Naval was as much a gentleman as I have come to know him over the years on the internet. When Annikki met him and I told her that this was the person who had just that morning shared the wonderful pictures she had seen on my computer about Jupiter and the sun, she knew that she too had a soul mate!

The dinner was really good, which statement is now becoming a cliché. Annikki and Mika ate well, and I restricted myself to a smaller portion as I spent most of the time talking to Naval.

What an evening and it was with great sadness we bade them farewell at just after 21:30. Despite my protestations, Armaity and Naval would not allow me to host them in their city. To me they are a perfect couple and wonderful friends whom we would like to be our guests in Finland.

Prem drove us with care and speed back to Bangalore. We reached in just over 2 and a half hours.

A truly wonderful day - and it looks like we are in for many more such days in the coming weeks.

Also a Cottonian....

Mysore Palace

Yesterday I took on another hat. I became an Old Cottonian. Although I did not complete my schooling from Bishop Cotton's, Bangalore, I studied there between 1949 and 1954, when I shifted to Cathedral and John Connon School, Mumbai. But my formative years were at Cotton’s and I enjoyed my years there, both in the kindergarten in the Girls’ School and later in the Boys’ School.

Due to Aditya Sondhi, I became involved with the writing of his wonderful book about Cottons and thanks again to him, I have stayed in touch with major events happening in the school.

It just so happened that our visit to Bangalore coincided with the 5th General K. S. Thimayya Memorial Lecture. The subject was by 64er Gopal K. Pillai, IAS, and the current Home Secretary, Govt. of India Old Cottonian (1964) on “India’s Internal Security: Challenges & Responses”.

Mika and I attended the lecture, which was preceded by a morning coffee in the school garden in front of the simply enormous Bishop George Edward Lynch Cotton Auditorium built in 2004 on the 3rd XI field.

As we walked into our alma mater, many changes were observed as on a saturday morning sports practice was in progress on the 1st XI pitch and the school was humming with activity. Greeted in front of the Warden’s Office, a feeling of great nostalgia came over me as I recalled my years in this school. They had been pleasant and wonderful days indeed. I met Aditya Sondhi (Managing Trustee) for the first time and was impressed by his cool and calm appearance and the way he and his colleagues, C N Kumar, Kiran Lakhani, Jairaj Daniel, Rajeev Purnaiya (Trustees of the Gen K S Thimayya Memorial Trust (Regd) handled the Old Cottonians and the numerous distinguished guests who had arrived for this august occasion.

After a really wonderful morning repast produced by the catering division of the school, we trooped into the auditorium, which was then packed to the brim. Mika and I represented a whole host of matthan’s who had passed through this school, starting from the very first Indian girl, Mrs. K. C. Chacko (my father’s eldest sister) right down to Mika, who had, like me studied his formative years in the school between 1976 and 1983.

The lecture was simply excellent as we were briefed on the issues and the responses of the Indian Government in a most candid manner. After the lecture we had a question and answer session and this was a no holds barred session with the final set of questions by the father of the late Late Major Sandip Unnikrishnan, who gave the supreme sacrifice on 26.11.2008. He had been an Old Cottonian. The questions were hard hitting but respecting the wishes of the father, I do not put forward his concerns on this public forum. The lecture and question and answer session overran by almost a hour

After the lecture we adjourned to the Bangalore Club where we were entertained to a lunch by the Trustees. Annikki and I had a chance to have a very intimate conversation with General Thimayya’s daughter, her husband and daughter-in-law and also meet some very old family friends who were not only Cottonians but also those whom I had shared our childhood years with. We recalled many past events of our families and it was with great sadness we pulled ourselves away from this very august gathering and returned to the hotel - exhausted.

As Annikki and Mika rested, i ran to see another dear friend, anil Ananthakrishnan and his wife, Lalitha. It was really wonderful to see how much they had accomplished during the past three years in developing and launching the EKO Vehicles concept which has been Anil’s life’s work from the early 1960s. What he has achieved with his wife in the last three years is truly outstanding.

A tough day but much was left undone. We go on to another exciting day ahead!

(PS: Annikki was brought up as a Seventh Day Adventist Christian, as her father discovered his true faith after the Finnish - Russia Winter War and World War II, where he had served and survived on the frontline (as a soldier) all through it. However, it was not till 1984 that Annikki took the step to be baptized into the faith after her marvellous experiences in the hands of her God. She was baptized in the Church in Bangalore. She attended the Church while Mika and I attended the lecture.)

(PPS: I will return to uncovered dates as I get some free time. Today is the Bangalore Malayakil Matthan Reunion lunch followed by a trip to Mysore. Hopefully back around midnight.)

Jumping a day again to Bangalore

(Sorry no photographs till I can upload to my server in Finland!)

Although Thursday was a most intriguing day in Cochin, I will come back to it later as I jump to yesterday, Friday, in Bangalore.

Our hotel is in the most crowded part of Bangalore, but as it is on a side street, it is relatively quieter that the rest - but I emphasize, relatively. I had finished blogging last night at around 4 am so I went back to bed and was up by 7. I had asked the driver to come by 8:30, thinking I would let Mika and Annikki sleep through the morning.

But the brightness and the noise had both of them up by 7:30, and they were ready by 8:30, so we trooped off to MTR for our breakfast. Annikki was still to full from our meal at the Mainland China to have breakfast. Mika downed his masala dosai and coffee, while I enjoyed the idli and masala dosai with a mug of tea. It was just too much for me. The place was crowded as usual and the atmosphere was the same as when I had last been here. Time has stood still in many ways at MTR!

We then visited my Basavangudi home on Market Road. I cried when I saw how my mother's carefully crafted garden, our childhood home, had been destroyed by the developer. It is a tragedy caused by "greed".

As Brinda had told us she would inform the owner’s of my grandfather's home in Basavangudi to show us around, we went to "Grace Home" To enter the compound was sheer joy as not only had our old childhood paradise been kept well, it had been improved upon significantly.

The owners had left the previous day for London. When we informed the caretaker, Kamala whom we were, she allowed us to see the house. It was so wonderful to enter this home which has been preserved in all its glory and also, like the garden, improved upon. I wiped away tears of joy as I went around this home, knowing that my grandparents would have approved of all the changes. I remembered the wonderful times I had spend in this house, hiding under the staircase, running around carefree, sitting with my grandparents around the enormous dining table, playing cowboys and robbers in the lush garden. It was a joy to be here.

Next port of call was Infantry Road to see some cousins and see what had happened to my dividend cheques. We were surprised to get one handed oer to us, and find that Indian Bank had returned two cheques deposited there last year.A tidy sum was lying there for us which we had no knowledge of!

I also met the binder who is the father of one of the employees there. He promised to bind the Coffee Table Book by 7 pm. A lot of compromises, but I was sure that I would get the job done before I left for Chennai.

Off too open an account at the ICICI Bank. Annikki and I were surprised at the wonderful way we were treated at the bank at a special NRI Counter. The process was long but the experience was rewarding as we left with two accounts in the bank - a NRE and and an NRO Account.

On to Indian Bank where the atmosphere was completely different. No wonder our nationalized banks are in decline! The Manager accepted the failings as there was proof of everything we had said, and he could offer no explanations whatsoever for these.

I managed to get our accounts updated, new balance statements and new check books. i will use them to close the accounts if I see no improvement in the next few months!

Visit to my eldest cousin (George Natthan) on the Matthan side in Bangalore - Baluchachen. A wonderful feeling to meet him and enter another of our childhood haunts. We spent a couple of hours till Nirmalakochamma returned home. These two looked so young.

On to Somakochamma and Georgekuttychayan's (Mr- & Mrs. G. K. O. Philips) place which was surrounded by chaos as the roadworks extended around their home in every direction. Again a paradise in a concrete jungle, The only bit of preserved lawn where we spent a pleasant afternoon with our two eldest cousins from the Kandathil side in Bangalore. We were joined by their youngest son, Peter, whom we had not seen for over 25 years. He is such a great lad. Such a joy to be with our cousins and nephews. Georgekuttychayan is preserved and Somakochamma zips around in her little car People in our family do not age in India!

Then it was time to visit the binder (Sree Kanyaka Parameswari Power Press). He had promised a 19:30 delivery. We reached there at 18:45. I watched him work diligently is a ramshackle place, but he knew what he was doing. Chaos became the work output of a craftsman with nimble fingers as he lovingly created the hard cover for the Class of 59 Directory. He handed me the final documents at 19:40.

No time to go to the hotel to change before going tom meet our Patni friends in Electronic City. Our driver, knowing our time demands, asked whether he could drive as a "Bangalore driver" as he weaved through the traffic and got us to the wonderful hotel about 45 minutes late. i was overjoyed to see my old friends from Oulu patiently waiting for us. The dinner was simply exquisite - a buffet and as none of us had had a morsel since morning we scoffed the wonderful food with relish.

I had said that they were my guests, but they outsmarted me and paid the bill behind my back. Then just as we were leaving they brought out a gift from them. I cried at the gesture, as I was expecting no such thing as these were my children whom i loved so much and who had given me much joy when they lived in Oulu Annikki was also overjoyed at seeing them and feeling their great love and affection.

Thank you boys, and remember you are always welcome back at Oulu as my friends

The return journey did not take as long but even at this hour of around midnight the roads were throbbing with traffic.

Exhausted, we crept into our beds after midnight. I was sure i would be up early to put up my entry of another day of our visit to Incredible India.

Back blogging again

This is now a topsy turvy ride in my blog. (Sorry, no pictures as yet till I can upload to my personal server in Finland!)

I had no secure internet access for a couple of days. When I moved from our Royal residence "Windsor Castle" to the beautiful Malayala Manorama Guest House in Kottayam, I gained access to a LG screen, some 29" wide, but I lost my internet access.

Malayala Manorama has a policy of not giving unfettered internet access due to security reasons. So I had to check my email (which is gmail) at an internet cafe. There are several in Kottayam, and the charge is Rs. 10 for half an hour (roughly €0.30).

However, even though the price is cheap, the locations were not conducive for personal work, as blogging.

I concentrated the next couple of days on getting ready the Coffee Table Book for my class 50th Year reunion. The big screen connected to my Mac Mini along with the Bluetooth Mouse and the Bluetooth wireless Mac mini keyboard were just perfect.

I was able to correct most of the mistakes and take it to a small laser print centre (Copy Tiger) recommended by the Malayala Manorama.

Then started an experience which is worth recounting.

The owners of the centre (two Varghese ) put me in touch with their Desktop Publishing expert. He tried to open my NeoOffice file (Mac specific version of the Sun Open Office), but was not successful. But he was able to open my jpg image files. He asked me to convert the odt files to jpg.

I went back to the Guest house, and because of the large screen, this work was so easy. I opened the odt files, gave the PRINT command, and then asked to see the Preview, which was a pdf file. I saved that file and it was one step to convert it to a jpg file. The 97 pages took just under two hours, and I was back the Print Centre with my USB Memory Stick and the converted files.

The DTP expert then worked wonders, laying out the pages in book form using Corel Draw. He worked late, up to 8 pm, and then came back the next morning and finished setting the pages exactly to my liking. He printed one copy. To my amazement there were just a few small errors. He corrected these quickly and gave me on final print. Total cost was Rs. 1940 - just € 280.

Now we had the problem of the loose cover for the bound hard copy - my final objective. He recommended a printer in a small town 18 km away in a town called Changnacherri. I reached there by 6 pm and arrived at PRIYA Digital Colour Lab. I was surprised to see the small narrow shop full of all sorts of people. When I explained my request to the owner, he assigned me a young boy who quickly set up the job, showed me different types of papers, and then printed out a sample - which was just perfect. I got a quote of € 90 for the first 5 copies and within the next 20 minutes they had delivered to me the wonderful cover for our publication.

in the meantime I established a nice relationship with the shop owner, Thambi Thomas, who knew all my family members and showed me the utmost respect. They have established in this small town one of the most unique print units which can print posters 30” wide and of any length whatsoever, one of only two machines of this type in India. I wondered how they would get work in such a small sleepy town in a remote part of Kerala, but seeing the mela around me, I knew that these people knew exactly what they were doing. I have made some lifelong friends here.

Armed with my covers, I rushed back to my Kottayam Laser Print Centre. They started printing 4 more sets of the Coffee Table Book. This was in my hands by 10:30 the next morning making it possible for Annikki, Mika and me to embark on the next stage of our journey around India - on to Cochin.

A few words about Kottayam, my childhood holiday home, and home of my very best childhood memories. It is still a great town, the hub of Malayala Manorama, the largest circulating newspaper in India. I remember when it had a circulation of just 3000 copies when it reopened in 1948 after India got its independence. Today it is printing 1.7 million and the target of 2 million copies by 2010 will certainly be achieved. Not only is it the largest circulating newspaper, it also produces the largest circulating weekly magazine in both Malayalam and in English, The WEEK having outstripped India Today. It also produces the largest circulating women’s magazine (Vanitha) and children’s magazine (Balrama). The circulation of its multilingual Manorama Directory is unsurpassed.

This has all been achieved by the style of management of three brothers, Rajen (Mammen Mathew), Thambi (Philip Mathew) and Chacko (Jacob Mathew) aided by their 93 year old father, Mathukuttychayan (K. M. Mathew) who still sits in at the daily editorial meeting in his office at 10:30 am! Each one of the cousins is different but they totally complement the others. Various nephews and nieces are involved, and each one of them is professionally qualified for the post they hold. They are backed by a team of devoted officers and workers of the company, who are not just names of numbers, but each is an individual with a face, a family and a lifelong association with this 121 year old publication.

A word about the Guest House where we stayed. It has a British Standards Institution (BSI) UK Quality Management accreditation for the quality of the accommodation and the food. The food team is led by Vasu, who has been a loyal member of the team for over 50 years. He is now 75 but is active and has a personal touch to all the preparations he serves up.

He asks the guests what they like in particular and then serves up the exact preparations which will remain unsurpassed in their memory. He knew I liked pomfret fry. He made me two exclusive versions. He dished up a sweet dish - tender coconut soufflé, which is absolutely unique.

I have decided to give this Guest House my International Best Buy accreditation, but unfortunately, it is not something open to the general public!

Before we left Kottayam, I dropped in at Mathukuttychayan’s office to say goodbye. This 93 year old was just about to start his daily editorial conference, but he stopped long enough to say goodbye to both Mika and me. As Mika shook hands with him and I hugged and kissed him, tears welled in my eyes and I cried as I was leaving. As each day passes he becomes more and more like my mother. I vowed I would come back soon to see him again.

Annikki did not come out to see him as she had a bad cold and was afraid of passing it on to my uncle. Mathukuttychayan expressed more than once that he was sad he was unable to come out to say goodbye to her!

This entire experience in Kottayam taught me that some members of my family still uphold the values set by my grandfather. For that I am happy and proud to be a member of this wonderful Kandathil family whose hospitality and generosity to one and all shows no bounds.

I would be doing a great injustice if I did not add that the spouses of all my cousins are also of the same mould as them and give more to the world than they take. Thank you Prema, Bina and Amu. You are truly Kandathils. I would again be doing a great injustice if I did not mention the sister of my gentlemen cousins, Thangam, and her husband, Jayan, both of whom are again carrying on the good work of the late Annammakochamma (Mrs. K.M. Mathew) and Mathukuttychayan.

would be doing a further injustice if I did not pay my compliments to KI James, the Personal Assistant to Rajen. He is an extraordinary person, and around him revolves the absolute efficiency shown by Rajen to all and sundry. Even after a hospitalisation on the Thursday, he was at his table on Friday to look after details about my travel arrangements, etc. Thank you, James. You are even more efficient than Jeeves!

I will be back in Kottayam in my lifetime and I expect to the see the Malayala Manorama, under such able leadership, still at the top and far far ahead of any and all of their rivals!

India is truly Incredible and it is because of the people like the Mathew family, James, the Varghese brothers and Thambi Thomas! They respect people above money. and power.

Now on to Cochin....

The next day

The wedding continued on Day 2 with a photograph session at the grooms house followed by the blessing and prayers and on to the church service and a reception in the grounds of the new Malayala Manorama printing press. The evening was the final reception at the groom's house. Radhika Mammen sang a song - what a powerful and superb voice. I remember her as a small girl in her grandmother's room being coaxed to sing for us, which she did. If I manage to track down that video I will be come a millionaire overnight! (Her father, Jayan, told me that he had been trying to persuade Radhika to keep her voice trained - so I guess he does not know she is singing in the bath every day! Great voice and great personality at so young an age - she can go as far as she wants.)

I have photographs galore and I will upload them when my server on Finland responds.

The people who attended were the ordinary folk, the mass of the 6000 guests being workers from all the units of the Malayala Manorama enterprise. No doubt many leaders from media, industry, commerce and education were there, but they were all part of the crowd. A couple of Ministers dropped in but they were not any special guests.

Many Stephanians of my generation (Abe Tharakan, George Vergese, Col. Jose Vellikappan, Rajen, Thambi, Suresh, myself) to the present (Anu, etc., etc., - many many Mathews) were there. Many of the groom's cousins and their wives / husbands, who were Stephanians were there, so much so that Abe Tharakan, a Stephanian of my era 1960 - 1963, commented to me that St. Stephen's was intending to change its name. They were planning to call it St. Mathews - as it was being dominated by this family! :-)

My "Grow Fat Cheaply" theme got a lot of people shying away from my camera, as who could resist the wonderful food on offer. The lunch was simple - a Mutton Biryani - and it was superb. Tables were laid for 12 people with papads, a tamarind plum sauce, a lime pickle, Boli (famous from Mrs. K.M. Mathew days) and the rice paysam prepacked. The large serving dishes with piping hot mutton biryani arrived and it was consumed with gusto. One of the finest biryanis I have tasted.

Most people went on to greet the bride and groom. And then it was to have a rest and get ready for the evening session,

The food in the evening was catered by the Taj group. Again an outstanding spread and I had to hold myself back as the biryani was still lingering around. I was pleased that the soft drinks on offer were tender coconut juice and lychee juice. Both most refreshing.

We got back at midnight and try as I might to upload the photographs to my Finnish server, I just could not. This typing table is too low, so I cannot sit for long to write this, but I promise when I move from Windsor Castle to a more comonn address, I will describe the occasions in greater detail and also try different techniques to get the fabulous photographs of my wonderful, extended, simple family, uploaded somewhere where they will be accessible.

Today I have started my work programme with two meetings scheduled through the day. I am having problems getting credit to my mobile phone. I paid the operator Rs. 1000, as I have already run through the first thousand, but they have not been able to upload a cent. I am down to the last few rupees, so I expect to be out of credit in a few hours.