2 YEARS - What has CHAFF done?

Posted on my Jacob's Blog and the Oulu CHAFF Blog.

Many of you have addressed me as to what exactly CHAFF (Chamber for assistance of Finns and Foreigners) Participants have been doing during the past two years. You may be in the dark as many of our participants have not asked for publicity. Also we have wished to not violate the privacy of those who have received some form of assistance from CHAFF Participants.

At this point of time it is important for me to tell you some of what we have done so that you know what has been happening over the last two years and also to understand how Ildikó Hámos-Sohlo and her team have their work cut out to help people and communities in different problematic situations.

Kasia Mazur was a trainee teacher from Poland who spent some time here in Oulu. When she needed help with her work of teaching children in a Finnish school, several CHAFF Participants stretched out their helping hands.

I had this very emotional COMMENT from our Kasia , who is now back in Poland after her short stint in Oulu, on the CHAFF Blog:

Dear Jacob,

It's Kasia.

I have just read about the last chaff sunday and although I'm not in Finland any more and I don't take part in the meetings, this is one of the saddest infos recently.

I can not imagine my stay in Finalnd without CHAFF, without help I received from all of the participants and great friends.

I kept on entering your blog site almost every week here in Poland because even if I'm not with you there, I still think about all the good times back in Finland.

Hopefully your great idea of connecting people and all the good things that came with it will be continued, and as far as I know Ildi, CHAFF is in good hands :)

So now again I want to say thank you to all my CHAFF friends and hopefully when I visit Oulu some day again, CHAFF will be still there.

With all my love,

Kasia

Is this is what Kasia remembers of a very regular CHAFF meeting?

The photograph shows some of our younger CHAFF participants: Benjamin from Australia, Andy for Venezuela, Pailin from Thailand, Kasia from Poland, Ulf from Germany, Tingting from China and Kerstin from Germany.

Or was it this of the Indian Evening organised by CHAFF participants:


Here we have Kasia, Mona's Finnish friend from Helsinki, Mona from Finland, Benjamin, Andy, and Ildikó from Hungary dressed in Indian clothes brought to the evening by the Indian members of our community.

Dressing in national coustunes was great fun for the ladies as was when they dressed and danced with Thai costumes.


Here we see Kerstin and Kasia in Thai clothes with Pailin and Mona.


But CHAFF was not just about social events like these.

Kazutaza Temboa graphic designer from Zambia, one of the founding members of CHAFF, designed the award winning posters for the International Anti Racism Week in which CHAFF joined the Oulu Divisions of United Nations, Finnish Red Cross, Amnesty International and the Oulu International School as a major organiser of this event.


The main poster designed by Kamu was symbolic and was designed to show the importance of integration.


But CHAFF Participants were not just active on the sidelines in organising the events. Ildikó and Lauri Gardner, along with Anne Rännäli, International Affairs Manager of the City of Oulu, were part of the panel chaired by Markku Heikkinen, a senior editor of the local newspaper, Kaleva, which discussed the issues of racism faced by foreigners in Oulu.

Among the participants who attended CHAFF meetings were many people of note, some famous and some not so famous, from various parts of the world.


Here, one of our regular Finnish Participants, Pentti Paakki, bids farewell to Subramaniam Paneer, from Tamilnadu, India, who had worked tireless moving the dead bodies along the Tamil Coast after the devasting tsunami.

We had Nobel Peace Prize recipient, Arpad Hámos, attending our meeting. He said that many in the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Association) in Austria were regular readers of the CHAFF Blog.


Unnop Khungrai, Ilari Sohlo, Arpad Hámos, Ildikó Hámos-Sohlo, Julista Hámos and Pailin at our CHAFF meeting.

But the reach of CHAFF has stretched far beyond the Finnish shores.

When CHAFF Participant Kannan Balaram asked me to help a group of Rotarians who were visiting India, we extended our helping hand to them to meet our friends and relatives there and organise things which were outside of their normal programme.


Kannan Balaram with another CHAFF Founding Member, Saikou Marong from Gambia.


Here Ville Suomi (second from right) and fellow Rotarians from the Oulu Region with my cousin, Satish Abraham (far left), at the Sailing Club in Kottayam, India.


Our CHAFF population grew as, for example, Ville's Japanese wife, Fumi, a biochemist researcher in Oulu University, gave birth to a beautiful baby girl, Mari. CHAFF participants were there to greet a new addition to our CHAFF Culture.

None of the work has been done for either profit, personal recognition or reward of any form. These have all been acts of self-giving. Some people have misunderstood that someone has been trying to gain publicity or monetary benefit in executing these tasks. Nothing could be further from the truth. All acts of assistance have had no ulterior motives.

I have to say to most of the 300 or more people who have been active in CHAFF, that some amazing things, some mundane things and some very responsible things, have been done by them.

As I do not wish to violate the privacy of many people who have been helped by CHAFF, I can only outline a FEW of the things done in the most general terms.

1. CHAFF Participants have been visiting foreigners and Finns in psychiatric institutions in Oulu to help them find themselves. This has included attending meetings with psychiatrists and the staff in rehabilitation centres.
2. CHAFF Participants have been rescuing helpless persons (especially foreigners) who have been violated by their partners and ensuring that they are guided to the appropriate shelters and, if necessary, legal help organised.
3. CHAFF Participants have been helping persons who have been stranded without a roof over their head and providing the temporary relief while they rebuild their status and lives.
4, CHAFF Participants have been helping persons who have been cheated by unscrupulous businessmen either in violation of contracts or in their inability to collect their legal dues.
5. CHAFF Participants have been helping those who have language difficulties during their settling period in Finland.
6. CHAFF Participants have been helping persons with accountancy and other business services.
7. CHAFF Participants have been helping those who have alcohol related problems.
8. CHAFF Participants have been helping those not to enter into job contracts where they could be exploited.
9. CHAFF Participants have been helping people move their business or residence premises.
10. CHAFF Participants have been helping people move their furniture between homes or to the rubbish dump.
11. CHAFF Participants have been helping people to start small businesses.
12. CHAFF Participants have been providing counselling to people with severe illnesses.
13. CHAFF Participants have been helping to organise cultural events.
14. CHAFF Participants have been helping to organise events related to removing discrimination.
15. CHAFF Participants have been providing short term financial help in emergency situations.
16. CHAFF Participants have been helping people with transport in difficult circumstances.
17. CHAFF Participants have been helping to organise cultural groups and associations.
18. CHAFF Participants have been introducing newcomers to Oulu to the life in this city.
19. CHAFF Participants have been sponsoring young sportsmen from ethnic minorities.
20. CHAFF Participants have been sponsoring young musicians and artists for ethnic minorities.


It was a proud moment for CHAFF Participants when a young sportsman sponsored by CHAFF, in his very first year in Finland won gold medals for both football and basketball. Here Soda proudly shows off one of his medals.

What I have shown above is nowhere near an exhaustive list of things we have done.

Some of the events were large public ones.

CHAFF helped the Oulu Divisions of the United Nations, Amnesty International and the Finnish Red Cross to organise the week long Anti Discrimination events in Oulu.
CHAFF has helped the Thai Association and Thai Community in Northern Finland to organise several exciting cultural events and also organise educational and cultural classes in Oulu. (eg., Thai Water Festival. Thai Mother's Day, Thai King's Birthday, International Festival featuring Thai culture, Thai dance Classes, Thai Cooking Classes, Thai Language Classes.)
CHAFF helped organise a wonderful Indian evening in Oulu.
CHAFF helped in organising the International Day for ethnic minorities organised by the Youth Centre in Oulu.


Bill Zhang, a brilliant Chinese Engineer was one of the Founding Members of CHAFF.


Me, another founding member, with two young CHAFF Participants, Kwan from Thailand and Veikka from Raahe, Finland.

The number of nationalities who have taken part in CHAFF activities is well over 40.

It started with just four people - Bill, a Chinese engineer, Saikou, a business man from Gambia, Kamu, a Zambian graphic designer and me, Jacob, a retired Indian living a life of leisure here in Oulu.

Some of the nationalities that I can remember, besides Finns, that passed through the portals of CHAFF during the last two years included Americans, Australians, Austrians, Bangladeshis, Canadians, Chinese, Dutch, English, French, Gambians, Germans, Ghanaians, Greeks, Hungarians, Indians, Iranians, Iraqis, Irish, Italians, Ivorians, Japanese, Kenyans, Liberians, Malaysians, Nicaraguans, Nigerians, Pakistanis, Poland, Peruvians, Portuguese, Russians, Sierra Leonians, Slovakians, South Africans, Spaniards, Sri Lankans, Sudanese, Thais, Turks, Vietnamese, Zambians. (Sorry if I have missed any nationalities!)


Isaac Sundarajan, CEO of Codenomicon OY with Tingting from China.



Indian researchers who were attendees of an International Conference on Microelectronics were happy to meet with CHAFF Participants.

We have had several notable personalities, besides the Nobel Prize winner, including several professors (eg., Fulbright lecturer, the professor from Washington D. C., Kenneth Kolson), and senior researchers from the US, India, Russia, etc., CEO's from small, medium and large Finnish and international companies, attending and taking part in the CHAFF Meetings.

But CHAFF is not about the rich and famous. It is for the humble, poor and weak, the lonely and disraught.

In this, may I ask you all to extend your hand of help to Ildikó to run CHAFF in a manner which we have done together for the last few years.

As I have said, time and time again, CHAFF is not ME or any particular individual, but it is YOU. It is not Ildikó, but it is YOU.

Without YOUR participation, CHAFF ceases to exist. It is your camaraderie and hand of friendship which is needed for CHAFF to continue in it glorious path helping especially those in desperate need.

Annikki's novel photographing technique!

A couple of days ago Annikki asked me to take pictures of the wigwam and the sand castles built by the grandkids as she intended to rake over the ground as the autumn leaves would soon be all over the garden.

When she saw my pictures, she was not quite satisfied. She said I had too much extraneous matter in the background. I tried to explain that because the picture was square, I unfortunately had to keep the background in.

She was not satisfied.I asked her to take the camera and show me how to do it.

She came back a little while later not quite knowing what she had done. When I looked at the images, I had to burst out laughing.



Quite inadvertently, Annikki had stuck her finger in front of the lens cutting out the "offensive" background!

100% attendance at Finnish Chapter Reunion

Posted on Delhi Stephanian Kooler Talk Blog, Mumbai Cathedralite Seventh Heaven Blog and my Jacob's Blog.

On Thursday afternoon I had a call from fellow Cathedralite and Stephanian, Professor Ajeet Mathur that he was on his way to Oulu to address a conference here. I decided to call a reunion meeting of both our alma maters, Delhi Stephanians and Mumbai Cathedralites.

Ajeet and spouse, Sari.

Ajeet's better half arrived on Friday afternoon, so Friday evening was reunion time with spouses at my residence. I am glad to report that yet again we had 100% attendance with both spouses present!

Ajeet is now the Project Director of the Finland - India Economic Relations Project being executed at the Indian Institute of Management in Ahmedabad. He is also the Director of the Institute of Applied Manpower Research, which is part of the Planning Commission of India (working on the 11th 5 Year Plan), which is headed by Stephanian 63er (like me) Montek Singh Ahluwalia.

Quite surprised to see that Ajeet is now an Indian bureaucrat!

Ajeet gave a very interesting talk at the conference in Oulu "Promoting mutual cooperation, economic and social development". Ajeet's topic was "On why unemployed are unemployable and what Finland can do about it".

A few years ago I would have been very excited about such a topic, but retirement has caught up with me and it is a topic for others, especially the younger expats in Oulu and Finland, many of whom have stayed jobless (for no fault of theirs) for many a year. Did Ajeet's talk offer any solutions - yes, migrate to India which requires an enormous influx of trained cadre in every field!

One particular slide was of great interest to the entire audience. It has stuck in my mind. It was a picture of a monkey cleaning utensils at a roadside truck dabha somewhere in India. Ajeet pointed out that the wages given to the monkey for his work was 2 bananas a day.

Not even the lowest of lowest in India can afford to compete with the work of this monkey.

Ajeet added that one of the largest exports from India to the US was Monkeys where they are being researched to see what human tasks can be handed over to monkeys such as repetitive keyboard entry, etc.

Great reunion - going way past midnight!

Coincidence at Oulu Airport!

Posted on my Jacob's Blog, the Oulu Chaff Blog, the Mumbai Cathedral School Seventh Heaven Blog and the Delhi Stephanian Kooler Talk Blog.

Yesterday was Annikki's birthday. I had offered to take her to any restaurant of her choice in Oulu. We have an offering of several cuisines here: Algerian, Chinese, English, Finnish, French, Greek, Indian, Italian, Mediterranean, Mexican, Moroccan, Thai, Turkish, Russian, US, Vietnamese, ...

But Annikki had other plans.

We started on a shopping expedition where she first went to he favourite Flea market and did some expensive shopping - maybe a couple of Euro!

Then we went to some small shops where she bought stuff for the house. Her next stops were two shops that were also celebrating their birthdays. We got free coffee/tea and cake for just visiting them.

Just then I had a call from Prof. Ajeet Mathur, a Cathedralite and Stephanian, like me, and also resident in south Finland. Ajeet said that he was on his way to Oulu and his plane should land around 6 pm. I told him I would pick him up from the airport.

Annikki told me rush back from the airport as her plan was to buy a pizza and go and sit on the beach and enjoy the sea breeze and the glorious sunset. She wanted a large open air restaurant and not be cooped up in a tiny one with no view in town!

I reached the airport at exactly 6 pm. There were a load of people coming off a plane. I noticed what looked like a foreigner waiting with a small placard identifying a conference, which I knew would be the one Ajeet would be headed for. I also noted a cameraman waiting to get a film of the arrival of Ajeet. Obviously, Ajeet was to be a distinguished speaker at the conference.

I positioned myself next to these two gentleman, who obviously had come for the same purpose - to receive Ajeet. I heard them conversing.

One said to the other that he was from Australia.

Always ready to break the ice, I asked him whether he knew our popular Australian CHAFF participant, Benjamin Hayes. The answer was in the negative, but with the formalities done away with, we struck up a conversation. He asked me where I came from. When I said Bangalore, India. Out of the blue, he said his parents were from Bangalore, India and they had left India at the time of Independence in 1947.

Then came a second shock as he said that his dad was from Bishop Cotton School, one of my alma maters.

I asked Alen his surname. Then came the even bigger surprise. His surname is Pembshaw.

Alen's dad used to come to Bangalore in the 70's very regularly. He would head straight to my dad's office as my dad was, at the time, the Chairperson of the Bishop Cotton Boys School Old Boys Association. My dad had passed out of school in 1926. Alen's dad was much junior to him.

I had met Alen's dad several times, as my office used to be in the same buolding!

As we were looking at the coincidence, the cameraman, whom I do not recall ever seeing in my life, turned to me and said that he knew my daughter, Joanna and also my wife. Apparently they go to the same church and his wife, a doctor, is a good friend of my daughter.

That was a string of coincidences which seemed outrageous to me!

Later, Annikki briefed me that Seppo Ahava is the husband of Maria, who is a doctor now and whom she has seen as a small girl in the church.

Ajeet arrived. As I am camera shy, I made myself scarce.

Usually Ajeet stays with me, but as the City of Oulu had organised this programme, he had been booked into a hotel. I took Ajeet to his hotel and organised that he spend the evening usefully.

I rushed home, picked up Annikki, picked up a pizza from a friends's pizzeria and headed to the beach. The sun was just setting and darkness was falling fast, but the glorious colours could still be seen.

It was extremely windy, so we sat in a shaded place and enjoyted our pizza.

There was no one around when we reached, as it was still drizzling, but before we finished our pizza, some kids and then some elderly people could be seen walking on the windy shores.

Before darkness finally set, we set off back for home, not accomplishing one part of Annikki's mission, to look for more stones to take home!

Coincidences and a windy pizza dinner on the beach were the mark of Annikki's birthday for this year. (Of course, there was cake when we got back home!)

Sand castles at Kampitie

Over the years, Annikki has created a beautiful sea side scenario at Kampitie that the kids feel that they are actually at a beach. The sand has been carted over the years from the sea shore bvy Annikki and me with a lot of help from Samuel.

This summer they enjoyed many many hours of playing in the sand pit area.

Some cats in the neighbourhood thought the main sand pit area was ideal for their personal purposes.

To protect the area, Annikki created a kota (a Laplanders wigwam) out of chicken mesh. She covered the outside with a colourful cloth which made it look like a wigwam.

The two older kids, Samuel and Asha, had a better use for that wigwam.

As Daniel was jumping all over their lovely sand castles, they enticed him to play in the wigwam, while they had free reign over the rest of the sandy beach area.

Cats out, Daniel in!

A day before Daniel and Samuel left for England, Asha and Samuel created an entire sand castle area, each their own. It took hours to build and i watched them work so diligently building their own areas, trading land to extend their own kingdoms.

It is now over two weeks since Samuel and Daniel left, We have had a very stormy early autumn with plenty of rain. However, the sand castle village created by the two grandchildren has weathered the worst of this storm.



Now, as the autumn leaves are coming down, it is time to rake down the village.

I went out this sunny morning to record the state of things. I was surprised to see how strong the constructions, which are still standing, the kids had created are!

Annikki was especially insistent that this scene should be captured for posterity.

CHAFF Meetings: Ildikó asks: When?

Posted on the CHAFF Blog and my Jacob's Blog

This is an email that Ildikó Hámos-Sohlo has just sent out to CHAFF participants. For those not yet familiar with CHAFF, it stands for

CHAMBER FOR ASSISTANCE OF FINNS AND FOREIGNERS

Your sincere reply to her would be greatly appreciated:

Dear CHAFF members!

First of all, let me introduce myself to all of you who do not know me yet:

I am Ildikó Hámos-Sohlo, a Hungarian with a Finnish husband, who has settled down in Oulu some two years ago. I have started working for the SINNI empowerment centre soon after my arrival and at this moment I am managing a project there. In my work, I am concentrating on internationalisation of the Finnish work life, but the joys and pitfalls of leading a life in another country are never far from my heart.

Since my arrival, Jacob Matthan has involved me on issues of immigration and expat life of Oulu. We all, who have been more or less following and attending the CHAFF-life, value his work very much. In this way, I would like to express my gratitude and appreciation for Jacob, who always has the time to listen, the heart to understand and the hands to tackle problems.

Jacob has dedicated much of his time and energy to setup an amazing network that has helped a lot of people. Now, I am being asked to continue this work. The footsteps Jacob would like me to step into are several numbers too large for me. I think CHAFF has reached a point where we all are being asked  to take the lead. I can try to coordinate and function as some kind of focal point, but I already know that I won´t be able to be what Jacob was for CHAFF.

I challenge and ask you all to help build the life of CHAFF, because - as Jacob has said so often - not I, but YOU ALL are chaff.

Naturally, Jacob will not disappear. I hope that the CHAFF Blog will still be produced by him in the future as well and that he will attend the meetings.

As a first step, let me open the discussion about continuing to have CHAFF meetings. As Pailin and Unnop will sadly leave Oulu, I agreed with Miriam Attias that the meetings could be held at her and her husband Said Zahaf´s Restaurant Marrakech .



Marrakech has a homely atmosphere, great food and very friendly staff. Also, it´s in the centre of Oulu. As soon as things are getting more concrete, the Zahaf-Attias family will kindly present a special deal for our meals in their restaurant.

Now the question at hand is: when we want to have these meetings? At the last CHAFF meeting we were discussing the possibility meeting on other weekdays. The advantage of having the meetings on Sundays is that complete newcomers will have a place to go and spend time on a lonely day.

Yes, Sundays can be very lonely and depressing in a new city, without friends of social nets. On the other hand, already settled-down internationals often feel that the Sunday is a bad meeting day, because it´s the only day of realxation and possibility to e.g. go for a trip somewhere. In accordance with Miriam I now propose three possibilities and ask you to think it through, make a decision and let me know, which of the three would suit you best.

Option A: Some weekday evening. Please indicate which weekday and time would suit you best.
Option B: Saturday around noon, please indicate what time suits you best.
Option C: Sunday at 13.00, the traditional CHAFF meeting time as it was so far.

The CHAFF meetings continue to be a platform for networking, making friends, sharing stories and asking for help and support. I cannot possibly tackle
all problems Jacob had done alone, I´ll need your help, dear CHAFF members!

Have a nice Monday evening!

Best regards

Ildikó

Thanks for all the nice things you have said about me, Ildiko.

But the truth is that I am a generation gone by and CHAFF is for the generation of today and tomorrow.

Let me make some suggestions for discussion.

The CHAFF Blog will continue and can be used for networking. (It is possible for me to add additional authors for the Blog.)
There is a CHAFF Group Site which already has 42 registered participants. This can be expanded.
I will continue to attend the meetings if it does not clash with the time that Annikki needs my physical help in looking after her mother.
As noted by Ildikó. Sunday was an excellent day for newcomers to Oulu. (This can be solved in several ways. CHAFF members can invite a newcomer to their homes and hearts. I know several who have been doing that for the last two years (not necessarily Sundays) and that can be expanded.)
Ilari's suggestion of Friday evening is excellent , but the time must be carefully thought out.
To make the meeting's more rewarding experience, a 20 minute talk by someone on something important to all of us will certainly help.
Responsibility for each week's meeting can be rotated so that no one person has to take all the responsibility on his/her shoulders.
The price of the meal/refreshments should be not too high to scare off the student/unemployed participants.

I hope all the CHAFF Blog readers will contact Ildikó as soon as possible. Your inputs will be most important in developing CHAFF to suit YOUR interest and NEEDS.

Philosophy behind my multiple entry blogging

Posted on Jacob's Blog, the Oulu Best Buy Blog, the Oulu CHAFF Blog, the Cathedralite Seventh Heaven Blog, the Stephanian Kooler Talk Blog, the Jacob's Politics Blog, the Move the UN Blog, and the Talk Show Ratings Blog.

Many diverse groups of people with multiple interests are reading my blogs.

Some of you are reading more than one of my blogs.

It is very annoying to see the same posting on more than one blog.

I apologise.

I have, therefore, to introduce a strategy till such time as I can get all or most of my 120 000+ readers to install a policy of being updated whenever there is a new blog entry on the blogs of their specific interest.

If they do this registration, then I need only post any entry to a single blog. The blog info service should inform you if that particular blog has been updated.

If you subscribe to getting this info for three blogs, then I need not post an entry to all three blogs!

Till the recording service is fully operational, at the top of each entry I will include a list of the other blogs that the entry will be found.

For instance, this entry will be found on ALL my blogs.

If any of you have a better solution, I am all ears.

Remember, I am a computer idiot and know nothing about the art of designing things for the computer. :-) That's because I use a Mac!

What's under the bucket?

Michelle (the ownw er of the Royal Garden Chinese and Indian Restaurant in Oulu) called me yesterday evening to tell me that the cook from Ludhiana was having problems with his internet connection. She wanted Tony's help. As Tony is very busy, I volunteered.

I went over in the morning and met up with Singh and went to his residence.

It took me an hour or so to figure outthe problem and give him a temporary solution.

Michelle rewarded me with a great soup, a kheema nan served with some really spicey delicious roghan josh. (You can guess why this computer idiot volunteered to do the helping task!)

I got home around noon and went to the kitchen to see this sight.



I wondered what was hidden under the bucket. It was this.



Opening the towel revealed this!



I had forgotten my mobile at phone. It had been ringing off the hook. In desperation, Annikki tried to silence it by wrapping it in a towel.

But still being too loud, she shoved it under the bucket.

The last time we found something under a bucket was when the deadly krait which bit our son, Jaakko, in Maddur, India was, trapped under a bucket! Jaakko survived that ordeal by the skin of his toes.

This mobile phone appears to have the same effect on Annikki as a vicious krait! :-)

Thanks Mr. Anonymous. I am back with more gusto...

Posted on the Cathedralite Seventh Heaven Blog, the Stephanian Kooler Talk Blog and my Jacob's Blog.

I am listening on the internet to the audio commentary from BBC of the fourth one day international being played at Leeds between England and India, where India is trying to cut the lead in the one day series.

Also, yesterday here in Oulu we lost our television reception at home. Finland went over to Digital Television. I have not installed a Digi Box. We have a satellite antenna with access to two satellites. However, as soon as the green leaves appear on the trees in late April, they mask out the reception. Autumn is a bit late, but in another few weeks all the leaves on the trees would have fallen. We can get our satellite reception back again. I can then think whether to invest in a Digi Box by next April.

I am so happy at the emails that I received welcoming me back to the world of blogging. Here is a small cross section of the mail I received:

From Mumbai, India:

Dear Jacob,

26th June to 31st August was a very long sabbatical Never mind, it's good to have you up and about. You were missed!

Looking forward to a normal, hyperactive Jacob's Blog!

The only "fanatical" or "fundamentalist" attribute, you can be accused of, to my mind, is your fierce loyalty to the educational institutions that you studied in and your fellow students, young and old.

Of course, I will not list your other attributes lest you should get a swollen head!

Carry on carrying on!

Regards,
Ubi.

From Mysore, India

Dear Jacob,

With joy I observed that you were back to providing entries in your Seventh Heaven blog, after a long hiatus.

I was then deeply shocked to read of the calumnious references made to Annikki and you, to which you refer.

Be assured that at no time have I perceived the least religious bias in any of your writings or responses;  I doubt these could possibly occur, given the wonderful truly secular attitudes bred into us by the educational institutions in India which we were fortunate to attend.  I pray you will retain strength to defeat your detractors.

An earlier entry mentions that Viney Sethi was at Loughborough in the 1960s.  I read Chemical Engineering there from 1954 to 58, so the association pleased me.  If it so pleases Viney, I would be happy to hear from him.

Regards,
Naval

From Toronto, Canada

Hi Jacob,

Just a short note to let you know that I am really pleased that you are back blogging!

It's a real pleasure to read your 'ramblings'. Pity about your camera breaking down whilst Viney was with you, but .......

Take care, and all the best to you, Annikki and the family.

Chinnie

From Milan, Italy:

Dear Jacob,

Welcome back to your internet heaven!

It felt rather eerie without your entries these past two months!

Love

Barbara

From Perth, Australia

Dear Sushil,

We have known you now for close to 40 years. Never have we once known you to be either a religious fanatic or an anarchist or hippie.

I wonder how anyone who knows Annikki and you could ever make any of these accusations.

Vera and I missed your blog entries, but we prayed for you and now we are happily settling back to our routine of checking your blogs.

Please do update the Maliyakal and Kandathil web pages also as many of us out here like to see what is happening with our many relatives around the world.

Rohan

From Rio de Janerio, Brazil

Dear Mr. Matthan,

I was so glad to see your blog active again.

I have subscribed to a service which tells me when you update your pages. I was wondering whether the service had gone bust. It forced me to visit the pages, to see only the old posts, to my disappointment.

Having been reading your work online for close to 10 years, I cannot see how anyone could ever accuse you of being a religious fundamentalist.

And seeing the 40 year relationship you have with your wonderful wife depicted in your tribute to her, it is impossible to understand anyone accusing you or Annikki being anarchists or hippies.

Please do not take such words seriously, as all those who know you, either personally, or like me through your writings, know that these are just idle thoughts of thoughtless persons.

Dr. Samuel Pires

Thank you all for your concern and well wishes.

Annikki and I are strong enough to defend ourselves when people start any baseless onslaught on us. And dear Ubi, I already have an enormous swollen head that it could be used as a basketball. No need to cause it to swell any more!:-)

Yesterday I attended a Thai Festival in Oulu (had a taste of some really spicy papaya salad). I met a whole new lot of new Indians, as well as Sri Lankans, now here in Oulu. Engineers, software specialists, almost all of them.

And by today I find I have half a dozen committed readers of these blogs! Here was an email from a young Maharashtrian from Mumbai, India:

Dear Jacob Sir,

As you had suggested during our conversation at the Oulu Thai festival today, I read your blog.

It is really good and honestly it makes me proud to see an fellow Indian already done and doing so well far away from our motherland.

I also read your web page dedicated to your wife Annikki. It was really sweet.

I especially liked the pictures of the Indian evening. It would have been great fun doing those bollywood numbers. :-)

I would certainly like to be part of this unique community Findians.

Thanks n Regards,
Sagar Shinde,

Welcome Sagar, not only to the City of Oulu but also to the Findian Community which spans every continent. The very fact that you are an Indian in Finland makes you part of that Findian Community of which Annikki and are the proud parents!

Yes, it has been good to get back to blogging. I think the advice from the Anonymous Commenter for me to get a life was certainly good as it allowed me to focus on what is going on around me and to come back to blogging with some gusto.

I will have to get a new camera as the old one held together by grey silicone sticky tape is just to difficult to use. Joanna has sent me hers from England, so at least you will soon be able to see some pictures.

Religious Fundamentalist or Anarchist Hippie?

Posted on the Stephanian Kooler Talk Blog, the Cathedralite Seventh Heaven Blog and my main Jacob's Blog.

One of the reasons that I took time off from blogging was that an Anonymous Commenter on the Kooler Talk Blog said that I had no life of my own and that was why I was running so many blogs!

So I took time off, causing deep concern amongst many of you about my health and well-being!

Those of you have been reading the Comments on the Stephanian Kooler Talk Blog would have seen some Anonymous Comments alleging that I am a Christian Religious Fundamentalist.

On the other hand, on a popular Christian TV Channel, another strange allegation about Annikki and me surfaced. Millions of viewers heard that we had been "anarchist hippies"!

Well, well, well - what a contradictory couple of allegations and turn of events.

In response to the Anonymous Commenter, I protested that I do not belong to ANY religious faction and never have. I have not subscribed, contributed or financially supported any religious movement.

The only monthly contribution that Annikki and I make regularly is € 20 to Amnesty International.

Cover of book by Annikki
published in 1994.

Annikki does belong to a Christian movement and her conversion to that faith to the extent of being baptised at the age of 40 can be found in the pages of her best-selling book "for the hour of his judgement is come:...."

In response to the "anarchist hippie" comment, we sent the tv station this comment. This allegation has been described to me by some people as saying Annikki and I are "hip" people in today's context - more a form of tribute!

Sadly, Annikki and I are not "hip" enough to understand this modern day lingo!

Given below is my email to the tv station:

Credibility of the Hope Channel!

Annikki and I listened to the interview of .................

We were quite horrified to hear the two of us described as "anarchist hippies".

Nothing could be further from the truth.

Annikki has been a dedicated Adventist from her childhood days, following in her father's footsteps. But she was only baptised as late as 1984 (when she was 40 years old) when she went through marvellous experience which is described in her book "for the hour of his judgement is come;..." (You can read this book on the internet at
 
http://koti.netplaza.fi/~amatthan/hour01.html!)

Annikki is a creative and highly talented artist and author, a Montessori Educationalist, a trained hospital helper (having worked even at Adventist Hultafors Institution in Sweden in the early 1960s and also in the Marie Curie Hospice in London) and has worked in Sweden, England, Germany and Finland.

There is hardly another private expert on Ellen G. White and her writings than Annikki, having read and understood all her books in two languages!

She has never been part of any anarchist or hippie movement.

Jacob sang in the St. Thomas Cathedral Church Choir in Bombay all through his childhood in Bombay. He was outstanding student, both in studies and sports, in his school days being House Captain! He was part of the International Youth Christian Movement during his days in Delhi University, even holding the elected position of President of College Residents!

Jacob completed his second higher degree in England after his first degree from Delhi University. The day he completed his second degree he was employed by a Government Research Centre in England - in Shawbury.

It is only after Jacob completed his second degree and got a job that he and Annikki entered into the serious commitment of a Christian marriage, over 40 years ago!

We have always been law abiding responsible citizens and have given our life to give our children the very best in terms of education. Maybe you should look at these two web pages

A Tribute to Annikki:
http://kotinetti.suomi.net/hilja.reinikka/AMTribute/annikkitribute.html
Biodata of Jacob Matthan:
http://koti.netplaza.fi/~jmatthan/jmbiodata.html

Our daughters were never sent to any boarding school in England or anywhere else. Like Jacob, who left for higher education at the age of 17, our elder daughter also proceeded to her further education away from home at the same age!

Our elder daughter (and our elder son) was able to settle in England only because we were responsible parents and preserved her birthright even when we were living in India!

Hardly what an anarchist hippie couple would do!

In later life we have devoted our life to helping various ethnic minorities and refugees. Even today, in our retirement, we look after an 87 year old dementia, tunnel vision impaired, physically weak lady, Annikki’s mother!

Hardly anarchists or hippies, then or now!

In the interests of accuracy, it would be only fair if the Hope Channel would correct this serious misconception, which borders on libel, which came through in your programme.

Annikki & Jacob Matthan
Oulu, Finland

The question arises as to my Christian roots.

Yes, I was born a Christian into a mixed very traditional Orthodox Christian/modern Protestant roots family and was brought up and educated by wonderful Christian Educational Institutions in India. Good Shepherd Convent in Mysore, Bishop Cotton School in Bangalore, Cathedral and John Connon School in Bombay and St. Stephen's College in Delhi.

I greatly valued the principles that were taught to me in these educational institutions which gave me strength to say that I was probably "educated" and not just a person who knew how to crunch numbers.

Yes, I was active in the Church Choir while at school.
Yes, like School Prefects of all faiths, I did read the Bible at the School Assembly.
Yes, I did read the Bible at the small College Chapel.
Yes; i was involved with the International Christian Youth Movement while in College. (We distributed food to poor villagers around  Delhi.)
Yes, I was part of the movement to start the non-denominational Christian prayer group in Oulu called as the International Church of Oulu.
Yes, I was even married in a Christian Church in the lovely town of Shrewsbury in England.

My break with the established church took place soon after our eldest daughter was born, when the vicar of the local church turned up at our home a few days after she was born to tell us that we should "christen" her quickly as otherwise, if she died, she would not be buried in a Christian graveyard.

What he said was hardly a Christian value that I had held so dear. It was, to me, emotional blackmail.

Annikki believed in a Church that did not support "child baptism". In her words one had to personally mature before one committed oneself to a religious institution, and as mentioned earlier, she found that strength only when she was almost 40 years old.

That experience ended my relationship with the established church, but not with religion or religious institutions of all shades.

My roots of education which I received from the schools and colleges that I attended were totally secular. There had never been any form of discrimination against any individual in any of these institutions. And my own classes both in school and college had people of many faiths in it - all brands of Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Hinduism, Sikhism, as well as people of all different colours from a variety of nations.

I will tackle the reason for the charge against me for appearing to be a Christian Fundamentalist in a separate blog entry as I am in the process of creating  a background document about education in India. It should be tackled in that context and not outside of it.

To date, I have not had any return comment from the Anonymous Commenter on my blog or from the tv Channel.

But I think Annikki and I got what we had to say off our chests!

Do tell us whether you think we come to any of you as being "religious fundamentalists" or "anarchist hippies"! Maybe, appearing at both ends of the spectrum sort of says that what we practice is just about right?

Another Cathedralite Visitor to Oulu

Posted in Jacob's Blog and the Cathedralite Seventh Heaven Blog.

Both Annikki and I were thrilled when we got news that 59er Viney Sethi would drop in on us in Oulu at the end of July or early August. He and his wife, Purnima, were visiting Purnima's daughter who lives in Sweden. Viney thought that he could pop over for a few days.

Viney and I have been friends ever since I joined Cathedral School in 1954. Viney has always been an outstanding student and a great sportsperson.  Like me, Viney was House Captain (Palmer) in 1959. I was Savage House Captain. The other two House Captains were from a year senior to us, the late Michael Colaco (Wilson) and André (Bahram).

Soon after we got our Senior Cambridge results, some of our parents gave us a holiday to a hill station. A few of us went to Mussoorie via Dehra Dun. Classmates Viney, Vijay Shivdasani, Noel Ezekiel, Ashok Ruia, Anil Ruia, Arvind Thadani and myself stayed at the Ruia Guest House in Mussoorie. This was my first visit to the North of India. I was glad we had people like Viney who spoke the "foreign" language - Hindi - to help us out.

When we finished school in Bombay, I went to Delhi to University. Viney went to Dulwich in England to do his A Levels.

Our paths crossed again when I went to London to do my specialisation in Polymer Science and Technology (Plastics, Rubber, Adhesives and Fibre Technologies). Viney moved to Loughborough to study Mechanical Engineering.

As 60er Ajeet Mehra lived round the corner from my flat in London, the two houses were the centre point for out-of-town visitors to London.

In 1964, a few of us, Viney, Ajeet, Ashok Kapur, Noel Ezekiel, Navin Bahl and myself took a battered Bedford people carrier and drove through France to St, Tropez, camped on the beach for a few days, and then went through Nice and Monaco into Switzerland. I was dropped off in Germany where I had a summer training assignment in Leverkusen. It was an unforgetable trip. It built an even stronger bond between all of us.

2007: Viney (by Hasnain Chinwalla)

This visit of Viney to Oulu was something that has moved Annikki and me to the core.

As a present, Viney gave us a short DVD.

We had no clue as to what was on it.

When we played it, we were astounded. Viney had converted some of his ancient 8 mm movie camera film onto the new media. He had us disc celebrating the first birthday of our elder daughter, Susanna, at his home in St. Helens where he was working at that time in Fibreglass Pilkington in 1968.

Not only that, as he had visited Annikki and me when we were living in Madras. He had some amazing short clips of a much younger and "athletic" looking me, Annikki in all her youthful beauty, and clips of all of our children including of our younger daughter, Joanna, then just a few months old.

Such nostalgia is something that breaks one's heart and makes tears pour from the eyes. Viney certainly knew what matters in friendships and relationships.

Although his visit was short, we caught up on a lot of news.

Viney briefed me on possible plans for the 50 year 59er reunion in 2009. I shall be sharing this with you on our special 59er Google Group in a short while. I liked the sound of what I heard and I am looking at all the financial and other implications before I lay it out as a sound proposal coming from Shivi and Piloo.

We discussed almost all of our class, person by person. If your noses were twitching, you now know WHY!

I was glad to get the latest news of many of you. Although I have been writing about many of you from your inputs to me, the difference between Viney and me is that Viney has been meeting all of you and was able to give me all the scandals in all their glory!

Thank you Viney for taking the time and trouble to visit us in Oulu. Both Annikki and I were truly honoured by your visit. The meal you organised at Michelle's Indian Restaurant was truly unique. Michelle and Nushad send you their regards as they learnt a lot about good Punjabi food from what you dished up for us.

It was sad to see Viney leave. (Unfortunately, my camera was broken so I do not have any photos from this visit.)

I knew from Viney's visit that the 59er reunion in 2009 is going to be wonderful event remembered by all through the rest of our lives. Even a week together is not going to get to even scratch the surface of how all our lives have been intertwined through all these years.

Other visitors to Oulu

Posted on Jacob's Blog and the Cathedralite Seventh Heaven Blog.

I am pleased that so many of you reacted to my post of yesterday, welcoming me back to the blogging world.

It was not only the visit of our grandchildren that kept me away from blogging. I was blessed with a series of other visitors who travelled from afar to spend some time with me.

54er Sadhana

54er Sadhana Madhusadan (née Shah) became a fast friend when she contacted me almost six years ago when i was still runing Seventh Heaven as a web page. Then we discovered that we had a common interest as 59er Inderjeet Shah was my classmate. Another of Sadhana's brother's, Randhir, sadly no more, was a 56er.


54er Sadhana and daughter, Gopa


Timo and Gopa

Later, Gopa, Sadhana's daughter married a Finn and settled in south Finland and became a part of our family. And after that I did extend my helping hand to Sadhana to organise the 50th year reunion of the Class of 54. The 54ers rewarded me by making mention of my assistance during their reunion and also sent me details, CD, etc. of their grand reunion.

I have been asking Sadhana to visit Finland as her daughter is here and she could spend some quality time with Annikki and me. Leaving her husband, Madhu, a Mallu like me, and son, Sid, she traveled to Helsinki to visit her daughter. Gopa and her husband, Timo, organised a holiday in a nearby ski resort (no snow in summer, but great nature walks) and after a few days there, they dropped of Sadhana in Oulu to spend a few days with us.


The reindeer and me!


The Reindeer and Sadhana

I was able to show Sadhana our home of the last 23 years including the unique Zoological Museum where one can see the whole flora and fauna in Finland in 10 minutes, flat!

The stuffed reindeer was one of the exhibits.


Sadhana, Gopa, Timo and me at Michelle's Indian Restaurant


Michelle with Nushad

We dined at several of my friend's restaurants and the last meal before Sadhana departed was at Michelle's new Indian restaurant where Michelle and Hushad served us a wonderful meal.

It was a wonderful time as we talked and talked and talked, while Annikki and Sadhana laughed and laughed and laughed.


Anniikki bids goodbye to her new friend

Parting was sorrow for all of us as Sadhana, far from being just another internet friend became someone live and flesh and blood for both Annikki and me!

Sadhana, thank you for spending time with us.

Joanna and Susanna are back in the UK

It has been a long summer, but one where Annikki and I were able to enjoy our two girls, their husbands and our grandchildren.

Joanna returned early from Newcastle in the beginning of July as she was not well and got permission to appear for her year end exams in mid August. She returned at the beginning of July with Tony and the boys, Samuel and Daniel.

Before Joanna came back she had made me promise that I would be able to spend quality time with the kids so that she could study.

I would wander across to their house every day at around 11 am, when they were finishing breakfast. I would push off with the kids to all sorts of places - the Oulu Traffic Park where they could drive pedal cars, the Oulu Speed Park which has greatly expanded its offerings for children, the Oulu Zoological Museum, the Oulu Botanical Museum, the Oulu Geology Museum, the Oulu Car Museum, the beach, various parks, and take Samuel for his football training and football tournaments.

The photographs give an idea of the varied

things "we kids did this summer". 

At the Traffic Park




Samu striding out Kimi-style



Samu on his final drive at the Traffic Park



Daniel fills petrol



Daniel drives

 Daniel pedals

At the Speed Park



Asha driving the motorcycle




Asha and Samu driving the electric vehicles



Samu fires a gun



Daniel shows me he is turning left



Daniel at the car computer game

At the Zoo

 

Asha and Samu covered in Plastic Balls



Daniel in the Plastic Balls



Asha and Samu trampolining


Asha, Daniel and Samu at the Zoo

At the Market Square



Daniel at the market square



Asha sees how Finnish drunks,
even invalids, are handled

Jogging in the Park



Building an appetite, jogging!

At a football match



Asha watches a football match

We would end our wanderings at some friend's restaurant (Pailin, Goreme, Royal Garden, Nispero) so that the kids could tank up on their goodies.

I always carried chocolates and crisps in the car. Crisps were doled out "one-by-one".

On a few occasions, Samuel would go out with me on the scooter while Annikki minded Daniel.

I would return back to our home in Kampitie when I knew Annikki was rested and she could also spend quality time with the grandkids. She would rustle up some food, usually chicken nuggets and chips or turkey sausages with something else. We had plenty of ice creams of all sorts on offer. We were all spoiled and Samuel put on about 5 kg, Daniel a couple of kg and me - 8 kg!

The kids just loved to play in the Kampitie garden creating a mess in the sand pit. Even as late as 9 pm the kids did not want to return to their home - Kampitie was where they wanted to be!

We were blessed with a great summer, so very few days had to be spent indoors. Samu did spend some time on the computer getting me all sorts of stuff in my Penguin Club Account.

In mid August I drove Joanna to Tampere (5 and half hours) to take the Ryan Air flight to Newcastle via Dublin. I picked up Susanna and family and drove back to Oulu. Susanna gave us a scare en route when she had a bad attack of gastroenteritis. I stopped at a friend's place about a 100 km from Oulu at around 5 in the morning and got his son to call an ambulance to transport Susanna directly to the Oulu University Central Hospital, where they checked her out and after doing all the necessary released her the next day.

We celebrated Asha's 10 year birthday one day early to allow Tony to take the two boys to Newcastle to rejoin Joanna after her exams.

Susanna, Chris and Asha insisted on staying in the Kampitie cellar, although Joanna's house was empty. Asha and I had a great time doing what I had done with the boys earlier, except the Traffic Park, which had closed as soon as schools started in Finland. We did a lot of mileage on the scooter and we had some great experiences.

Asha and I could not also visit the Car Museum due to a shortage of days.

Last Sunday, Chris drove Asha and Susanna in the SAAB to Tampere, where they met up with Kannan. They handed the car over to Tony who drove back on Sunday night so he could get back to work on Monday morning. He did the return trip in less than 5 hours!

Joanna gave us a scare saying that she may have fared badly in her exams. When she did not get a call for a Viva, she was half convinced that she had failed and was even contemplating quitting her medical studies.

Yesterday she got her results.

She got Merits in everything except in one where she missed her Merit classifiucation by just 0.3%. I was hopping mad with her as she certainly gave us a scare.

On the other hand, more fool me. I should have known as Joanna has been an outstanding student right from kindergarten!

We all will get back to our routine now that summer is over and the autumn leaves have started to fall.

Annikki is back in her elements have turned the living room topsy turvey and rearranged it, all by herself. The kids are waiting for the photographs, which I shall endeavour to have in a day or two.