Kandathils, Stephanians - Hip Hip Hurrah

The President of India, Dr. A. P. J. Abdul Kalam, has conferred on Mammen Mathew (Kandathil, Stephanian, commonly known to all of us as Rajen, Rajenchayan) the PADMA SHREE Award. This important news was announced on Republic Day at New Delhi. This award has made it a record for any one family in Independent India (see below). 

Rajen gets the Padma Shri award from Abdul Kalam

 

Rajen, former US President Bill Clinton and former Indian President Shri K. R. Narayanan

Besides being my dear and constant companion when we were together in St Stephen's College, Delhi, Rajen was also very dear to both Annikki and me when he came to England. It was Rajen and his friends who campaigned for me and made history in the college by getting a second year student elected to the post of JCR President of the College. Together we made the JCR from a dumb unloving unfriendly place into one of the most liveliest places to hang out in.

Later, I was one who was involved in giving him the courage to choose his life partner, Prema!! I still remember him sweating away in the car when he went to see his to-be for the first time!! He ran through more than a few of my handkerchiefs and hand towels at that time!!

Rajen, with another outstanding Stephanian classmate, architect Ramu Katakam, who is also now a member of the Kandathil family by marriage, hitch-hiked across the globe from India to London to land at my doorstep in the mid 1960's. Both were going places, and Rajen has shown us the way to the top.

I must mention the other two of the four Stephanian musketeers of Rajen’s year, Azhar Siddique, who went into hotel management and made a great name for himself in that field, and Suresh Mehra, who runs one of the finest garment export houses from Hyderabad.

Rajen studied journalism on the job at Bristol in Wales and then in the USA. In 2002 he received the rare honour of being appointed as a Reuters Trustee, the first Indian to be appointed to this position. He has been the Chairman of the Indian Section of the Commonwealth Press Union, President of the Indian Newspaper Society, and the Editors Guild of India, and has also been on the Press Council of India.

Today, he is the guiding spirit of the Malayala Manorama Newspapers Group, India's most outstanding newspaper and magazine publishing centre, founded by our greatgranduncle, Kandathil Varghese Mappillai, given shape by our grandfather K. C. Mammen Mappillai and then guided in turn by the late K. M. Cherian and then K. M. Mathew, till Rajen took the helm.

Rajen is assisted by his two younger brother, both professionals, Philip Mathew (Thambi), also a Stephanian and father of 2 Stephanians, Amit and Riyad, and Jacob Mathew (Chacko), sadly not a Stephanian but the father of one, Harsha.

Rajen's daughter-in-law, Miriam (Anu) Mathew (née Paul) was an outstanding Stephanian and a leading executive in a US bank till she returned to India to take the helm of Manorama Online. Her husband Jayant, is also in the newspaper business and a student of our leading Stephanian friend, Sreenath Sreenivasan, Professor of Journalism at Columbia University and an expert on convergence journalism.

The other Award Winners in our family:

1. The late Mr. K. M. Cherian (Chetpetappachen) - first awarded the Padma Shree and the later he was given the Padma Bhushan. Our dear cousins, Dr. K. C. Mammen (Bapukuttychayan), one of India’s leading paediatricians and Mrs. P. V. Jacob (Sarasukochamma) are Chetpetappachen’s surviving children.
2. Mr. K. M. Philip (Peelukuttychayan, Pappa) was give the Padma Shree three ago back. He was the World President of the Y. M. C. A. after many years of outstanding and honorary service in the Indian Y. M. C. A. At the age of 92, he is still physically and mentally fully active and still takes part in many business functions. His wife, Chinammakochamma is also fully active at the age of 85. She was the leading light of the Mumbai Y. W. C. A. for many many years. A dearer lady so full of fun and laughter one will not find on this earth. His two children are Sen Philip and Dr. Peter Philip (Suresh, a fellow Stephanian of my era, an outstanding economist, the business brain behind the launch of the FIRST Kooler Talk, classmate of such leading Stephanians as Sayeed Rizvi, Sarwar Lateef, Zaffar Hai).
3. Mr. K. M. Mathew (Mathukuttychayan, Rajen's father) was given the Padma Bhushan, nearly a decade ago. His wife, the late Mrs. K. M. Mathew (Annammakochamma), who passed away in 2003, surpassed all what her husband and her children have done in her service to the women and children of India. His daughter, Thangam, Rajen’s sister is the mother of 2 Stephanians, Adit and Rohan. (See above for details of his sons - Rajen, Thambi and Chacko.)
4. The late Mr. K. M. Mammen Mappillai (Kochappachen), half a decade before he died in 2003. His wife, Kunjukochamma is a hostess extraordinaire, a person who has made any person entering over the doorstep feel as one of the family. Kochappachen, aided by his six brothers (Cherian, Oommen, Eapen, Varghese Mappillai, Philip and Mathew) and one sister (Mariam, my late mother ) and the sister-in-law of their deceased brother, (Mrs. K. M. Jacob, Pallammachi), built the MRF tyre company by their sense of unity and devotion to one another as well as the entire Syrian Christian Malayali Community. Kochappachen was physically assisted by his wife’s brother, now retired Technical Director of MRF, Kurian George (Georgie, my dear friend in Chennai who keeps me abreast of all the best news from India these days) and technically, mentally and morally assisted by my late father (Kuriyan Matthan). MRF was stabilised and brought forward as India’s leading tyre company by his son, the late Ravi Mammen, and is now run in the family tradition of professional management by his two surviving sons, Vinoo and Arun. Vinoo is the father of 2 Stephanians, Samir and Rahul. His only daughter, Remani is an outstanding artist running her own creative art design company.

It is important to mention Mr. M. K. Mathulla, founder of H.M.T. and a die hard Kandathil, got a Padma Shree some 20 years ago.

In this tribute of honour to Kandathils, I must also say a fond farewell to a dear friend, also a Kandathil, Mr. K. C. Mathulla, who died in Mumbai on 28th January 2005, my wedding anniversary. Mathullapapachayan, as I knew him, had been one who had been of greatest strength to me. When I arrived in India with a "foreign" wife, it was he who, with his Mauritian wife, the late Gabbykochamma, gave me the most practical advice on how to live in India. Besides that, it was he who took me to a leading homeopath and cured me completely of sinusitis, a terrible scourge that I had suffered for many years. It was he who cured Annikki of her acute tonsillitis, again with homeopathy through a well known homeopath in Bandra, Mumbai.

May his soul rest in peace.

Sadly, he had no issue. His dear wife, Gabbykochamma, who suffered from painful arthritis for many many years, left for her heavenly abode to await resurrection several years ago. I will remember this humble and great man, who was dear cousin and friend to my mother and a wonderful uncle and mentor to me, in my daily prayers forever.

Do you wiggle your toes?

I do. And probably that is the reason I am reasonably trim except for that unhealthy paunch!!

"People who cannot sit still for more than a few minutes provide a clue to keeping slim and trim, a US study says."

A report in BBC entitled "Fidget off the fat, research says" says that fidgeters keep trimmer than those who do not fidget.

And it is not easy to learn how to fidget.

So if you see any of your kids or grandkids fidgeting - don't stop them!!

The reason I wiggle my toes is that I suffered from frostbite when my strong winter shoes cracked across the sole when I was on a long distance hike in the dead cold of a bad winter. It seemed to lead to a sort of dead sensation which I did not connect with that event. Tests at the local University Research Hospital did not reveal the reason for this strange sensation. (Which was strange as there are hundreds of cases of frostbite every year in our town.)

When I was in India a few years ago, as usual I went for my Executive Health Check-up at a hospital in Madras. I mentioned my strange sensation to the doctor.

The doctor narrated to me a sad tale of a leading Indian actor who was filming in the Himalayan snows and suffered a severe case of a frozen leg. Not knowing how to handle a frozen leg, his helpers dumped his leg into boiling hot water, leading to serious consequences.

The doctor mentioned that the sensation I described was sort of similar to what he had seen from that case. At that time I was able to put two and two together and I came to the conclusion that my sensation was due to frostbite. I had been scared that what I was feeling was a prelude to Parkinsons Disease as many members of my close family have suffered this fate.

So ever since then I have been wiggling my toes to keep the muscles on my feet loose. It has helped, except that my dear wife gets annoyed when I wiggle them for 15 minutes at 4 am when I wake up and before I get out of bed, and she is trying to get to sleep!!

Now I have a good excuse to keep wiggling my toes.

And finally, many many thanks to all those who emailed me yesterday on our celebrating our wedding anniversary. We had a great day (including quality time at the flea market and with the grandkids and an extended call from ourgranddaughter in Lincoln, England) followed by an absolutely heavenly Greek Cypriot meal at my Cypriot friend's restaurant, so large in portions that Annikki could not get through all of hers. Obviously fidgeting had increased my appetite as I had no problem with finishing mine!!

What a GLORIOUS day!!

Today, January 28th 2005, is truly a Glorious Day.

It is 38 years since Annikki and I got married in a small beautiful English town called Shrewsbury in Shropshire.

Sadly, we are barred from visiting that town by our local friends. When we visited there the last time, about 14 years ago, as we drove into the town, it was hit by an earthquake!! :-)

As my mother used to say, if I had been married to an Indian, I would have been thrown out on the streets a long long time ago. Annikki deserves that cup the my father used to say was his trophy for having been married to Ammachi for all their years together!!

And here is a recent photograph of us with 2 of our 3 grandchildren . Asha and Samu.



Annikki's mother is in her interval care in the Old People's Home. Mika is also at his 3 day a month interval care.

We were able to sleep late. We are looking forward to a day of shopping - Annikki as usual at the fleamarket, while I potter around a few shops - looking for nothing particular in mind as I have everything I need. After that we will choose to dine at some restaurant, one of the vast array of friends' restuarants to choose from - Chinese, Thai, Indian, Turkish, Greek, Mexican and, of course, Finnish. Depends on what we feel like in the evening. Maybe not Turkish, as we did that last year and maybe not Chinese as we did that the year before!!

Many thanks to all the rest of you who remembered us through emails on this great day.

As we enjoy another honeymoon year, it is on to the 39th!!!

Vinay is 61, Geordy arrives in Oulu

Cathedralite 59ers - let us wish Vinay (Dabholkar) a very happy birthday. I have sent him a card from all of us. Vinay was the most outstanding student of our class - fighting for first place with Wabhir Zayani. He was good in all the subjects, not just in Maths or English or Geography. If I am not wrong he was also the youngest in our class!! Although not an active sportsman, he always had a keen interest in sports and knew who was doing what on the sports field. Vinay's home was in Horniman Circle and I used to go there on Satuday mornings, ostensibly to study Marathi. We got past the alphabet every week, after which it was cops and robbers!!

Keralites, I welcome Geordy George of Deepika International to our home town here, Oulu.

Deepika is, like Malayala Manorama, an old-established (118 years) and leading newspaper from Kerala.

Geordy and a couple of others, one from Bangalore and another from Punjab, are here to visit Nokia's Technical Documentation Centre.

No doubt we will meet up in a couple of days and spend a few hours chit-chatting, while I get a chance to use my Malayalam (a bit rusty at the moment).

At this link you can read more about Deepika Global

I am up a bit early because...

Yesterday, Sunday, was a busy day.

There was an afternoon meeting of the English Club of Oulu to discuss the 70 year celebrations to be held in October of this year. Annikki and I were two of the first to become Life Members of this Club. Annikki had a stint as Chairperson running the Club in the 80's (after having been the kindergarten teacher for the Club) when she was one of the most active ever. Lunch, on the house, was the very traditional Salmon Soup, rather a filling and delicious Finnish preparation.

As soon as I got home, Annikki informed me that there had been a call from the Oulu Railway Station as a new but dear friend from WIPRO who was passing through. I caught up with Abey Thomas from Kerala / Bangalore and 3 of his colleagues, one from Trivandrum, the second from Bangalore and the third from Mumbai at our favourite eating haunt on Oulu, Michelle's Royal Garden Chinese Restaurant - Michelle being from Calcutta. Unfortunately, Michelle is holidaying in India with her three kids, so the food was only second best.

I picked up a meal for Joanna, Tony and Samuel, as Joanna has been suffering a nasty bout of tonsilitis and little baby Daniel has a bad chest. While they enjoyed their meal, I had the privilege of walking around with my 8 month old grandson.

Got home to find Annikki had cooked a delicious chicken curry and made her own speciality India roti, which is cross between a tandoori nan and a paratha.

Off to bed after a couple of chats on Skype with friends and up again now at 2 am for another exciting week.

However, the reason I am blogging so early is because today is the 17th anniversary when my very dearest cousin, K. C. Mammen (Kunjumonchayan) of Bangalore passed away. Those of you who did not have the opportunity of knowing Kunjumonchayan, he was the most loving affectionate person on this planet. Having lost his father, K. M. Jacob (Chackochayan), from whom I got my name, and one brother (Anian) when very young, he lost his second brother, Roy, in the mid sixties, also at a young age.

To me, Kunjumocnchayan was more than just a cousin, or even an elder brother. Once, when I had a difference of opinion with my father, it was Kunjumonchayan who diplomatically ironed out our problems!!

When I was living in Bombay, he came to gain work experience and stayed at the YMCA which was behind our house. He used to be over for the Sunday meal at our home, which was also huis home. In the meanwhile, I used to run over and meet up with him in his room almost every other day. He was always fun and games and forever smiling and happy. There was never a care in the world if you were with Kunjumonchayan!!

I often wonder why God takes away the people who provide so much joy to all around them so early in their life. I think of his dear mother, Palammachi, who has over the last 63 years seen her husband and then her three children taken away from her. My heart bleeds for her. However, at the age of 86, she is blessed with a wonderful daughter-in-law, three lovely grandchildren and greatgrandchildren, all of whom are in my mind every single day as I remember my dearest cousin of all who is no more but lives in my heart every hour of the day.

Snowpeople 2005 by Annikki

I had sent out an email with an attachment, but unfortunately the attachment did not arrive and the download link was broken.

I am posting here the photograph for your viewing on the blog.

You have two snowpeople, a snowman and a snowgirl, holding hands. They are carrying lanterns. The snowman is waving his hand.

They are standing in front of the ice-covered pond and Annikki's mother can see them as she sits in her regular chair in the kitchen.

Some Birthdays Today

Today is the birthday of my very good internet friend who keeps me up-to-date with what is happening in India - Georgie.

Our relationship goes a long way back as he used to be an inmate in St. Joseph's College Hostel on Lalbagh Road, Bangalore, in the early 50's, when our home was across the road from the hostel. I used to be a frequent visitor to the hostel as I had made many friends there. At the tender age of 9 -11, I used to be scorer for the College cricket team and a good friend of L. T. Subba who later played for Mysore in the Ranji Trophy Tournament. I learnt to be a hockey goalkeeper from my friend Abraham Tharakan, the St. Joseph's College goalkeeper, which gave me the grounding to become school and college goalkeeper later in life. Above all, I got permission to fly my kites on the large hostel playing fields.

Recently, another hostel inmate of that time, Atul Shenoy, a Mumbai Cathedralite, also remembered this little fellow who used to haunt the college corridors and have Masala Dosais in the hostel canteen!! I was in the process of tracking down Atul's brother, Arun. Glad to say that Arun was tracked down and was able to attend the 50 year reunion of their Cathedral Class of 1954 in November 2004!!

Georgie had a very busy life when he was in MRF. Besides regularly seeing him at Kochappachen's (the late K. M. Mammen Mappillai) home, I used to meet up with him infrequently at some Rotary Club meetings when I had to make up my attendance!!

Now that he has retired from his position as Technical Director of MRF, a post he filled so admirably for many a decade, it is nice to see him lounging on the internet and to share news and views with me.

By co-incidence, when Yakub P. Mathew discovered me a few days ago when I had made a post about the interview with my Stephanian friend Kamalesh Sharma on BBC Hard Talk (see below), he mentioned that Georgie had visited him in New York last year. It is indeed a small world.

I hope all of you will join me in wishing Georgie a very very happy birthday and many many more to come. Unfortunately I do not have a recent picture of Georgie to share with you.

Another relative who has her birthday today is Ammu. Chacko and Ammu are one of the few relatives who have taken the trouble to visit us in Oulu. Here is a picture of of the birthday girl from my image files.

The Jacob Mathews, 1999
Happy birthday Ammu from both Annikki and myself - I won't reveal your age as the police may accuse your husband of cradle snatching!!

Proud to be a Stephanian

BBC Hard Talk on BBC World on Thursday 13th January 2005 featured the Indian High Commissioner to the United Kingdom, none other than my good friend and Stephanian colleague, Kamalesh Sharma. Kamalesh had just gone into the MA course when I joined as a fresher in 1960.

On my very first night in college, there was a knock at my window after dinner. It was a time when all us freshers were living in fear of who would catch us to rag us. But for the rest of this story kindly visit

Katy Issue 7 14th July 1996.

Kamlesh had previously been the Indian representative at the United Nations, where he had faced some tough interviews, and one on them was on BBC World Service Radio. It was after this that I was able to re-establish contact with my old friend.

Kamlesh stood up as a true diplomat when faced with the aggressive questioning on Hard Talk.The whole objective of the interviewer was to question why India had rejected to receive Aid from the developed world and seemed to be focused on "India's pride" and the "desire of India to be a superpower in the region". Some of the questioning, as is usually the case in Hard Talk, bordered on the ridiculous!!

I was impressed by how Kamalesh stood up and in a quiet and gentle manner brought the aggresson down in a manner which made the interviewer look quite ridiculous with her one track mind. His Stephanianness stood out above all!!

You will be able to download and see the interview in a day or so from the

Hard Talk Web Site.

It is not yet on the web but should be in a day or two.

Well done Kamalesh!!