Why we terminated our membership to O-India Ry
by
Jacob Matthan
Just as I am proud to be an Indian, Annikki is equally proud to be a Finn.
Annikki’s father, Matti Reinikka, fought in the front line for 6 years against Russia and then went on to drive the German army from Finland.
Like almost every Indian knows “Vande Mataram”, almost every Finnish child knows this sad marching song of the proud Finnish army which was sung when they were returning from the Balkans.
As Annikki was born in September 1944, just before the Moscow armistice was signed, Annikki’s grandfather wanted to give Annikki the name “Rauha Annettu” which means “Peace Given”. Finnish naming law for babies at that time did not permit it, so she was given the accepted name “Rauha” meaning “Peace”.
Annikki is also like me, a lover of her own country, Suomi, Finland.
Based on our mutual respect for each other, when we got married in 1967 and the FINDIANS concept was born, we set up the 10 Guiding Principles to see us through life.
The 1st principle is to always be truthful. (A few ”white lies” were to be permitted! :-) )
Principle 2 is to *Stay where your presence is appreciated*.
Principle 3 is to never claim credit for something that does not belong to you.
Principle 4 is do not violate the laws of the country you live in.
Principle 5 is to lend a helping hand to anyone who reaches out to you.
Principle 6 is to genuinely pray for anyone facing a difficult situation.
Principle 7 is do not be cowed down by aggressors, however powerful they seem to be!”
Principle 8 is do not run to find the pot of gold at the end of a rainbow.
Principle 9 is to give respect to those who deserve it.
And finally, Principle 10 is never to violate the “Sacred Trust”, set out for the Malayala Manorama newspaper and all those encompassed in its family. It was set down pre-1953 by my grandfather, the late K. C. Mammen Mappillai.
"By God's grace, Manorama is in a position to create and garner a forceful public opinion. This may be used for the good or the bad. But, we should consider it as a public trust bestowed upon us for the selfless service of humanity.
"You will have no qualms to use Manorama as a sacred public trust or an institution God has trustingly bestowed upon us to be used without fear or favour from anyone. You should always work with this in mind. God has placed in our hands a mighty weapon. To use it for our personal, vindictive and vitriolic ends will be an unpardonable and immoral act injurious to the faith bestowed on us by a large number of people. God does not want that. Hence, our eternal vow should be to tirelessly work for the success of fairness, justice and morality. '
It remains a sacred, inviolable dictum for Malayala Manorama.”
It is also the primary Guiding Principle of Annikki and me.
Life in Oulu has been fun and constructive in many ways for both Annikki and me.
In the 80s, the early days, we were the only Indians followed closely by the Gill brothers from Punjab. We were then joined by Philip Hu (Calcutta) and he set up his great Chinese/Indian restaurant at the corner of Rotuaari, and then his sister, Michelle with her tiny Chinese restaurant on Asemakatu, the first Indian restaurant, New Bombay (with Philip as the Indian owner - not Bangladeshi as today) and then Fazila Allana, the first AISEC trainee (now she is the very successful owner of SOL productions in Mumbai and producer of Koffee With Karan, Kia Mast Hai Life, Mai Ka Laal, Nach Baliye and Rakhi Ka Swayamwar), and so on. (Fazila’s first written piece on the Indian Economy was for us in Findians Briefings in 1994!)
We Indians in Oulu had great camaraderie and fun together!
Annikki and I enjoyed the pleasant company of all these and many other Indians who passed through Oulu, and those who later settled here. Annikki and I were their friends, guides and mentors (if they needed us)! Nobody was competing to be dominant. We were all equal and worked for the common good of our small community.
For those with some memory may I take you back to January 2008 when we had our first O-India get-together. It is recorded in my blog entry dated 18th January 2008
Sadly, some of the wonderful pictures of the event are missing from this old blog entry but it shows the real spirit in the launching of O-India in 2008!
Thanks to Nagendra Kolar I have received a couple of the photos and a video taken at that event by Vishu Mallabadi of Wipro (Today Vishu is a famous environmental artist in Bengaluru.)
Many of you may recognise some of the youngsters here as Ashwini, Bala, Nagendra, Sulochna, Sreekanth, Srikanth. and the not so young, as Annikki and myself! Vishu is standing in the back row, second from the left.
I quote the last para of that blog entry:
”Already calls are coming in for more such events. And we are sure that will be many such events in the coming years as the people who are running the O-India Group are YOU, and all of you are enthusiastic and energetic youngsters.”
There have been 4 decades of association for Annikki and me with over 3000 Indians in Oulu!
About 4 weeks ago we terminated our membership to O-India Ry with immediate effect.
It was a sad but decisive moment as we could see what lay ahead! Big trouble!!!
O-India Ry had been spun out of the O-India Google Group started by Kiran Kumar Nataraj, Atul Mahajan and myself in December 2007.
Kiran returned to India and left the Administration of the Group.
Annikki, joined as a Moderator when I was ill, followed by Mani Shankar Bhowmik and then Pushpa Dhundwal.
The Google Group has run without any problem for 16 years and has 300+ people worldwide who get the postings.
About four years ago, a few Indians in Oulu came to me and asked whether I had any objection (not that it would have mattered) to O-India being formalised into a Finnish Association. I had certain misgivings but gave their plan my blessings as the persons involved were sincere in their intentions. However, I said the original O-India Google Group would remain alive and intact!
O-India Ry was formed and they started their own Google Group. (Reasons unknown?)
They also started a WhatsApp Group (Reasons unknown?)!
To us it seemed the start of POWER POLITICS!
Annikki and I joined their Google Group, but not their WhatsApp Group.
The Association ran for three years, but unfortunately, the first two years were under a chairperson who had no vision and ability to plan a clear goal for it. He could not conduct any large event successfully!
There were many hiccups during that time which were passed off as teething troubles.
In the third year, the Chairperson changed to Avinash Bhaker. He had a largely indolent Board. Even with that handicap, he made O-India Ry a vibrant viable organisation.
The AGM for 2023 was chaired by Suresh Kodukula..
The Annual and Financial Report for the period 2022-2023 were outstanding presentations highlighting the numerous achievements of the year. I made this observation during the AGM. I asked Avinash who had prepared this presentation.
Avinash told me that the Annual Report was compiled by him, the xls sheets were prepared by Abhishek Sinha and the comprehensive treasurer’s report, logo and beautiful photographic inputs were done by Viney Shekar. He did not try to take the credit for himself!
The Secretary of the then Board, Suresh Kodukula, played no part in preparing what should have been his task!
The 2023 Annual General Meeting (AGM) of O-India Ry was a chaotic affair. There was absolute bedlam as Suresh was clueless on how to conduct this meeting. Suresh’s objective seemed to be to get elected as the next Chairperson of the association. He did not check the list of members present, conducted elections with proxy voting of people not present or people who were not members and who were being given a vote. The voting itself was chaotic.
I objected strongly to the proceedings and there was a decision to hold a continuation AGM to regularise all the illegalities.
Again Suresh took the chair at the continuation AGM but the meeting could not even get off the ground. IT was only after Vinoth Selvaraj stepped in and took over the Chair and ran the meeting, it went as it should!
The only thing evident from this meeting to Annikki and me was the incompetence of Suresh!
Again I drew attention, privately, to the past chairperson, Avinash Bhaker, for information, and Suresh, who had been elected as a new Chairperson of the association.to the “Minutes” and actions not following the rules laid down for Finnish Associations. What was circulated were not minutes but one person’s perception of what took place!
Principle 1: Truthfulness and the present O-India Ry Board cannot be found on the same page or even in the same dictionary. Lie followed lie, starting with the Chairperson Suresh assisted by his ally, Asheesh Nigam!
Principle 2 of our 10 guiding principles is - “Stay where your presence is appreciated.”
The reaction of the O-India Board and the members to the onslaught on Annikki and me for pointing out formalities that should be followed in any Finnish Association, told us it was time to leave these people behind to their own devices!
Our decision to terminate our membership of O-India Ry with immediate effect was thus absolutely correct as our presence and thoughts were not appreciated. We were just an unnecessary nuisance to the Board and a majority of the members, especially those who had no history of life in Finland.
Most of the people, even those who have seen us work for the Indian community in Finland during their time in Finland, have shown us that most of them have no backbone to stand up for what is right.
So long as we were useful to them they would try to touch our feet. This is a one practice which Annikki and I dislike, as my parents taught me that everyone is equal!
Pushpa’s point that Indian culture respects the elderly does not stand popular among the majority of this Oulu Indian Community.
Why should Pushpa Dhundwal, an ordinary O-India Ry member, apologise to Annikki and me? We cannot accept her apology as she has never put a foot wrong to the two of us in over a decade of interaction.
Like many other Indians, Avinash and Pushpa started their lives in our furnished apartments in Oulu. We know their characters intimately and have remained friends. They remain an part of our extended family, as many other Indians around the world!
Any apology, which some may think is required, is certainly not likely to be forthcoming from O-India Ry Board or the members! And it is totally unnecessary! What would be the purpose of such an apology?
The Board and members can remain in their stupor.
We specifically exclude the Oulu Malayali community who have not shown us any disrespect at any time, but only love and affection to which Annikki and I have suitably responded!
Ladies cricket comes to Oulu with Indians, Pakistanis and Sri Lankans organising a wonderful event in Lintula (August 2023)
Also the multicultural Cricket Clubs of Oulu are other exceptions! They have welcomed Annikki and me with open arms, even though we now have nothing to offer them in return!
I must recall the starting of cricket in Oulu which are recorded in two of our earlier blog entries.
Cricket starts fom India House.
We disregard the words of the dandiprat, Mr. Deepak Singla, whose knowledge of English and Finland can be written on the nail of my little toe! I give no credence to his words as even knowledge of Class 10 English is too much to expect for him to understand. Let him be duly “apalled”.
The present O-India Ry Board and the members are not willing to confront the blatant lies being promulgated by its Chairperson, Suresh, and a person without portfolio, Asheesh Nigam.
They are ably supported by Social Coordinator, Ms. Kalyani Mukherjee, a “volunteer” Board member with “NO responsibility” (her words)! Obviously Ms. Kalyani does not know what is the meaning of the word “social” or “liability”!
The Board continues in the traditional Trumpian way, one lie is followed by another bigger one. That brings them applause!
Suresh’s lie as to why my email to the O-India Ry members was rejected was ascribed to an extra “dot” in an email address.
This claim can be checked on AI. Here is the response that I got from AI:
“- robot: Hello, How can I assist you?
- user: If there are extra dots in an email address will Google still try to find the recipient?
- robot: Yes, Google will still try to find the recipient even if there are extra dots in the email address. The extra dots in the email address are ignored by Google's email service. For example, if the correct email address is example@gmail.com, Google will still deliver the email even if it is sent to e.x.a.m.p.l.e@gmail.com.”
However, even if we had composed an email with an extra dot - “.”, as stated by Suresh, before the email was sent, gmail would have opened the dialog shown below telling me that the email id did not exist and asking whether I still wanted to send the email.
Possibly the O-India Ry Board and members thinks that Annikki and I are mentally compromised persons who would have sent out an email in such a case.
It is important to clarify one small point as many members think that Annikki and I are nuisances.
Our first email drawing attention to serious legal issues, was NOT sent to all the members of O-India Ry but privately to the Past Chairperson, Avinash Bhakar, for information, and to the current Chairperson, Suresh Kodukula, for action!
When Suresh did not bother to acknowledge or reply our email in a reasonable time frame, only then did we address our email to the members of O-India Ry.
As Pushpa correctly pointed out in her email to the members, there is the important issue of liability which encompasses all the members of the association.
Suresh raised the “dot” bogey BECAUSE he could not answer a single one of the 6 points we had brought attention to in our email!
“ 1 . Fabrication of false evidence by the Board of the O-India ry.
“Deliberate falsification of evidence is considered a form of gross fraud. It involves intentionally misrepresenting or altering evidence with the intention to deceive others and manipulate the outcome of a legal or investigative process. This is a serious offense that undermines the integrity of the justice system and can have severe consequences for those involved.”
2. Violation of Finnish Data Privacy Laws by a Board Member of O-India ry.
In Finland, sharing private information without consent is punishable under the Personal Data Act (1050/2018). According to the act, the maximum penalty for such an offense can be imprisonment for up to two years and/or a fine of up to 240 daily fines.
3. Incompetence in handling routine membership matters of maintaining the O-India Ry membership lists.
4. In probability, giving the members false information about actions supposedly taken by the Board.
5. Failure to correct the violation of the Finnish Law on Data Privacy within a reasonable time frame.
6. Setting precedents in the Annual General Meeting which makes it impossible to run this association in a proper manner according to laws governing Finnish Associations.”
The distraction technique adopted by Suresh works well on a set of zombies but it cannot work on ANYONE with an iota of brains.
Findians Association with Finland 1943 - 2024 Part 1
Findians Association with Finland 1943 - 2024 Part 2
Findians Association with Finland 1984 - 2024 Part 3
In these 3 blogs we have highlighted the work Annikki and I have done for the Findians community over 54 years. We did not need anyone’s help to have done what we did! We did not do it for glory for ourselves or credit from anyone.
For the earlier part, till 1998 not one Indian was around here in Oulu (other than the Gill brothers, Philip Hu and his sister Michelle Hu and Sulochana) actively working on cultural issues!
I challenge anyone to find one falsehood in any of our blogs. (We have many - maybe over 20 blogs covering aspects of life in India, Finland, cost of living, politics, human rights, freedom of speech, etc.) We built a worldwide network of like-minded people with interests in Finland and India.
The present day Indian engineer and university student, and his/her family who have recently moved to Oulu, Finland, are mainly concerned with showing the world and themselves how great they are by reaching here! The ladies, especially those who have no jobs, behave like expat spouses everywhere, holding their gossip coffee club meetings!
Last week, we were sent a photograph which appeared on the Indian Embassy website which we can only describe as disgusting, immoral and shameless!
Suresh Kodukula and Asheesh Nigam collecting an award meant for the 2022-2023 performance of O-India Ry from the Indian Ambassador to Finland, His Excellency Shri Raveesh Kumar.
Does any member of O-India Ry know why we use these adjectives ?
It is a direct violation of Principle 3 of our guidelines, claiming credit for someone else’s work.
Was turning up at the Indian Embassy to collect an award not belonging to either of the two people, be described as “accidentally” being in the India Embassy to collect this award?
Avinash Bhakar, as the past Chairperson of O-India ry, was responsible for the Indian Embassy awarding an honour to O-India Ry. Suresh going to collect this award was claiming credit for the absolutely wonderful AGM and treasurer’s report presented at the last AGM. Suresh did not contribute one bit to its creation. Now he was stealing the credit for great year under the previous Chairperson, not even informing him of the award before the event, and then claiming that he and Asheesh Nigam (dressed appropriately in a kurta pyjama for the event) were just there in the vicinity of Helsinki Embassy.
This exposes the shamelessness of these two individuals.
And what of the behaviour of the present Board in condoning and consorting with this behaviour?
Not once in our lives have we claimed credit for work we did not do ourselves.
How many of you O-India Ry members know how Annikki and I were atrociously accosted by Asheesh Nigam in the Royal Garden restaurant a couple of weeks ago after Suresh’s attempt to lie his way to evade answering our questions. Asheesh asked me whether he could talk to me in the restaurant, to which I said ”NO”!
I know that Asheesh has a habit of turning verbal words around, so I told him anything he had to ask or say should be in writing. He continued to trouble us standing beside our table. Four times I told him that he was a Foodara delivery boy and if the food delivery was delayed the blame would fall on the restaurant. But he continued to stay and amplify on Suresh's lie about the mysterious "dot", showing is that he was probably the person behind the original lie!
His intrusion into our meal became so embarrassing that the owner of the restaurant came to our table to ask Asheesh to leave the premises. How many O-India Ry members condone such behaviour?
Anyone who can trouble you in a public place, so much so that the restaurant personnel had to ask the person to leave, is simply shameless.
Only the intervention of Avinash and Vinoth Selvaraj, both of whom Annikki and I greatly respect, stopped me from starting legal. proceedings against O-India Ry Board member Ms. Kalyani Mukherjee for disclosing private information about me on the WhatsApp O-India Ry group that we are not even members of, and not removing it in violation of the express orders by the Chairperson of the continuation AGM (Vinoth).
It was from Pushpa’s recent email to O-India Ry that I learnt that Ms. Kalyani had been informed to take down the private information about me before the deadline which has been specified by WhatsApp, but Ms. Kalyani probably “deliberately” chose not to do so!
Arrogance?
Our decision to not proceed presently against Suresh for fabrication and falsification of data was based on the fact that we wanted nothing more to do with these people of ill repute.
Both of these actions, the first by Ms. Kalyani and then by Suresh, are criminal offences under Finnish law. Our Principle 4 states clearly that we stay within the boundary of laws of the country.
Do we want to stay in the company of persistent lawbreakers?
Maybe Mr. Singla, when he comes out of his appalled state, can reply!
Are these the people who you members of O-India Ry want representing Indian culture and values in Oulu?
It was our so ”unprofessional” character that we ran our promotion of Indian culture in Oulu and Finland for 50+ years before the arrival in Finland of Mr. Singla! We have hosted 5 Indian Ambassadors to Oulu as well as many international artistes and professionals. Close to 10000 Indians have been looked after by Annikki and me during this time in Espoo, Helsinki, Tampere, Vantaa, Oulu, Raahe, and Kajaani!
What a sad state of affairs it must have been here in Finland before Mr. Singla arrived here! :-)
So glad, Mr. Singla, for your candid observation about our lack of professionalism!
Maybe our brilliant Mr. Singla could give some valuable advice to our present Indian Ambassador, who last week sent me an email which contained this snippet:
“You, along with others who came to Finland, a few decades ago, have indeed made valuable contributions towards building a positive narrative about India in this country.”
Just a few days ago I was sent a beautiful poster designed by Mani Shankar Bhowmik to prepare for the performance in Oulu by Shashank Subramanyam, the world famous flautist from Chennai. (Shashank had earlier performed in Oulu in 2013 at the personal invitation of Annikki and myself.)
In the first line of the poster it said the program was being organised in coordination between the Indian Embassy and O-India Ry.
Without blinking an eyelid, I wished Mani all success with the event, but that we had no intention of taking any part in any event organised under the banner of this O-India Ry Board.
I did not want to comment on the legality of such an event being organised by O-India Ry as I think Mani should find that out for himself.
The last line in our termination letter to O-India Ry was:
“Please continue with your games and incompetence with others - not us.”
