The seamier side of my life

Yesterday, I told you of my first love - my Miss Universe who has been at my side for 44 years and as my partner for 41 years.

But alas, man is weak, and there have been several women, besides my wife, who have shaped my life.

My latest love affair is just 9 days old, and is a girl who has not yet got a name. She is a great bundle of joy. I call her "Kochmol", which means "Little Girl".

She is the latest addition to our family, born on Sunday, the 20th of January (9 days ago) here in Oulu.

Our new granddaughter, whom I am calling Kochmol,
till her parents decide on a name for her!

She joins a beautiful young lady, Asha, who has been a great joy in my life for the last 10 and a half years.


Asha in 1998 (Photo by Susanna).


Asha in Newcastle in 2008. (Photo by Susanna.)

Asha entered my life 10 and a half years ago, and there is not a day when I do not think of this beautiful baby who has grown to be a poised young and highly talented lady and, above all, a loving granddaughter.

When I think of my grandchildren, I must say that the two ladies, my gorgeous daughters, who have "ruled" my life started as similar beautiful babies:


Susanna 1968.


Joanna 1971.


Joanna 1989.


Susanna 2006.

Although one of them describes me as an "anarchist hippie" and the other as a "workaholic", I still love both of them dearly. If they love me even 10% of how much I love them, they remain the apples in my eyes. (Fact: I have not ever been and am not an anarchist, hippie or a workaholic!)


Nalini as a baby in 1938.


Nalini with the British Queen Mother in 1960,
at the Opening of the new wing YMCA in Fitzroy Square, London,
just a few months before her demise.

Another lady, who has by her very absence, been a lasting influence on my life is my late elder sister, Nalini, who died after childbirth in 1960. I know her spirit in my heart has been watching and looking after me all through these last 48 years.

The lady who has most influenced my life was one so simple and kind and yet so powerful that no one realised her shrewdness. An only daughter and the only sister to 8 brothers who loved their sister dearly, she held them together to control them to build the huge family publishing and industrial empire from the time her parents passed away in the early 1950s till her own demise in 2000.


Ammachi in 1934 when she graduated from
the Women's Christian College, Madras.


Ammachi with her dog, Tippu, in 1976,
after returning to Bangalore.

My mother, Ammachi, inherited her kindness and gentleness from her mother, Valliammachi, my grandmother, and her shrewdness and business acumen were from her father, the late K. C. Mammen Mappillai.



One personal example will show you the nature of my maternal grandmother.

In 1950, when we were visiting Kottayam, the family of uncles and cousins, several tens of us, decided to go on a trip to Periyar, the Elephant Sanctuary. The day before, I ate too many jackfruit causing me severe colic pains. I was really ill. It was decided by the powers at the top that I should be left behind as it would be too dangerous to take me on such a long trip.

I was heartbroken as only a child of 7 could be. I was left in the custody of Vallammachi. I was feeling as fine, but was really feeling emotionally upset. Valliammachi had been instructed to keep me on a total light liquids diet.

In Kottayam, in her home, such an atrocity was just not possible.

Within minutes of the family members leaving for the elephant sanctuary, I was treated like a little Prince and given every delicacy she could summon, including a healthy dose of the offending jackfruit which had caused the colic problem initially.

I could not have had a better day in my life than that in the company of such a grand lady!

And this remained a secret between us till today!



The last lady who played an immense effect on my life was my paternal grandmother. A tiny woman, no one would have suspected the powerhouse that she was.

She brought up her 10 children, 5 boys and 5 girls with a whip hand to make all of them outstanding students and the 5 boys became top professionals during their life time. (One was a senior administrator in the Mysore Government, the second headed Tata Consultancy Engineering Services, another worked for the Shri Ram Group as their senior Administrator, one headed various sections of Indian Railways and also the Intergral Coach Factory in Perambur, and the last ended his career as the Chairman of the Life Insurance Corporation of India!

As the wife of one of the Mysore Maharaja's senior administrative officers, she was formal enough to run her household in accordance to all the rules laid down by the aristocracy. She ruled her dining table with such firmness that children knew they were children to be seen and not heard.

Yet she was a mellow as a lamb outside of her hours of duty. In her later years she was a loving character who could not have enough of the company of her grandchildren. She outlived her famous husband, Dewan Bahadur Mysore Matthan by over 20 years.

During that time she was respected and adored by all her grandchildren.

My love affairs with these 9 women are what made me what I am TODAY:

They say that behind every man is a woman.

I am proud to say that behind this poor human being there have been 9 outstandingly great ladies.

Secret revelations: The women in my life

Annikki in 1964. at her favourite pastime -
chalk crayon drawing on the green grass of Woodchurch Road (Photo by Josey).


Annikki in 1966 , the day we announced
our engagement at Woodchurch Road, London.

When I was courting my Miss Universe, one would think there would never be any other women in my life!


January 1967, The most beautiful bride of all time
arrives at St. Mary's Cathedral, Shrewsury.


As a married couple, 41 years ago to this day, we leave the church
to embark on our difficult journey through life.

Annikki became my Mrs. Universe.


1967: Annikki becomes a mother for the first time.


Annikki's brood in 1974, Madras (Chennai)

Then Annikki became my Mother Universe. A more capable mother there never has been. She brought her children up in the most difficult of circumstances with never a complaint!


March 1997: First grandchild, Samuel.


Annikki with her first grandchild, Samuel.


January 2008: Annikki with latest grandchild.

In 1997 she became my Grandmother Universe.

Annikki, besides being the most beautiful woman alive, is also one of the most principled persons you are likely to see on the face of ths earth. In all my 44 years with her she has never been able to tell a lie, not even a white lie! She would rather say nothing than tell a fib! And what gave her all these Universe titles are her creativity in so many ways - from cakes to interior decor and creating art from rubbish, and even in her novel methods of educating her children.

To see her in her fullest glory, do visit the website A Tribute

So one would suspect with that string of "Universe" titles, there would be no other women in my life!

How wrong can you be, as I expose all!

But you will have to wait till tomorrow, as it would be shameful to tell this part of the story on this our 41st Wedding Anniversary. :-)

Pleased as punch?

Posted on my Jacob's Blog, the Oulu CHAFF Blog, the Mumbai Cathedralites Seventh Heaven Blog and the Delhi Stephanians Kooler Talk Blog.

Does the term "pleased as punch" refer to the condition after drinking an ample amount out of the Punch Bowl (remember Annikki and I are teetotallers) or is it some condition of Punch in the "Punch and Judy" Show?

However, Annikki and I were pleased as punch yesterday, whatever the origins of this phrase.

As was conveyed to most of you by "Manorama JM" yesterday, our younger daughter, Joanna and her husband, Tony, have produced their 3rd child, 3.49 kg in weight, 52 cm in length, at 15:35 on Sunday 20th January 2008.

Samuel and Daniel are very happy with their new baby sister, who is our second granddaughter, and just as beautiful as lovely Asha in England.

Our new granddaughter.

Daniel with his sister.

Samuel and Daniel with their sister.

Samuel with his sister.

Joanna watches her brood after the proceedings of the day.

I took these pictures (with my camera which is held together by sticky tape) at the hospital for Annikki, who cannot leave the house as she is looking after her mother. Grandmom was so pleased to be part of the event! And greatgrandmom was also quite thrilled to hear the news.

Annikki is the only one, who from the time she saw Joanna in mid-December, has been saying that the baby would be a girl!

Knowing Samuel and Daniel, this little girl is likely to grow up as a tomboy!

Back again to our teeny weeny world

Posted on my Jacob's Blog, on the Mumbai Cathedralites Seventh Heaven Blog, on the Stephanian Kooler Talk Blog, and the Oulu CHAFF Blog.

Glad to get back to regular blogging.

The next CHAFF Meeting will be at 13:00 hours Sunday 6th January at The Coffee Shop, Isokatu (inside Hotel Arina). Welcome.

The last two weeks were a delight in that we were were not snowed under by snow, but with love and affection and greetings from all over the world.

(Sadly, as an aside, this is the first time in the last 23 winters we have been in Finland (and Annikki's some 40 winters she has been in Finland out of her 63 winters) that we did not have snow in this near Arctic location. Remember we are just 200 km from the Arctic Circle! A sad reflection of the effect of global warming!)

Into our 10 email addresses, 5 Blog Accounts, 3 Google Groups, our mobile phone number, our landline phone and our snail mail postbox, a total of just around 70000 (YES 70000!) season's greetings poured in.

I had a task sorting them out and then updating mailing addresses in our numerous mailing lists, grouping them into the various groups, i.e., family (Maliyakals and Kandathils), friends (Indian, Finnish, world), Mumbai Cathedralites, Delhi Stephanians, Bishop Cottonians (Bangalore), Findians, CHAFF Participants, O-Indians, past colleagues, present colleagues and others - making sure we were not sending out duplicates or to dead addresses and then send our greetings to all on our lists. (If it was not for 3 trustworthy Macs working round the clock this task would have been impossible for just one computer idiot!)

Out of a total 37000 postings (the last ones were today), I am glad to say that this year we had hardly around 300 returns! I had taken out all those who had university addresses in the US and UK, and that had cut the mailing list from the 80000+ to this more manageable figure.

We are sorry to all whom we may have missed.

But this is proof that we have a teeny weeny world of our own. But this teeny weeny world is even smaller than we thought!

A few weeks ago I had about 6 emails, all with the same attachment - some pictures of the Old Bombay - a truly great collection of pictures. Most of the emails were forward.

One of the persons who forwards me great emails is Cathedralite from Mumbai) 56er Ubi (HS Uberoi). (Another is Cathedralite 49er from Mysore, Naval Patel.)

When I looked at the forward I noted that it was from his daughter-in-law, Anahita. Besides Ubi, she had forwarded it to one Farookh Mehta.

I sent an email to Ubi asking him whether this "Farookh" was the same "advertising" Farookh who was married to a great Maharashtrian stage actress, Vijaya. I explained to Ubi that we had sailed together from Venice to Bombay in 1969, round the Cape, and Farookh had beaten me in the Table Tennis final on board the ship. Farookh played well on a tilting and listing ship!

Ubi's reply was swift as it was amazing. Yes, this was the self-same Farookh, who was also a Cathedralite of the 47 era, married to the Maharashtrian stage legend, Vijaya, and whose daughter, Anahita, who had been a few months on that voyage was Head Girl in Cathedral School in 1985, when Ubi's son, Samir, was Head Boy, and the two were married!

A year or so ago, Farookh and Vijaya's son, Ravi Khote, had passed through Finland and I had talked to him about his parents.

Since this exchange of emails I have had emails and photographs from Farookh, which I will blog soon.

But the moral is that our teeny weeny world is much much smaller than we thought!

Latest published articles

Posted on ALL our major blogs - my Jacob's Blog, the Oulu CHAFF Blog, the Mumbai Cathedralites Seventh Heaven Blog and the Delhi Stephanians Kooler Talk Blog.

Annikki was Chairperson of The English Club of Oulu almost 2 decades ago. We were also the first Life members of the Club. The Finn-Brits Magazine is the publication of The Federation of Finnish-British Societies under which English Clubs function all around Finland to promote the English Language and the cultures associated with English speakers.

Cover of Autumn 2007 edition.

The magazine decided to do a special feature about Oulu in the Autumn 2007 edition and they asked us for a couple of articles.

The first was an article about the Chamber of Assistance for Finns and Foreigners which was founded by Jacob and a few friends a couple of years ago. The article was authored by the present CHAFF Monitor, Ildikó Hámos-Sohlo, along with Jacob.

The second, a highly controversial one was authored by Annikki and Jacob about the lack of Free Speech in Oulu.

Hope you enjoy them!

Online Spice Shop from Oulu

Posted on Oulu Best Buy, Oulu Chaff and Jacob's Blog.

About six months ago a long standing Indian resident of Oulu, Atul, informed me that he was planning a Spice Centre in Oulu. There were a couple of physical Spice Centres in Oulu in the late eighties and early nineties, but Indian food was not so popular then and there were just a handful of clients as us.

Sadly, Atul did not let me know about the progress.

Findian couple Helena and Atul, who are behind Maustekauppa.fi

Last night, when we had a meeting to set up a new Indian Group in Oulu, Atul mentioned that his Spice Centre was up and running and that it was on the internet.



The online shopping experience, which is offered in both Finnish and English, is simple as Atul has the alternate option of using a post or bank account besides a credit card.

I, for one, do not use credit cards, so this means I can happily shop online using my direct online banking facility.

The pages are clean and neat and quite unusual in the way the spices are offered. Atul is also attempting to promote Indian cooking as he has started a recipe page, but at the moment there are only two recipes online.

I tried to log in, but found all buttons related to this process inactive. But it is not necessary to log in to shop!

Hope you have a great shopping experience in Maustekauppa.fi.

Let us wish Helena and Atul all the very best in this venture.

Am I a pastor?

Posted on the Oulu Chaff Blog and on Jacob's Blog.

I was returning home yesterday from a meeting at about 10 pm, when, quite close to my residence I saw an African man standing at the pedestrian crossing, map in hand, in a biting blizzard, obviously trying to find some address.

I pulled up the car and asked him where he wanted to go.

His hand and the map were shaking in the bitterly cold wind making it impossible to understand where he wanted to reach. I asked him to jump into that car.

The X on the map was too large to tell what the exact address was, so I asked him whether he had the phone number of his friend. He pulled out a phone and found the number - but as he had no credit in his phone account, he could not dial. So I asked him for the number and dialed.

The house was not more that a few hundred metres from where we were.

I dropped him off and handed him over to his friend who had come down to greet him.

In the process, I asked this young man where he came from - which was Ghana, and his name - which was Peter!

He in turn had only one question for me - which had me in splits of laughter - Was I a pastor?

I assured him that I was not, but I was a participant of CHAFF, which is where common folk in Oulu help one another!

What did this act of kindness cost me? 5 minutes of my time and one phone call charge!

Was it worth it? In my humble opinion - Certainly!

Have you done your good deed for today? :-)

Our last meeting on Sunday concentrated on problems of newcomers to Oulu, especially education and housing. I have some excellent flats at Puolivälikangas for rent, so contact me if you are interested - and fast!

Remember to inform Ildikó (or me) if you will be attending the dinner at the Ravintola Marrakech the coming Thursday (13th December) at 18:30 hours. Registration is imperative.

Also do remember the English Language Christmas Carol Service at the Oulu Cathedral, this Saturday, 8th December at 16:00 hours. All are welcome.

Noodle House Opens

Posted on the Oulu Best Buy Blog and the Oulu CHAFF Blog.

At the stroke of midnight heralding a new December, NOODLE HOUSE opened its doors to the public. They did brisk business right until the last customer left at 04:30 am.

Not being a night bird, I visited the fast food counter an hour before they opened this Saturday afternoon. I was fortunate not to be swallowed up in the rush as I tasted their premium dish.





I then took 3 of their 8 selections for the family to get a taste of this new Chinese cuisine centre. Their take away boxes can be used directly in the microwave oven. Unusual containers with an interesting colour combination - red and black!

In my earlier blog entry I was wrong with the prices. It is € 8 for the meal with 2 vegetable spring rolls, a Chinese salad and a drink of Pepsi. Without the drink, the cost is € 7.50.

The common level of spice is medium. But they add a very spicy chilli fish oil concoction if you want the dish spiced up. Portion size is medium.

Remember, the ingredients are not listed on their board, so if you do not eat octopus, prawns or pork, please tell them when you are ordering!

Verdict: Good food and very courteous service - vital ingredients for success!

Other CHAFF News:
Saturday 1st December till Saturday 14th December: Exhibition of stones from the collection of Matti Moisa at the Haukipudas Library.
Sunday 2nd December: 13:00 to 15:00 hours: CHAFF Meeting at The Coffee House
Thursday 6th December: Last date for registering for CHAFF dinner at Ravintola Marrakech on 13th December.
Saturday 8th December 16:00 to 17:00 hours: English Carol Service in the Oulu Cathedral. ALL welcome
Thursday 13th December 18:30 . 20:30 hours: CHAFF dinner at Restaurant Marrakech.
Sunday 15th December 13:00 to 15:00 hours: CHAFF Meeting at The Coffee House.
Sunday 22nd December 13:00 to 15:00 hours: CHAFF Meeting at The Coffee House.
Sunday 29th December 13:00 to 15:00 hours: CHAFF Meeting at The Coffee House.

Are you a Noodle Fan?

Posted on the Oulu Best Buy Blog and the Oulu CHAFF Blog.

Starting on Friday is a small Chinese fast food restaurant called NOODLE HOUSE. It is located at Kauppurienkatu 5 (on the right hand side when you walk from Stockmann down to the Kauppahalli fat Policeman statue) and has a selection of 8 noodle dishes - made from either wheat or rice noodle. There is one vegetarian noodle selection.

The price including two vegetable spring rolls, salad and a drink will be € 8.50. The dish by itself will cost € 8.

If you are a noodle fan and also a fan of good Chinese noodle preparations, this is going to be a favourite haunt. On Friday night and Saturday night the place will remain open between midnight and 5 am!

And do not forget to tell Sally that Jacob sent you!

Oulu is full of life -Welcome

Posted on the Findians Group site, Jacob's Blog and the Oulu CHAFF Blog.

As Christmas season dawns on us, Christmas shopping has already arrived with the major shops all open on Sundays.

Last Sunday, we had an great CHAFF Lunch at the Göreme Kebab and Pizzeria where Hasim and Kasim made a speacial Turkish meal for us last Sunday. About 30 lunches were served and our crowd included Chinese, Finns, Hungarians, Indians, Nigerians, Slovenians, and Zambians.

After the lunch we were shown the Leather shop of Goreme, and I got myself a wonderful leather jacket at a very special CHAFF price!

Three of the CHAFF Founders, Kamutaza Tembo from Zambia, Bill Zhang from China and myself, were present at this meeting. It has been a long time since the 3 of us were present together. (The 4th Founder, Saikou Marong has moved to Helsinki.)

On Sunday evening I went to a prize giving ceremony where the young footballer that several CHAFF members have been supporting once again got the best player award. Soda, who is just 16, has maintained his position as the leading young player in Oulu and if he keeps to his true self, we will see an international develop. Congrats Soda.

There are lots of interesting events going on in Oulu during the last part of November till mid December.

The next two Sundays, the 25th of November and the 2nd of December will be the usual informal gathering at The Coffee Shop on Isokatu (inside the Arina Hotel) between 13:00 hours and 15:00 hours.

The meeting on the 25th November is very important as I have a special meeting with a representative of the City of Oulu on November 30th to discuss the problems being faced by those who come from outside to work and study here.

The list of issues is already long - accommodation, transport, banking, police, registration, sports facilities, internet connection, family reunification, schooling, health care, insurance, taxes, language, etc.

But your inputs are very important as, unlike many, when Annikki and I speak in Oulu we can do it without fear of recrimination. We are not here to build an image for Oulu but to raise the issues which will make Oulu a better place for all of us to live in.

Chaff participant Matti Moisa is an avid stone collector and the first two weeks of December will see an exhibition of his stones at the Haukipudas Library. That will be well worth a visit.

Finnish Independence Day is a holiday, 6th December. Being a Thursday, if any of you want something special organised, please do let me know (as Ildikó will be away in the US) as there will be no CHAFF get together on Sunday 9th December.

Reason, on 8th December we have the famous English Language Carol Service at the Oulu Cathedral starting at 16:00 hours. This is an event which is well attended by most foreigners in Oulu who love to hear and take part in carol singing. People from all faiths join in unison that day and you are most welcome to attend.

Many of you would have received the email about the CHAFF Meeting on Thursday 13th December at 18:30 at the Restaurant Marrakech. For those that did not, here is the copy:

Dear CHAFF-members!

I am happy to invite you to a special occasion to close this year´s CHAFF activities: a gorgeous Christmas dinner at the Restaurant Marrakech, where a Christmas buffet will be made just for us! The date is Thursday, December 13 at 18.30 at Marrakech, Kirkkokatu 55. Note that this is during the week, not a Sunday! The price per person is 30 euros, dress nicely and be prepared for a beautiful end to a year of CHAFF friendship.

Please let me know by December 6 if you can come.

Until and after then, every Sunday, whoever is able and willing is welcome to Coffee House at 13.00 for a chat and coffee.

Best regards

Ildikó

Please inform Ildikó by the 6th as seating is strictly limited. It will be a great event and Ildikó will unveil the plans for CHAFF the next year.

Kudos to Aruna and Mahesh

Posted on my Jacob's Blog, the CHAFF Blog and also on the Findians Google Group Pages.

Yesterday, Annikki and I were able to attend the Diwali Celebrations in Oulu organised by Aruna and Mahesh Somani.

It was held in a lecture hall in Oulu University, thanks to the kindness of Professor Pentti Karjalainen of the Materials Science Department of the Technical Faculty. (Mahesh works with Prof. Karjalainen as a senior researcher.)

Lord Ganesha sat in one corner and blessed the celebrations. The sandalwood armies of Ram and Sita sat on a chessboard in the corner. Colourful lights twinkled around the room.

Prof. Karjalainen and his wife graced the occasion. To me it was a great occasion to meet up with him again as he was the very first contact I had with the University of Oulu in May 1984 - and I had my diary to prove it.

Entry on May 29th 1984 is phone call to Prof. Karjalainen.
Entry on May 30th 1984 records my meeting with him!

We had arrived in Oulu on 29th April 1984. I had attended the Scanplast Exhibition in Gotherburg, Sweden. Immediately on my return I had found the Materials Science Department at the University of Oulu. I had spoken to the then Associate Professor Karjalainen on May 29th and met him on May 30th.

We had common friends in Prof. Gunter Mennig from the German Plastics Institute in Darmstadt, West Germany. Prof. Mennig had previously been the Professor of Polymer Science at the Indian Institute of Technology in Madras. I had shared many common scientific research interests with him. Prof Mennig had been in Oulu in June 1983 and had given the keynote address at the Third Scandinavian Symposium in Materials Science which had been organised by Prof. Karjalainen.

I did not take an assignment at his department as I was able to join the Microelectronics Laboratory, which was just one floor above the Materials Science Department. Although I did not work with Prof. Karjalainen, I did edit several scientific papers written by staff and students of Prof. Karjalainen as well as a few by Prof. Karjalainen, himself!

It was through the kindness of Prof. Karjalainen that Mahesh was able to get the use of lecture room to hold the Diwali celebrations.

Aruna and Mahesh truly did a great job of organising this event. The number invited had to be restricted to just 50 because of the size of the lecture hall. But well over 70 people turned out.


Little Hannah with her engineer mother, Nisha,
from Kerala, watch the lively proceedings.

There were men, women and children from every part of the sub-continent who joined to celebrate what is a global festival today. From the tip of Sri Lanka, Kerala and Tamilnadu to the very north in Nepal, Lahore and Delhi, from the West in Bombay to the East in Meghalaya and Bangladesh, Findians of all ages, shapes and sizes thronged to the University.

Aruna and Mahesh had organised a full programme of song and dance from classical karnatic music to the latest from Bollywood. A superb slide presentation of Glimpses of all faces of India was as highlight.

There were outstanding performances by many participants, among them, Prasad and Vamsi, Feroz, Prabhu, the Sri Lankans, the Nepalese, and in fact finally, almost all those with the youthful heart and soul that only Diwali can bring out in people.

Food had been brought by the participants. There was so much of totally vegetarian dishes that almost 50% was taken back, even after everyone had had their fill. There were delicacies from all corners of India prepared by the Findians, almost 6 different rice preparations, plenty of spicy dal and channa preparations, wonderful dishes of peas and potatoes and a wide variety of Indian sweets - from halva to cakes. The Indian Pickles and the Mango Juice that Annikki and I had brought for the occasion were greatly relished. (We discovered the delicious Mango Juice from Nisha and Sunni and it is on our daily diet sheet now!)

The audience was not lacking in Finns or people from around the globe. Besides dear wife Annikki and son-in-law Tony, among the international guests were Prof. Karjalainen and his wife, Lisa Viren, Project Manager of the Oulu Setlementti Friendship Organisation (where Aruna works) which works on integration of Foreigners in Oulu, and her husband, Iranian Shahnaz Mikkonen, who heads the Ville Victor International Centre in Oulu, and her Finnish husband, Yrjö, Gisela Tauriainen, wife of the late Associate Prof. Antti Tauriainen with whom I had the pleasure to work with till his untimely demise in the late eighties, there were a few more dear friends.


A section of the Findians audience.

But it was the people of the sub-continent that dominated the proceedings. There were Indian engineers, scientists, teachers, architects, researchers, students, husbands, wives, children, babies and everyone, besides enjoying the scrumptious spread, had a great evening.

And there were two retired participants - Annikki and me!

Both Annikki and I were deeply touched by the generous (totally undeserved in our opinion) praise showered on us as the oldest residents of this community in Oulu. We have been blessed with so many friends who show us so much respect that it is truly embarrassing.

(The last event we had organised in the University was the wonderful dancing of International Star Shovana Narayan, accompanied by her sister, Ranjana Narayan, Supreme Court lawyer, and their dance and music troupe maybe in 1990!)

But we are immensely happy that Aruna and Mahesh have taken over the responsibility that Annikki and I once enjoyed as being the Ambassadors of our wonderful Indian Culture amongst the citizens of Oulu. Aruna is fluent in Finnish and her work at the Oulu Setlementti has been not only amongst Indians but women of all nationalities in Oulu.

Mahesh's Mac PowerBook (yes, he is wisely also a Mac User like me) contained songs from every era, videos of all major Indian superstars. It had the audience roaring, laughing, dancing and singing. The excitement was contagious as people of all age groups joined this wonderful festivities in the true spirit of Diwali, our festival of Light and happiness and the beginning of a great new year ahead.

Truly this had been Diwali, the Festival of Lights and Friendship, for all of us, so far from our homeland and brought together to feel that we were not alone or forgotten in this near Arctic location.

The wonderful warmth of our motherland, Mother India, embrace was there for all to feel and enjoy.

Thank you dearest Aruna and Mahesh.

The quiet German girl gets....

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

Almost two years ago, I picked up a very shy German girl at Oulu Airport. She had never travelled out of her home state. I took her to our daughter's home as she had signed to be a tenant. Then I took her for first meal in Oulu at the Pailin Restaurant, as Pornpailin Weber, spoke fluent German. Kerstin was "at home" within a few hours of arrival in this big bad world of Oulu!

Kerstin was clutching a little book in her hand. At the next CHAFF meeting I introduced her to the authors of that book, Ildikó amd Ilari, who had written "Culture Shock Finland" in German! Was she surprised!

From then, Kerstin became a dedicated CHAFF participant, attending many meetings and taking part in all the major CHAFF events in the spirit of all our CHAFF participants.

Kerstin became a great friend of our grandson, Samuel, as they could discuss "Football". They watched several World Cup matches together, each rooting for their own teams.

When she finished her stint at Oulu University, where she was working for her German employer, we were all very sad to see her leave, as it has been with many other CHAFF Participants from around the world.

This evening when I opened my email INBOX, there was an email with the subject line:

"We did it!"

Dear Friends,



Yes! From now on I am Ms Mike also known as Ms Birkner!!

Mike and I got married on October 27th and we returned from our honeymoon in Vienna last Tuesday.

The wedding was fabulous! - We had a great and long party with family and friends.

Unfortunately until now I have only a few wedding pictures of groom & bride together, snapshots taken from my little brother. As soon as I receive the other pictures I will email them to you.

For the beginning I send you a few snapshots...

And now...there is another news...Mike and I are pleased to announce that our small family will grow next year (end of April)...I am pregnant and we are happy!!!

Love from grey and moistly Germany,

Kerstin

Kerstin with her Grandma.


Groom Mike with Best Woman and husband of Best Woman.
First time I am hearing of a Best Woman!


Kerstin dancing with her kid brother.


Bride and Groom.

All at CHAFF are immensely pleased at this news. I share the photographs that Kerstin sent with all of you.

I hope Kerstin and Mike will accept the congratulations and best wishes from all their dear friends from Oulu and hope the "family" will visit us here in the not too distant future.

CHAFF News

The CHAFF meeting on Sunday 4th November was a small affair with Ildikó, Ilari, Burcu, a group of Indians and myself overlapping time between 12:30 and 15:00 hours at The Coffee House.

The CHAFF Meeting next week (11th November 2007) will be at The Coffee House at 13:00 hours next Sunday. As many have committed late night programmes on 10th November, Rotary International, Diwali Celebrations, it may be a rather stunted meeting. But the regulars will be there - rest assured of that.

Ildikó thought it may be nice to have the meeting on Sunday 18th November at the Goreme Restaurant in the Ranta-Kastelli Shopping Centre. Time, as usual. will be 13:00 hours.

I spoke with Hasim and Kasim, the owners, and they are excited to have us there. It is the very best Pizzeria and Kebab Restaurant in Finland and they have excellent fresh bread and great garlic butter.

I will try to persuade Hasim and Kasim to offer us the traditional Turkish Group Meze. (Remember that registration is mandatory.) I will ask them to cap the price at € 7 per head and € 3.50 for children between 5 and 12.)

Watch out here for more news on this.

You can be sure we will be greeted with great enthusiasm as Hasim, Kasim and Mehmet are ardent supporters of CHAFF but their life style has made it impossible for them to attend meetings.

If you have a problem to reach the location, please let Ildikó or me know and we can organise transport to the restaurant. Hasim even said that he can organise a bus to get us there!

It will be a great lunch meeting - that I can assure you.

I hope you do make it to the exhibition of Turkish Glass at the City Library. Although it is a very small showing, and as I was informed by very knowledgeable Turks, not very representative, it was certainly eye-opening to see such wonderful pieces of Art Glass on display.

Annikki and I are lovers of Art Glass and we certainly appreciated the quality of the pieces on display at this exhibition.

Bombay Mix in Oulu

Posted on Jacob's Blog, the Oulu Best Buy Blog and the Oulu CHAFF Blog.

Last Sunday, after our CHAFF get.together at the Coffee House, I dropped in to see Indu, Ashesh and little Karthik. Indu served me two varieties of Bombay Mix, one that she had brought from India and the other that Ashesh had picked up from London.

I have a great love for Bombay Mix and I had located that the Secondhand Shop on Isokatu (next to the Hai Long Chinese Restaurant) has a wide selection of nuts and other delicacies, including Bombay Mix at € 7.50 per kg, Pecan Nuts at € 25 per kg and Brazil Nuts at € 20 per kg. Annikki loves all the three, while I confine myself to the Bombay Mix.

Another shop which also has this great selection of nuts is Herkku Rosa next to the Oriental Shop on Rautatienkatu (the road on which the Oulu Railway Station is located). However, prices here are higher here. They have two types of Bombay Mix, spiced and normal, both at € 9,90 per kg, Pecan Nuts is € 29.90 per kg and Brazil Nuts at € 19.90 per kg.

Do remember that at the Secondhand Shop that whenever you buy € 15 at one time, you can get a stamp on the Customer Card so that on the 10th time you get € 15 back, an effective 10% discount on every € 150 of purchase.

As this is also being posted on the Oulu Best Buy Blog, the best buys of today are at the Tokmanni shop, one of which is at Kaijonharju Shopping Centre (near the University) and at Jukkolankuja on the south side of Oulu. Oranges are €0.89 per kg, Bravo ice cream is just € 0,50 per litre when you buy 2 packets, and Beef Mince is € 1.99 for 400 gm which works out at less than € 5 per kg.

Pornpailin Weber with Annikki and me at the Loykrathong Festival.

On a sad note I have to inform CHAFF participants that the Pailin Restaurant where we used to meet with the wonderful cooking of authentic Thai food by Pornpailin Weber, has finally closed its doors on the 25th of October. We will all miss the wonderful friendship of Pornpailin and also her superb cooking.

The next CHAFF meeting will be on Sunday at 13:00 hours at the Coffee House with entrances on both Isokatu and also the Rotuari Square. Last week the bulk of the meeting was about "Arctic Syndrome" which I had written about on the blog.

Indian contingent due in Oulu

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

November 2007 will see a large increase of the Indian engineer population in Oulu. There is a contingent of 20 Indians some with wives and children due to arrive in Oulu during the month.

The first group of 5 are already scheduled to arrive on the 1st of November. The others are waiting for their visas and other papers to arrive.

They are looking for houses, furnished if possible, to rent.

If any of you have any offers to make, please get in touch with me and let me know, as I can put you in direct touch with those arriving.

If they are unable to get furnished appartments, they may need furniture and other household equipment. If you have any, please let me know as I am compiling a list of stuff required against what is available.

Kamu just informed me that he has a good dining table with 4 chairs available for under € 100. We were able to provide a tv, coffee maker, toaster to a young student last week from our existing stock. We still have lots of cups, saucers, glasses, from the summer flea market remains.

This week's CHAFF meeting will be at the Coffee Shop, entrance on Isokatu as well as from the Rotuari Square. Those attending will probably be there after 13:00 hours.

One of the questions that we may discuss this week is the setting up of a Kindergarten, especially for the children who may have to go back to the Indian Education System, which can never be from a Finnish run Play Schools.

This is an enormous social issue and one which needs to be taken very seriously. If there are enough people interested, then we should take it up with the companies, especially the Indian companies, who are deputing their personnel to Oulu.

My recent discussion with the Oulu City Manager for International Affairs was rather disappointing on this front concerning one child, who, because of the pressure we put, will now get admission into an English Platy School by January 2008, after having had to languish in a Finnush language Play School for over a year.

Let it be understood that Oulu, although it claims to be an International City, is far from being International, and the City Authorities neither have the resources or the will to help out those who need their help. They may write nice letters, but that is just not enough!

As was so correctly put by one family (to the City Manager of Oulu International Affairs) which has gone through misery and from pillar to post:

"Thanks you for your understanding.

Teachers in xxxxxxxx Kindergarten asked us to give an application to the yyyyyyyyyy kindergarten.  We gave the application. It was in fact the same application which my wife gave to yyyyyyyyyy in Nov 2006.

They told us that there may be openings in 2008 only.

I think this is too late for us.

We have severe problems with Language issues already now.

Since our native language is not Finnish and our stay in Finland is not confirmed to be permanent, we want to pursue our daughter's studies in English. We are unable to help her with her simple questions due to the language issue. This is getting worse day by day.

May you please expedite this matter and help us in getting some place in yyyyyyyyyy sooner than 2008.

Thanks again for your time."

To solve these problems, yet to be able to meet the requirements of a short stay in Finland, it is imperative that the Indian Style Kindergarten has to be started in Oulu. Annikki and I are willing to help, but the onus must lie on the Indian Companies who are deputing their staff to live and work in Oulu. Expect nothing but lip service and a lot of red tape from local authorities who are just not in the know of what an international environment demands!

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Invitation: Finnish UN Association of Oulu

Message inviting Oulu CHAFF participants to an UN Event:

"The Finnish UN Association of Oulu (Osyky) celebrates its 30th anniversary on Wednesday 24th of October at 6 pm in Restaurant Tervasoihtu. (Oulu Marketplace Salt House 24)

We will have coffee and cake and talk a little about the history, present & future of our association.

Everybody is welcome to celebrate with us and to get to know Osyky!"

"Oulun seudun YK-yhdistys täyttää tänä vuonna kunnioitettavat 30 vuotta.
Juhlimme kolmekymppistä yhdistystämme YK:n päivänä keskiviikkona 24.10. klo 18 alkaen Ravintola Tervasoihdussa, Torinrannassa.

Ohjelmassa kakkukahvit ja historian siipien havinaa. Kyseessä on hyvin vapaamuotoinen tilaisuus (lähinnä kahvittelun ja
vapaamuotoisen seurustelun merkeissä) ja kiinnostuneilla on mahdollisuus
kysellä OSYKY:stä sekä tulla mukaan yhdistyksen toimintaan.

Tervetuloa!"

Osyky:n puolesta
Päivi Hirvonen

 

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CHAFF - plenty of new faces

The CHAFF meeting this week was at the Ravintola Marrakesh which dished up some nice interesting food.

This week we had some of new faces.

I had three guests - Jijo from Kerala, Vivek from UP and Suresh from Andhra, three engineers in Oulu from Nokia, Bangalore.

Ildikó's aunt from Hungary, Marita, was another new face.

Lauri, Sunil and Nisha, Mervi and Brent, Ildikó and Ilari and another half a dozen older faces made up the crowd, along with me.

Next week will be the more informal meeting at the Coffee Shop at 13:00 hours.

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First CHAFF Coffee Shop Meeting

Ildikó's new style Coffee Shop Sunday afternoon CHAFF Meeting at Pakkahuonekatu 16 (entrance on Isokatu) started with a nice group - Ildikó and Ilari, Pekka and Maritta Keränen and their son, a newcomer from Turkey, P. Burcu Guner, who has attended a CHAFF meeting when she was a visitor to Oulu last year and has now come to study in Oulu University, and myself. It was great to have David, our Irish friend, behind the counter.

I had to leave early as Annikki and I were off to Liminka to see a newly opened Antique Shop (see the Oulu Best Buy Blog on Tuesday for a report on this). Annikki found something she liked there.

Also Ildikó and Ilari were off to collect linganberries somewhere in the marshes around Oulu.

The Coffee Shop is large and spacious. It should be an ideal meeting place for our non-luncheon CHAFF meetings. We are not intruding on anyone's space and one has a great deal of freedom.

Next Sunday, Sunil and Nisha are moving home. They have no heavy furniture. We need about four people to help make the move. Those who want to help, please contact me for the time and so that I can pick them up. Should take an hour or so if we have four people, two at the loading end and two at the unloading end. Probably two trailer loads. From Saristonkatu in the City to Kuivastie in Tuira.

We could time it so that we can do the move and then be at the Coffee Shop by 13:00 hours!



I am excited as the refurbished Rabbit is ready to get on the road again. Nassar has done an outstanding job! The Rabbit will be on rescue missions again this winter! So stay tuned for its exploits.

Have a great week.

CHAFF Meetings - New Schedule

I just had this email from Ildikó.

Dear CHAFFists,

Thank you to all those who enriched our first gathering of the new era CHAFF last Sunday at the Restaurant Marrakech. We had a good time getting to know each other, having good food and enjoying each other´s company. We also agreed on the following schedule for the coming CHAFF-meetings:

Our CHAFF-meetings will be held at the known time, Sunday 1 pm.

Once a month we will gather for a full lunch at Restaurant Marrakech, Kirkkokatu 55. I´ll let you know the next date for our Sunday lunch there in time. For these lunches, I ask you to always sign up in advance by sending me an email, so that Miriam and Said will know for how many of us to prepare their delicious food. The details about the next lunch will reach you soon.

Otherwise, we will meet every Sunday at 1 pm. (apart from those we spend at Marrakech of course) at Coffee House, Pakkahuoneenkatu 16. There is no signing up necessary for these coffee meetings, as there is always enough space at that time and day of the week to fit us in. You can consume whatever you wish, there won´t be any pre-ordered meal or drinks in these coffee-meetings.

So, until further notice, we will meet this and the coming Sundays at 1 pm at Coffee House. Please do not rely on me and my husband Ilari always being at the coffee meetings, we are both busy sometimes and not always in town.

Remember: CHAFF does not need me to be CHAFF. The meetings can be held without any problem and lots of fun and helpful hints and tips even with me or Jacob not being around. The lunch meetings will be organised by me personally, so for those I´ll be around always.

Have a nice week, don´t fuss about the rain - see the beautifully coloured leaves instead ;-)!

Take care

Ildi
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Ildikó Hámos

What I would like to add is thatyou should look at this Oulu CHAFF Blog for any announcements, requests for assistance, offers to help, items for sale, etc.

You can send me details and I will ensure that they go up olinr as soon as possible.

If you need anything special and would like to meet up with a set of people, let me know, and between Ildikó and myself, we shall try to organise the private meeting.

Ildikó relaunches CHAFF new package

I was able to attend the CHAFF meeting organised by Ildikó Hámos at the Ravintola Marrakech, Oulu. We had attendees from every continent.

We had to limit attendance due to the restrictions in seating available. The meeting room was packed to the brim as Ilari, his aunt, uncle and myself, had to be content to sit out in the main restaurant area.

We had several new attendees, The Joels, Nisha, Sunil and their daughter, Hannah, Sagar Shinde, Janie, Gabor and their daughter, and many more. Several old timers were also present to show their support for the new format CHAFF. The Suomis, Fumi, Ville and little Mari were present, as also Pekka ansd Maritta Keränen and their son It was nice to see Lauri Gardner, Vamsi and Aruna Paluguru, Barbel Fink, Andi Moreno, Benjamin Hayes and friend, Sanna.

The new location for this meeting, Ravintola Marrakech, outdid themselves by serving up a great fare. On our table for four we had a serving of Couscous, a vegetarian curry, a lamb curry and chicken and lamb sishkebab sticks, Moroccan style. There was so much food that we had to struggle to finish it. But Ilari and I did it justice!

The vegetarians got a special fare which was well appreciated!

The restaurant certainly lived up to its name of the great Marrakech market, as the group were humming with excitement and enjoying the delicious fare and company.

Our hostess and host, Miriam and Said, and their staff were great. This was their first exposure to CHAFF.

The ball now rests in YOUR court as Ildikó has raised the question as to how you want the CHAFF social gatherings to continue - once a month, every fortnight or weekly, a full meal, a brunch, on the weekend or a weekday?

Ildikó took the step of asking each one present to make a short introduction as there were so many new faces. In my short introduction and summary talk I thanked Ildikó for accepting this awesome responsibility.

CHAFF is not just these social gatherings but the help we render, quietly, to those in need.

It is, therefore, important to let Ildikó know what form of help you can offer and in what circumstances - physical, knowledge base, or any other, as she can then direct any queries to you.

As you would have noted in an earlier blog entry, very simple help last year helped one CHAFF attendee to save € 1600 in his income tax. It is important to have a meeting devoted to help newcomers to Finland, especially Oulu, to understand the complex tax laws.

I had to rush off early as Annikki needed assistance at home with her mother. I apologise to many whom I could not stand and talk with.

But I greatly valued the resounding support you have shown to Ildikó and I hope you will help continue this tradition of CHAFF in the spirit that Bill Zhang (China), Kamutaza Tembo (Zambia), Saikou Marong ((Gambia) and myself (India) started this in a most humble manner over three years ago!