Manuscript unearthed!

I am in the middle of finishing the "Handbook for Survival in Finland", which is a complete re-write of our 1994 best seller with many hundreds of links so that it is really an interactive eBook. 

It is takeng longer than I expocted as it is a laborious task. Hopefully finished this weekend.

While searching for some documents I came across another 2007 manuscript of mine.

It is in Finnish and it is called "Sananvapaus - Kenen?" 

This translates to "Freedom of Speech - Whose?"

Original cover of "Sananvapaus - Kenen?"
which is a barbed wire fence!

This was written when I was frustrated by the attitude of our local newspaper, Kaleva. 

If I wrote that the sun was blue and shining as a text message, it would be published. However, if I pointed out something controversial, it would not see the light of day.

My opinion is that media is one of the main cornerstones of the corruption prevalent in Finnish Society - and this book is proof of my opinion!

I, therefore, decided to publish a book of the text messages of mine that Kaleva did not publish.

I have decided to update this publication (many new text messages to be added), and also make it a dual language (Finnish and English) eBook. However, as I do not have the original computer files, and the result of scanning are not good enough, the text has to be typed in, that is the entire text and the translation. Also,  a new cover has to be designed along with the interior to suit the mood.

Your good wishes will spur me on! :-)

No job was too small!

When we came to Finland, both Jacob and I were unemployed. Jacob started to look around. I, too, was looking for something I liked to do. 

I did a few weeks in the Oulu University hospital with my nursing background. This was not feasible as I had to look after my entire brood (Indian style)!

Then I saw that the English Cub of Oulu was intending to run English classes for Finnish children. I contacted them. 

The Club Secretary, Pirkko Böhm, asked whether Jacob would do a talk about Indian culture.

1984 Painting of Mother Teresa by Annikki

We constructed an exhibition of all our very rich collections we had brought from India - coins, stamps, antique lamps, my paintings of birds and antiques, batiks, books,  encyclopaedias, magazines and other items from our collection. I myself did the one above one of Mother Teresa. 

Jacob and Annikki (1984)

All these were put on display, and I even dressed in a sari! Jacob dressed in his traditional Kerala clothes of the mundu with jubba! [I could not dress in a sari these days as I have outgrown all my blouses! :-)]

It was a great talk as Jacob is a very good professional speaker. He held the audience spellbound. He cleared up many misconceptions about India, but he did call a spade a spade! 

The exhibition was well received. I was pleased with my effort to bring Indian culture to Oulu, my home town. And we made life-long friends.

My English Club English Class students.

Another of my English Club English Class students.

As a result of this the English Club of Oulu, which is primarily an organistion to help Finns in Oulu improve their English, asked me to run classes for Finnish children who return from abroad so that they could preserve their English knowledge. Although it was just one hour a week, I did it with great gusto for several years. I had tapes, children's books and I used my own art to teach the chidden. I enjoyed it and I think the children also did.

In the process Jacob and I became Lifetime Members of the English Club, the status we still hold today! 

(Being a Lifetime Member is a good investment as you do not have to pay the membership year after year, you are locked in at a very low price, and the Club has the benefit of getting a larger sum which they can use when in the early stages of its existence!)

Elected as the Chairperson of the English Club of Oulu.
I am holding the gavel!

Later, because of the contribution of both Jacob and me to the running of the English Club of Oulu, I was elected as the Chairperson of the Club. 

During my time as Chairperson we organised many events including a fortnightly talk in English about various issues. Jacob did a wonderful talk about the freedom of the press in India. This was a very controversial period as the fatwa on Salman Rushdie (who was 3 years junior to Jacob from Jacob's school in Bombay, India) was issued at that time!

The moral of this story is that we made some wonderful friends due to a participation in the local clubs of the city, which has lasted us till today. 

It is another part of our Findians Love Story with the citizens of Oulu!

Details of the Bangalore earthquake in 1984! Natural or intervention from above?

You can make your own decision whether this earthquake was a natural phenomena or whether there was intervention by a higher being!

There is a web site, Amateur Sesmic Centre,  which lists all the major earthquakes in Karnataka and Goa, with their listing starting in August 1507. they are not very frequent.

This was the listing for March 1984:

20 March 1984 - Denkanikota area, Karnataka, Ms 4.6 (1).
12.550 N, 77.770 E, OT=10:45:22 UTC (2)
Felt (14) in southern Karnataka at Bangalore and Mysore and in Tamil Nadu at Krishnagiri. Intensity VI (15) was observed at Kelamangalam and Kowthalam in Karnataka. Cracks were seen in plaster and utensils were overturned at these places. A section of a mud wall also collapsed and a 2-metre tall papaya tree was uprooted (14).12.550 N, 77.770 E, OT=10:45:22 UTC (2)Felt (14) in southern Karnataka at Bangalore and Mysore and in Tamil Nadu at Krishnagiri. Intensity VI (15) was observed at Kelamangalam and Kowthalam in Karnataka. Cracks were seen in plaster and utensils were overturned at these places. A section of a mud wall also collapsed and a 2-metre tall papaya tree was uprooted (14).

When you read "...for the hour of His judgement is come:...", you will see how circumstances caused me to receive my freedom from the corrupt judicial system in Karnataka!

Here is the Preface to the book written by me!

When I went to live in India in 1969, I had expected my life to be full and rich in content. I entered a strange and wonderful world. I knew that I had entered a world previously unknown to me, a world which was a blend of ancient history, customs, cultures, languages, religions and people with a touch of each bygone era existing together with the development and infiltration of the modern age. I enjoyed unravelling some of its past in trying to understand better its present. The country's past and present, its nature and people were full of surprises, both big and small. Each day was for me an adventure of discoveries, from the smallest insects to the big mysteries of life, the reasons for existence and the meaning of life.

I wanted to know the ways in which Indian society functions. I had not intended or expected to have any close encounters with its legal system, but that was in store for me, and I faced it. Along with the daily discoveries of life in India, I made my biggest and most important discovery: Life in Jesus Christ. I came face to face with my God and Saviour who freed me in a breathtaking manner during the final moments of my court appearance. He declared me not guilty.

On returning to Finland many people have asked me why we left India. After hearing some of the incidents, several people asked me to write about them. There are also many close friends and family members in India who do not know all the facts. Many did not hear of my final appearance in the court room and its outcome. The reason for writing this is to narrate, as clearly as possible, all the main events as they occurred.
The legal case was complex. Few people know little of the legalities of what it means to be a foreigner in India, or for that matter in any part of the world. The spiritual side of this episode could perhaps be even less understood without the exact account of the events and how they were relevant against the Biblical background. A struggle is going on, unseen in this world, between the forces of good and evil. For God, it is to free man from all bondage and slavery. For the devil, it is how to enslave and capture man without him having the least suspicion.

The intention of this book is not as a theological reference to the pages of the Holy Bible to persuade anyone to believe in, or an attempt to prove the existence of a distant, uninvolved God unaffected by the events in the lives of people. It is, however, my sincere attempt to prove the love and power of the living God of the Holy Bible, who is involved and interested in the lives of individuals, whoever and wherever they may be. The pages that follow are intended as an encouragement for people in situations that may appear humanly impossible to show how help can come in the most unexpected ways. It is also to show that when you take even the first feeble step towards God, He comes all the way towards you and remains faithfully with you in all your life experiences.
This book is not intended to be of theological or literary merit. It is the true life story of a mother of four young children living an ordinary life and the extraordinary circumstances which caused great changes to happen to the family. It is a story of how the presence of forces of good and evil touched them in a tangible way, where the presence of God was felt concretely in the events that took place in an unusual, awesome manner and caused her to accept God personally and His guidance in her life and that of her family.

Looking back to the time I was fighting my case against the police and the government and facing uncertainties as to the outcome, I remember a discussion with my family while we were living in Sommanahalli (Mandya District) village in the beautiful, tranquil Indian countryside. I was airing my feelings after one of our trips to a court hearing in Bangalore. I said that when this incident was over I would write a book. After my case came to such an incredible ending, I had all the more reason to put down the unusual twists and turns of events which led to those final extraordinary moments. This has been the time for it, nine years on.

I look forward to the release of this web version which was voted by you, the reader, to be the first of our books to be published on the World Wide Web to reach the widest possible world audience as part of our committment to spread the Word of God and his fantastic deeds and as a thanks to him for having kept us safe from evil all through these years.

Rauha Annikki Matthan Oulu, Finland.

He tested me in several ways. Our elder son was bitten by a deadly snake, the krait, far from civilisation, where there was no doctor or anti-venom, and he survived! 

In my greatest hour of need, He was always with me. He was my strength!

Can I ever repay Him?

  After all the legal obstacles were removed and I was free to go, Jacob had to wind up his work and business and be ready to travel. Although I was very happy to get back my passports and was now able to travel anywhere, I was very sad to leave my home and life in India. If I could have reversed those two things I would have. Everything would have been perfect. But I accepted the situation and knew we had committed ourselves too far to change anything. I trusted that there was a purpose and a meaning for us to start our lives somewhere else. It was not for us to know then, but time would reveal His will and it has.

"I will praise thee: for thou hast heard me, and art become my salvation." Psalm 118:21

The purpose of our move to Finland will be revealed in future blog entries, so do come back to read my continuing "love Story"!

Hope you enjoy my book! Indian, Finn, Christian, or one of any religion, you will see the importance of trusting implicitly in your Maker!