Easter 2014

I saw the Finnish Orthodox Easter service last night on TV. It was uplifting. The music was truly wonderful.

Jacob told me that in India it is similar. 

I did attend weddings in the Orthodox Churches but never the Good Friday and Easter services. The level of direct emotional involvement by a church member in India compared to Finland is considerably more. 

Jacob once wrote in one of his online pages about his childhood memories about celebrating Good Friday.

 I must find it. It was truly inspiring. It showed that members felt the pain of Christ on that fateful day, personally. They lived His suffering and felt His pain.

That was why on Easter Day they felt the joy of His Resurrection!

Finnish TV interview about Me!

I am pleased to give you two links to a TV interview by Helena Lehtimäki of Laureus University of Applied Sciences, Espoo, about me. I really enjoyed myself! It was aired in a new TV station called CaringTV which is to motivate us older folk to do creative things.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yEwPv_6U0X8&feature=youtu.be

http://youtu.be/yEwPv_6U0X8

Helena and her team have gone a great job. Thank you Helena.

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!

The reason for moving to Finland?

Many people have asked both Jacob and me why we moved to Finland in 1984?

It is difficult to give a straight answer, but there were several contributing factors, but none of them were individually strong enough to the decision. 

There was another reason which we discovered much later!

The first reason was the terrible time I went through being subjected to a false charge by the Bangalore Police which had dragged on for 5 years. I was subjected to much humiliation. But it ended with the Police withdrawing all charges against me and acting as my defenders, but then I was subjected to harassment by the Indian judicial system! 

In itself it made me make a decision halfway through this episode that I wanted to leave India!

Jacob was being harassed by a totally corrupt Karnataka bureaucracy, and fight as he would, there was no way around this very public battle. It sort of made him decide that he was not doing anything constructive in Karnataka, and if he wanted to preserve his integrity and honesty, there was no other way than to go somewhere his work and talents would be judged on its merits. 

So he met Karnataka Member of Parliament, S. M. Krishna, who was then Union Minister of State for Finance in New Delhi, and explained the reasons why he was pulling out and moving to pastures where he had an even chance of succeeding.

The third reason was that both Jacob and I felt that our children had received and accepted their roots in India, and we both felt that they should be given a chance to understand their roots in Finland. So, if there was an option, we felt we should allow them a reasonable period for them to appreciate this. 

The children loved their life in India and they had a close bond with their paternal grandparents, so it was a very difficult decision for them.

We waited for Susanna to finish her School and after that, we felt it was time to move as I received my freedom in March 1984.

So we processed all our papers by mid April 1984 but with no job under the belt for either of us in Finland, trusting in our Lord, we set off to Finland. 

We were welcomed by my parents in their home in Oulu, Finland. It was a small house but we settled in into an upstairs corner with our own kitchen, a living room and two small attic bedrooms.

The children were back in Finnish schools in August, but it became very obvious that Susanna, who had to move into the High School system of Finland to get into University, would not be able to survive the three  years.

Since Susanna was born in England in the 60s, she had her British Passport. When one of her classmate friends from India invited Susanna to come to England, we made the decision that for her future, she should move to England and continue her studies there.

This was the first time one of our family was leaving us, and both Jacob and I were heart-broken, but we knew that we had to be concerned about Susanna's future and not our feelings.

So in November 1984, 8 months after our shift to Finland, Susanna moved to England.

Jacob had not yet got a job, but God looked after us in may ways and we were able to survive those 8 months. 

By 1985 April it became obvious that our elder son, Jaakko. was also having problems with the Finnish education system, so when he finished his middle school, we allowed him to join Susanna in England, as he too had been born in England and held a British Passport.

This was again a big emotional blow for all of us, as Jaakko was the life and soul of our family, but his future decided our action.

By that time Jacob had got a job in the Unversity of Oulu as an assistant Researcher and as Scientific Editor of English publications for the Microelectronics Laboratory. It became obvious he was outstanding in his job so he was firmly entrenched in the University, but I was keen to reunify our family.

So in the summer of 1986, I shifted, with the two younger children to Birmingham, England where Susanna and Jaakko were now well established.

Jacob came to England in September, but he was not happy with life in England and our circumstances, while he was doing so well in Oulu. We decided that I would return with the two younger children to Finland. We returned in November 1986 to Oulu.

I must give you some background of the situation in my parent’s home in Oulu. 

Also living there was my younger sister, who had, by her rather difficult experience in France in 1965, had become a schizophrenic patient. The Finnish system was that she was to be looked after by her parents, but they were unable to control her and she ruled the roost in there home.

I could manage her, to a point, but she was milking her parents and they could do nothing.

One fateful Friday in December 1986, I had gone to town for shopping. As the Sabbath was soon approaching, I cut short my shopping trip and took the bus home. I went upstairs where Mika was listening to the radio and put the kettle on for cup of coffee. I smelt some smoke and went downstairs to see what was the problem. 

When I opened my sister's room I saw a fire raging in one corner. I shut the door and quickly told Mika to get out of the house. I ran to the neighbours and asked the lady to call the Fire Brigade.

Our neighbour, being a reporter, also called her newspaper.

We soon had a crowd of people waiting for the house to burst into flames, as was the case with wooden houses.

I was concerned for my parents, whom I knew were in the house. Mika banged on the living room window, where we knew my father was resting.

I went into the house and when I opened the door of the living room, as it was already dark (in December darkness descends by 3 pm), I could not see him, but he immediately smelt the fire. He ran out and started to collect water in buckets in the small toilet and tried to put out the fire, which was gathering momentum, with dark smoke coming out of my sister's room.

My mother managed to come down the stairs from her room. She was blinded by the smoke, but we managed to get her out of the house.

I was wondering where my father was as he had not come out of the house. So I went in and I found him trying to close the door to my sister's room to try to contain the fire, but the force of the smoke was so strong, he was not able to shut it. I dragged him out twice but he just went back in.

Finally I understood his intention and I tried to help him, but the pressure inside the room was so strong that we could not together shut the door.

The suddenly, for no reason, the door shut.

My father acted slowly but surely. His clothes cupboard was just behind us. He opened and took out his main clothes and proceeded down the stairs to the cellar, where he had his shoes.

I went out by the front door and waited for the Fire Brigade. By that time people were streaming in from around to see the blaze. My sister was standing at the gate. She told a neighbour that it seemed that the fire had not started in earnest!

I was in the back gaden watching the blaze through the window while at the same time, the small ventilation duct was billowing out thick smoke.

Te Fire Brigade arrived and the first question was whether there was anyone left into house. I told them that my mother's dog, Jesse, was trapped in the upstairs bedroom. Thy went in with a smoke extractor and soon emerged with the dog.

They acted quickly and efficiently and before the house could explode, they were able to put out the fire. My sister's room was completely gutted and the entire house was flooded as the firemen ensured that no spark was left unattended.

They took my parents to then hospital to ensure they were not suffering from any smoke inhalation problems.

Joanna had been walking home from school and when she saw the Fire Engines rushing, she thought that our house must be on fire. She and her friends rushed home, but the main excitement was over.

The Police arrived and having establishing the facts took my sister to the psychiatric hospital.

If we had moved to Finland, if my experience in England had not been negative, and if I had not returned home before the start of the Sabbath, the lives of my parents and their home would have been lost.

Coincidence, fate or the handiwork of our Lord God, could have directed efforts to ensure that my parents survived and their home was saved.

There is no doubt in my mind why we had to move to Finland. As a result of this I was able to fight the case of my sister in Court that she was not convicted as an arsonist and to also get her a permanent place in the psychiatric hospital, so that my parents were freed from her over-bearing and demanding character.

For that I can surely say what or who was the reason for shifting us from India to Finland. 

Can you?

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!

Continuation of the Love Story! Part 2

I am so happy that many of you enjoyed the first part of this Love Story. These parts are not excerpts but a shortened version of our eBook to be released soon: "The Life and Loves of the Findians" (Title not yet finalised! Suggestions welcome.)

The second part of our life revolved around the time we spent in India (1969 to 1984).

Landing in Bombay in September 1969 was not a wise decision as it was humid and hot. And we landed into an Indian wedding where all the families of Jacob were present and meeting over 300 to 400 people who are all like his brother's and sisters was a very tough experience.

But the food was special and with abandon I took to all the Kerala food organised by Jacob's aunt, the late Mrs. K. M. Mathew, including the super spiced fish curry. Mrs. Mathew (known to me as Annammakochamma) became my very good fiend as she was just as crazy as me!!

I paid the penalty for my indulgence as I had to be rushed to hospital and it took me about 2 years to recover from my lack of vision. But, I loved the food and slowly but steadily I got used to the spices.

During the next seven years we stayed first in the centre of Madras and then on the outskirts, in a mango grove in Guindy in Defence Officers Colony, and then moved to a palatial house with a large garden at the top end of Velacheri Road, near the Saidapet Bridge.

It was an amazing life. I learnt the spoken colloquial Tamil as we had so many people working in the household (cook, gardener, driver, children's nanny, cleaning staff, night watchman) who only spoke this language. It was relatively easy as I found much similarity between Finnish and Tamil. (This formed the basis of our chapter in our 1994 best seller, now available as an eBook,  "Handbook for Survival in Finland" which says that spoken Finnish is not a difficult language!)

We had a few Scandinavians in Madras. The most prominent was Stina Vasu who was married to T. T. Vasu, the son of former Indian Finance Minister, T. T. Krishnamachri. She used to orgnse the Lucia party, in Swedish tradition, every year in December. We got a chance to meet all the other Scandinavians - from Iceland, Denmark, Norway and Sweden. 

Lucia Party in Madras, Stina, Susanna, Jaajoo, Joanna and me, 1972

For the most part I was the only Finn, and the picture above was taken in 1972 when we had three children, Susanna, Jaakko and little Joanna! Stina is the person in the background in this picture of me with our children!

The family at Velcheri Road, Madras in 1975

In 1975, the late Mathew Varghese, who was married to  Finn and living in Helsinki, came to Madras to do an article about our family, which was published in a Helsinki magazine, Koti Liesi. The photograph above shows our family sitting on the steps of our Velacheri Road house, with our golden labrador, Ruby.

1998 Award Winning Ginger Bread Village Church

It was here I started my Ginger Bread House creations which is described in detail in our book "Edible Art", including the first catastrophe, published as an eBook in Novmber 2013.

Detail of a lake in a mountain with a hidden water stream
flowing into the lake (from the eBook Edible Art)

 From Chennai, as Jacob's parent retired from Bombay and returned to Bangalore, I moved with my family to Jacob's original home town. I preferred the warmth of Madras along with the sea breeze which arrived every afternoon without fail by 3 pm.

Matthan family in Bangalore in 1976

The picture above shows the Kuriyan Matthan family in 1976 in front of their Basavangudi House on Market Road.

Bangalore was also very nice except that corruption was very rampant at all levels. It was from this house I was arrested. 

1993 eBook "...for the hour of His judgement is come:..."

This resulted in a complicated situation and prosecution which is described in my sensational best seller thriller book and also an eBook, " :...for the hour of His judgement is come:..." which I wrote in 1993 when I was in Finland. This episode also resulted in my finding my faith.

This book has helped many people who were caught in the same situation. The last was a young student from Bangladesh who was arrested a few years ago inBangalore!

But all good things must come to an end, so when we were required to move to Finland, it was fate definitely calling us.

That is the third part of this Love Story.

Launch of eBook Version of EDIBLE ART

Finally we have been able to launch the eBook version of the book "Edible Art".

Radha (aka SRK, Sriradhakrishnan Polsetti) finished the editing of the photographs, working late into the night. Without his inputs this beautiful book would never have seen the light of day.   

Once this was done, Jacob inserted the text in English for most of the photographs and the details. This was edited by Annikki as she wanted to ensure the facts were correct. 

Memories fade over the years, but her intimate knowledge about the designing of each cake and the circumstances of their creation, never faded from her artist's mind.

We decided to use an image taken at the end of the Eighties for the cover.

This is a picture of our nephew, Samuli Reinikka, when he was a little boy and his spontaneous reaction to seeing this Ginger Bread Creation by Annikki. He certainly wanted to get his teeth into it.

Radha and Annikki created the cover by removing the background and the final result was the grand cover.

Every time Jacob completed the cover text, Radha would rearrange it so his name vanished. He gave lots of lame excuses! 

Annikki was adamant as she knew that without his dedicated input this project would never have seen the light of day. aAnnikki and Jacob have always believed that credit must always be given when credit is due.

After working a long day at the office, Radha would come home and work late into the night to ensure that every picture was good enough to earn a place in the book. 

He worked out a background picture strategy for most of the pages, where he embedded the main picture as a background on which he placed a filter on top of which we could put details and text.

 Both Annikki and Jacob liked this idea.

Radha had to return to Bangalore, so Jacob was left to complete the book.

The decision was to launch first the eBook. Again using Radha's input, Jacob decided to use Scribd.com and put the pdf format file on line.

Converting the Powerpoint presentation to the eBook format was not too difficult. 

Before we realised this was an eBook and it was on the Apple Apps Store.

We priced it at just $4.99, as Annikki was really keen to showcase her cake designs in front of the world.