Philosophy behind my multiple entry blogging

Posted on Jacob's Blog, the Oulu Best Buy Blog, the Oulu CHAFF Blog, the Cathedralite Seventh Heaven Blog, the Stephanian Kooler Talk Blog, the Jacob's Politics Blog, the Move the UN Blog, and the Talk Show Ratings Blog.

Many diverse groups of people with multiple interests are reading my blogs.

Some of you are reading more than one of my blogs.

It is very annoying to see the same posting on more than one blog.

I apologise.

I have, therefore, to introduce a strategy till such time as I can get all or most of my 120 000+ readers to install a policy of being updated whenever there is a new blog entry on the blogs of their specific interest.

If they do this registration, then I need only post any entry to a single blog. The blog info service should inform you if that particular blog has been updated.

If you subscribe to getting this info for three blogs, then I need not post an entry to all three blogs!

Till the recording service is fully operational, at the top of each entry I will include a list of the other blogs that the entry will be found.

For instance, this entry will be found on ALL my blogs.

If any of you have a better solution, I am all ears.

Remember, I am a computer idiot and know nothing about the art of designing things for the computer. :-) That's because I use a Mac!

Any other beauty title holders from School?

I had a message from 57er Fleur (née Ezekiel) Mandnani who  corrected me on some issues.

This was the very sweet email from Fleur.

Dear Jacob,

Thanks so much for your msg & so glad to know that you are back after your well deserved holiday.

I read thru your blog & was saddened to hear that anyone can accuse such good folks as Annikki & you of religious fundamentalism, of all things!  They are just an unhappy lot & obviously have nothing better to do!  Idle minds!

Knowing you over the years, I feel that this statement, of whoevers, is as far from the truth as anything could possibly be!  Besides, you have the right to be who you are & really don't need to justify anything to anybody!  Everyone knows you both for the wonderful people you are.

As regards our 57ers list - Yes Saker Mistri is the correct name & the other is also the same person but the second email address is the correct one.

Yvonne (née Isaac) Baker is the correct name & apologise to you as she does not seem to be aware that you are not a 57er, so pl excuse her remarks.

I have never heard of Tanaz Lal in our class of 57, but I could be wrong.  Will have to check with Pramila when we next meet at our Organizing Committee meeting on Saturday, Sept 8 at Pramila's office.  The Committee consists of Pramila, Saker, Arun Mahimtura, Pervez Antia, Sunil Sahni, Homi Commisseriat, Bhupinder Anand, Kashinath Dandekar & self.

After we meet on the 8th & we come to more concrete decisions, I will definitely send you our programme (since a few changes are to be made) once it is finalized so you can put it out on your blogsite.

Incidentally, I am only the cog in the wheel of our Reunion & assisting in any way I can to get our Reunion together.  It is more Pramila's lead that is helping us along - but she is a busy lady - as she has a chemical business to run & so I help out by sending msgs etc.  Saker is the other person who is also very active. And since I connect with you more than any of our other 57er - I was commissioned to send you the msg.

My dear Brother, Noel, & wife Cecilia have been coming to India since like Christmas! So far they have not made it  to India tho' Cecilia is still thinking about it. Noel may not be able to come at all since he has a lot to be done - workwise in the Realty world.  So I am expecting Cecilia but I don't know when - hopefully sometime in Sept or Oct this year.

I do hear from Vijay Shivi once in a while when he drops into Pune as his house is very close to ours in Pune.

Glad to know that your 59ers are planning your 50th in 2009 & God willing we will be able to meet you & Annikki & all the other 59ers sometime during that time.  I remember your last reunion when I met you all on one occasion when I accompanied Noel, as Cecilia did not come to India at that time.

Will check on the 57ers email addresses & let you know in my next, if there are any changes, additions etc.

Take care & love to you both,

Fleur

From Fleur's email it appears that the 57er 50th Year Reunion has an Organising Committee which may be as follows:

PRAMILA SHIVDASANI, Chairperson
SAKER MISTRI , Co-Chairperson
ARUN MAHIMTURA,
PERVEZ BAIDA ANITA,
SUNIL SAHNI
HOMI COMMISSARIAT,
BHUPENDRA SINGH ANAND,
KASHINATH DANDEKAR,
FLEUR (née EZEKIEL) MADNANI

If you want to get in touch with any of them, please email me. I await their Reunion Programme which I will give prominence here on the blog. So stay tuned.

My sincere public apologies to Yvonne (née Isaac) Baker, as I listed her as YVONNE BAKIRFAM, taking the surname from the email ID. Yvonne sent me an email correcting this, and I have apologised to her directly.

She and her husband, Geoffrey Baker, have already booked their tickets to India to attend the reunion.

I was also pleased to hear from 57er Ashok (Tony) Jaitly from Delhi.

On another front, male chauvinists, 56er Ubi and I, have been having an interesting side discussion as to which Class had the best looking girls.

Acknowledging the outstanding beauty of many 57ers, Ubi came to the conclusion that the Class of 56 had undoubtedly the best crop.

I chose to strongly disagree, standing firmly by the Class of 59!

With such outstanding beauties as Piloo, Renuka, Harmoinha, the Singh sisters, and many many more, I do not think any other class could compete. As far as the boys are concerned, with egoist me around, I do not have any option but to say that we had the best looking guy in school, EVER! :-)

The Class of 57, however, has an unfair advantage in this discussion, as our dear Fleur was the first Miss India in 1959 who represented India in the Miss World competition!

I wonder whether any other Cathedralite girl has won this title and/or any other major beauty titles?

Thanks, Mr. Anonymous. I am back with more gusto...

Posted on the Cathedralite Seventh Heaven Blog, the Stephanian Kooler Talk Blog and my Jacob's Blog.

I am listening on the internet to the audio commentary from BBC of the fourth one day international being played at Leeds between England and India, where India is trying to cut the lead in the one day series.

Also, yesterday here in Oulu we lost our television reception at home. Finland went over to Digital Television. I have not installed a Digi Box. We have a satellite antenna with access to two satellites. However, as soon as the green leaves appear on the trees in late April, they mask out the reception. Autumn is a bit late, but in another few weeks all the leaves on the trees would have fallen. We can get our satellite reception back again. I can then think whether to invest in a Digi Box by next April.

I am so happy at the emails that I received welcoming me back to the world of blogging. Here is a small cross section of the mail I received:

From Mumbai, India:

Dear Jacob,

26th June to 31st August was a very long sabbatical Never mind, it's good to have you up and about. You were missed!

Looking forward to a normal, hyperactive Jacob's Blog!

The only "fanatical" or "fundamentalist" attribute, you can be accused of, to my mind, is your fierce loyalty to the educational institutions that you studied in and your fellow students, young and old.

Of course, I will not list your other attributes lest you should get a swollen head!

Carry on carrying on!

Regards,
Ubi.

From Mysore, India

Dear Jacob,

With joy I observed that you were back to providing entries in your Seventh Heaven blog, after a long hiatus.

I was then deeply shocked to read of the calumnious references made to Annikki and you, to which you refer.

Be assured that at no time have I perceived the least religious bias in any of your writings or responses;  I doubt these could possibly occur, given the wonderful truly secular attitudes bred into us by the educational institutions in India which we were fortunate to attend.  I pray you will retain strength to defeat your detractors.

An earlier entry mentions that Viney Sethi was at Loughborough in the 1960s.  I read Chemical Engineering there from 1954 to 58, so the association pleased me.  If it so pleases Viney, I would be happy to hear from him.

Regards,
Naval

From Toronto, Canada

Hi Jacob,

Just a short note to let you know that I am really pleased that you are back blogging!

It's a real pleasure to read your 'ramblings'. Pity about your camera breaking down whilst Viney was with you, but .......

Take care, and all the best to you, Annikki and the family.

Chinnie

From Milan, Italy:

Dear Jacob,

Welcome back to your internet heaven!

It felt rather eerie without your entries these past two months!

Love

Barbara

From Perth, Australia

Dear Sushil,

We have known you now for close to 40 years. Never have we once known you to be either a religious fanatic or an anarchist or hippie.

I wonder how anyone who knows Annikki and you could ever make any of these accusations.

Vera and I missed your blog entries, but we prayed for you and now we are happily settling back to our routine of checking your blogs.

Please do update the Maliyakal and Kandathil web pages also as many of us out here like to see what is happening with our many relatives around the world.

Rohan

From Rio de Janerio, Brazil

Dear Mr. Matthan,

I was so glad to see your blog active again.

I have subscribed to a service which tells me when you update your pages. I was wondering whether the service had gone bust. It forced me to visit the pages, to see only the old posts, to my disappointment.

Having been reading your work online for close to 10 years, I cannot see how anyone could ever accuse you of being a religious fundamentalist.

And seeing the 40 year relationship you have with your wonderful wife depicted in your tribute to her, it is impossible to understand anyone accusing you or Annikki being anarchists or hippies.

Please do not take such words seriously, as all those who know you, either personally, or like me through your writings, know that these are just idle thoughts of thoughtless persons.

Dr. Samuel Pires

Thank you all for your concern and well wishes.

Annikki and I are strong enough to defend ourselves when people start any baseless onslaught on us. And dear Ubi, I already have an enormous swollen head that it could be used as a basketball. No need to cause it to swell any more!:-)

Yesterday I attended a Thai Festival in Oulu (had a taste of some really spicy papaya salad). I met a whole new lot of new Indians, as well as Sri Lankans, now here in Oulu. Engineers, software specialists, almost all of them.

And by today I find I have half a dozen committed readers of these blogs! Here was an email from a young Maharashtrian from Mumbai, India:

Dear Jacob Sir,

As you had suggested during our conversation at the Oulu Thai festival today, I read your blog.

It is really good and honestly it makes me proud to see an fellow Indian already done and doing so well far away from our motherland.

I also read your web page dedicated to your wife Annikki. It was really sweet.

I especially liked the pictures of the Indian evening. It would have been great fun doing those bollywood numbers. :-)

I would certainly like to be part of this unique community Findians.

Thanks n Regards,
Sagar Shinde,

Welcome Sagar, not only to the City of Oulu but also to the Findian Community which spans every continent. The very fact that you are an Indian in Finland makes you part of that Findian Community of which Annikki and are the proud parents!

Yes, it has been good to get back to blogging. I think the advice from the Anonymous Commenter for me to get a life was certainly good as it allowed me to focus on what is going on around me and to come back to blogging with some gusto.

I will have to get a new camera as the old one held together by grey silicone sticky tape is just to difficult to use. Joanna has sent me hers from England, so at least you will soon be able to see some pictures.

Help locate missing 57ers for 50th Year Reunion

The 57ers are organising their 50th Year Reunion.

The untimely passing away of Budni Behram Badhniwalla has put a great stress on the remaining organisers.

Fleur Mandani (née Ezekiel) has taken the lead to organise this event in November of this year.

She put out a cry for help a month ago, just when 59er Viney Sethi was visiting me here in Oulu.

Between Budni and myself we had located quite a few of the 57ers. We had put together a Master List which I have sent to Fleur.

Fleur has added a few names which are now listed as missing.

1. Allwyn Ceal


2. Anil Akhaney


3. Colleen Judah


4. Daveen Waters


5. David Haskel


6. Deepak Melwani


7. Delia Thompson


8. Diana Rowe


9. Ferial Karim


10. Gopal Motwani


11. Joyce Shellim


12. Kathryn Manning


13. Katie Largent

Anyone who has any knowledge of the whereabouts of these missing 57ers should email me the information so that I can pass it on to the 57ers who are involved with the reunion plans.

If you know of any other 57ers who are not in this list, please let me know. I will check them against my Master List and proceed as necessary.

Please watch this BLOG for details of the Reunion Programme as I have asked Fleur to keep me informed.

Religious Fundamentalist or Anarchist Hippie?

Posted on the Stephanian Kooler Talk Blog, the Cathedralite Seventh Heaven Blog and my main Jacob's Blog.

One of the reasons that I took time off from blogging was that an Anonymous Commenter on the Kooler Talk Blog said that I had no life of my own and that was why I was running so many blogs!

So I took time off, causing deep concern amongst many of you about my health and well-being!

Those of you have been reading the Comments on the Stephanian Kooler Talk Blog would have seen some Anonymous Comments alleging that I am a Christian Religious Fundamentalist.

On the other hand, on a popular Christian TV Channel, another strange allegation about Annikki and me surfaced. Millions of viewers heard that we had been "anarchist hippies"!

Well, well, well - what a contradictory couple of allegations and turn of events.

In response to the Anonymous Commenter, I protested that I do not belong to ANY religious faction and never have. I have not subscribed, contributed or financially supported any religious movement.

The only monthly contribution that Annikki and I make regularly is € 20 to Amnesty International.

Cover of book by Annikki
published in 1994.

Annikki does belong to a Christian movement and her conversion to that faith to the extent of being baptised at the age of 40 can be found in the pages of her best-selling book "for the hour of his judgement is come:...."

In response to the "anarchist hippie" comment, we sent the tv station this comment. This allegation has been described to me by some people as saying Annikki and I are "hip" people in today's context - more a form of tribute!

Sadly, Annikki and I are not "hip" enough to understand this modern day lingo!

Given below is my email to the tv station:

Credibility of the Hope Channel!

Annikki and I listened to the interview of .................

We were quite horrified to hear the two of us described as "anarchist hippies".

Nothing could be further from the truth.

Annikki has been a dedicated Adventist from her childhood days, following in her father's footsteps. But she was only baptised as late as 1984 (when she was 40 years old) when she went through marvellous experience which is described in her book "for the hour of his judgement is come;..." (You can read this book on the internet at
 
http://koti.netplaza.fi/~amatthan/hour01.html!)

Annikki is a creative and highly talented artist and author, a Montessori Educationalist, a trained hospital helper (having worked even at Adventist Hultafors Institution in Sweden in the early 1960s and also in the Marie Curie Hospice in London) and has worked in Sweden, England, Germany and Finland.

There is hardly another private expert on Ellen G. White and her writings than Annikki, having read and understood all her books in two languages!

She has never been part of any anarchist or hippie movement.

Jacob sang in the St. Thomas Cathedral Church Choir in Bombay all through his childhood in Bombay. He was outstanding student, both in studies and sports, in his school days being House Captain! He was part of the International Youth Christian Movement during his days in Delhi University, even holding the elected position of President of College Residents!

Jacob completed his second higher degree in England after his first degree from Delhi University. The day he completed his second degree he was employed by a Government Research Centre in England - in Shawbury.

It is only after Jacob completed his second degree and got a job that he and Annikki entered into the serious commitment of a Christian marriage, over 40 years ago!

We have always been law abiding responsible citizens and have given our life to give our children the very best in terms of education. Maybe you should look at these two web pages

A Tribute to Annikki:
http://kotinetti.suomi.net/hilja.reinikka/AMTribute/annikkitribute.html
Biodata of Jacob Matthan:
http://koti.netplaza.fi/~jmatthan/jmbiodata.html

Our daughters were never sent to any boarding school in England or anywhere else. Like Jacob, who left for higher education at the age of 17, our elder daughter also proceeded to her further education away from home at the same age!

Our elder daughter (and our elder son) was able to settle in England only because we were responsible parents and preserved her birthright even when we were living in India!

Hardly what an anarchist hippie couple would do!

In later life we have devoted our life to helping various ethnic minorities and refugees. Even today, in our retirement, we look after an 87 year old dementia, tunnel vision impaired, physically weak lady, Annikki’s mother!

Hardly anarchists or hippies, then or now!

In the interests of accuracy, it would be only fair if the Hope Channel would correct this serious misconception, which borders on libel, which came through in your programme.

Annikki & Jacob Matthan
Oulu, Finland

The question arises as to my Christian roots.

Yes, I was born a Christian into a mixed very traditional Orthodox Christian/modern Protestant roots family and was brought up and educated by wonderful Christian Educational Institutions in India. Good Shepherd Convent in Mysore, Bishop Cotton School in Bangalore, Cathedral and John Connon School in Bombay and St. Stephen's College in Delhi.

I greatly valued the principles that were taught to me in these educational institutions which gave me strength to say that I was probably "educated" and not just a person who knew how to crunch numbers.

Yes, I was active in the Church Choir while at school.
Yes, like School Prefects of all faiths, I did read the Bible at the School Assembly.
Yes, I did read the Bible at the small College Chapel.
Yes; i was involved with the International Christian Youth Movement while in College. (We distributed food to poor villagers around  Delhi.)
Yes, I was part of the movement to start the non-denominational Christian prayer group in Oulu called as the International Church of Oulu.
Yes, I was even married in a Christian Church in the lovely town of Shrewsbury in England.

My break with the established church took place soon after our eldest daughter was born, when the vicar of the local church turned up at our home a few days after she was born to tell us that we should "christen" her quickly as otherwise, if she died, she would not be buried in a Christian graveyard.

What he said was hardly a Christian value that I had held so dear. It was, to me, emotional blackmail.

Annikki believed in a Church that did not support "child baptism". In her words one had to personally mature before one committed oneself to a religious institution, and as mentioned earlier, she found that strength only when she was almost 40 years old.

That experience ended my relationship with the established church, but not with religion or religious institutions of all shades.

My roots of education which I received from the schools and colleges that I attended were totally secular. There had never been any form of discrimination against any individual in any of these institutions. And my own classes both in school and college had people of many faiths in it - all brands of Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Hinduism, Sikhism, as well as people of all different colours from a variety of nations.

I will tackle the reason for the charge against me for appearing to be a Christian Fundamentalist in a separate blog entry as I am in the process of creating  a background document about education in India. It should be tackled in that context and not outside of it.

To date, I have not had any return comment from the Anonymous Commenter on my blog or from the tv Channel.

But I think Annikki and I got what we had to say off our chests!

Do tell us whether you think we come to any of you as being "religious fundamentalists" or "anarchist hippies"! Maybe, appearing at both ends of the spectrum sort of says that what we practice is just about right?

Another Cathedralite Visitor to Oulu

Posted in Jacob's Blog and the Cathedralite Seventh Heaven Blog.

Both Annikki and I were thrilled when we got news that 59er Viney Sethi would drop in on us in Oulu at the end of July or early August. He and his wife, Purnima, were visiting Purnima's daughter who lives in Sweden. Viney thought that he could pop over for a few days.

Viney and I have been friends ever since I joined Cathedral School in 1954. Viney has always been an outstanding student and a great sportsperson.  Like me, Viney was House Captain (Palmer) in 1959. I was Savage House Captain. The other two House Captains were from a year senior to us, the late Michael Colaco (Wilson) and André (Bahram).

Soon after we got our Senior Cambridge results, some of our parents gave us a holiday to a hill station. A few of us went to Mussoorie via Dehra Dun. Classmates Viney, Vijay Shivdasani, Noel Ezekiel, Ashok Ruia, Anil Ruia, Arvind Thadhani and myself stayed at the Ruia Guest House in Mussoorie. This was my first visit to the North of India. I was glad we had people like Viney who spoke the "foreign" language - Hindi - to help us out.

When we finished school in Bombay, I went to Delhi to University. Viney went to Dulwich in England to do his A Levels.

Our paths crossed again when I went to London to do my specialisation in Polymer Science and Technology (Plastics, Rubber, Adhesives and Fibre Technologies). Viney moved to Loughborough to study Mechanical Engineering.

As 60er Ajeet Mehra lived round the corner from my flat in London, the two houses were the centre point for out-of-town visitors to London.

In 1964, a few of us, Viney, Ajeet, Ashok Kapur, Noel Ezekiel, Navin Bahl and myself took a battered Bedford people carrier and drove through France to St, Tropez, camped on the beach for a few days, and then went through Nice and Monaco into Switzerland. I was dropped off in Germany where I had a summer training assignment in Leverkusen. It was an unforgetable trip. It built an even stronger bond between all of us.

2007: Viney (by Hasnain Chinwalla)

This visit of Viney to Oulu was something that has moved Annikki and me to the core.

As a present, Viney gave us a short DVD.

We had no clue as to what was on it.

When we played it, we were astounded. Viney had converted some of his ancient 8 mm movie camera film onto the new media. He had us disc celebrating the first birthday of our elder daughter, Susanna, at his home in St. Helens where he was working at that time in Fibreglass Pilkington in 1968.

Not only that, as he had visited Annikki and me when we were living in Madras. He had some amazing short clips of a much younger and "athletic" looking me, Annikki in all her youthful beauty, and clips of all of our children including of our younger daughter, Joanna, then just a few months old.

Such nostalgia is something that breaks one's heart and makes tears pour from the eyes. Viney certainly knew what matters in friendships and relationships.

Although his visit was short, we caught up on a lot of news.

Viney briefed me on possible plans for the 50 year 59er reunion in 2009. I shall be sharing this with you on our special 59er Google Group in a short while. I liked the sound of what I heard and I am looking at all the financial and other implications before I lay it out as a sound proposal coming from Shivi and Piloo.

We discussed almost all of our class, person by person. If your noses were twitching, you now know WHY!

I was glad to get the latest news of many of you. Although I have been writing about many of you from your inputs to me, the difference between Viney and me is that Viney has been meeting all of you and was able to give me all the scandals in all their glory!

Thank you Viney for taking the time and trouble to visit us in Oulu. Both Annikki and I were truly honoured by your visit. The meal you organised at Michelle's Indian Restaurant was truly unique. Michelle and Nushad send you their regards as they learnt a lot about good Punjabi food from what you dished up for us.

It was sad to see Viney leave. (Unfortunately, my camera was broken so I do not have any photos from this visit.)

I knew from Viney's visit that the 59er reunion in 2009 is going to be wonderful event remembered by all through the rest of our lives. Even a week together is not going to get to even scratch the surface of how all our lives have been intertwined through all these years.

Other visitors to Oulu

Posted on Jacob's Blog and the Cathedralite Seventh Heaven Blog.

I am pleased that so many of you reacted to my post of yesterday, welcoming me back to the blogging world.

It was not only the visit of our grandchildren that kept me away from blogging. I was blessed with a series of other visitors who travelled from afar to spend some time with me.

54er Sadhana

54er Sadhana Madhusadan (née Shah) became a fast friend when she contacted me almost six years ago when i was still runing Seventh Heaven as a web page. Then we discovered that we had a common interest as 59er Inderjeet Shah was my classmate. Another of Sadhana's brother's, Randhir, sadly no more, was a 56er.


54er Sadhana and daughter, Gopa


Timo and Gopa

Later, Gopa, Sadhana's daughter married a Finn and settled in south Finland and became a part of our family. And after that I did extend my helping hand to Sadhana to organise the 50th year reunion of the Class of 54. The 54ers rewarded me by making mention of my assistance during their reunion and also sent me details, CD, etc. of their grand reunion.

I have been asking Sadhana to visit Finland as her daughter is here and she could spend some quality time with Annikki and me. Leaving her husband, Madhu, a Mallu like me, and son, Sid, she traveled to Helsinki to visit her daughter. Gopa and her husband, Timo, organised a holiday in a nearby ski resort (no snow in summer, but great nature walks) and after a few days there, they dropped of Sadhana in Oulu to spend a few days with us.


The reindeer and me!


The Reindeer and Sadhana

I was able to show Sadhana our home of the last 23 years including the unique Zoological Museum where one can see the whole flora and fauna in Finland in 10 minutes, flat!

The stuffed reindeer was one of the exhibits.


Sadhana, Gopa, Timo and me at Michelle's Indian Restaurant


Michelle with Nushad

We dined at several of my friend's restaurants and the last meal before Sadhana departed was at Michelle's new Indian restaurant where Michelle and Hushad served us a wonderful meal.

It was a wonderful time as we talked and talked and talked, while Annikki and Sadhana laughed and laughed and laughed.


Anniikki bids goodbye to her new friend

Parting was sorrow for all of us as Sadhana, far from being just another internet friend became someone live and flesh and blood for both Annikki and me!

Sadhana, thank you for spending time with us.