Preface to the Last Will and Testament

PREFACE

It is time to recall the background and history that surrounds my life of the past 75 years.

My branch of the Kuriyan Matthan family has its roots in Banaglore (Bengaluru), Karnataka, India.

Kuriyan Matthan Family in 1976

Back Row: Sushil Jacob Matthai, Jacob Matthan Ashok Peter Jacob, Ranjit Kuriyan Matthan

Seated: Chitra Matthai, Thangamma Elizabeth Matthai, Rauha Annikki Matthan, Mariam Matthan, 

Kuriyan Matthan, Thangam Matthan, Susanna Matthan

Floor: Suchi Matthai, Joanna Matthan, Mikael Matthan, Jaakko Matthan, Nandini Matthan, Nirupa Matthan

This will document the background of two leading families from Kerala, the "Mysore Matthan" and the "K. C. Mammen Mappillai" families as they affected my life from birth till the age of 75!

It will cover my life from a child born in the Indian city of Bangalore (Bengaluru) in 1943 till my present life as a pensioner living in the peaceful Finnish near-Arctic city of Oulu in 2018 along with my wife of the last 51 years, Rauha Annikki Matthan (née Reinikka)!

The chapters will be liberally smattered with pictures and videos of the many places and people who have affected my growth, my education, my professional life and life after retirement.

This is, however, not an autobiography.

I was brought up on Christian family values.

These Christian values which I imbibed were shaped by me, personally, to suit to my thinking and philosophy.

They hinge on a couple of principles, the first being to love thy neighbour as thyself, and the second being not to do to anyone what you do not want done to yourself.

My faith in these  family values have now reached its lowest ebb. I have come to realise that besides my dearest wife, those whom I considered as "my family " were not my family .

Over time, I understood from many actions that have taken place, that my brother was not my brother, my sisters were not my sisters, my nephews and nieces were not my nephews and nieces, my uncles and aunts were not my uncles and aunts, my cousins were not my cousins.

I have learnt that the greed for power, assets, property and money were the driving force of "my extended family". This is hypocrisy at its height. Going to church on Sunday morning and by forgetting the prayers by evening are a norm.

Rather, I do believe that going to church, to show the world how good a Christian I am, is not what I like to demonstrate to the world around me! People have to judge my Christianity by my actions and not my church going habits.

I have also learnt that there was no sanctity in the Christian laws that my parents had supposedly been married under.

I have learnt that my late elder sister, Nalini, my elder brother, Ranjit, and my late younger sister, Thangamma, and me are, literally, the survivors who have had to live by the law of the Syrian Christian jungle.

I am happily now living a third, or maybe fourth, life by the grace of God.

I first faced death when I was just a 12 years of age.

After that, I have faced near death on several occasions, many of these being detailed in the following chapters.

My claim is that God had saved me on all these occasions, first due to the power of prayer of my mother, and later, the prayers of my wife. They were not of my doing!

Then, at the age of 74, I brushed close to the jaws of death. I was saved by the excellent medical facilities in Oulu.

I have learnt that physical possessions, as money, household belongings and other material things that people generally value, are of least importance. No one can carry them into the next world.

I have learnt from life that the importance of recognising what people do for you,  out of their need to do service without thinking of personal gain,  is the most important aspect that should control one's attitude to this world.

I have learnt the value of deep friendships. They mean far more than the false "family values", that are being promulgated as being supreme, in one's life.

The book is written entirely based on my personal experiences. The conclusions reached are my own. The reader is free to reach whatever conclusions he thinks fit.

I must thank my wife, Annikki, who has stood by and with me through all our great hardships without a murmur.

Annikki in Stockholm, Sweden in 1963

It is to Annikki, my better half for over 50 years, that this book is dedicated.