LOVE FROM STUTTGART - Bennet Paes
Here is a story that, I believe, could do any Goan proud. Read on:
It was past 2 afternoon when the train dropped me in the city, from a faraway
factory in the state of Baden-Wuerttemberg, Germany. Pretty pleased with the
business meeting, I was now dying for a drink & lunch for celebration.
Ran down the street only to find one restaurant after another closed for midday
break. Fortunately, one was still in the process of folding up the front shade.
I approached the man folding it, and asked if I could still make it in.
Strangely enough, the guy muttered in what didn’t sound German, leave alone
English, and a problem stood between us. But not for long.
A lady at the entrance, apparently the restaurant owner, heard my plea,
disengaged the man and politely enquired: “Excuse me, what’s it you are
looking for?” The first sign of relief appeared on my face. I explained
briefly how I happened to be late, and asked if I could at least have a beer.
She obliged instantly and I was now seated inside with a glass of wine instead
of beer. Couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw the lady so closely sharing the
table with me, and also with a glass of wine for company.
A conversation followed. It took me only a few seconds to brag about where I
was coming from, originally. “Which part, Calangute, Mapusa, Panjim – Margao?”,
she rattled away so effortlessly. I could have begged for a second round of
wine, but instead hurried to say the last named was my nearest. “Where then,
Colva?”. The lady dazed me beyond redemption. First of all, it was unusual to
have me in after closing time, and to have me for company over two glasses of
wine! Did she instinctively guess who I could have been?
She then related her own story which took me through a full meal, which she
herself volunteered to feast me on. In short, she was an artist, single, and
painted Goa to glory for eleven years. The man who was fumbling for words was
an Italian who she fell in love with in the “Rome of the East”, and married.
Lunch over, the lady was so overjoyed meeting a Goan in a long time, that she
presented me with an oil lamp from a nearby table, and said good-bye with these
words: “ Some of my paintings keep reminding me of the best years of my life,
in Goa. You, Goans are just wonderful people”. The wine and the meal also
joined the lamp to prove that her "wiedersehen"(good-bye) truly came from her
heart.
(Extract from the book, “SIMPLY MY WAY” – www.bennetpaes.com
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