Wednesday, 6 January 2021

Russian Roommates

We had taken a big house on rent in Goa. Our stay there was from December 2017 till March 2018 which was a peak season in Goa. Landlords charge the highest rent for these months. To lessen our high rent Madhu had plans to sublet some part of the house to her Russian friends. That was a great idea to save money and also have a good company. She already had told everyone she knew about the availability of the rooms. Artur was our biggest help in finding roommates as well as clients for the business. He would just bring a bunch of household things to make our house look better and comfortable. We insisted him not to bother so much by giving things. We just wanted his presence. But he was Artur. He won't listen to anyone when he would feel for someone. I remember him saying, "Brother, I no give. God give. I just medium. You happy, Madhu happy, I happy, God happy." Meeting Artur I realised that language doesn't matter when you connect with someone deeply. Real communication happens from the heart and not through the words.

That was the case with almost all our Russian friends. Language never stopped me from connecting with them. To make things more interesting life surprised us with one Russian couple who didn't speak or understand English. Putin & Floyra became our roommates. We would talk with each other in sign language while talking in the respective language. We all knew that nobody understands each other's language. Still we all four would sit in the living room talking for hours. From the signs and gestures, we would figure out what the other person was saying. I felt like I was living in a deaf & dumb hostel. Sometimes I and Madhu would talk with them in Hindi curse words with a big smile and sincere face. They would reply thinking it was about some important subject. I had a feeling they were also doing the same to us. But it was all fun. Our conversations would be hilarious. We would talk on everything right from politics, travel, relationships, food, shopping and whatnot. After a while somehow we got attuned to each other and would understand everything that the other person was saying. Sometimes our Indian friends would come to visit us and they would go in shock to see us talking in English and Putin, Floyra replying in Russian. The only words they would talk in English were "Yoga-Sport". While talking to us in Russian they would randomly throw Yoga-Sport words in between making it sound hilarious.

Our other roommate was Pasha. He was a young 20-year-old good looking, strong Russian boy. There was a five-star resort next to our house. His father was manager there. Pasha would work in the same resort as his father. As there was no water purifier in our house, it was on Pasha to bring drinking water for the house from the resort. He would bring big cans of water every night. We would hardly see him in the house. He would often come home late at night and leave in the middle of the afternoon silently. He was a party boy. Sometimes we would spot him on Morjim roads driving his sports bike with lightning speed. Few times he came home badly injured from bike accidents. His father was worried about him. I guess having a son of that age is worrisome for parents. Madhu would try to talk him out as he was a shy guy. Every evening some or other friends would visit us and we would keep talking and laughing till late night over cups of Turkish coffee. Our balcony soon became a beautiful socializing place for everyone. Sitting in the balcony with my friends I would often wonder how my life had changed beautifully. Every day would end in a different way by meeting different people with different experiences. I was finding novelty in that kind of living. Life was showering me with amazing mind-altering experiences. We all have those special people and places in our lives.

Goa And My Russian Friends Were Those Special Ones For Me.

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