Cantare

Cantare, Saligao

- Brian Mendonca

Having Rajan over was a rare treat. Stepping into Goa for a conference at ICG, Donapaula he stayed with us the night before the conference began. 

Rajan, Goa 2022

I have Rajan to thank, for - because of him - we finally trotted to Panjim the day before he landed and invested in a sofa-cum-bed for him to sleep in the hall. Here he would be undisturbed - even if he chose to practise on my classical guitar at 4 a.m. if he wanted. The keyboard was there too, and for a moment, with a musician like Rajan in the house, I felt the hall looked more like a recording studio.

I picked up Rajan in the morning from the Margao station. We spent the morning at my work place where he sat on the steps and quietly read a book he had brought along. I am so inspired by the way he never wastes his time. He is always in good humour, and always finds time for his students at MS University, Baroda. He is also ever ready to help others at any time of the day - or night.

We nipped across the road for coffee and sandwiches - chutney, chicken and cheese. We spoke of old times and laughed together.

In the evening he treated us to dinner at Cantare, Saligao. As we drove over the quiet lanes in the growing darkness across hushed fields, it felt good to be in Goa - and to have Rajan - on loan from his busy schedule - even if it was for only a day.

Cantare -which stood for song - seemed to be in tune with our upbeat mood. It was the song of life that we were singing, across all these years that we have known each other ever since my days in Poona University, Pune in 1989.

While he was with us he even found time to present Dwayne the book How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carniege.
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Pix taken at Cantare, Saligao on 23 Feb 2022.