It was a lovely day in June when I boarded a bus from Prague ( pronounced called Praha),to make my way up into Vienna .The scenery enroute is like a picture post card –absolutely stunning with the greenest trees and meadows interspersed with the lovely colours of bursting flowers .The air one breathes is so fresh ,that in comparison with a city in India, it feels as if one has been released from a gas chamber .I was on a important mission .I was going to look for Anneliese ,amongst the prettiest girls I had ever met in my life .My mind wandered back to 1973 when I was just 18 years old…………
I had been in Delhi University for nearly two years .In many ways I was in the prime of my life –had grown up from a school boy and knocking at the doors of manhood .I did all things that normal grown up boys do while in college –from playing cricket,taking part in debates ,eating out ,having preference for good clothes,trying out drinks , and of course being attracted to the fairer sex.I had a group of friends ,and together we would, once in a while frequent the few discotheques in the city .Notably the ''Cellar''(now extinct)in Cannuaght Place (I think even C.P has been renamed ),Wheels (at the Ambassador hotel near Khan Market),and our favourite haunt called ''Sensations'',at the Maidens Oberoi.Sensations was a favourite hangout for most of Delhi University students ,because it was walking distance from most campus colleges and bang next door to IP College for girls –a college in which most of us had acquaintances and it thus became easier to take girls out from there for a dance to "Sensations" for a date .Just next to the disco in the hotel ,was a very happening French Restaurant called "AUBERGE",and many a celebrtity could be spotted there .Shashi Kapoor,Nawab of Patuadi,Clive Lloyd,Farrouk Engineer,and Zeenat Aman were among the few for whom we used to wait outside ,while they ate their meals inside .!!Maidens was a great place to hang around -I don’t know whether it still exists or a mall has been built in its place .I haven’t been to that side of Delhi for nearly 30 years ,even though my good friend Vinod Dua and his lovely wife Chinna live near there .
It was one day,while I was waiting outside Auberge to catch a glimpse of the famous film star Rajendra Kumar ,that I noticed Anneliese .I still remember her so clearly .She was wearing a dress , (in school we used to call them frocks)just above her knees ,carried a very delicate looking bag (not like the monsters ladies carry these days!! ) had crystal clear blue eyes ,blond hair and was slim . She was tall by Indian standards-maybe close to 5'7 .For someone that tall she had remarkably small feet -but they never tired carrying her anywhere .She could walk throughout the day and dance through the night .!!Even if one was blind –one would give her a second look .!! She was walking out of Auberge –a little lost (a lost appearance can look very attractive at times !!).I sat there looking at her .She swayed as she walked and as she came closer towards me ,I could get a whiff of a very expensive perfume .Momentarily she stopped next to me and asked "Where is the disco,please"(she always appended the word "please",with most of her queries as I was to know later).I gave her the directions and instinctively asked her whether she was alone .When she said yes –I at once asked her whether I could join her because I was alone as well .Quite to my my surprise (she did not know me at all,and I aint that good looking),she said yes .!!And that was the beginning of a 47 days love affair of mine with Anneliese.
Anneliese was in India for 21 days and in Delhi for 4 days out of those 21 days .The rest of her visit was to take her to the normal places that tourists go to –Agra,Srinagar,Jaipur ,Puri,and surprisingly Badrinath ."I love your Gods",she cooed while we attended the aarti at Badrinath .!
"What do you mean by my God and your God ,Anneliese",I shot back "There is only one God
She looked stumped,threw her arms around me (I still can get a whiff of the perfume ),and said "You are so clever –I love you"!!
"What do you mean by my God and your God ,Anneliese",I shot back "There is only one God
She looked stumped,threw her arms around me (I still can get a whiff of the perfume ),and said "You are so clever –I love you"!!
I pulled her closely to my body ,looked straight into her lovely blue eyes and whispered ,
"Then marry me"!!.
There was a pregnant silence .My was a reaction ,but her was a response .Yes ,she would marry me when I finished college ,but she would come every six months to meet me .She was entitled to free tickets because she was a air hostess with Austrian Airlines .Yes Annelisse was a Austrian ,who came from south of Austria from a place called "Villach"(pronounced FILLACH).She told me that after I became a graduate ,I could marry her and then we could settle down in Villach where her family ran a bakery .
"My dad is getting old ,and he has seen too much of a upheaval.He always talks about me and my sister looking after the bakery and coffee shop."she said .
They had migrated from Karlovy Vary—original name Carlsbad-- (now in the Czech Republic ),when it came under Russian influence and communism was imposed on the people there .Their family ,like many other families under communism had "sneaked" out of Karlovy and had migrated to other places to escape the repression under communism, and found their way into Austria.First to Vienna and then southwards to pretty Villach.There their family had started a bakery called "Kaufmann Bakery "which made lovely biscuits and chocolates(she presented me lots of them),apart from the normal bakery stuff .She had a elder sister and apart from many other things they owned as a family ,they also owned 6 cows.!!It was from the milk of these cows that most of the baked stuff came .She said they were very happy ,but her burning desire to see the world ,had prompted her to join the Airlines industry.And as a part of her dream ,she was in India to explore the sounds ,smells and colours of our great country .Very soon we became not just good friends –but lovers.!
There was a pregnant silence .My was a reaction ,but her was a response .Yes ,she would marry me when I finished college ,but she would come every six months to meet me .She was entitled to free tickets because she was a air hostess with Austrian Airlines .Yes Annelisse was a Austrian ,who came from south of Austria from a place called "Villach"(pronounced FILLACH).She told me that after I became a graduate ,I could marry her and then we could settle down in Villach where her family ran a bakery .
"My dad is getting old ,and he has seen too much of a upheaval.He always talks about me and my sister looking after the bakery and coffee shop."she said .
They had migrated from Karlovy Vary—original name Carlsbad-- (now in the Czech Republic ),when it came under Russian influence and communism was imposed on the people there .Their family ,like many other families under communism had "sneaked" out of Karlovy and had migrated to other places to escape the repression under communism, and found their way into Austria.First to Vienna and then southwards to pretty Villach.There their family had started a bakery called "Kaufmann Bakery "which made lovely biscuits and chocolates(she presented me lots of them),apart from the normal bakery stuff .She had a elder sister and apart from many other things they owned as a family ,they also owned 6 cows.!!It was from the milk of these cows that most of the baked stuff came .She said they were very happy ,but her burning desire to see the world ,had prompted her to join the Airlines industry.And as a part of her dream ,she was in India to explore the sounds ,smells and colours of our great country .Very soon we became not just good friends –but lovers.!
For 21 days I traveled with Anneliese Kaufmann.I went to Puri and onto the beach there .She just could not stop laughing when she saw some women swimming in the sea with their sarees on.!!
"Are they shy ?Or are they hiding their fat?" she asked .
"Anneliese ,if they were to hide their fat,then look at that guy there(I pointed to a fat man with his paunch nearly below his knees !!).He would have to be dressed in a three piece suit and swim.!!Its just that women are inhibited inIndia" .
"Are they shy ?Or are they hiding their fat?" she asked .
"Anneliese ,if they were to hide their fat,then look at that guy there(I pointed to a fat man with his paunch nearly below his knees !!).He would have to be dressed in a three piece suit and swim.!!Its just that women are inhibited in
"Will you marry one of these types ?."
"No ,I will marry someone who swims in a bikini-you"!!And i picked her up and ran into the sea .!!!The waves engulfed us.
And thus it continued –Agra,Jaipur,Srinagar ("it reminds me of Salzsburg",she said )and then finally back to Delhi.The next day -22nd September –she was to fly out .We went for dinner to a Chinese restaurant called "Yorks",in the inner circle of Cannaught Place ,overlooking Minto Bridge .We promised each other to write everyday (there were no cell phones!!).She was to come back to India in March the following year .The next day we made our way to the Palam Airport .Before leaving she gave me a T shirt which was heavily sprayed with the perfume she wore .
"It wont go away for years " she told me ."It is a Chanel 5!!When you miss me just open up the bag and you will get my whiff .And don’t you dare come close to a women who wears a Chanel.You might mistake her for me."
She had become possessive!! .The plane took off –it was a cloudy day .
"It wont go away for years " she told me ."It is a Chanel 5!!When you miss me just open up the bag and you will get my whiff .And don’t you dare come close to a women who wears a Chanel.You might mistake her for me."
She had become possessive!! .The plane took off –it was a cloudy day .
For the next 26 days ,we wrote to each other .Every day .The letters used to take 3 days to reach both ways in those days .So any letter would be news of the past 3 days .She wrote beautifully for a girl so young .I remember the first letter she wrote after her flight took off .Part of it read like this "I am airborne .Just don’t like anything they serve .Maybe if you served the food it would taste wonderful .I just saw a cloud following our plane .It was a beautiful cloud .It came very close to my window .I thought it was u .I tried to touch it .It smiled at me and went away ,and as I watched it, it, dissappeared .Promise me you wont disappear like the cloud"!! Ah, what can you write as a reply to that except the good old Browning lines
"You came and never went away".She was absolutely thrilled with the lines and wrote back
"You are as always very clever.I miss your voice.I love you"
"You came and never went away".She was absolutely thrilled with the lines and wrote back
"You are as always very clever.I miss your voice.I love you"
We continued to write to each other for 26 days after she left India .The last letter I got from her was dated 16th October .She had come back from a flying duty to Morroco.She had teased me in the letter that the men there were extremely handsome –‘’but not clever’’.And then suddenly the letters stopped .I continued to write .Everyday for 15 days .And still no response .It was not like Anneliese not to respond .The last letter I wrote to her was in anger .
"If you have lost interest in me -then tell me so .I always thought you were brave and gutsy to speak your mind .And you don’t respond to this letter of mine ,then I will think you are dead .But I hope you are alive .I look forward to a letter from you .I miss you .I may be clever –but not clever enough to understand this"
But to my horror –there was no reply …………….
"If you have lost interest in me -then tell me so .I always thought you were brave and gutsy to speak your mind .And you don’t respond to this letter of mine ,then I will think you are dead .But I hope you are alive .I look forward to a letter from you .I miss you .I may be clever –but not clever enough to understand this"
But to my horror –there was no reply …………….
I was now on my way to Villach to find out about Anneliese Kaufmann.Very soon, I was in the spic and span bus stand of Vienna (Wien).From here I was to change buses and take the one that would take me to Villach to confront Annelise whom I had not met for 35 years.I was all grey now ,there was much that had changed in my looks ,I was past 50 years of age ,and maybe I was not all that clever .In my hand I carried a small packet .It contained a T shirt ,sprayed with Chanel 5 perfume .I was carrying a little bit of Anneliese with me .It was like carrying coal to Newcastle .I was going to her home town .I was going to Villach .
(To be continued )
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