WHEN YOU DO NOT HAVE A PROJECT IN LIFE, YOU AGE PREMATURELY AND DIE. .. VOCE E LINDA CAETANO VELOSO

 I have always been fond of reading, the habit of looking through second hand bookstores and bouquinistes have followed me in my travels ..Powell's of Portland.. River Seine.. Tokyo.. Carlton in Melbourne. Books and Books in Miami while studying there and Mr Kaplan the owner Mitch Kaplan... wandering around like Maqroll of Alvaro Mutis fame, Gabo and Cartagena ..Pablo Neruda. Sebastiana his home in Valparaiso, Isla Negra along the rugged coast of Chile, La Chascona in Santiago de Chile ..

Alberto Moravia of childhood .. so many so many good writers Pankaj Mishra and Amitav Ghosh..

But there are some who leave you spellbound, years after you have read them

for me 

VS Naipaul

Haruki Murakami 

Alvaro Mutis 

Pablo Neruda 

Certainly they enriched my life ..

Today in the mail I received a copy (i have owned them before but a pleasure to re read and then give them away) about the adventures of my alter ego Maqroll

Come the wind may never again blow 

as it now blows for us .. how can I forget the dedication on a book by Pablo Neruda 

Thank you, Dr J J T, now swallowed up by the fog in the forest of memories .

As I walked into the Premier Book Store at the end of the main drag in Bangalore where I had gone to spend hours looking through the crowded collection of Mr Shanbag, he pulled me aside and said .. you must read this book ....

From then on, I devoured everything written by Murakami Haruki in English translation.. truly enjoy reading him .. the excitement of a new Murakami book is incredible to the heart and the mind.

For those who has experienced the moveable feast of HAVANA, I recommend Leonardo Padura and I am trying to read all his books in English translation, even though i have some books in Spanish as well as French..

It was a chilly evening in Quiberon where I had gone to visit the La petite poete de Cote Sauvage and a friend at the table was thrilled to be reading Padura in French. I immediately texted my mother at the Cuban Ministry of Culture and she said: Hijo, the next time you come to visit me, I will introduce you to Padura..

So here I am , sitting sipping a Brancott Sauvignon Blanc from Aotearoa, certain songs began appearing in the canvas of the mind.. always associated with someone or other, this time, a friend who helped me get through the covid isolation through cyber companionship from Bauru in Brasil.

As the La Petite poete de cote sauvage said to me at a tender age of 4

How can I miss you , when you are always in my heart?

So dear dear friends, in Hanoi and Havana, SriRacha and Siem Reap, KL and Qatar, Cochin and Colombia, Mashhad and Miami, Tabriz and Marrakech..

you are in my heart..

Voce e linda 

Você É Linda

Fonte de mel

Nos olhos de gueixa

Kabuki, máscara

Choque entre o azul

E o cacho de acácias

Luz das acácias

Você é mãe do sol

A sua coisa é toda tão certa

Beleza esperta

Você me deixa a rua deserta

Quando atravessa

E não olha pra trás

 

Linda

E sabe viver

Você me faz feliz

Esta canção é só pra dizer

E diz

Você é linda

Mais que demais

Vocé é linda, sim

Onda do mar do amor

Que bateu em mim

 

Você é forte

Dentes e músculos

Peitos e lábios

Você é forte

Letras e músicas

Todas as músicas

Que ainda hei de ouvir

No Abaeté

Areias e estrelas

Não são mais belas

Do que você

Mulher das estrelas

Mina de estrelas

Diga o que você quer

 

Você é linda

E sabe viver

Você me faz feliz

Esta canção é só pra dizer

E diz

Você é linda

Mais que demais

Você é linda, sim

Onda do mar do amor

Que bateu em mim

 

Gosto de ver

Você no seu ritmo

Dona do carnaval

Gosto de ter

Sentir seu estilo

Ir no seu íntimo

Nunca me faça mal

 

Linda

Mais que demais

Você é linda, sim

Onda do mar do amor

Que bateu em mim

Você é linda

E sabe viver

Você me faz feliz

Esta canção é só pra dizer

E diz

You are beautiful

Honey source

In geisha’s eyes,

Kabuki mask,

Shock between the blue

And the bundle of acacias,

You are the mother of the sun,

Your thing is so right in its entirety,

Expert beauty,

You leave me on a deserted street

When you pass by

and don’t look back.

Beautiful,

And you know how to live,

You make me happy

This song is just to say

And says

You are beautiful

More than the others

You are beautiful, yes

Wave of the sea of love

That hit me.

You are strong

Teeth and muscles

Chest and lips.

You are strong

Lyrics and songs

That I have yet to listen to.

In Abaeté,

Sands and stars

Aren’t as beautiful

As you.

Woman of the stars,

Mine of stars

Say what you want

You are beautiful,

And know how to live,

You make me happy

This song is just to say

And says

You are beautiful

More than the others

You are beautiful, yes.

Wave of the sea of love

That hit me.

I like looking at you

You and your rhythm

Owner of the carnival.

I like to have,

To feel your style.

Never do me wrong.

Beautiful

More than the others

You are beautiful, yes.

Wave of the sea of love

That hit me.

You are beautiful

And know how to live,

You make me happy.

This song is just to say

And says

Play

If you want to have a continuous interesting life, always have a project to look forward to. When you do not have one, you wither and age beyond your years ..