I was very fortunate to have the opportunity to visit Rome during my recent trip to France/Italy. Traveling always widens your horizons and gives you the best possible feel of a place, its culture and its people. You can read tens of books or watch hundreds of movies about a place, but nothing beats your being in that place for real. Rome is a very important city because no other city in the modern world could possibly boast of similar ancient history and culture as Rome. And what great pleasure than meeting a real Roman in Rome. I have known Giovanni, or MOR on blogosphere, since late 2009 when we first interacted here on this blog. I was always taken over by his intellectual curiosity and genuine warmth. So, when I was planning my trip to Cannes, I thought about hoping over to Rome for few days. Giovanni gave me all the possible information and even generously offered me to put me in his home. In today’s world where your own people sometimes behave too formally, this hospitality on the part of a person who I haven’t even met instantly won my heart.
I stayed at Giovanni’s home during the last day of my brief visit to Rome. I have to admit that meeting him in real made our friendship turn real too. I’m not saying that before our real meeting, the friendship or the relationship was fake. But it lacked certain credibility which I believe comes only after you meet/know the person in real. Giovanni, who looks even more fitter and younger than his pictures, met me with the same genuine warmth as he had always shown in the virtual world. I had a great time talking to his beautiful and intelligent wife who welcomed me into her home with the same warmth as her husband. They both watched my movie, Take Out, and all three of us had a detailed discussion on things I was trying to say through the movie. They said that they liked my film and I wanna believe them! I met their beautiful daughters as well who appeared hard working, intelligent girls.
Giovanni has a very strong sense of history and culture. He is not only a proud Roman himself, but also encouraged me to look deeper and with more respect into my own Indian roots (He himself has a huge interest in and knowledge of Indian history and culture). We spent the evening walking around the streets of Rome and discussing everything from Polymaths to Ancient civilizations to the Classics. It seemed as if we have known each other through the ages and this meeting was destined rather than a random event. He also took me to Vatican city and I wondered at everything I saw there. 
I have to admit that I fell in love with the part of Europe I visited and ever since I came back, I have been dreaming about settling in Mediterranean Europe one day 
. This trip has forced me to look deeper into some of the questions I have been avoiding for some time, while giving me a fresh perspective on certain issues. And, the meeting with Giovanni was one of the important events in this trip. Thank you Sir and here’s a toast to our ever lasting friendship! Waiting for you guys in Montreal!
