VLADIMIR KECMANOVIĆ PISAC / WRITER
May it become a mighty fortress and remain a soft bed
IT WAS ALMOST 90 YEARS AGO THAT MY grandparents met in Belgrade. So – if it weren't for Belgrade, I wouldn't even exist. Seventy years after my grandparents met, my daughter was born in Belgrade. Belgrade is the largest Serbian city, and I’m a Serb. Even if it wasn’t beautiful, and it is, those three facts would be enough for me to love it. And given that it is beau- tiful, I will cite some of the details that make it beauti- ful and that compel one to love it. I love Belgrade because it’s big enough that you don't have to encounter people you don't want to encounter too often, while it's not so huge that you won’t encoun- ter people you needed to without being aware of that. I love Belgrade because it has Vračar, Čubura, Dorćol, Ze- mun... and because, despite building a new, uniform iden- tity, it still manages to maintain some of the authentic- ity of those parts. I love it because of Ada Ciganlija, Ušće, Ada Huja and Bela Stena, because of the Watermill restaurant below Kalemegdan, where they prepare excellent river fish, and because of the fish restaurants on the Danube, in Višn- jica and on the other side of the mighty river, where the river fish is just as good. Because of Bevanda in Požare- vacka Street, Gušta mora in Radnička Street, where the sea fish and seafood are as fresh and delicious as they are on the shores of the Adriatic or Aegean, the Indian Ocean or the Caribbean. I love it because of Beer Hill on Banovo brdo, where the ‘pljeskavica’ burgers are better than those in Leskovac. I love it because of the Užice tavern at the Autokomanda junction, which didn’t close its doors for years, until the unfortunate coronavirus, so you could stay there longer than if you’d gone to the town after which it’s named. I love it because of dawn over Gardoš, from where the Danube resembles a sea and the city centre, in the distance, resembles the other coast of that sea. I love it because of the raft venues on the Sava. I love it because of the love for it that Mioš Crnjanski suffered for, turn- ing it into an eternal Lament. I wish for it to get over the scourge of the new age in the new year. For it to become a mighty fortress, in- accessible to the evil-minded, and to remain a soft bed for people of good will.
Neka postane moćna tvrđava i ostane meka postelja
PRE GOTOVO 90 GODINA U BEOGRADU SU SE upoznali moji baba i deda. Dakle – da nije bilo Be- ograda, ne bi bilo ni mene. Sedamdeset godina pošto su se baba i deda upoznali, u Beogradu se rodila moja ćerka. Beograd je najveći srpski grad, a ja sam Srbin. Čak i da nije lep, a jeste, te tri činjenice bi bile dovolj- ne da ga volim. A pošto je lep, navešću neke od deta- lja koji ga čine lepim i koji teraju na ljubav. Volim Beograd zato što je dovoljno velik da u nje- mu ne moraš prečesto da srećeš ljude koje da sretneš ne želiš, a ne toliko ogroman da ne sretneš ljude koje je trebalo, a da toga nisi bio svestan. Volim Beograd zato što ima Vračar, Čuburu, Dorćol, Zemun... i što, uprkos građenju uniformnog i novog, uspeva da održi ponešto od autentičnosti tih svojih delova. Volim ga zbog Ade Ciganlije, Ušća, Ade Huje i Bele stene, zbog Vodenice pod Kalemegdanom, gde spre- maju odličnu rečnu ribu, i zbog ribljih restorana na Dunavu, u Višnjici i s druge strane velike reke, gde je rečna riba jednako dobra. Zbog Bevande u Požare- vačkoj, Gušti mora u Radničkoj, gde su morska riba i plodovi mora sveži i ukusni kao na obali Jadranskog ili Egejskog mora, Indijskog okeana ili na Karibima. Volim ga zbog Brda piva na Banovom brdu, gde je pljeskavica bolja nego u Leskovcu. Volim ga zbog Užica na Autokomandi, koje se, do nesrećne korone, nije zatvaralo godinama, pa si tamo mogao da osta- neš duže nego da si otišao u istoimeni grad. Volim ga zbog svitanja na Gardošu, sa kojeg Du- nav izgleda kao more, a centar, u daljini, kao druga morska obala. Volim ga zbog splavova na Savi. Vo- lim ga zbog ljubavi sa kojom je za njim patio Mioš Cr- njanski, pretvorene u večiti Lament . Želim mu da u novoj godini preboli pošast novog doba. Da postane moćna tvrđava, nepristupačna zlona- mernima, a ostane meka postelja ljudima dobre volje.
Belgrade » Beograd | 67
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