Milov region

Many events have sprung up in Bar. Almost every local community has a toponym, an indigenous representative of flora or fauna, an event from the past, or a product of local craftsmanship after which the cultural, entertainment, and gastronomic festival in question is named. The Latin saying goes: Varietas delectat (variety delights), but Bar's events are all similar.

Two that had something special, and that others in Montenegro did not, did not take place: the International TV Festival and the Children's Theater. When, and if, they will be renewed, is unknown...

* * *

Once upon a time, on Fridays, market day, all roads led to Old Bar.

Now, society gathers there less often. However, whenever I go, I hear some interesting stories from Bar's past. Last Friday, in "Kaldrma", at Dino's, I heard this one:

A delegation of the Russian Federation, headed by President Vitaly Vorotnikov, visited Montenegro in the spring of 1985. They set aside one day for Bar. Their host was the President of the Bar Municipality, Čedo Ratković. At the gala dinner, at the Hotel "Topolica", with whiskey and cognac, the atmosphere became completely heated. Vorotnikov told political and other jokes, with a special emphasis on the then one-year, rotating mandate of the President of the Presidency of the SFRY. Čedo was not very "impressed" by these jokes, so he said that the USSR also had a one-year mandate, alluding to the fact that Konstantin Chernenko, as Secretary General of the Communist Party, succeeded, after a little over a year, the suddenly deceased Yuri Andropov.

"Black humor," Comrade Vorotnikov became serious, but the cordial conversation continued nonetheless.

After some time, a member of the Russian delegation approached Vorotnikov and whispered something to him. The latter visibly paled, looked at Čed in some surprise, thanked him for his hospitality, apologized, and said that he had to return to Titograd.

The mystery was solved very quickly. Vorotnikov was informed that Chernenko had died. No one could dissuade him that it was all a coincidence.

"I can't believe it. That Yugoslav intelligence service is a miracle. The president of the Bar Municipality found out that Chernenko had died before I, the president of the Russian Federation!" - Vorotnikov lamented the next day in Titograd.

* * *

The Barani have started going to the coast again to talk about sensitive topics. And they do it when the south wind is blowing, when the sea is rising, when the waves are roaring and nothing can be heard, so they have to get closer "ear to ear". Just in case...

* * *

"Njegoševa garda" contributed more to the definitive collapse of the previous regime with the song "Milo's End" than many who, in the meantime, have seized power and are now defending the "Augustan achievements" as if they were the first fighters.

* * *

Nikica died, it reverberated through Bar. And everyone knew that it was Nikola Nikica Kovačević. Because, there was only one Nikica. The first association with the son of Tom Kovačević, the famous commissioner of the ferry "Sveti Stefan", was always: the same father, a good man, with a noble, inimitable smile and God-pleasing, gentle words.

He was one of the pioneers of basketball in Bar, ever since the autumn of 1973 when he wore the jersey of "Gimnazijalac" at the Montenegrin junior championship in Herceg Novi and was one of the best players of that high school club. The following year he was on the team of Mladost, the first organized club in Bar, and the beginnings of Mornar are also linked to his name. He left basketball early, although he was extremely talented. Teammates from the seventies say that they first saw some lucid dribbling and moves on the court with him, and only then with Kićanović and other aces of Yugoslav basketball.

His love for Mornar was boundless and unreserved. He never missed a single game of the Bar league team, even when they played in the substandard halls of the "Niko Rolović" high school and the "Jugoslavija" elementary school. And in "Topolica" he always sat in the east stand, above the Mornar bench, and cheered heartily.

He was the pillar of a distinguished, sporting family. His talent also spilled over to his nephew Aleksandar Saša Pavlović.

It was nice to meet him on the street and talk to him. He was announced by his waddling walk. Children adored him, they ran to hug him. And children are the best at sensing who is who. He was no less respected and loved by the boys and girls, now adults, whom he had coached in basketball long ago.

Nikica passed away in the Holy Land on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. If anyone was destined to end their earthly existence this way, it was my school friend, a noble soul, with warm, sincere eyes and those recognizable dimples in his cheeks.

* * *

"No one can live alone. And the lonelier a person is, the unhappier they become. Only solidarity and contacts between people can create a certain, relative happiness. Because, I guess, there is no such thing as absolute happiness. It lies in the search for it," Meša S.

* * *

I put the title "Milo's End" so that as many people as possible would read this blog and the obituary about the wonderful, unforgettable Nikica Kovačević...