Chronicle of a youth, friendship and time

Back in 1969, the youth leaders, Branko Pavić, Vlado Vuković, Branko Đurović and Vojislav Mijušković, who called themselves the "four points", decided to "reserve" January 2nd for socializing.

"We started a long time ago, back in the days of the 'dictatorship' of our youth, those great ideals, romantic enthusiasm, the 'starry' years. We 'hijacked' the calendar January 2 for our day. "We couldn't do the first one because it is national property, and everything after January 2 was somehow below our level," Mijušković said.

From the "four wheels" the Association "Drugi Januar" was born, which slowly spread, and the "ticket" for it was that you were born from Nikšić and that you nurture the right values. In the meantime, the ideals, the "star" years, the youth, the country where all this was created, disappeared, but friendship remained, people who, as Mijušković said, helped each other, so the society became more numerous and stronger. New members came, but unfortunately also left. Mijušković collected those five decades in the book "The Bell of January", which was promoted in Nikšić in the organization of the aforementioned Association.

"It's easy to write a book, but as Andrić says, it's hard to regret it later. I can't know if I will stumble upon some regrets from this book, but I know for sure that both the book and I remain great debtors to our society and our time. Such 50 years cannot fit into one book," said the author and one of the founders of the unusual Association that has become an institution of friendship.

Journalist and publicist, Milan Stojović, said that Mijušković, with "The Bell", which awakens silence and disturbs thought, "obliges readers to see light in the dead letters of the book".

"The first impression is that this book has much more spirit than many people we meet. She is a living voice, a spirit that travels through the streets and streets of Nikšić and continues to be a living thought of many dear people we knew, who moved to areas from where a person returns only as a memory. There are several hundred names on that list that continue to live among the covers of this book. The author masterfully introduced them to the circle of good people by whom this city and region will be recognized and mentioned for a long time to come," Stojović said.

As he pointed out, Mijušković is an excellent storyteller, a subtle poet and a clever speaker, who remembers 50 years of life and work together and does not allow all that is valuable to be covered by oblivion.

"Vojo is a prisoner of memory, an emissary of the soul, an interpreter of a message, but also a prayer leader and a rebel, as a symbol of freedom, whose ringing magic awakens, gathers, reminds, warns, calms and is brave, but also dispels the mists of time, conquers distances and, as he says himself , weaves a bridge between joy and sadness, because it wets a tear with hope, holds a hand with faith and what is especially important - remembers," said Stojović.

Vojislav Mijušković's book, according to the words of journalist and publicist, Bud Simonović, is somewhat a biography of the author, but much more a chronicle of Nikšić, partly of Montenegro, a chronicle of a time and a happy generation.

"This is a mosaic of pearly records about people and events, about what time brought and carried away in the stormy years of the second half of the 20th century. It is also a collection of brilliant travelogues, but also masterful observations from life, wise messages and lessons, observed and snatched from oblivion from what he was a witness and accomplice. At the same time, Mijušković exhibits an almost astonishing creative curiosity, creativity and imagination, strength and ability to perceive, boldness and skill to say and preserve from oblivion what is usually kept silent", said Simonović.

As soon as Mijušković, in the words of Simonović, feels "the danger that storytelling and reminiscing about distant dear days, people and events, can sink into the monotony of repetition, he makes a cut, interrupts the story and enriches it with an appropriate verse, his own or someone else's, again mostly from Nikšić poets." . With the "Bell", as Simonović pointed out, Mijušković erected the most beautiful and noble monument to friendship and society, but also left an "open" book for the heirs and descendants to "write on" when "the second of January starts a long journey".

"It is hard to find a more well-known and famous man who appeared on the Nikšić circuit in the last half century without being, in one way or another, mentioned and given a place in Mijušković's book. At the same time, he especially raises good deeds and good words under the sky, those whose work, action, wise word and message can and must be beacons in the future", Simonović believes.

Mijušković, winner of important literary awards such as "Zaloga" of the "Vladimir Mijušković" Literary Association and "Dušan Kostić", an award given by "Unireks", said that "the four points from the beginning of the story fell to three" so he evoked memories of the recently deceased Vlad Vuković, a man who was, as he said, a treasure of spirit and culture and of the Association and time.

The mediators of the evening were Slavica Vuković Ognjenović and Velizar Kasalica, who read excerpts from the book. Vuković Ognjenović also sang the anthem of the Association - "Oj djevko drugarice" while she was accompanied in a chorus by the "Drugojanuarci" and their friends.