My name is Osman Leskovac, I'm 58 years old and I'm going to be 59. I started cleaning chewing gum 20 years ago, this is the place where you see me now, Osman told the journalist "Vijesti" on windy November 3, 2013, while in front of "Holegra ” on the Pier, with special rasps, cleaned chewing gum stains.
He lived on social welfare - 63,5 euros, he was also oppressed by illness, but he remained cheerful and witty, the kind that the people of Ulcinj always knew - even when he was working with a rasp or a tray, when he was singing sevdalinka or preparing buzars and brodettes, or when he simply loved Pristan and his city...
A mural dedicated to Osman, who died in March of this year, recently appeared near "Holegro", on the staircase leading to the former Galeb.
That's how the man who was loved by the whole town remained as a legend in Pristan, the place where he was born 66 years ago and without whom he could not live.
"The municipality of Ulcinj dedicates a mural to Osman Leskovac. Osman was a humble person, with an extraordinary sense of humor, who was known and loved by both young and old, an excellent connoisseur of original Ulcinj songs, a fishing enthusiast and a well-known tourist worker who loved Ulcinj, and especially Pristan," he wrote on the occasion of the installation of the mural on his To the Facebook profile of the President of the Municipality, Aleksandar Dabović.
Until a few years ago, Osman lived on the Suka peninsula, below the site of the former Hotel Jadran, a few hundred meters from the mural.
Going down to Pristan every dawn, he passed by the staircase next to "Holegro", whose wall is now decorated with Osman's recognizable face and view, cleaning fish while in the background you can see the calimera and the restaurant of the same name. Symbolically, for those who know Osman well, the mural depicted most of his life...
He was a favorite character of fishermen from Bojan.
"I help them sell fish, sometimes I even clean it for them. They always honor me", said Osman.
And he also knew how to sing, he had a voice unmatched perhaps in the entire city. He was also a true maestro of the kitchen, he prepared all Ulcinj specialties with inexplicable ease.
"He knew all Sevdalinka in both Albanian and Montenegrin languages. There wasn't a song they would start without him knowing how to continue," says Ramo Metanović, a longtime friend of Osman's, recalling their gatherings in the Kashodža Court tavern.
"He was an extremely honest, simply inimitable man, he knew how to create an atmosphere, a mood," says Metanović.
He told ”News” anecdotes from Nikšić, where he was with Osman to help him prepare fish in a private house.
"At the same time, he prepared brodettes, buzara, baked fish, eel in rice, broth and soup and sang just like that for his soul. A few of us friends were there to help him and enjoyed watching and listening to him. The songs were also liked by the woman who came to the kitchen to prepare some cookies for the family. They were singing together the whole time, and in the end the pieces ended up on our table," says Metanović with a smile.
One of his friends, he remembers, asked him if he needed tomato sauce for his eel in rice.
"And where do you see something red - rice, garlic, white wine, olive oil", Osman began to list. "But we only have black pepper," his friend teased him.
"Then go and buy a white one," replied Osman, continuing to sing.
Osman often knew how to joke about himself. He said that due to the financial crisis, he once had to fire an assistant who helped him clean the Pier.
"I go to the Municipality and tell them to pay me if they have money. If not, hello. But there are always other good people from Pristan who have a feeling for what I do - the owners of the Cano Karamanaga restaurant, the Katane brothers and the Cungu brothers always treat me to five or ten euros and a drink. There are others who bring me sweets, meals, juices and water," said Osman.
Its rasps are made of steel and have a so-called pavement at the end, which is sharpened with a grinder.
"This heavier rasp removes bigger stains better, it's easier for smaller ones. Whenever I can - I use it, so that I also get less tired. That's what my friends did for me, without money. They would have made me fifty-two, but I have enough of the ones I have. Because what will happen when I die? Who should I leave the tools to when no one will work", complained Osman. Speaking about the housing facilities on Suka where his family and 12 other families lived, he often requested that the Municipality move them into apartments on Pinješ as soon as possible. "God willing, let's move to hard apartments as soon as possible. We rotted in those huts. Thank God, I'm ashamed to die because where are people to come and lend a hand. Everything started to sway and God forbid a stronger wind blows, they would have bought us in Možura", Osman said half jokingly in 2013.
In the meantime, he and his family moved into a 51-square-meter apartment in a building on Pinješ, which was built by the Municipality and "Morsko dobro". In the XNUMXs and XNUMXs, Osman worked as a waiter in many hotels, from Republika na Pristan, via Velika plaža, to Galeb.
"Those were carefree, happier times, but today people probably live better because every house has two or three cars, each child has two or three mobile phones. And then who asks you about old postcards", Osman told "Vijesta" three years ago on the topic "Ulcinj through postcards".
He explained that things were done differently back then.
"Fishermen who had boats often made fish-picnics for guests, from Valdanos to Ada. There was fish, and the guitar was a must. Today, that is no longer there".
Even Osman is gone - his grave and mural remain to testify about the master of Ulcinj cuisine, his divine voice, lover of his city and owner of marvelous raspi...
Milo prepared rasps for the ministers
See how these rasps clean? Here, this is how Milo should clean the government of ministers, not to leave a single one, said Osman at the time, alluding to the effects of ministers in the development of Ulcinj.
To the remark that then the prime minister would not be able to work alone, Osman had an answer. "Let him stay. He is a hero, he can do it".
If the then prime minister and today's president of Montenegro had read the article in "Vijesti" about Osman in November 2013, he would have known how ordinary citizens, who just love their city, think and what they think of his government. Maybe he would come to see for himself how Osman removes the stains...
Hajdinaga: Ulcinj spiritually poorer
The former president of the Municipality, Gzim Hajdinaga, often hired Osman to clean the fountains of Ulcinj, the pier sidewalk and the street from chewing gum stains.
"A lot of dear people died in these days and months of the pandemic. Good and hardworking people from Ulcinj, who were the trademark of this city. Osman Leskovac is undoubtedly one of those," Hajdinaga wrote on the occasion of Osman's death. He stated that for decades Osman had been cleaning the Česma od Skalin (Kronin e skaleve) in the Čaršija and Korzo on the Pier from chewing gum, and always said: "God help you for putting this fountain back into operation after so long, so I will try to maintain it and always clean it".
"He even reached Kotor. We will miss Osman, his kindness and charm, the mood he knew how to create. Ulcinj is much poorer spiritually since the day before yesterday. Another great bohemian has left us. We pray that his noble soul will be in Paradise," Hajdinaga wrote.
The gesture of the local government was met with positive reactions from the locals on social networks.
Bonus video:
