In a cosy home in Verem live Michael and Milena Lopes. Married for 52 years, the couple reflect the same warmth and enthusiasm for life as they probably did in their teens. One of many things these two have in common are their stories of meeting noted personalities. Michael has met Indira Gandhi, Dilip Kumar, Helen and Vyjayanthimala while Milena has danced in ‘Chhailla Babu’, which gave her the opportunity to interact with Rajesh Khanna and Dimple Kapadia.
Michael worked at INS Hansa as a civilian radio operator for 32 years, right from 1960 to 1991. He worked under the Portuguese regime for a year before the Indian military took over Goa. Following this, he worked under the Air Force and finally the Navy before retirement.
However, the highlight of his career was getting the Nehru-Gandhi political dynasty to sign on a single piece of paper. “I knew that Pandit Jawarharlal Nehru was visiting Goa and when I learnt that Milena was going to perform for him as part of a family band in Calangute, I was thrilled. I got an autograph book ready and I asked Milena to get him to sign it for me. He was the Prime Minister in 1964 and it was just a year after we got married,” says Michael.
Milena adds, “I was performing with Freddy and Celina Mendonza as part of the Santimano de Souza family band and I used to play the Portuguese guitar. Jawarharlal Nehru saw me and said ‘good job’ with a thumbs up sign which gave me the encourage to approach him for his autograph. He hardly had any time to talk but he was humble enough to sign the book in Calangute.”
Working with the Air Traffic Control at Dabolim, Michael was aware of which dignitaries were visiting Goa. “In 1967, when Indira Gandhi was serving her first term as Prime Minister of India, I saw her sitting in the VVIP section at Dabolim airport. I had carried the autograph book as I was keen on getting it signed by her. I asked me official whether I could greet her and get her autograph. She was surprised to see her father, Jawarharlal Nehru’s signature at the top of the page and gave a huge smile and then signed at the bottom of the page. She asked me about the sign and I soon took her leave,” says Michael.
A few years later, Rajiv Gandhi visited Goa but since Michael was on duty he could not meet him in person. Surrounded by his security, Rajiv Gandhi still signed the same page of the book. “I asked my ex commanding officer if he could ask someone to get the page signed by Rajiv Gandhi. He called in one of the officers and said, ‘Matthew, please get the page signed by Rajiv Gandhi for our old man (a fond nickname).” A few minutes later, I had the book in hand and an interesting story with it. I was told that Rajiv Gandhi was surprised to see the signatures of his maternal grandfather and mother on the same page and asked where to sign. Finally, he signed on the right corner of the page.”
For Michael, it was not an obsession to get the autographs signed but he is proud of his achievement. “In the ’60s and ’70s, Congress was the people’s party and being the ruling party of the government, they were paying us for our jobs. There will be no other single piece of paper which has the signatures of three generations of the Nehru-Gandhi family. I had never dreamt of getting Jawarharlal Nehru or any members of the Gandhi family to sign for me but it happened. I am hoping to get Rahul Gandhi to sign the left corner of the page, I am being optimistic about it and have reserved the blank space,” says Michael, with a wide smile.
However, Michael and Milena find a vast difference in the way dignitaries interact with people now. They met Sheikh Mohammed Abdullah, former Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir, in Gulmarg on their visit to Jammu and Kashmir in 1982. “Michael and I, along with his colleague and his wife, collected flowers from a garden and presented it to him as our wishes from Goa. We got to interact with him without the hindrance of any security guards and the funniest part was that i had a knife in my hand because we were cutting and eating apples. Yet, we were not scrutinised or checked for weapons,” says Milena, implying that the security system today will make such an interaction rather impossible.
