I had been observing Nino for some time as we meandered through the hills and mountains of Georgia. She came across as a fun-loving lady who enjoyed making TikTok videos at leisure and listening to Russian rap music. When she would get excited or feel happy, she would take her head out of the car window and admire the sun and the rain pouring down from the sky. That was Nino, an ardent animal lover who was respectful of others and obedient to her brother Joseph.
“Why don’t you send me a friend request on Facebook?” I asked her.
“No, I would love to, but my brother told me not to send friend requests since it is only for the family,” she replied. So, in that way, she was listening to her brother’s advice.
The Pain of Nino
But today, as we strolled through a castle near the Turkish border, I got to know about the sadness and pain hidden inside of her.
“I had a huge heart problem, Anuj. I was operated on, you know. I had a hot wire put through my veins, and they did not even give me any anesthesia. I was in real pain. The doctors held my hand, and I was in so much pain when the operation commenced,” she told me about her painful heart surgery.
“Oh! At such a young age, you had a heart problem. You are only twenty-nine, and you had a heart issue,” I replied, feeling sad for her medical condition.
“Yes, I have not had an easy life. I lost my father early, you see,” Nino told me as we walked through the opulent gardens of the castle.
“Here, let me take a picture of you near the white and red roses,” I told her, and Nino posed as she plucked a red rose from the gardens of the castle.
“One more. You look so lovely I can’t take my eyes off you,” I told her and clicked a few more pictures of her. I wanted to keep clicking, she was that gorgeous, but she got bored after the fourth picture and lost interest.
We walked all the way around the castle. It belonged to an old Georgian king and had large catapults that were used to throw large rocks and boulders at the enemy during wars and battles. The wooden catapults would be launched with rocks that would be thrown at the enemy’s castles in an endeavor to break the walls so that attacking armies could then move in during an invasion.
After a few hours, we decided to venture into a waterfall dedicated to St. Andrew, an enlightened being of Georgia. Next to the waterfall was a huge statue of St. Andrew. I walked down into the pit where the water was falling, and Nino took some of my pictures.
“So where does your mother live now?” I asked Nino.
“My mother lives in Russia. She comes to meet me once in a while, but she does not live with me,” she replied.
“Why does she not live with you?” I asked.
“Well, she says that when I have a stable life, she will come to live with me. Until then, she would stay in Russia,” Nino told me.
“So she thinks you don’t have a stable life now?” I asked her.
“No, she thinks I am just meandering in life, you know, like a hippie,” Nino replied.
“Yes, I too am like a hippie. A traveler has to live an uncertain life, but that’s the fun of it all. That’s what adventure is all about,” I told her.
After lunch, we drove back towards Batumi, and then the rains started to fall.
“What do we do now? It’s started to rain,” Joseph said.
“Let’s go back. It seems summer is over now. It will keep raining. The rains have arrived for sure in the city,” I replied.
“Tomorrow we leave Batumi, Anuj, and we will move towards Tbilisi,” Joseph told me.
“Ok then, I will do all my clothes washing today and be ready with my bags tomorrow. But where do I stay in Tbilisi? We have not booked any hotel,” I asked.
“We will put you in an old people’s home if we don’t find a hotel,” Joseph said, gurgling with laughter.
“No, no, don’t do that, please. I want to stay in a hotel, not an old people’s home,” I replied as I got out of the car and ventured back to my room.
