A New Friend
by Gerweyn Reynolds

It all started with a casual conversation with a fellow Bonsai enthusiast on a cold and wintry afternoon

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You know the feeling, the Winter seems to dragging on forever, you have not been able to go out collecting because the ground is still frozen, your Winter jobs on your trees are coming to an end, most if not all of the members trees have been critiqued and or styled, and you are running out of Bonsai places to visit.

So the conversation with Paul Spearman turned to warmer subjects, like
Gerwyn : “ Do you take a holiday during the Winter Paul ? “
Paul : “ Yes I do, I go to Goa each year to lap up a bit of sunshine “
Gerwyn : “ Where in Goa do you stay and when do you go ? “
Paul : “ I usually go in April and stay in a village named Cavelossim in South Goa “
Gerwyn : “ That's a coincidence, I go in February and I stay in the same place “
Paul : “ I visited a fellow Bonsai enthusiast a couple of year,s back and now visit him every year “

Well I thought Xmas had come early. The conversation after that was all about Bonsai still, but not as most of us would know it. It was all about “ Bonsai Goan Experience “ so to speak.

Eventually when Paul had stopped enthusing over his Goan experience he agreed to make contact with the “ Doc “ in Goa and introduce me with a view that I may be able to visit when I holiday in February 2009. Well everything went smoothly and prior to me going on holiday I made contact with the “ Doc “ we exchanged e-mail addresses, phone numbers and he also had a point of contact for me in Goa . As anyone can imagine I was delighted and could not wait for February to arrive. Well it eventually did and I packed a bundle of photographs ( in addition to everything else ) of the members and their trees etc, just in case the Doc would be interested to discuss.

No sooner had I arrived in Goa I got a pleasantly surprising telephone call to the Hotel. It was the Doc. It was great to talk to him for the first time and he was so welcoming I just knew that we would get along fine. We made the final arrangements for my visit with a bit of a bolted on itinary and I was set to go. The next two days seemed to drag but eventually the morning arrived that I had been waiting for. I set off in a taxi at 9.00am for the 1 hour journey through the Goan countryside talking on the phone every now and again to the Doc so he was aware of where we were, as he was going to need to speak to the driver at some point to prevent him from getting lost. To take a taxi ride in Goa is usually a hair raising experience but I must admit for the first time it was not bothering me at all. All I could think about was Bonsai and the Doc. We arrived safely at the Doc,s house at around 10.00am and the heat was extraordinary. The Doc met us at his front gate with a hugely warm and beaming smile and greeted us as though we had known him for years. It was lovely moment and I just knew then that I was in for a fantastic day. Informal introductions made the Doc invited us into his home. What a relief to get out of the baking heat into a refreshingly cool house and be treated to some lovely liquid to drink

It was not long before we got onto the subject of Bonsai, and as you would be I was intrigued to find out how the Doc had got into Bonsai. He started in 1989 in Bombay and was invited to look at some Bonsai that were generations old owned by a lady that had very close associations to the family. From that moment on the Doc was hooked. He attended classes, read books etc etc as most of us do before beginning to start to understand the art and develop his own thoughts and views. He moved to Goa in 1999 only to find there was nobody else in the region practising Bonsai. So working and learning alone he set up his own school and even hold,s his own exhibitions. At one exhibition alone he had 25,000 people through the door. We went on to cover and discuss a huge amount in the next hour or so in the comfort of a cool room and a truly relaxed atmosphere from my origins in Bonsai to species, styles, horticultural techniques, Bonsai techniques and everything else you can relate to Bonsai. It was a really enjoyable discussion that would continue off and on throughout the day.

Then it was time to view the Doc,s Bonsai and Yamadori the majority of which he keeps on a roof terrace. When I walked out onto the terrace I was absolutely speechless, I felt like a child in a sweet shop, a dog with two tails, expressions could be endless. It was a sight I will never forget. There were I am guessing in the region of 70 – 90 Bonsai. Most of the species I did not recognise so the Doc took great lengths to name the species of each piece and take me through the history attached to each Bonsai, much of the history from each piece he has painstakingly captured on photographs and it was truly amazing to see their development. As you can imagine we spent a lot of time on that wonderful roof terrace only retreating every now and again to the shade to recover from the heat for a little while before returning.

By now it was getting very close to lunchtime and the Doc had booked a table at his favourite Chinese restaurant for us, so off we went. The Doc ordered the food and we spent an hour or so enjoying the meal and talking about guess what ?

Then it was off back the house to continue where we left off before lunch, and so the interactions continued deep into the afternoon before it was time for us to set off back to the hotel.

I could honestly write pages and pages about each tree that I discovered and expand even further on the passion and tender loving care that the Doc has put into each and every one of them but I will choose to leave that to your imagination but believe me when I say they were all in my opinion truly magnificent.

And so it was time to go. A truly memorable day with wonderful trees and a true Gentleman whose passion and knowledge for Bonsai would be difficult to surpass, who's hospitality had no boundaries, who's modesty was humbling and he leaves you truly inspired.

Thanks Doc for a fantastic day.

And thanks Paul for enabling it to happen.

Pictures of Gerwyn's visit.