A 37-year old farmer from Sangola Taluka in Solapur became talk of the town when he received an American couple as his guests. The US-based Don McClure and his wife Vivian Aldrich McClure are Facebook friends of farmer Sitaram Patil.
To Sitaram and his family, it felt like living in a fairy tale, as they never expected such a gesture from the US couple, whom Sitaram calls Pa and Ma. The McClures arrived last Monday and, after spending time with their Facebook son at Sangola, they would leave for US this Monday.
A postgraduate in Economics, Sitaram tried his luck in the field of animation after undergoing a six-month animation course in Pune, but went back as he could not find a suitable job. He went back to Sangola to look after the 10 acres of ancestral agricultural land. While farming, he also continued as a freelance artist, also drew caricatures and posted them on Facebook.
That's where he came in contact with Don 3 years ago and they became friends. Don appreciated Sitaram's work and advised him to try oil painting. After pondering over the suggestion through an year, Sitaram finally began making oil paintings.
Their friendship grew. Sitaram made a protrait of Don and his wife from the photos on Facebook. He posted it back on FB with a note: "You are like my father and mother."
It is a common gesture in Indian culture, Sitaram said, of expressing your respect for the elderly, but Don and Vivian were touched with this. They invited Sitaram to their home in the US.
"The McClure couple has lost its only son when he was still a child. Their eldest daughter too died young. The couple now has three daughters. Don wrote to me while inviting me to the US that they have found their lost son in me. Since it was not possible for me to go there, they decided to come here."
Sitaram made all the arrangements for their travel. The McClure couple enjoyed their stay at Sitaram's home. He took them to his wife Anita's Zilla Parishad School at Bilewadi, and also to his sister's house. Vivian liked the Moong Dal curry and took its recipe from Anita, Sitaram said.
Don and Vivian also spent a lot of time with their FB grandchildren Anurag (10) and Anagh (4). Sitaram's 70 years old father is a retired health department employee. His mother died some time back.
Sitaram and his family are now leaving for Mumbai, to happily see off their FB parents.
While leaving, the couple expressed their joy over meeting Sitaram, their son. They were excited while explaining how much they enjoyed their Sangola stay. Don observed that an average actually Indian loves his job and the society is not "so polluted as we were told while leaving US by our friends". The couple is taking back with them a lots of love from Patils and Sangola people who thronged Sitaram's house for the entire past week.
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