The former hippie who wants to live a hermit's
life
Naduri Frank Theuma has gone through a lot in life.
He was born and raised in Nadur, migrated to Canada, and is now
living a solitary life in a historic old mill at Cospicua. Frank spent the sixties in Canada and lived amongst the US hippies
in the golden flower years. He travelled to many South American and
Caribbean countries and lived for long periods in India. Today he
lives in an old mill at St Lazzarus Street in Cospicua. In the
future he's ready to sell his historic mill and
leave Malta for good to lead a hermit's life in the
Himalayas. There he can find more time to practice and teach his
Yoga.
Frank Theuma is 58-years-old. He spent 40 years of his life in Canada. “I was 19-years-old when I completed my studies at the Gozo Lyceum and left for Toronto.” He wanted to become an actor. He studied drama in Toronto and followed his dreams all the way to Hollywood. It was the age of the hippies. Frank was literally fascinated and quickly became one of them. Some of his friends at that time were US soldiers who escaped from the United States to miss the Vietnam War.
While in
Canada, Frank was one of the first computer operators with the
Canadian National Railways. “I was living in a time of a cultural
revolution. It was the time of the Maharishi Yoga which became so
popular with all of us hippies. Even the Beatles went to India to
practice Yoga. I was also carried away. I studied Yoga and went to
India three times to further my knowledge.” For Frank Yoga is a
way of life. “I do not believe in any religion. I believe there is
one God who is everywhere and sees everything. Every one of us
should strive to do what is right. Doing so, one will be opening
himself to God.”
When revolutionary Frank returned to Nadur, he felt out of place. He tried to introduce organic farming in Gozo but the local farmers were not interested. He urged farmers not to keep destroying carob trees. “But they told me not to interfere in things I knew nothing about! I was (and still am) against hunting and bird trapping. The hunters hated me! They even tried to shoot me!” And so, after a year, Frank went back to Canada.
Frank's
father, Guzeppi, wanted him to become a priest. Although he studied
and got a good result in Latin, Frank wanted to become an actor, a
painter, a Yoga teacher… he wanted to travel all around the world.
“India
impressed me a lot. It's a country full of different cultures and
religions. My favourite place in the world still remains the
Himalayas. There the air is fresh. There is peace all over. The
people are simple and happy. It reminds me of how Gozo was 50 years
ago. The farmers were happy with their donkey. The sky was full of
birds. We had nothing and yet we were so happy! Things have changed
and that's why I'm looking for a place like India.
"If I
sell my mill, I will go straight to the Himalayas and I will stay
there for the rest of my life.
For Frank, Malta and Gozo have become too small and too noisy. So why is he living in Malta? “I came back to Malta because of my family. I felt guilty living far away from my family.” Today Frank lives in Cospicua, and without realizing it, has fallen in love with the old city.
One lonely but determined
voice in the wilderness of neglect is now determined to bring back
the glorious memories of past eras in a place that has been bypassed
by scholars and forgotten in time.
Restoring a historic dwelling of an 800 years old mill in the heart
of Cospicua, he says that on this site stand many historic buildings
which are empty and soon will become ruins of our heritage.
“This town is surrounded by formidable bastions walls built by the
best military engineers whom the Knights brought over from Italy,
France and Spain. This part of the City of Bormla, with its unique
narrow picturesque streets and high steps has been abandoned for the
last 60 years. I envisage that it can become artists and
intellectual ‘in' place to settle in, forming an elite community
like you find in cities like Paris, London and Rome.”
Frank insists that if restoration of this site will be completed, it
will become a place to visit for European students and aficionados
of medieval and military architectures, plus the nightly
entertainment in medieval settings.
“This mill was driven by
donkey-power, long before windmills came into use. When I cleared
the floors of the cellar, I found the original grinding compartment
under kilos of rubble and rubbish. The granite stone where the poor
animal had to go in circles attached to a huge grinding stone were
intact. Wheat and maze were probably the most popular staple food.
This mill was part of a huge complex owned by somebody very rich. It
consists of the mill, houses, donkey and mule stables, offices and a
large garden.
One day I hope to purchase and restore it to its past glory, but I'm
running short of money,” said Mr. Theuma.
Most of the buildings in this area have an important historic story
to tell but nobody is listening. No tourist will visit this place in
these conditions, where cats and dogs roaming the dirty streets and
a lot of shortcomings from some people who do not appreciate this
place,” insists Frank.
Determined to create as much awareness to this sad story, he says he
has embarked on a programme to speak to politicians, Government
officials, tourist promoters, history professors, investors and who
ever is ready to listen. He believes that with its historic
potentials, this part of Bormla can be another Mdina.
“Many important people whom I invited and visited these streets
were impressed, but nothing has moved so far” says Frank.
Without giving up hope, Frank sometimes envisages a gloomy future. A
bleak and blank future of his beloved Bormla, where nobody cares to
listen and try to do something.
If that happens, he has one solution.
“I migrated to Canada in the late Sixties and traveled to many
South American and Caribbean countries and lived for long periods in
India. In the future, if nothing materializes, I will sell my
historic mill and leave Malta for good. I love Mexico and the
Mexican people and might live there.
But the most beautiful and peaceful place in the world are the
Himalayas. There I can live as a hermit and find more time to
practice and teach my Yoga”.
special thanks to Charles Mizzi, di-ve, It-Torca
