Saturday, November 29, 2008

RIP Mr Andreas Liveras

In spring 2006, we toyed with the idea of moving to Monte Carlo to be closer to X when he was working & so possibly for me to return to work. By sheer coincidence or fate, my CV ended up on the desk of X's former boss.

Even though I have absolutely no experience in yachting apart from living with one who works on a yacht, he had called me in for an interview. We drove down south, had a meeting & after that, were invited to join him for lunch at his favorite restaurant. That was the first time I met Mr Andreas Liveras.

That summer, X was re-hired by him to work on the super luxurious Alysia. One of the weekend, in between charters, Mr Liveras invited The Girl & I to go on board as guests. I was over the moon. Little old me, a guest on board the motor yacht featured on Robin Leech's Lifestyles of the Rich & Famous. We were given guest cabins, had full access to all facilities (The Girl had a babysitter while I had mani, pedi & massages) & dined with Mr Liveras every night - dinner conversations were always interesting & lively. It was like a dream & needless to say, we had a fantastic time.

It was probably no skin off his back but I was extremely touched by this generous gesture from a man I'd only met once. So it was with deep sadness when I heard that he was a tragic victim of the recent Mumbai attacks.

X had heard the news of what happened even before it was reported. We found a phone interview he had given to BBC saying that he had gone to the Taj Mahal hotel for curry & recounted how they were led to the basement (the interview has since been removed but the text is here). I was thinking to myself, he was alright then. But shortly after, BBC published a report that he was identified as one of those shot by the terrorists. The Times ran the story here.

From the little time I'd spent with him, I found him to be a man who enjoyed life & made the most of it. I remember that I couldn't believe he was in his 70s. His crew is fiercely loyal to him, many of them having worked for him for years (X had worked for him for 5 years) . He loved children, Alysia was named after his grand-daughter & when we were on the boat, he would often take the time to play with The Girl. We will always remember him as a generous man full of life & humour.

Our thoughts are with the Liveras family. May he rest in peace.


X & The Girl on the deck of Alysia


M/Y Alysia (the one in the foreground)


Jacuzzi with the color changing wall


Upper deck Alysia

5 comments:

Tsu Lin + + said...

Oh dear.. my eyes welled when I read this. A generous man full of ambition and life (reading from your personal encounter with him)! May he rest in peace.

Charmaine said...

I am sorry to hear of the loss of someone you know. He sounds like a generous, well-liked man. I read the article in the local paper in Sydney yesterday. Eternal rest grant unto Mr Liveras.

eunice said...

It's so sad.It's madness what happened there. Makes me sad.

petite fleur said...

It's so senseless.
All those innocent people dying because they were at the wrong place at the wrong time.

Anonymous said...

i'll think about him every day of my life and miss him forever. he was incredible and so proud of those he loved and kind and generous to all he trusted. rip x