RUSSIAN ADVENTURE

RUSSIAN ADVENTURE

By

V.K. Singh

          It was only when the pilot announced that we would be landing shortly at Shermotovo Airport that I looked out of the window. All I could see was a white blanket of snow, with small specks indicating buildings and a dark ribbon that was presumably a road. When the aircraft doors opened and I came, I was hit by what seemed like a hammer – it was the cold. It was the 14^th of February 1987 and the temperature out side was – 10 degrees Celsius. I had served in colder places in high altitude regions of Sikkim and Ladakh, but it was nothing like the Russian winter. The stories of Napoleon being defeated by General Winter now appeared more plausible.

Our group of ten military officers was destined for Leningrad for a training course. As soon we entered the terminal, we met Colonel Randhawa, the Deputy Military attaché in the Indian Embassy. He guided us the immigration counter for diplomats and officials. We thought it would take us a few minutes to get through, but we were mistaken. The Russian soldier spent a good five minutes staring at each of us, before tearing off the relevant portion of the visa. (In those days, the Russians visa was not stamped on the passport, but attached to it with staples. When one finally left the USSR, there was no record on the passport of his ever having visited the country). It was almost an hour before we were cleared. Randhawa was accompanied by two soldiers who were carrying heavy overcoats, scarves and shapkas (Russian caps). “Put these on if you don’t want to get frostbite”, he said. “You can keep them till you are in Russia”. We were grateful for his thoughtfulness.

We were accommodated in a government hotel, probably because it was cheaper and the Indian embassy was footing the bill. After spending about an hour in the embassy, we were taken on a sight seeing tour. We saw the Kremlin, which has been the seat of power for over four centuries; the famous Red Square, overlooked by St. Basil’s Cathedral and the Mausoleum where Lenin lay embalmed. The queue outside ran almost round Red Square but we were allowed to go in, courtesy the Russian Army. We also saw the Novodevichy Convent, the Gorky Park and the Tretiakov Gallery. Early next morning, we left for Leningrad, on a domestic flight of Aeroflot. The terminal looked like a typical Indian railway station, with people carrying all sorts of household goods. One family even had a couple of goats. We were told that many remote regions of Russia were connected to the capital only by air, and residents sometimes traveled to Moscow to buy clothes, household appliances and provisions.

If Moscow was cold, Leningrad was Brrrr…..Minus 20 degrees. A Russian officer received us and took us to out hostel, which comprised several furnished apartments. We had been told that we were expected to cook our own food and had brought along a five- month supply of rice, pickles and condiments. In the event, most of it was not used, and was gifted to Indian families in the city. We found that the food in the restaurants was inexpensive, thanks to the rupee-dollar-ruble equation, and it was not really worth the trouble to cook yourself.  There was just one bank in the whole city where one could exchange foreign currency, and we thought it would be always be crowded. To our surprise, we found we were the only customers, and the girl behind the counter gave us a quizzical look when I told her that I wanted to exchange 100 dollars. She gave me 60 rubles at the official exchange rate, which was 60 kopecks to the dollar. We later found that one could get four rubles to the dollar on the black market, where everyone bought the local currency. (During my second visit, seven years later, it was 2000 rubles to the dollar!).

The five months we spent in Leningrad were like a dream. We learned a lot about the history of the city and its people. Of course, we were able to see most of the famous monuments of the city, which is also called the Venice of the North. The city center was Nevsky Prospekt, which is akin to Broadway in New York, where the best shops and restaurants are located.  The city has literally hundreds of historic monuments, including palaces, museums, churches and gardens. Starting from the famous winter palace, or Hermitage, we saw the Peter and Paul Fortress, the Russian Museum, St Isaac's Cathedral, the Kazan Cathedral, and the Peskarovsky Memorial Cemetery, which has the graves of literally hundreds of thousands of Russians who died during the famous German siege during World War II.  Then there were the other wonders, such as the Metro, the bridges that open at night, the bathhouses, the Kirov Ballet, Vasilevskyi Island etc. 

          The Metro in St. Petersburg is truly a marvel. Work on the Metro began soon after the end of the Second World War, even though the city had been almost totally devastated from German bombs and shells.  Having seen the effect of the atomic bombs over Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the Russians knew that in any future war, they might be targets of similar weapons. Instead of making underground nuclear shelters in every locality, they decided to make one for the entire city. That is the reason why the Metro in Leningrad is almost 100 metres deep at places, and it takes almost five minutes on the escalator to reach the platform from the top.  After the tunnels had been dug, lines were laid in less than half of the total area underground. The rest of the space became a natural underground shelter, in which the city’s population of 6 million could stay during a nuclear attack.

          We were struck by the appearance and attitude of women. Most of the devooshkas (young girls) were really beautiful, and very few babushkas (grandmothers) matched the image of the stodgy Russian women we had read about in the Time, Newsweek and other Western journals. They were also considerably more emancipated than women in the West. In fact, one Indian lady observed that the most remarkable thing about Russian women was that they always had theirs backs erect, heads up and looked you in the eye! Almost every woman had to work, and in addition, cook for the family and look after the children – the men being too drunk to help in either venture. No wonder, divorces were common. The situation was aggravated at that time by the acute shortage of eligible males. The war in Afghanistan was then at its height, and every able-bodied Russian male had to serve in the Army for at least two years. The railway station from where the trains left for Afghanistan was at one end of Nevsky Prospekt, and whenever a troop train left there were tearful farewells from parents and sweethearts. Many of the young men and their loved ones knew they would not return, and the partings were poignant.

          One member of our group was a bachelor and he found that the Afghanistan war had its bright side, at least for him. On Fridays and Saturdays, one could see a dozen odd girls at every Metro station, waiting for a date who never turned up. After a while, they would become restless and then head homewards. Our Casanova discovered that this was the moment to invite one of them to a nightclub or a restaurant, which very few could afford go to on their own. Not once was he refused. (A nightclub had floorshow and a crooner. A restaurant was place that had music and dancing, in addition to wine and gourmet food. A place that served only food was called a stolovaya i.e. dining hall).

We found that most of the buses had women drivers. If there was a puncture, she got down from the bus, took out the tools, and began changing the tyres, refusing any help even if it is offered.  A similar situation prevailed in the trains. Each coach had a dezurni, (duty person), who checked the tickets, made the beds, locked the toilet when the train was stationary, looked after the air conditioning, and even gave you a cup of tea in the morning.  Our hostel also had a dezurni, whose principal job was to keep an eye on the inmates, who were all foreigners. She often behaved like a matron in a school, ticking us off if she found us coming back late after a binge. Once, when we ventured out without our caps, thinking it was warm enough, she sent us back to our rooms with the admonition: “Never take the Russian weather for granted.”

A pleasant discovery was the Russians’ proclivity for India, and Indians. I noticed that the first time one met a Russian, he was usually aloof, not being sure if he was meeting someone from India, Pakistan, Bangla Desh or Sri Lanka. But the moment one mentioned the word India, his face would crease into a smile, and he would pump your hand, saying Indiski Tavarish (Indian Comrade). This was probably the legacy of the Raj Kapoor-Nehru era, when every Russian could sing “Mera joota hai Japani, yeh patloon Inglistani, sir pe lal topi Rusi, phir bhi dil hai Hindustani.” At a musical evening organized at the Academy during the White Nights Festival in June, one member of our group was asked to give an item. He played the tune on his guitar, and we were astonished to see most of the older Russians on their feet, clapping and singing along with him!

          During the Soviet era, Leningrad was one of the safest cities in the World, and crime was virtually unknown. Capitalism has brought with it many ills, such as crime and poverty. The mafia is very active, and now has a finger in every pie. When I visited the city for the second time in 1994, I was shocked by the change. Pickpockets could be found in every bus, and chain snatching, which we thought was an exclusive Indian enterprise, had begun. During the last ten years, the situation has only worsened. The mafia gets information about a rich tourist right from the time of his arrival, when his suitcase is being scanned by Customs at the airport. His taxi is then followed, and if he is   not robbed on the way, his suitcase is broken open in his hotel room when he is away.  However, this should not deter the genuine tourist, provided he follows a few golden rules, such as never carrying too much cash or wearing jewellery, not leaving cash or valuables in hotel rooms, and always travelling in groups of three or four. It is advisable to carry old suitcases or bags, rather than expensive ones. Suitcases should be of hard material, rather than soft, which can be ripped open with a knife. (The good old moulded Indian brands such as VIP and Aristocrat are rarely touched). Expensive cameras, cell phones, walkmans and ipods are major attractions, and should be kept either hidden in deep pockets or secured by straps. One should never enter a nightclub or disco alone, especially when it is late. Of course, this does not apply to bigger establishments and those in five star hotels. 

9 Dec 2007