With love from Russia

by Siripathy Jayamaha

It was April 1968. I was on an Aeroflot flight to Moscow via Karachi and Tashkent to attend an FAO/Soviet Union Seminar in Kiev. Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) was under construction and civilian flights too used the SLAF airstrip. It was my maiden flight. I was nervous. So were many trade unionists, on their way to Tashkent for a May day function.

Dawn was breaking as we flew over the lovely snow capped Alps. While Tashkent in transit, memories of the Sirima-Shastri pact on the Indian plantation workers flashed across my mind. I was met by a smiling interpreter who took me on an extended tour of the city with glimpses of the Red Square, the multi-coloured spires of the Kremlin before we reached Hotel Leningradskaya where I was to wait the arrival of two more participants before leaving for Kiev.

We were late comers for the seminar. My colleague from Dahomey and I visited Lumumba University. We were entertained by our countrymen studying at the university. Both of us were awed to see the three level Moscow Central station with a never ending meticulously timed eletric trains. The Moscow Metro was always on time. We were on the night train to Kiev. The station, with trains to many cities in Europe amazed us. The city was one massive bowl of flowers. Kiev is one of the most beautiful cities in the (then) Soviet Union.

Lecture halls

Our hotel and leacture halls were a few kilometres from the main city. We made a happy group of 22 participants from 20 countries. Resource personnel were from the U.S.S.R., India, Malaysia, Philippine and the U.S.A.

I was just a minnor amidst directors and assistant directors and also very senior researchers from Yogoslavia, Poland, Uganda, India, Israel and Egypt. My friends from Dahomey and Nigeria were also minnows. We made a very mischieveous group. All of us made it a point to get the Egyptian and the Israeli participants to sit next to each other. There was a standing ovation when the “combatants” of the 1967 conflict shook hands.

We went on an unforgettable cruise up the river Dniper in a Hovercraft. The two propellers atop the vessel could take the hovercraft at great speed, just a few centimetres above the water. We saw the fish that has the enviable privilege among its kind in producing the king of roe and the roe of kings – Caviar. The very proud and stern looking sturgeon fish was a mass of tiny roe that is often served with wine at the banquets of the elite from years gone by.

May Day parade

On May 1 we were among the distinguished invitees at the Ukraine May Day parade. There, I met a Ceylonese studying at the Polytechnic. He took me to a musical show a few days later. I was the chief guest. A sweet little girl presented me with a bouquet of flowers. My friend whispered in Sinhala that I should bend down and kiss the little one on both cheeks.

I did so amidst tremendous applause. My friend took me to my hotel. It was very late. We took the last bus. Our hotel was about three-fourth kilometres from the terminus. We walked and chatted about our country. I was scared when my companion sang CT's Ambilimamay. Suddenly, we heard foot steps.

We stopped singing and the sound of footsteps also stopped. Now both of us were scared. Our followers said something in Russian. My friend smiled. I heard the word ‘Ceylon’ being mentioned. Four people ran towards us. Then the lovely happening. One hummed one of our tunes. Kaapalla Beepalla, Jolly Karapalla... Ceylonese, they said amidst handshakes were their best foreign comrades. We were at the hotel gates. One took a hip flask and passed it round. It was full of Vodka. They said that they were pairolling the area because of the presence of the seminar participants. They spoke to the night manager. I was told to keep my friend in my room. Rules were broken because we were from Ceylon.

Our group went to Slovansk by train. Passengers were amused to see a 21 carriage train powered by a Yugoslavia engine driver, moving up and down the isle. Behind the engine, were attached the Israeli and Egyptian compartments. In the rear guards van was the Director of Fisheries of Poland. The train was linked by hands laced with love and peace on each other's shoulders, up and down the train. We were met by the Mayor of Slovansk, and a bevy of pretty girls with flower bouquets.

Our next visit was to Leningrad St. Petersburgh, before the Revolution and now. It was three degrees centigrate. It reminded me of the Battle for Leningrad and Bonaparte's futile effort in conquering Russia in winter. The French could not face the fast moving, white costumed Russian soldiers in sleighs. We visited the Hermitage, the winter palace of the Csars, long years back. Now, the Hermitage is a treasure trave of some of the world's most fabulous works of arts, and crafts. We met a few Ceylonese students who sailed across to Finland and from there to other European countries to work during their vacation.

We were back in Moscow where we bought many souvenirs at the ‘Dollar Shops'. We visited the Academy of Sciences and saw Yuri Gagarin's space capsule and the model of lovable Laikas space craft where in she sacrificed her life for science. We visited the site of the 1960 Moscow Olympics, where the USA had not participated.

Bolshoi Theatre

We were then taken to the Bolshoi Theatre which brought memories of Rasputin, Leo Tolstoy and Brothers Karamazow. Thereafter we visited Lenin Mausoleum. The get-together with our interpreters was unforgettable. The subject was ‘Revolutionaries'. A very young interpreter spoke of the men who changed the world. He said with a lot of feeling how these great people lifted the fallen.

Then the jewel from our naughty Nigerian colleague said, “Do you not know about the great woman revolutionary?” “No”. “Well”, he said, “She lifted the fallen. She was a heroine, adored by the falien”. “What's her name?” Without batting an eye lid, he said, “She is Madam Brassiere”. Senior interpreters could not control their laughter. The novice too enjoyed the joke. It was mentioned at the closing ceremony. Then we shook hands with the happy Nigerian.