“А в них бежит садовое кольцо" - A v nikh bezhit sadovoye kol'tso (And in your merry eyes I see a garden ring-of Moscow)

Ever since the NUALS football team fared so badly in various inter-law School sports meets conducted by many including the NUJS back in the day, it was kinda clear to me that I have no real hope in playing the game as well as I wanted to. This was before my time in the UK and my football “career” was riddled with injuries. I am infamous for blaming my lack of talent to some injuries, most of which have been named by myself, such as “diaphragm lock”, “ligament pull”, “hamstring stretch” etc( the last two are probably right). I was a bit of a Neymar back in the day. Haha. Drama-wise, not talent-wise. All in all, my college football days were as bad as (probably worse than) my school football days and I always felt insufficient/inefficient. Sob-Sob.

I had a few more days in Moscow before we left to Saint Petersburg on 1^st of July for our game on 3^rd, and as it worked out by that time that game was between the sweds and the swiss.

This was the time when my trip slowly transcended to a phase where it became more about Russia than about the World Cup. The World Cup and its glory took a back seat for a little while. Last few days in Moscow after the Luzhniki game is a blur, more so because of the Vodka. Za zdorov'ye! One of the best things that happened during these days was an interesting night I had in Moscow. We went to a jazz concert by an amateur group called “Kate&Friends” with Fayez and his friend Anastasia (Asya to close ones).

This concert, apparently suggested to us by Asya herself, was on a beautiful roof top in one of the buildings with a dazzling view of the sunset. Sunset in Moscow during this time of year is expected by 9- 9.30 PM and we did have a spectacular view.  Music was awesome and the wine, perfect. The best part of the concert was that they saved their best piece for the last and people kept asking for encore and they obliged, for about 3 times I think. We loved it. Haha. I had that tune brimming in my mind as we made our way out of the rooftop and we were following Asya to the next spot.

We were walking towards "Papa Jones" to see people do the “Kizomba”, a dance form originally from Angola, very similar to the Tango and the Salsa. The dance was such that two people, who I later realized were strangers to each other, danced like immersed lovers, and then change partners and do the same with their new partners. It was very sensual and unlike anything I had ever seen before.  The whole experience was new to me and Asya explained to me the dynamics of the Kizomba. Asya, herself being an ardent Tango enthusiast and dancer, told me that Kizomba is a dance to be performed very close to each other and that the male dancer leads the dance and the female just follows. This isnt the case with salsa or tango she said. This Kizomba has gender roles to be performed by male and female dancers and this is in fact a gender dialogue. The male leads and the female follows. Although I do not agree to this politics of the dance form, I could see why it is what it is.

We then moved on to the to the next spot and by then the time was around 11 PM. We walked under the night sky through the city of Moscow everything was perfect. Next stop,GOA. Yeah thats right! We already know how much the Russians love India and our Shah Rukh Khans and Seeta geeta and Mithun Chakraborthi etc. They love Goa so much so that they actually have a bar in honour of one of our beaches. There is a pub in Moscow based on the Baga Beach in Goa! “The Baga Bar”. The Baga Bar was peculiarly themed and ordained with Indian artifacts, including the Ganapati and the Vishnu and Krishna etc. The music they played was dance-worthy and I spent no second thinking about it and started swinging to the tunes, Kerala style. Probably all the discussion about Latin dance forms and music with Asya already had my mind made up to move to the next possible grove available. At the Baga Bar, I got to try a Czech herbal drink called the “Becherovka”. This herbal concoction was very tasty. This, I am told, is still made by only one company in Czech Republic from out of a secret recipe. It tasted exotic and of course its alcohol content was 38% ABV, which means I will absolutely love it a little bit later!. We danced our way out of the pub after a while and into the metro and went home. Night Night. 


It was the day when Babujimaman and Hakeemka joined the party and a Moscow City Walkabout was on the cards.

 We reached the Kuznetsky Most Metro, which later became our base of operations, ans started walking towards Atreya Ayurveda near the Most, which is the reason for Fayez's sojourn in Russia. It is probably the only Ayurveda Clinic in Moscow (Subject to correction) and was run by Dr. Naushad who is a close friend and business partner of Alikka. On our way out of the clinic we happened to stop by at the Café next door. The interiors of the Café were all red and yellow, depicting the communist party color scheme. There was a big Lenin face painted on the wall and it clearly was a café run by Communist Party enthusiasts. It was obviously unavoidable that we try to get Kattanchaya (Black Tea) and Parippuvada (Parippuvada-this is unniversal) as it is the party recognized snack back in Kerala. They obliged our request with black tea and seem befuddled at the suggestion of Parippuvada. No wonder the party is no longer in power in the country. Jokes apart, the café had pictures and insignias of a bygone era. The café set up the right mood for the place we were headed to next.

Another major event, probably the most major event for my dad, was to follow this black tea event. The Lenin’s Mausoleum. Although we had walked trough and around the Red Square before, we had kept this monumental event for a time when Babuji Maman arrived. The fateful day finally arrived and we made our way to the mausoleum and waited for the long queue to get inside. The line was long and big and did I mention long? The line, that was still long, mostly comprised of people who fashioned jerseys of Latin American countries. The influence the communist party has had on the Latin American countries is common knowledge for a Keralite. There were others too, but the jerseys gave a better idea about their origin story. Thank you world cup. The irony, of going to watch the tomb of the one of the greatest leaders who is revered and loved by millions outside his country, during a time when the borders of the world are virtually nonexistent under the banner of the World Cup, was not missed. A visit to the tomb of someone of Lenin's stature and prominence in world politics, especially if his theories made sense to you, is supposed to be done with a pious and serene mental state. Being there for the world cup and the festivities just outside the tomb itself and in the Red Square does not let your mind attain the focus it needs to contemplate the enormity of the moment that is about to pass. You are about to visit the mortal remains of Vladimir Lenin. I could feel the unrest in myself and others in the queue. Lenin’s Mausoleum isn’t just a thing you can tick on your checklist in your trip to Russia. It is much more than that.

On our way back from the Lenin’s Mausoleum, we were ambushed by the most common beings found in Moscow during the time of the World Cup. Volunteers. There were no shortage of volunteers in the town and they were everywhere offering help and directions to the visitors. I am able to gather from our friend Naushadka (Not the Doctor, another aadmi, hamara Bajaj) that there were basically two types of volunteers all over the City. One was the volunteers arranges by FIFA themselves for the smooth functioning of the tourney and the other was the volunteers commissioned by the respective city officials. Both of them worked hand in hand to efficiently support the FIFA World Cup and the visitors. Now, the ambush story. Two of the volunteers (I think this one was from the City Volunteer Clan) approached us as we were walking towards the Metro and asked me in their broken English if I could recite a Russian Poem in front of a camera. I said Yes I can as I have plenty of experience in reciting Russian Poems on camera! Ha. So they tell me they will help me with the words and all I have to do is speak them, with vigor, in front of the camera. That was doable, right? “А в них бежит садовое кольцо" - A v nikh bezhit sadovoye kol'tso. This is the line I had to say in front of the Camera. And I nailed it on the 25th take. No biggie. 

They did tell that it meant “I see in your eyes the streets of Moscow”. It was only when I did my “Due Diligence” (by which I mean I asked Asya for help) that I realized there was more to it. It was a song called “I'm Walking, Walking in Moscow”, which is of course about Moscow from an old Movie. And just the line doesn’t mean what they led me to believe. What it really means is what I have put in the Title. And in your merry eyes I see a garden ring-of Moscow              
  The day after, we leave to Saint Petersburg. The old country. Home of Peter Alexeyevich the Great. Saint Peter.