Petersburgers

Late in the evening, we arrived at an apartment on the very outskirts of Saint Petersburg, in a new district, whose owner — Kostia — kindly invited us to stay with him. We have never met Kostia before. He knew Sasha thanks to his website www.maharaja-house.ru, which was popular among Goa fans.

The next day, we continued our inspection of St. Petersburg. The night before, the camera’s battery ran out of power and the phone’s charge dropped to a minimum. In a hurry, we did not take chargers with us on the trip. Therefore, we were left without the means to take pictures. However, we did not regret it. On the first day, Sasha took a lot of photos. He constantly worked as an operator, which, of course, did not allow him to just relax and enjoy. As a result, he had the chance.

On the second day in Saint Petersburg, we did not set any specific goals. We decided to just come to the city centre and wander aimlessly from one quarter to another looking at cafés and squares. Such a plan was ideal to feel the atmosphere of a beautiful city. Kostia added an interesting proposal to our plan. He invited us to spend time in company with his friends. We did not mind.

Kostia’s friends turned out to be the nicest people. I was very surprised to learn that many of them were in India and are big fans of my homeland. They spoke of India with such enthusiasm that I even felt embarrassed. Foreigners often experience illusions about an unfamiliar country that those who were born there did not have.

In turn, I was delighted about Saint Petersburg and envied the people who live here. They looked at me with incomprehension.

‘You have a fantastically wonderful climate!’ I admired. ‘Such a good climate never happens in India!’

‘We have a terrible climate!’ they objected to me. ‘And you have a fantastic climate in India!’

Kostia’s friends explained to me that the warm and sunny weather that was on the days of our arrival is a rarity for Saint Petersburg. Piercing cold, icy wind and terrible damp come here eight months a year. Heavy clouds almost always appear in the sky; thus, there is no sun for many months. Residents of Saint Petersburg suffer from depressions and dream of only travelling to warm, sunny regions. Petersburgers dream to put their pale bodies under the sun’s rays to cover them with even a slight tan. For Kostia’s friends, Goa is the best of these lands.

I shared their love for Goa; however, I absolutely did not share their love for climate in all of India. This climate in India seems terrible to me for eight months. Every year, there is no sun in India for four months and all the rains are so powerful and prolonged that Saint Petersburg has never seen nothing like this throughout its entire history. Four more months in India are so hot that many people die from it. The sun in India is hated and people hide from it in every way (especially women) because it makes their already dark skin even darker; as you know, darkness in India is synonymous with deformity.

We shared our opinions and information. However, I could not believe the horrors that Petersburgers told me, just as they were sceptical of the critical information they heard from me.

Kostia and his friends made an impression of very educated and intelligent people. Being in their company was a great pleasure. They treated me with respect and even enthusiasm, as well as even sang Indian mantras especially in my honour. I was treated like a goddess. Unfortunately, in India I have not met such an attitude towards women, since they are perceived as second-class beings there.