VDNKh

Moscow is a unique metropolis. There are so many parks in Moscow; they occupy such a huge territory that there is a feeling that you are not in the city but in the wild. For the first time, I met such a respect for nature in the city and such care of the authorities about the people protecting very expensive land from building.

There is nothing like this in India. I was born and raised in the unofficial capital and the largest city of South India — Bangalore, visited the capital — Delhi, the financial capital and the largest city in India — Mumbai. The parks are tiny; even they shrink from year to year and disappear completely under the pressure of the surrounding buildings. People have nowhere to walk; the air is dirty and heavy. The park spaces of cities that opened in Russia shocked me, especially in Moscow.

First of all, Sasha took me to walk in his favourite park of Moscow — VDNKh (Exhibition of Achievements of the National Economy). It is not necessary to decipher this abbreviation; it is quite enough to remember that this difficultly pronounced name means one of the most beautiful and interesting places in Moscow.

At VDNH, there are no ancient buildings and temples. This park was created in the 20th century during Soviet times. However, this does not mean that there are no beautiful buildings. The park is not for nothing called “exhibition of achievements”. It was there that the former leadership of the country tried to embody the very best in the architecture of those times.

VDNKh fountains

The most outstanding things at VDNKh are fountains, especially the fountain called “Friendship of Peoples”. Sixteen gilded statues of girls personifying the sixteen former Soviet republics are located in the centre of this very fountain. The statues are very beautiful! I have never seen anything like it anywhere! This is the most beautiful fountain in Moscow. The “Stone Flower” fountain located nearby is also a masterpiece. In my personal rating, it ranks second in greatness immediately after “Friendship of Peoples”.

It is impossible to just walk past the “Friendship of Peoples” fountain. Near it, you will definitely want to sit on one of the many benches and capture this moment on your camera. That is what we did.

On this day, I surprised Moscow not only with my exotic (as for the northern capital) appearance but also with the outfit. I was in the guise of a hippie. I was wearing an Indian orange shirt with numerous “Radha Krishna” inscriptions; my hair was pulled together with a golden thread. I adorned my neck with beads of rudraksha, banyan seeds — the sacred sign of Shiva. It was an experimental image for me; I had never dressed like this before.

To match me, Sasha dressed up in Goan orange shorts and an orange T-shirt with a huge embroidered mandala in the middle. Against the background of the typically black and grey colouring of Russian clothes, we probably gave the impression of guests from some very distant but joyful and festive planet. They looked at us almost more than at the “Friendship of Peoples” fountain.

All the most interesting is in the depths of VDNKh. The first thing that attracts attention is the Vostok rocket directed into the sky. This is exactly the kind of rocket that on April 12, 1961 brought the first man — Yuri Gagarin — into space. I am very interested in everything related to space. Sasha captured my delight against the background of the rocket on our camera.

Next to the rocket is a civilian Yak-42 aircraft, which once flew in Soviet times. Now anyone can enter it. On the other side of the square, in front of the Cosmos pavilion, the legendary Russian military Su-27 aircraft and Mi-8 helicopter were installed.