Last Day - 11 May 2009 In the last 4-5 days I had visited the Red Square a number of times but somehow, had not yet stepped inside the GUM. On our last day n Moscow, we decided to visit the GUM and also the old haunts of Avi, namely Detskii Mir and the Bolshoi Theater. ‘Detskii Mir’ was to Russian children what the ‘Toys R Us’ to American kids. It is always a source of wonderment to me how fast children learn to recognize the ‘Toys R Us’ stores. My granddaughter Mitali used to point to ‘Toys R Us’ and insist that we go there when she was barely two years old, whenever we drove by it. Avi was a regular customer of ‘Detskii Mir’ (Again, I am talking of 37 years back.) because our ... read more

Victory Day - 9 May 2009 Every year Russians celebrate the Victory Day commemorating their victory over the Nazis. They won the victory at a very great cost. 27 Million Russians had lost their lives in the war. Russia parades her military strength in the Red Square on Victory Day. Select troops from her army, navy and aircraft goose-step to the tune of military band and the latest ICBMs and fast planes are exhibited. Since the admittance to Red Square on V-Day is only for VVIPS and we did not fall in that category, we decided to watch it on TV. When the planes flew on the Red Square, we could watch them on TV and just after few seconds could see them from our hotel window. The hotel was in their flight path. So it ... read more

Bolshoi Ballet and Pushkin Museum - 7 May 2009 Somewhere, somehow, I had come across a comment about the ‘Three penny Opera’ that it shows the viewers one penny-worth of music, one penny-worth of dance and one penny-worth of Corruption/Black Market/Exploitation. What is true of the Opera is also true about the Ballet and this time I myself unwittingly played a minor role in the ‘three-penny Opera’ that unfolded outside the Bolshoi Theater. No, the Bolshoi was not playing Bertolt Brecht’s classic. It was playing another classic, the ballet ‘Spartacus’ on 7th May and 8th May and I wanted to see it. However, the cost was not a meager sum of three pennies but cost several thousands of pennies. The lowest tickets were at 2000 Roubles. (About 4000 Rs. after currency conversion.) The previous day, I ... read more

Afterword “So, what did you do in Japan?” asked my brother when I informed him that we were back from Japan. “Oh, lots.” I answered breezily. “Did you drink any Sake?” he asked. “No.” I admitted. “Did you eat any sushi?” he obviously was in a mood to tease me. “Nope.” I had to resort to slang here. “Did you see any sumo wrestling?” he was still at it. “Nyet.” This Russian word comes handy sometimes. “Did Avinashrao see a Geisha?” my Inquisition was still not over. “Illa.” Being brought up in Belgaum, this Kannada word is part of our Marathi vocabulary. “So, what exactly did you do in Japan?” he pilloried me. “Oh, we saw lots of shrines, and scenic beauty and ASIMO, the robot and Hiroshima.” I defended myself. “Hahaha!” he laughed. “Go, fly ... read more

Odaiba, Tokyo ************************************** My notes for 1 March 2009 consist of the following : 1) Take the subway to Asakusa. 2) Visit Sensoji Temple, shop for kimonos. 3) Take a river-cruise on Sumida River to Hama Rikyu, a landscaped garden and then walk to Shiodome. 4) Take Yurikamome monorail to Odaiba, a futuristic entertainment and shopping district on a man-made island in the Tokyo Bay. 5) From Odaiba, take the Yurikamome to Shimbashi and then the subway to Ningyocho station and walk to the hotel. ******************************************* The First of March did not dawn any better than 28th Feb. The sky was still overcast and rain was predicted. After the previous day’s disappointment of NOT seeing Mount Fuji, we were a bit wary about chalking out full-day excursions in this weather. We had seen enough shrines and ... read more