Trouble at Baku

THEATRE: After enchanting Kiev, my next stop was Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan. It was a fairly long flight of about five hours with two stops in between. Our friend Igor Shvedov accompanied us to the airport at 9.30 in the morning.

We arrived at Baku at 3.15 in the afternoon. The weather was cloudy and windy in Baku. I was delighted to see my good friend Asoka Subasinghe had come to the airport to meet us. Apparently he was on some post-graduate engineering training in Baku.

There was an official from the Ministry of Culture, a playwright-poet, a journalist and the president of the Writers? Union of Baku to receive us - and with garlands too ! That was a real surprise.

Asoka accompanied us to the Intourist Hotel - a rather ornate old building which from the outside looked like one of our old estate bungalows. The boys from here celebrated our arrival with champagne.

I made a mental note that young Valentina is going to have a difficult time with these ?middle aged boys?! Asoka stayed with me after the boys left. He spoke to me about this city and this part of the Union.

Apparently they are not very friendly towards the Russians under whose rule they were. He said that they were not too friendly with black people, ?but not with Asians,? he reassured me.

Diary entry - Sunday, 4 April - ?The view of the Caspian sea and the harbour, from the hotel is breathtaking. We were taken round the city in the playwright?s car. He looks more like a tough businessman.

We viewed the city from a park on a high hill and the picture was enchanting.

If only, as Asoka says, our hosts are also equally enchanting ! Apparently these boys have money. They spend lavishly. They came to meet us with garlands.

Opera

Somehow, I am a little wary of these garlands. They remind me of our politics ! My guts tell me that there is a lot of ?politicking? going on here, in spite of the polished and suave exterior.

In the evening we saw (I took Asoka also along) an opera of ?Laila and Majnu?. The music sounds very much like Carnatic music and occasionally a song bears a strong resemblance to our Nadagam songs. This is certainly something ?oriental? though not of the highest order. Asoka stayed over with me.?

Diary entry - Mon. 5 April - ?Valentina is having a bit of a bother from these boys, as I suspected the very first day. She does not like to tell me about it, but I can see, I am sure she can look after herself though. She knocked at my door at about 9.30 this morning.

She looked flustered and angry. I made her sit down and offered her a glass of water. ?Why, Valya, did you have any trouble....?? Was all I could ask, silly me. She looked at me as if I had asked the silliest question possible.

?Gyenry, you know very well that I am having trouble with these chaps,? she said after a long pause. ?When someone knocked on my door, I thought it was you, ready to go out in the morning. But it was that old rascal the poet ...? She was silent for a little while.

I asked the obvious question with my eyes. She shook her head to say ?no?. ?I would have killed myself if any such thing happened.? She hissed the words out. ?I told you, these chaps don?t like us Russians. It is not that he wants me that badly. He could have any number of women here.

It is just that he likes to humiliate me because I am from Moscow, and I am Russian ....!? I held her hand gently and let her speak. For a brief moment she leaned on my shoulder as if she wanted that warmth.

I was tempted to hug her and kiss her, but desisted. I remembered Zoya?s words ?Gyenry you have been a good man, a gentleman.....?

Valya broke away from me and got up. She was much more composed now. She was looking deep into my eyes and that slightly mischievous smile appeared at the corner of her lovely mouth.

?You are a good man Gyenry. Although you are a little timid at this sort of thing. I thank you for not taking advantage of the situation. I am a married woman. You are a married man too. I hope we?ll be able to remember that as long as we work together ...?

Frankly I felt a little humiliated for having been called timid. But that was better than making a mistake that we would have both regretted later ...

Museum

Valya went up to the mirror, adjusted her hair (there may have been a bit of a tussle with the poet) patted a little make up on and was ready to go. It was not a very significant appointment.

Just a ride in the cable car over the hill and a visit to the museum etc. But we kept to our schedule. At 11.30 we went to the Baku Philharmonic Orchestra House to see the national music competitions.

We walked for about one hour and later took a pleasant walk through the parks and the hills accompanied by the man from the Ministry. Valya said something in Russian to the man at which his face turned red.

I could understand bits of it. I think she said that if she complained to her Ministry in Moscow and to the Writers Union Head Quarters, it might not be too good for the ?poet?. I have come here on a job, she told him. ?I don?t want any more ugly incidents.?

The man from the Ministry muttered something which I could not understand. He must have apologized. In any case we did not see the poet or his car after that morning.

Diary note. ?There is a miniature train service to take the tourists to the hill top from where one could have a panoramic view of the sea and the city. The city is kept spotlessly clean and is really beautiful. I saw a well planned open air theatre carved into a part of the hill.

Asoka came at about 5.30. We went for a walk in the park and the beach. Later we were taken to see the Ice Revue from Moscow. We met the Deputy Minister of Cultural Affairs there, a lady aged just 33, a nice simple woman - an entity far different from the ill-intentioned men we have met so far.

The Ice show from Moscow was excellent. Asoka stayed over with me.

Wrote my first letter to Manel from Baku. As usual I did not mention any of the unpleasant experiences to her. She is a woman and she could easily misunderstand ....?

As I said earlier, these Azarbhajanese must have been rich people. Some men who looked like ?business people would come to our hotel for breakfast. They would sit down and order a huge meal including an invariable bottle of brandy. They would still be eating and talking even when we got back from our morning engagements, say, around 11.30.

Valya avoided going to the hotel restaurant for lunch. She had it in her room. If Asoka was there we went to the restaurant for lunch and to watch the pink-faced men living it up. If he was not there I too had a light meal in my room. I could hardly finish, even their ?light? meal!

Pictures

Diary entry-Tuesday, 6 April - ?In the morning, we walked up the hill once again because I wanted to take some pictures. I took a whole lot of them but in vain. The whole reel got exposed due to my ignorance of handling cameras.

I had acquired the camera (FED.II) from the dollar shop at Hotel Dnipro in Kiev. Valya also took some pictures from her own simple camera. She said she will let me have copies of some of her pictures once we get back to Moscow.

Later in the morning I was interviewed by two men of the local press and the radio. In the afternoon we were taken to see an Arabian castle. It was very ornate full of all kinds of architectural designs, pictures and engravings. Rather ?loud? and forbidding.

In the evening we saw another opera called ?Eslin and Kareem?. This one is even more similar to our Tower Hall plays. The dialogue is interspersed with innumerable songs.

We must have borrowed our ?Nurti tradition? from similar sources, closer to us. Unlike our ?Nurti? they had a chorus too which blended easily with the play. This chorus had been ?modernized? so to say.

They were made up by the characters in the play itself, such as courtiers, neighbours, guests etc. as the situation demands. The main actress was impossibly old and the main actor who played the part of the Prince could hardly act - he should never have been put on a stage ! Asoka had come when I returned.

We had dinner at the restaurant and he stayed over.?

April 8 Morning free. At 12 we went to see the Museum of the history of Azerbhajan. It covers the entire known period of its history and ends with an exhibition of gifts received from other countries in recent times.

Asoka came in the evening and accompanied us to the local production of Anthony and Cleopatra. It was a very competent production and the acting was also good. The actress who plays the role of Cleopatra is said to be 56 years. She must be a well preserved woman. Does not look more than 35, on stage.

Asoka treated us for dinner and champagne at the hotel restaurant.

Telegram

Friday 9. Morning free. Went alone for a walk in the hills. Later, with Valya too. Took a lot of pictures but the reel got stuck. Either I am pretty bad with cameras or the camera is faulty. It could not be. I paid in dollars for it and I have heard my friends here say that the FED.II camera is very good.

Anyway, I have hardly ever handled a camera. Just as I posted a letter to Manel I received a telegram from her.

She says everything is okay. She has received all my letters. She wants the camera she can have it!

We saw a modern comedy called ?Service Bureau? in the evening. It is said to be a translation of a Polish play.

This is easily the finest comedy I have seen in my tour in the Soviet Union. It is a very witty and clever play, brilliantly acted by all the seven players taking part. We went backstage and met the artistes.

Seated with us in the hall was a little girl an her proud granny. A lovely little girl who studies English and would like to talk with me in English. I invited the little one and her Babushka for tea tomorrow morning at the hotel.

Thought of the week

I have just received the first two issues of an interesting quarterly titled rather quaintly - OLA> It is the literary arm of a group of young writers and enthusiasts in the English language - The Organization for Literary Accomplishments. The attractive three-coloured display title says ?OLA - The Sri Lankan Book Review?.

The founder of OLA is Jeremy Muller. Amesh Pereira and Prasad Pereira are also mentioned as founder members. The introductory article goes on to say; ?We are happy to note that we have members in our organization as young as nine years of age, and the oldest, to date, at fifty-five, which goes to show that age is no barrier to aspiring writers.?

I have received a membership form too and I want to tell OLA that very soon they will have a member of 75 years of age - me.

The inaugural issue of Oct-Dec. 2005 carries several reviews of new publications.

A review of ?Inequality? of Daya Dissanayake by Carl Muller, another of a Sarvodaya publication - ?Crime and Punishment in the Buddhist Tradition? by Nandasena Ratnapala commented upon by ?Paperclip?, and a very incisive look at Carl Muller?s latest contribution to literature - ?Propitiations? - written by Jean Arasanayagam.

There is a whole page introducing new books under the title OLA?s Recommended Reading. Six new books are recommended - ?On Horsehoe Street? by Tissa Devendra, ?Galle as Quiet as Asleep? by Norah Roberts, ?Sevens Saga? by Neil Wijeratne, ?All God?s Children? by Carl Muller, ?My Mind is Made up I?m Afraid it?s You!? by Aditha Dissanayake and ?Cross Connection and Other Stories? by Kamani Jayasekera.

The journal is neat and well presented. Here?s wishing you good luck and a long journey, from your new and oldest member.....

Henrji @ dialogsl. net

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