From Russia with love…

As a part of our Cranfield MBA program, different students went to different parts of the world – Brazil, Cuba, China, Japan, Saudi Arabia etc in the second week of June. I chose to go to Russia. The Russia trip included visit to two cities – Moscow and St. Petersburg.

We started from the University at about 4 am on Saturday, the 7^th of June, and reached Moscow Airport at 4 pm…there was a half an hour of delay of the flight. Then we took about three hours more to reach our hotel, pulling our heavy suitcases all the way while changing trains of the Moscow underground.

Instead of going on an hour-by-hour or day-by-day description, I thought it would be a better to make the blog more reflective.

The Moscow memories!

Most of us prefer our home town to stay and visit the outside world once in a year or so. Now with the growth of technology and communication, many people may shift to the nearby big cities; but the fact remains that they want to be closer to their homes; the closer the better. What many people do not want is to relocate to a different country altogether. It is the comfort zone that we all subconsciously like to remain within. Stepping outside the comfort zone can be quite a challenge at times.

When I was asked to select a location to visit, as a part of my MBA International Business Experience, I chose Russia above others. With the shades of darkness that’s behind the country Russia, I decided to step out of my comfort zone and try this completely new world.

The experience has been varied. I am not sure if ‘pleasant’ is the right word. Because there were so many highs and lows during the week-long tour. It is a part of the world that is so different. Today, the 12^th of June, 2008, I am in St. Petersburg, having arrived here today morning. I was in Moscow for the last four days. They say you form majority of your opinion about a person in the first few minutes of the interaction. Same may be said of a city – may be it is the first few hours in this case. When you step into a host’s house, within a few minutes you realise whether the host is cold to your presence. With its history of once-a-vast-empire, I never expected Moscow to open up its arms towards visitors like us. I was aware that like the old emperors, who once owned a large empire, Russia will have its own pride and to some extent the snobbish behaviour, unwilling and unable to take to come to terms any more that time and world has changed.

When we stepped in the hotel, our passport was taken, kept overnight with the hotel management and then returned the next day with a stamp on the immigration paper inside. Checking of passport in foreign land is never uncommon – it is just a way of verifying the identity. (Though sometimes I feel that it’s an irony that one small booklet, commonly known as the passport, seems to convey my identity in such a spectacular way!). But what is particularly notable is the way that the process is handled here. When we checked in St. Petersburg, the same phenomenon was followed. It is as if my every move is being monitored. As if a pair of invisible eyes follow me all around! And that’s when you feel that the host is suspecting you. They don’t trust you or your presence. The last thing you want your host to do is monitor each and every move of yours. I heard it existed rigidly during the KGB-era…but was unable to understand why such processes are religiously followed even today. It leaves a bad taste in your mouth.

The next point is the nightmare of being illiterate. In the last few days I realised that after food, drink and shelter, education and communication is so important. Perhaps because of the logic of the good-old-empire, Russia did not care the use of English, or may be deliberately avoided its use as a mark of independence and the attitude that “we can live by our own”. When the main mode of transport around the city is the underground (or tube train or the metro as is known in different parts of the world), it would have done a world of good to the visitors had the stations been spelt in English alphabets. But alas! There were only the Russian alphabets all around. And added to that are the Russian names and their pronunciations which are not so easy to remember. There is always the subtle thought that you may lose your way and never be able to find one out! The underground stations are very deep under the ground level and , believe me, seems like it takes ages to reach down and get out of it. There are beautiful sculptures and paintings, chandeliers and statues inside. People have every right to confuse it with a normal railway station. They are huge; they are gorgeous. And all these add to the mysterious Russia! It is intimidating! Every moment you know you cannot afford to get lost from the group. If you ask people, you may not be able to understand them. The feeling that one needs to fight every odds to survive everyday that is only in the subconscious mind, surfaces. And it’s not a good feeling, either! It has uncertainty; it has fear. It has the feeling of getting lost in concrete jungle among the human beings. A place where even in a normal eat-out each meal costs approximately £10, it can soon get worse than you have ever thought!

These were my broad experiences of the four days in Moscow. I have heard the name Russia or USSR so many times in my life from childhood. But never have I been the least hint of the picture of the world that exists behind those names; how exactly it is like in the cities of Russia and underground of Moscow? And same thing applies for a person and the often-used passport. The passport says the name of the person, date of birth, but does not say anything about the person. And yet, we think we know persons from his or her passport. Russia will never be the same for me. The six-lettered word has much more life and soul for me today.

I am not trying to paint any negative picture of one of the most historical cities of the world, a city where I saw the Kremlin and The Red Square, the KGB headquarters. I am sharing my thoughts on how it feels to not receive a warm welcome at any new place or how it feels to be fully alert all the time. And this takes me back to where I started. In our own home or country, we never feel these. They never surface. I am glad that I was able to realise the advantages of staying in the comfort zone and, at the same time, realise, again, that there is a vast world beyond the comfort zone and beyond our thoughts, imaginations and names.

And, though stepping into that world may be challenging, yet it is what makes a man different from the others. I am glad that I saw this part of the world. And now this world – the world of a fallen empire, an ideology that stands no more, the huge Red Square and Kremlin, the deep and gorgeous underground and some of my subconscious feelings that surfaced and made me aware that they exist within me, within us – has become part of my world.

I am glad that my world is expanding!

Murder on the Orient Express on the White night!

When we take pictures, we take pictures of people smiling. We make sure that we smile in the pictures, which gives a feeling to everyone seeing the pictures that everything was so beautiful. But, life has a different story to tell. Things go wrong, some experiences are not so pleasant and sometimes you find diamond in heaps of coal! So, I decided to write about something that went horribly wrong in the journey. The reason being, like our life, I wanted this blog to have a mix of good days and bad days.

Our so-called Orient Express was the train that we boarded from Moscow to St. Petersburg. It is not called so. But I thought that the name was quite befitting. Everything went wrong from the word ‘GO’! The expectations were high; we all expected some heritage-type train – the Orient Express- type. But it turned out to be a dampener. The coups were small, the blankets and the carpets had a damp smell, and the toilets were dirty. Things just did not go well on the ‘Orient Express’ and our expectations and hopes were brutally murdered and there was blood all over! It was a journey of eight hours – from 8 pm to 4 am. But time seemed to stand still. There was no restaurant in the train. I still could not make out whether the air condition actually worked or whether the few windows that were kept open had kept the ventilation going and the temperature cool.

What could have been a nightmare (may be it is still for some!), became a dream come true for me, as I watched the spectacular phenomenon of white night. Difficult to explain this magic that nature offers. There was bright light all throughout the night, whether it is 1:30 am at night or 3 am in the morning. The light is fairly bright, may be like that of a cloudy day. You can see everything around – the vast green fields or the distant houses – very clearly. It’s what fairy tales are made up of. Twenty years ago I read about some lands are called ‘The land of the midnight sun’. Last night added more meaning to those words for me. Here they call it the white night. Being so close to the North Pole, during this time, the region gets plenty of sunlight – even in the dead of night.

This train journey will always be a special one for me. It started off as a nightmare, but soon a dream took over. And like the smiling photos which seem to give the impression that there are more happy moments in life, when I think of this journey, I visualise it more in terms of the white night and the amazing creation of nature, while the soggy train atmosphere gets eclipsed behind them. Perhaps it is the human nature that we always try to think of the good moments in life and treasure them.

A small incident and a big realisation!

Sometimes a very small event or incident in your life leaves a lasting impression. It tells you lots of things. One such incident took place last Monday, when I was in Moscow. Andy, my friend from the Cranfield Executive MBA, and I were trying to find some decent evening snacks in one of the market places in Moscow. As mentioned earlier, Russians hardly speak or understand English, though I heard that the current generation is learning to speak English.

We found a road-side food stall, which seemed to offer good snacks and at reasonable rates. It was a type of pan cake, with stuffed meat inside. They were of two varieties. We initially had a hard time finding out the price of the snacks. This might sound strange to some readers who might think how much can a pan cake-type snacks cost. To give a rough idea, in a road-side stall close to this one and having very similar look and feel, one such pan cake and a piece of chicken with a bit of chopped onion and cucumber cost 370 roubles, which is about £9. You may have to pay a really heavy price if you are a bit unmindful in the streets of Russia. They will rip off tourists in the slightest opportunity they get. Yesterday one of my friends ordered a glass of pomegranate juice, not having seen the price, in a normal restaurant. After she drank, when she was told to pay 350 roubles or more than £8 (£1 = 40/45 roubles); no wonder she was shell-shocked!

We ate the pan cake of one variety. Then we roamed around for some time. Since the snack was different and quite delicious, we thought of eating the second type. However, it was quite difficult to get two pieces of information from the shop owner. Firstly, that we wanted the second type and not the first type, when both the types were closely kept and wanted to know the difference between the two. Secondly, the price of the second type. Our futile conversation with the shop owner only resulted in the queue behind us getting longer. So, we decided to eat the first type itself.

Then we wanted to drink something. This time Andy spoke a language that was universal, easily understood by the shop keeper – ‘PEPSI!’ She was quick to grab one from the shelf and hand it over to Andy with a smile. Same pack, same taste. This is what globalisation ought to be.

Today I tried the same in the Mac Donald’s shop. Walked up to the counter and said ‘Big Mac!’ The job was done. Prompt and neat. Same word all over the world, same taste, and same caption: “I’m loving it!”…Yes we all are!!!

The Beautiful city of Saint Petersburg

As the British Airways flight BA 879 take off from Saint Petersburg at 5 pm on 15^th June, I had the last opportunity to see the city from above. There well-planned stood the city on the shore of the Baltic Sea. The flight is headed west towards London. This is been the last lap of our Russia trip. The last three days in Saint Petersburg has been a wonderful experience.

After the horrifying train journey to the city, things have been improving for us. To start with, Saint Petersburg is a beautiful city. There are lots of statues, small green parks, couple of narrow rivers and river cruises on them, churches that give the city a romantic flavour. To add to that was the chilled climate, perfect when you have a coat, and bright sunshine. Even the five hours walk around the city with friends was never tiring in the picturesque city. Then we had almost a day-long visit to the exotic Hermitage, a palace-cum-museum that has amazing work of art on the walls, floors and ceilings, gorgeous chandeliers and paintings all over. In fact, everything in the Hermitage is so elegant that it’s really hard to describe it unless one sees for himself or herself. What followed was an exquisite dinner last night with the entire group and then typical songs sung by some Russian ladies; I tried to discover some of my foot-tapping skills there. A memorable night indeed, that marked an end to the overall wonderful Russia trip.

All’s well that ends well. The week-long trip to Russia is almost end. There have been highs and lows. Perhaps Moscow, like any other big cities in the world, is more business and commercial orientated. Whereas, Saint Petersburg, a much smaller city, is one of the most poetic cities I have ever seen. During the tour there have been gossips and fun, moments of laughter and anxiety, uncertainty and friendship. It was indeed a different experience. The school calls it the IBE – International Business Experience. I am not sure how much business knowledge have we gathered from the Russian trip. Nonetheless, it has been a truly memorable week in the strange and mysterious land of Russia, when Moscow, on one hand, seemed intimidating, Saint Petersburg, on the other, was so fresh and beautiful.

I like to end this Russia diary with the only word that I learnt in Russia. It is ‘Spasiba’, meaning, ‘Thank You!’. Thank you for those moments and memories, Russia. Spasiba!

From Russia,

With Love…

Amitava

PS: Please visit this blog from time to time to see the wonderful pictures taken during the tour. I shall be, hopefully, able to compile and upload then from 20th-21st june onwards.