I love things that glow in the dark.. be it candles, lanterns,
fireflies, stars, the moon.. etc, etc. Needless to emphasize, I've
always loved the night-sky over my small-town home. When I was little, I
loved the moon but somewhere while growing up, I grew fonder of the
stars. When I moved to the city, I missed the stars. They were a part of
home and my connection to it was clouded a thick, smokey orange. I
always thought the sky over home was the clearest I'd ever get to see
without a telescope. But oh I can't even begin to explain how wrong I
was gonna be proven to be!
When - May 2010
Where - Republic of Kalmykia (south-western Russia)
Of Elista (the capital) and its small buddhist-town charm...
From
the very first impression you can tell they are a very calm people,
super intelligent too. History shows they're a strong people, physically
and emotionally. They welcome you with a warm, open heart and serve you
crispy-crusted, soft Kalmyk bread with chai. And then you play chess in
the middle of the town square with the board painted on the ground and
the pieces reaching upto the knee.
Moving two
hours further into the steppes, you do feel a little forlorn. All you
see is a sheep farm here and there and the endless nothingness. Till you
reach a little village. You'll find people riding bareback horses,
helping the dogs shepherd in the huge number of sheep. You'll find a
ten-year old running out into the dust-road to welcome his sister
home. You'll also find a man who walks a kilometer twice a day, with his
dog, to the little natural-gas station. He'll turn some switches and
tabs. You look at the pipes and it'll awe you to imagine it going all
the 22hr bus ride to Moscow. And then the sun sets. Twilight lingers a
while and that's when things come alive.
Most of us are familiar with 'Star light, star bright, the first
star i see tonight...'. It had always been easy to find that first star,
but not under Kalmykia. You'll lay under the open sky, ready with your
wish, aiming it at the first star in the sky. You think u see the first,
but people around you have seen others, at the very same time, at other
points in the sky. If you point up at yours, they'll tell you its rude
to point at the sky. Only the call for dinner can make u get up and
after that, you'll go back to staring at that mesmerizing sky. No
clouds, no moon, just stars, with slits of sky between them - a skyless
steppe starry night. If those stars were people, it wud be impossible
for them to breathe. Those stars, they shine, they sparkle, they dance
and they'll make your heart dance too. You don't need a telescope to
imagine the vastness of the universe. That Kalmyk Sky is a map, a
treasure of atleast a hundred stars for each living person.
They sang Kalmyk folk songs later that night. They were about war
and love. It'll stick in your soul like a beautiful, simple dream. I was
there for ten days but that just wasn't enough and I was back in July
for more. They may not be much of a commercial success, but I still
day-dream about that rich Kalmyk sky that doesn't need no moon to shine.
For Nadya, her mom, Dyadya Vova and Danir - for the beautiful
experience and for their (and all other) hearts that pump Kalmyk blood.
