Russia is an incredibly vibrant country brimming with art and culture. And on every street of major cities, you will spot buskers and street performers who fill the air with music, and entertain its citizens and visitors all day.
While I was on my way to the FIFA Fan Fest Zone one day, I met a street performer along one of the broad thoroughfares in Saint Petersburg. What caught my attention was a board next to him which read ‘clases de malabarismo con piedras’. I walked towards him unable to contain my curiosity, wondering what this man has got to do with Malabar!
He was juggling three stones weighing at least two kilograms each. A Costa Rican channel crew was filming his performance. Once the shoot was over, I went over to him and asked about it. “Where are you from?” was his response. When I said India, he shot another question. “Where in India?” Kerala, I answered. To my surprise, he shot back in Malayalam a popular tongue twister—aana alaralodalaral!
Valentin Smirnov is a multi-faceted genius. He knows a little over 20 languages and is a master juggler. Entertaining visitors from around the world and tickling their curiosity by speaking in their native language are a few things that bring joy to Valentin.
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Valentin is a dentist by profession. He would leave his clinic by noon and hit the streets with his juggling stones in the evening. He has no interest in making money with his juggling skills. However, he would be more than happy if you leave a coin or currency note from your country as a token of appreciation. He says it's like he is connected to that part of the world.
Valentin shared with me the story, which he has beautifully illustrated in a notebook, of how he became a juggler. He had come across three peculiarly shaped stones on the road one day, and decided to take them home. After cleaning and polishing the stones, he drew emojis or smiley faces on them. He also gave them names—Arkady, Gennady, and Yolodya. While Arkady and Gennady are happy and smiling stones, Yolodya is the sad one. Valentin's reasoning behind keeping one sad and two happy stones is that happiness must always outweigh sadness in the world.
Once, when Valentin was out with his stones, the Russian police summoned him after receiving a complaint that he was an American spy! When he explained his side of the story, the police gave him their full support. However, a drunk gentleman walked up to him and asked if he could juggle with the stones. Valentin refused, but the man just wouldn't take no for an answer. How can this man, who couldn't even hold his liquor, hold Valentin's stones, let alone juggle? So he ended up giving the man replicas of the stones, made from cloth.
Valentin's ultimate dream is to travel the world with his juggling stones and that is why he is keen on meeting people from all around the world. His family, too, shares this dream. He wanted me to say something in Malayalam for his daughter who was studying in the second grade. “Best wishes to this talented juggling artist and his family,” I said as he recorded it.
Before leaving, I asked him what 'malabarismo' meant wondering if it indeed had anything to do with Malabar. Valentin burst my bubble as he explained that it meant 'juggling' in Spanish!