Homeward Bound - The Journey Back

(Blog Finale - Dedicated to my few sincere readers who persevered and reached till the end.)

The excitement to come back home was too much for me. I couldn’t sleep at night. Well, so couldn't Deepa. But, I found out later on, hers was a different reason.
There was a couple fighting at the restaurant, in the wee hours of the night and since Deepa's room was close by, she could hear everything.
Unfortunately, since they were fighting in Ukrainian, there was nothing interesting for Deepa to overhear. Hence, I don't have the details of the argument to update in my blog. Thankfully, since they were loud, Deepa couldn't ignore the noise and go to sleep either. With all the listening, all she could make out was the noise of bottles breaking. On close inspection, she found out a window was open in her room - apparently the cleaning staff forgot to seal it tight. Some realizations come very late and at a very high cost.

When morning came, there was an unusual spring in my step.

The moment we walked out the doors, I could not contain my excitement. However, since Deepa was late, we could not leave yet.

The hotel cab driver came to help me with my backpack, to put it in the trunk of the car.
I said it was ok. He didn’t seem to understand.
He said, “Let me!”

I was like, “No. It’s ok.”

He pulled one strap of my bag and I refused to let go. Apparently he was stronger than me. So, he pulled me up high and for a moment there I was in mid-air, frantically kicking and screaming, “AAAAAAAAaaaaH!”

Prabakar intervened and told him to put me down and that we were okay.

I decided to get in the car and wait for Deepa. Purathu athra safe alla.

When I got in the car, the driver ran towards me and rudely told me not to place the laptop bag on the seat. He was generous enough to let me put it on my lap.

And then it struck me, the guy was not trying to help, earlier. But instead, the scum was trying to save his precious seat. I looked around and all I could see was some scratched upholstery. Is this what he was trying to save?

I thought of placing my bag on the seat when he was not looking. Then, I dropped the idea. He could lift me up and throw me in a second. We don’t want that happening, do we.

Finally, Deepa came out! We set off to the airport.

On reaching the airport, we went to check in our luggage. The lady at the counter said there was no way to check in till the final destination.

This time, we were very confident that it could be done. We had proof. Well, at least we lived through one proper through check-in.

Finally, after some convincing, the lady managed to get 2 tags for each check-in bag inorder to enable a through check in for us. However, we had to clear the customs at Bombay.

She then checked the system for the seating arrangement.
Prabakar said it would be fine if we got different seats.
Deepa said she and I wanted to be together.
The lady finally threw her hands up in the air and said, “I have done what I can. You guys figure out for yourselves and exchange the seats.”

We were like – "Er... yea, no problem."

And thus, we moved to the boarding point.

We reached Kiev. Since we were fed up of the regular restaurant, this time we chose another one in the airport. That was a good decision. For two reasons, mainly.
The food was much better and there was a cute guy - the only one who knew English.

We ate a sumptuous meal and set out to find a "magnaiit".

I selected one that I liked. The cost - 75 gryvnas.

Wow! That is expensive. I went to pay with my card, they said they wanted cash. Nice.

Till that moment, I had survived without touching the Ukrainian currency. They just didn't let me complete my journey and keep a record.

So, finally, I set out to take some Ukrainian currency. When we went downstairs, we saw some Indians. I must say, there is an excitement when we meet our fellow people in a foreign country.

When one Indian in front of me took a long time at the ATM, the excitement died down.

One another Indian guy cut me in line, I gave him a cold stare.

He politely stepped back and motioned with his hand for me to walk forward – “Please...”
You bet!

I went ahead and put my card in the ATM. And there came the welcome message.
Everything was in Ukrainian.

Aah!

"DEEEPAAA-"

The Indian guy (who cut in line earlier) behind me, politely pointed to where the English option was.
How did he figure it out? Of course! It was in English.

I took my 100 gryvnas. Around 50 gryvnas would be charged for transaction. In short I spent 75+50 = 125 for my magnet, with 25 in my purse, which I would never use.

We ran back and bought the magnet.
Deepa said to keep my magnet in a sacred place at home and worship it.

The magnet safe at home.

After the security clearance, we came right in front of the beverages store. And then I remembered the requests from India. My friends Sarjith and Yakob (no! I don’t belong to any terrorist group… names have been changed to protect privacy) had asked me to buy some bottles. Well, actually... Yakob didn't ask but neatly slided in his request, at the last possible moment, via WhatsApp.

Sreejith – I mean, Sarjith especially had given me a list with the correct priority order. The first option was Glensfiddich.
I saw a Glenfiddich and there was no "S" in the name. I ignored it.
Prabakar pointed me towards there, again.
I said – "No, Sreejith’s" (dammit!) "Sarjith’s brand is GlenSSSSSfiddich – with an 'S'". Finally, I figured Sarjith got it misspelled.

Okay, okay! So it was Glenfiddich.

But there were many types of Glenfiddich. I was clueless. I looked up to Prabakar for guidance. He gave me a session on the different brands and levels. It was like a game, he explained. When you clear a brand level, you qualify for the next level.
At the end, I understood I had to contact Sarjith to get the right brand or to get his "level". I called him up and he said whichever was the cheapest was the best option for him. Yes, it was that simple.

Since I wasn't sure if they would let me carry the bottles in hand from here till India, it was decided to buy the bottles from Dufai. Besides there would be more offers over there. The only concern was if the time would be sufficient.

Having nothing else to do and a lot of time to kill, we started thinking of options. God forbid we set foot in Boryspil Hotel again! So, this time we decided to check out the business lounge. That's when Deepa mentioned she had a Premier Customer card from Citibank - which would allow free entry for herself and 2 guests. We decided to try it out.
We went to an airline lounge and asked the rates. They said for 3 hrs 20$ each. We showed Deepa's card. The lady said this would give us 3 hours entry. After that, probably we could try another lounge for the next 3 hours.

We went out and tried the Ukrainian Airline lounge. Since our flight was UIA, we were allowed to stay for more than 3 hours with Deepa's card. The matter was settled and Ukraine International Airline lounge it is!
As Deepa swiped her card, the lady turned the machine towards her (Deepa).
Wondering if she had to enter the pin, which she couldn't remember, we saw the lounge option dissipate right in front of our eyes. Fortunately, the airline staff said she just wanted Deepa's sign and not the pin.
The lounge was luxurious and I will be indebted to Deepa for it, till the day I die.

The flight to Dubai started late. We couldn't hold our patience. Wondered why on earth the pilot took this long to start. When we did leave the runway, I slept off.
In the middle of the night, Deepa nudged me awake. I rubbed my eyes to see the air hostess coming with food. Seeing them collect money from afar, I had my doubts whether the food was free. Deepa said we can ask them when they came.
They came. They asked whether we wanted veg or non veg. We both said veg.
They handed us the sandwiches. Free? Nice.
We both unwrapped our sandwiches when the airhostess said, "And that would be 180 gryvnas."
Uhh... Not very hungry. I just unwrapped it and maybe the edge of my teeth lightly grazed it. Would you take this back?
Deepa did what she thought was the right thing. She paid.
Well, you can't blame her. 40,000 feet high in the air is not a good situation to be in to have an argument.
After we settled the bill, we both bit into our sandwiches.
Yikes! Some stale green leaves and cheese. God knows what! It tasted so strange.

90 gryvnas for this? Our cows get better leaves than this. (Not that I've tasted it.)
It struck me why the pilot took so long to fly the plane. They would have been pulling the weeds near to the runway to fill these sandwiches. Last minute supply, eh?
I had 4-5 bites and could not stand the torture. I wrapped the sandwich back. Deepa painfully continued to complete her sandwich. And that my friend, is willpower.

We reached Dubai. And we went to buy the bottles. Prabakar said he wanted to have coffee and we could meet later.
So, I went and bought Glenfiddich for Sarjith and Absolut Raspberii for Yak-ob.
When I went to pay for it, I asked the guy if he would bubble wrap it. He said no. All he did was put a net on it and put it in a plastic cover, sealed. He said that the skimpy net would keep the bottle safe.
Which law of Physics did I miss out on?
I expressed my concern.
He said it wouldn't break and he banged the Absolut bottle on the side of the counter.
I held my heart and screamed - YIII!

The guy casually said - "Don't worry... If it breaks, we will drink here and take another bottle."
Yea! You better get me another one if it breaks. Wait a minute...! Did you think the bottles were for me? Ohhh - no, no, no! No.
Sarjith and Jac - I mean - Yak would definitely pay for this.
However, truth be told, the cashier did prove his point that the bottles were solid.

After this, Deepa wanted to buy watches for her boys.
Watches from the airport? Uh, yea... She had to give the boys the idea that mummy dear bought gifts for darling boys from Ukraine. (Disclaimer: If you happen to be either of Deepa's sons reading this, this paragraph is just made up.)
We went to a watch store and got G-shock watches for a pretty good deal.

Now we had quite a load of packets with us. We definitely had to find Prabakar to watch our merchandize - in order to walk free and get some coffee.
We went to the gate mentioned in our boarding pass. Prabakar wasn't to be found. In fact, the place near the gate seemed desolate.
That's odd.
One of the staff walked towards us and said, "Madam are you waiting for the JET flight? They changed the gate at the last moment."
So, we set off to the new gate.
And yet, we still couldn't find Prabakar.
Deepa, the rational one among us, started panicking. She said to try calling Prabakar with my Skype credit.
I tried. Apparently, his phone was switched off.
Deepa suggested he might be online in Pidgin. So, I had to open my laptop, login and open my Pidgin. I was lazy and didn't want to do so but Deepa meant business. I didn't argue.
I complied and opened my laptop and logged into Pidgin only to find - he wasn't online.
Hmmm... Now what could be done. They opened the gate for boarding.
Err... I would like to get some coffee. And where is Prabakar?
We started worrying.
I suggested we board the plane and check if he is already in - not completely out of concern. Deepa didn't even want to hear the idea. Her expression made me regret even thinking about it.
As we stood wondering and worrying, there... from afar, we saw Prabakar smiling gleefully and coming down the escalator, with a backpack like a schoolkid.

Oh, yes - he was holding a cup of coffee!
Coffee? He got coffee?! Did he just get coffee? Bah! Humbug!

I was grumpy by now. Sulking, I stomped into the airside transfer bus and sat down. After we got in, the bus started moving in reverse. Deepa and I looked around only to realize the driver was sitting behind us. Apparently, we were sitting facing the back of the bus. Deepa laughed and since I had already started this blog, she mentioned this would give me something to put in it. Umm... I wasn't short of content anyway.

We boarded the flight. It was almost empty. We put the bottles in the overhead bin above my seat. I observed that only my luggage and the bottles were there. I voiced my fear to the airhostess asking whether the bottles will roll around the baggage cabin and break as the plane would fly. She didn't say anything at first. Maybe she thought I was paranoid or that I was too attached to the bottles. But she added as an afterthought that it would be more dangerous to keep it on the floor. So, I decided to leave the bottles up there and pray they would reach safe along with us.

We reached Bombay. We had to pick our bags and clear it in customs checking.
We headed towards the customs check. Seeing Deepa and me struggle to take the first trolley bag onto the conveyor belt, the assistant felt sorry for us and cleared us without making us unload further.
We got a clean chit because of our innocent faces.
But fate had it otherwise for us when we went to check the bags in. A staff caught us and said the bottles couldn't be taken in hand. We needed to check them in.

Luckily, Deepa had some space in her bag. We opened it.
Prabakar had earlier asked Deepa to keep his jacket in her bag, since his bag was already full with the goodies he bought from Ukraine.
So, we stuffed the bottles in and put Prabakar's jacket on top as a cushion. The bag became overweight a bit but since the airline staff didn't complain, we got it checked in.

After the bag went off, Prabakar mentioned that he stopped transferring bottles like this because once when they checked it in, the bottle reached him broken.

Durantham Express: Enthu cheyaana njan veliya duranthan aayi poyi...

Thank you for the story at this appropriate time.

Deepa mentioned this bottle was becoming like Salsa in Kunjiramayanam.

Thirichettumo Valsa naam Kothicheeduma Salsa

Pidakunnori vazhikannumaayi kaanje pookeaaaa naaam

We reached Trivandrum. As soon as the bag came on the conveyor belt, we started looking out to see if there was any leakage. There was none. What a relief!
We took the bag off the belt and opened it to confirm.
Prabakar came running and asked if the bottles were okay.
We said they were. And that even if the bottles had broken, his jacket would have absorbed the alcohol.
He was stunned.
However, he quickly recovered, saying that if at all the bottles had broken, he would have asked Sreejith to get him a new jacket. (Yea, I know I referred to him as Sarjith earlier. Oh, please! By now you would have understood it was Sreejith and Jacob. Who am I kidding!)
We teased Prabakar saying if at all the bottles had broken, we would have called his home and told that he was drinking throughout the travel.
For a moment, he shuddered. Mainly because he realized only now that he was travelling with two devils.




It was a loooong journey to and fro. And it was sooo good to be back home.
Relieved after completing a journey that we were worried about, we walked out of the airport as though we just received a bravery award.

When the taxi pulled away from the airport, the roads seemed narrower and more crowded than from what I could remember.
Sigh! It would take time for things to be the same again.
Well... it is my country and I was back home.

Dasvidanya, Kharkiv

The stay at Kharkiv was short but sweet.
Now, we had to go to Lviv to visit our colleagues there.

As we checked out of the hotel in Kharkiv, I drank a bottle of water and Deepa kept hers in her bag. On reaching the airport, the security asked Deepa to throw her bottle in the trash. Deepa had to do so.

While walking through security clearance, since we did not have water, we both felt unusually thirsty.
There were 2 packets of juice at the baggage scanner table, near the security. Some poor bloke might have been asked to throw those away.
What a waste! I longingly looked at the packs. That's when a lady security walked in and talked to the security guy in Ukrainian.
I imagine the conversation to be - "Kandavalmaaru ithu nokki vellam irakaathe irikaan - ithine akathu eduthu veyyu... Nammukku pinne edukaam..."

After the clearance, we walked and waited for our flight to Kiev.
The journey to Kiev was uneventful. As soon as we reached Kiev, we went to have lunch at the same restaurant where the lady took our order wrongly.

This time, Deepa and I took some rice mixed with cheese and Prabakar ordered veg dumplings. Along with that, Prabakar ordered a lime - the quantity was written as 50ml.
When the lime came, it was just plain lemon squeeze. Water was in a separate glass. Prabakar mixed the water and it was very sour.

He called the waitress and tried explaining that the quantity of lemon was too much.
The lady said that she gave exactly what was mentioned in the menu - 50 ml.
Ooohh! 50ml of lemon squeeze alone... Now you tell me.
Prabakar asked for water. They gave an extra glass hesitantly and then it occurred water was more expensive than the other drinks over here.

After our lunch, we just walked around. I thought I would check for magnets from Kiev. I saw an airline staff writing something on a paper standing in the middle. She seemed grumpy.
I looked around - there was no one else standing free to answer our query.
Slowly, I walked towards her wondering if I should walk back. Halfway through, she saw me and smiled. With the newfound confidence, I walked faster and asked, "Excuse me, do you have souvenirs or some kind of magnets here?"
"A-wot?"
"Magnets? Souvenirs? Something special to Kiev?"
"Sorry - I don't understand."
She asked me to wait and she talked to her colleague and brought him to me.
I repeated my statement to him. They both looked at each other quizzically. I drew a rectangle in thin air with my fingers and said - "Magnet! Magnet! Mag-net!"
And suddenly, their eyes brightened and they said, "Oh, MAGNAAAIIIIT!"
I was like - "Yesss, magnaaiiit!"
They said there would be plenty after the security clearance. I thanked them and walked away.

Ippo technique pidi kitti... Avasanikumbol kurachu neetanam.
After the security clearance, we had to wait for some time. Deepa and I watched some Pisharadi comedies in youtube using the Public WiFi. We lost it halfway and started laughing loudly, unaware that we were attracting attention towards us.

Finally the flight came and we set off to Lviv.

Lviv

Lviv seemed to be much more European than Kharkiv. The buildings looked more ancient and there were more sculptures here. Kharkiv is more sophisticated compared to Lviv.
Kharkiv is situated closer to Russia, so people speak mostly in Russian. On the other hand, in Lviv, people speak in Ukrainian.
We reached the Swiss Hotel. It looked a bit old from outside. That's okay. It's the inside, that matters.

The receptionist greeted us and said that she would show us our rooms.
We followed her through a maze. And finally, she asked Prabakar and me to wait somewhere in the middle of nowhere and took Deepa to her room.

After about 5 minutes, the receptionist appeared, took us through another maze and showed Prabakar his room. Then, I was left with her. By this time, I was slightly freaking out.
She took me to the elevator.
She looked at me, with sad, soulful eyes. Then, she said, "Sorry, the building is very old. So it's hard to find your way."
You think!
We took the lift to the 3rd floor. As the doors opened, she took me to a room close by. She opened, to reveal a very spacious room with 2 beds. And she took me in and said that would be my room. I stood there motionless.
Suddenly I realized, once she leaves I would be all alone in this big room in this scary place. All alone!
Who knows if there were people in other rooms.
Help! I screamed inside.
She gave me instructions on how to reach the reception. I paid no attention. She asked me if I needed anything else.
Yes, where is Deepa? What have you done to her?

I mustered the courage and asked, "Can I get a room closer to Deepa's?"
She looked sorry and shook her head slowly.
I was like - "Okaaay!"
And she walked out. And so I was, standing in the middle of a big room. Afraid to venture out.
The bell boy (more like an old man) came with my luggage. Finally, I asked him how I could reach the elevator. He got out of the room and pointed left. I walked out and saw that the room was very close to the lift.
Nothing's wrong. It's all in my head.

Frantically, I called up Deepa via WhatsApp. Said we should meet at the lobby soon. Somehow, I found my way towards the lobby. God knows how.
They should have the way to the rooms in Google Maps.
I sat waiting for Deepa. She came and voiced out the exact things running through my head. What kind of a place is this! Spooky.

We saw a spiral staircase going downwards to the basement near the reception.

Deepa was like, "Ithaano thekkini..."

Prabakar came and we got out for tea. It was such a relief to walk out of the hotel. We decided to take a look outside. The first thing that hit us was that the place was very lively. So alive. With people walking and live music playing.








We were busy taking photos in the street and suddenly we saw a procession come by with people dressed up and representing different countries. We saw Ukraine, Serbia, so on... and India. India?!

It was the end of some cultural fest. We were so happy to see that India was considered important to be represented here. Well... this goes to show, you can find Indians anywhere.

We decided to take a 1 hour ride around the city on a slow train.

The tour was good but we were fed with a lot of information. It was hard to keep track of the info while we were busy taking pictures. After some time we had no clue about anything. Except that Lviv is called the City of Lions and that it looked really good.

Prabakar left us both together and we decided to do some shopping. We decided to go buy chocolates, if possible, since Lviv is famous for it.
Walked into some stores. Bought some "magnaits".
Finally, we decided to ask around for chocolates. We mentioned chocolates to a lady in one store. I motioned with my hands showing something to eat. They could not follow.
Deepa used the technique, "Some chocolat!"
They were like - "Oh! Chocolat!" She gave the directions using her hands and said at last, "Udhar!"
We were like, "Udhar?" Hindi kaari aano daivame?
But, no! Udhar-nnu mathram arriyam.

And then we set off to the chocolat store. At the chocolate store, we saw a lot of options and we decided to buy lots. We grabbed lots and put it in our bag. People would have assumed we had never seen chocolates in our lives.

Then, it occurred. These were handmade chocolates. What if they would melt?
So we had to ask. We went to a lady.
"Would these melt?"
The lady looked at us blankly.
"We - have - to - travel. Will - these - chocolates - melt?" As if adding a pause in between, would somehow make it clearer to her.
She had no clue what we were talking about.
"Liquid. Liquid." I motioned with my hands.

She took us to another person and I repeated. Somehow, the first girl got it.
"Ah..." She said, "1 month! Yum yum yum", (motioning as though eating), "no problem." She motioned with her hand as though a plane was flying, "Zszhszhhhhh! No problem."

We started laughing. Hand gestures. The universal language. We made no sense with words but there... at that moment, we understood each other perfectly. And we continued shopping. Halfway through, somebody mentioned about some chocolates being alcoholic. And that's when it occurred, we had not checked this fact about the ones we picked.

So, we ran to the next person asking if these had alcohol. Some did, so we put them back.
There were many chocolates in different shapes. We picked them all up and went to the counter for billing. That's when it occurred - yet again - that these would not fit in our luggages. So, it would be best to pick out flat chocolates. We put them back. After many cycles of taking and putting them back, we finalized on some chocolates. We paid and walked out, happy that we completed the task.

On the streets in the Market Place.

We walked gloomily towards the hotel and we went for dinner. It seemed there was only one person to cook and serve.
After dinner, we walked glumly to our respective rooms.
When I went to take the lift, I expected to meet no one on my way. The doors opened and I freaked out when I saw a man with very white hair - so white, the elevator light reflected on his head.
Mummee-!

I just jumped. But it was just an old man with a wide smile.
I think the guy saw me jerk 'coz then he stopped smiling.

I managed to find my room. Though the room was comfortable, I refused to be.

My heart was glad when the clock finally struck 6:00 a.m.
Needed to iron my dress. Called the reception. They said I had to wait till 7:00 a.m. for someone to show me the ironing room.
Wow! This has to be really complicated to get there.
I waited for an hour and called again. A lady came to my room. She took me up the stairs next to my room and moved left to open a door where the iron was.
That's it? You made me wait 1 hour to come till here? I could have found it myself!

The gloomy dining area in the hotel. Looks much more brighter in the photo.

After dressing up, I ran towards the breakfast room. Again I don't know how I found my way but I did.
The breakfast spread wasn't as sumptuous as the one in Kharkiv Palace but it was okay.

We set off for the office. The office here was better than the one in Kharkiv. Much newer and more sophisticated.

The Place and the People

The first thing we noticed as we traveled to our hotel from the airport in Kharkiv was that the roads were very broad and smooth. The traffic - negligible.
It was night. We could not get a proper picture of the city even though there were street lights.

I closed my eyes, put my head back and tried to relax. The car started shaking and suddenly it felt like we reached Kerala.

I looked outside the car window and saw cobbled roads. So much for the smooth ride.

The picture of the cobbled roads in broad daylight :)

We reached our destination - Premier Palace. The service was good and the staff spoke good English. I reached my room and walked in. The room was not very spacious but not cramped either. However, it was very comfortable and luxurious.

Taken off the net, hence the dimensions look larger than it actually was.

My feet were hurting from walking on high heels all day. After a shower, I went to bed and was knocked out cold.

The weather for the first two days of our stay was hot. Not humid - so we weren't sweating much. The third day it rained and it was windy. It wasn't cold for the people there but we had to wear our jackets.
I later found out that Ukraine has extreme weather conditions. During the summers, it is really hot and the winters are best not described.

The food was a little bland for our taste because we Indians are used to a lot of spice in our food. However, we did find one item - the cold soup Okroshka which is very similar to our buttermilk in India. It is a popular dish during the summer.
Another combo somewhat similar to what we have in Kerala, boiled tapioca and fried zander (a type of fish common there) coated in flour.

Okroshka

Ukraine is famous for berries. For complimentary breakfast, there were many options of fresh jams and juices. I really liked the raspberry and strawberry jams. And in juices, peach and pomegranate.

One of our colleagues, Prangshu, in the Ukraine office, took us to India Palace (a restaurant) and that was when we ate to our heart's content. Veg options in food are practically non-existent. Deepa, who prefers veg, switched over to non-veg in no time.

The menu in hotels show the rates and the quantity of food.

The currency is Ukrainian grywna - UAH and in Russian letters, it looks something like rph. Initially, we were wondering which currency is rph.

Many of the Russian alphabets look like English letters. When we see boards from afar we get the idea they are written in English. On closer inspection, they have unrecognizable letters and that's when we realize that they are in a foreign language.

Looks like Kafe and Wato... But I doubt if it's that.

People prefer walking or riding their bicycles or even using the subway to using their cars to reach office. So for sightseeing, we had to walk a lot. It's just that we weren't used to all this walking.
Enthoru naadu...? Autorickshaw ilaathe engane jeevikkunnu...

Kharkiv is supposed to be an intolerant place mainly because it is the center of a lot of universities and people from across the globe come here for a decent education at affordable prices.
That being said, it is hard to thrive in the city without knowing Russian because in stores and hotels, people who know English are rare.

Though our company marked Kharkiv as a high risk area due to the conflict with Russia, we did not find any unrest in the city.

While having dinner, another colleague Eugene, asked us this very question, laughingly - whether we found any reason as to why it is a high risk area.
We were like, "No, that's what we were thinking!"
We were laughing and suddenly Eugene goes - "But actually it's no laughing matter because war is going on 200km from here."
That's when we started laughing on the other sides of the our faces.

People in our office were very friendly and respectful.
Many of the ladies mentioned about how they liked our clothing styles.

We got some magnets and souvenirs and we bought a Motanka, Ukrainian handmade rag doll, for a colleague in our office in India.

Pic taken off the net, coz I forgot to take a snap of it. Well, the one we bought had a dove in each hand. :)

The photo does not do justice to the doll. It is much cuter in hand.

In the traditional Ukrainian dress, women are seen wearing a floral headband - vinok. And here's a pic of me trying on one in a store. Yes, I shamelessly took a photo and kept it back, without spending a dime.

Me trying out the vinok. Deepa said - Chembarathi yude kuravundu.

The History - Information from our Tour Guides (Stories are not yet Validated)

Ukraine was born out of a group of people escaping from a tyrannic rule. Their ideology - to remain as Free People. The different tribes set camp on different hills where they could set fire and signal to the other tribes in case of danger.
Out of these tribes, it was Kharkiv that flourished more than the others. Reason - because of one visionary young man - Vasily Nazarovich Karazin.

He was sent to the seminary but like our hero Joseph Alex in The King, he escaped. But instead of becoming a collector, he went on to study science. Later, he wrote to the Russian Tsar of what is lacking among the young people in Ukraine - a good education. And that is how a university was established in Kharkiv - Karazin University.

The story is interesting of how he convinced the Tsar first. After the Tsar's approval, the Mayor worked to get the aristocrats to send in their children as students. The young people had nothing much to do, so their parents jumped upon the chance to get rid of them. Karazin convinced his friends who were teachers in Germany to come and tutor the kids for a handsome sum of money. And the Mayor talked to the businessmen, who could benefit from this arrangement, about sending in the funds. And what did the Mayor stand to win - he had a paper business and he was smart enough to grab this opportunity. The Governor's palace was the first university and now it stands as a Polytechnic Academy.

The Governor's Palace

During sightseeing, one of the main highlights was the University and the statue in front of it - that of Karazin.
For an inspirational leader, one would think that the statue was brought in with a hero's welcome. The story of how the statue came to its rightful place is sad and hilarious at the same time.

This statue has been through a lot. It was designed with the idea to welcome the students as though beckoning them to visit the garden behind. Initially it was packed in a wooden plank box with its hand pointing out. That's when some revolution started. Hence, the authorities decided not to unveil the statue till everything was settled.
Due to the revolutionary spirit of the population, for two years, the monument stood in a sarcophagus made of wooden planks, from which protruded only a hand – making it the butt of many jokes. Then, when they did unveil it, it seemed like the statue was pointing to the restaurant opposite it, giving the idea to first have a proper meal and come for education.
The installation of the Taras Shevchenko monument led to the statue being discarded and taken to the Kharkiv Tractor Plant. It was supposed to be melted when some guy at the plant felt sorry. So somehow the statue found its way to side of the Ghorki university. But now it was pointing to a toilet opposite. Giving the idea for a proper education, the cycle must be completed, one must eat well and go to the toilet.
However, the name of the Ghorki university was changed to Karazin and hence, they moved the statue in front of the door. The architect at that time joked the statue should be placed on wheels.
But the hand pointing did not have any significance. So, they constructed statues of 3 Nobel Laureates from Karazin university opposite to where Karazin was pointing. This was to inspire the students that if they study here, they have the potential to become the next Nobel Prize Winner.
One of our colleagues, Maryna studied here. With all this, we concluded that some day she could make us proud.

The next thing we saw was the bell tower. The bell tower was designed to be 7 meters tall. However, the design was rejected by the then Mayor saying it would be a scandal to have a bell tower taller than the one in St Petersburg, Moscow. So, the Mayor ordered to redesign this. Like every out of the box thinker, the architect thought his design was perfect and wasn't interested to change it. He finally came up with a plan, where the measurements were too detailed. Like how he suspected that no one would bother to add it all up together, the Mayor approved it and said it looked much better after the change.

We also saw the Gosprom building, which is considered as the first symbol of modern architecture.

The Russians needed something to show the world that they were leaders. So they decided to build something very unique. The design was picked from a contest and the creators met an engineer, to build this. They needed the money. They went to the Prime Minister then, who was a corrupt and scary guy. He didn't give the money but gave the best tip. Name the project after me and go to the businessmen. The businessmen on hearing the name of the guy, immediately gave the funds. However, the engineer needed 5000 men. The people were hired on the condition that they would work in the morning and in the evening, they would learn the trade. Towards the end, the workers were well educated and could do tasks in efficient ways. The building was named Gosprom and later on when a plane was built here, they named it the Flying Gosprom. And that is how, the people called Kharkiv as the City of Wild Dreams - because anything was possible there.

The whole view of the building again off the net.

The Opera house and the Mirror Stream opposite to it, are the other sights to see.

Taken from the net - because the pic I have is taken during the night.

Later on, we went to the Ghorki Park and that put a beautiful end to our day of sightseeing.