When Onmanorama came across Valentin Smirnov, a multi-faceted genius in St Petersburg who could twist his tongue to say Aana Alaralodalaral.Russia is an incredibly vibrant country with culture and art around every corner. On every street of major cities, you can spot buskers and street performers of varied hues who fill the air with music and provide fun and entertainment to visitors and city dwellers all day.
While I was on my way to the FIFA Fan Fest Zone on Tuesday, 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 he has got to do with Malabar!
He was juggling three stones weighing at least 2 kilograms each and a Costa Rican channel crew was filming his performance. Once the shoot was over, I went to him and queried about it. “Where are you from?” was his response. When I said India, he hurled another question. “Where in India?” I said Kerala. To my surprise, the next word he uttered was in Malayalam, that too a popular tongue twister – Aana Alaralodalaral!
Valentin Smirnov is a multi-faceted genius. He knows about twenty languages and is a master juggler. When visitors from various countries come to watch his performance, he would speak to them in their language. “I just love doing that,” he says.
In fact, Valentin is not out on the street to make a living with his juggling talents. A dentist by profession, he would leave his clinic by noon and hit the streets with his juggling stones in the evening.
Valentin does not ask for money. However, he will be more than happy if you leave a coin or currency of your country as a token of appreciation. “When I touch a currency from another country, I feel like I’m connected to that part of the world,” he says.
He shared with me the story of him becoming a juggler. “Once I came across three peculiarly shaped stones on the road. I took them home. I cleaned and polished the stones and drew emojis on them. I also gave them names: Arkady, Gennady, and Yolodia. While the first two are happy and smiling stones, the last one is full of gloom. The reason for keeping a 2:1 ratio is that I want to see happiness outnumber sadness in our world,” Valentin says philosophically.
His ultimate dream is travelling the world to display his juggling skills.
