When President Gorbachev came, he told me to go ahead of him. I did not know which door led to his office. I was walking, and he was following me. Luckily I made the right choice. When he first saw me, he did not shake hands with me or embrace me in his usual way, but as soon as I passed through the door into his room, he came and embraced me very warmly. A still picture was taken of that precious moment.
The President’s office was all simplicity. There was no carpet. The desk and chairs were all extremely simple. The President highly values simplicity, which is a divinely rare quality in the world. His simplicity-life is, indeed, a perfect manifestation of his world-illumining inner beauty.
When we sat down, he apologised for having been detained, and then we started our heart-to-heart conversation.
After some time, I was inspired to sing the song that I had written for his birthday. I gave him the text in English and in Russian. Then I stood up and sang without any accompaniment. When President Gorbachev heard the song, he was so moved. He was looking at me with such a penetrating gaze. Afterwards he said, “You keep on amazing me.” He seemed to be totally astounded.
I had brought with me from New York a special award for the President. It was called “President Gorbachev: The Home of Oneness-Peace-Dream-World.” The award was two round sparkling clear glass plaques, twelve inches across, each on its own glass base etched with the title of the award. On one was etched a large picture of President Gorbachev in the centre, with seventy small pictures of Raisa Maximovna silk-screened in red all around it. On the other was etched Raisa Maximovna’s picture with seventy small pictures of President Gorbachev in blue around it in the same way. The award was in its own specially made white wooden box with brass fittings.
When it was time to present the President with the award, the box was so difficult to open. On one side, President Gorbachev’s translator, Pavel Palazhchenko, was struggling to open it, and on the other side President Gorbachev and I were trying to open it. I said that it was too much for me and gave up. Finally the President and Pavel succeeded in opening the box and I was able to take out the award. When the President saw the two beautiful plaques of etched sparkling glass with his photograph and his wife’s photograph, he was moved beyond words.
On the top of the box, I had drawn five birds. When the President saw them, he asked me how many birds I have drawn. He likes my drawings very much. I have drawn eleven and a half million, but I was under the impression that I had drawn twelve million, so I told him twelve million. Since returning home, I have discovered that I have done only eleven and a half, so I will finish twelve million very shortly.
The money that I lovingly collected from my disciples from all over the world we offered as our humble birthday gift for President Gorbachev's 70th birthday. My Russian students do not have much money-power, but they have abundant heart-power. With their heart-power they gave $5,000. When I offered the President the cheque, I told him that $5,000 was from my Russian students. He was extremely moved and grateful.
At the end of the meeting, the President invited me to a party that was mainly for those who were not invited to his birthday dinner the following evening. I went downstairs with the President’s daughter, but the President was delayed in his office for another hour. He felt sorry that it was taking so much time for him to come, so he sent a message saying that I could go and he would see me the next day. In the meantime, I was so happy to see his museum and library. My tour of the Gorbachev Foundation was complete.
I never imagined that I would be able to spend so many hours at the Gorbachev Foundation with the President, his daughter and his colleagues. This unforgettable experience, and specially my private meeting with President Gorbachev, gave me indescribable joy.From:Sri Chinmoy,Sri Chinmoy in Russia, Agni Press, 2001
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