The conference on Perestroika

We went to the meeting place, which was on another floor of the Gorbachev Foundation. About one hundred and fifty guests were assembled in the auditorium. Irina Malikova and I sat in the front row. President Gorbachev’s daughter most eloquently opened the conference and profusely apologised for her father’s unavoidable absence. She explained that he was running late at the television station. Irina Malikova was translating everything for me.

To begin the meeting, they showed a documentary. Towards the end of the documentary, President Gorbachev was interviewed. He said, “I do not have any power any more.” When I watched it, I felt very sad. I asked myself, “What is he saying?”

There were about twelve speakers. Each one spoke for fifteen or twenty minutes. The Master of Ceremonies went to them and pleaded, “Please shorten your talk,” but they did not listen.

An hour went by, then an hour and a half, then two hours. The speakers were talking so fast, and Irina Malikova was giving me an excellent translation.

Finally the President arrived. Five cameramen with huge video cameras came and stood in front of me, totally blocking my view of President Gorbachev. Luckily, after fifteen minutes, the cameramen sat down. As soon as the President saw me, he smiled at me and greeted me twice.

I was at the conference from 2:45 until 5:30.

From:Sri Chinmoy,Sri Chinmoy in Russia, Agni Press, 2001
Sourced from https://srichinmoylibrary.com/scr