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On the evening of the last round of the Candidates Finals in Elista we were taken to a rock concert in the central park, and then to a gala dinner, which is shown in the second part of this report.
Elista, like all of Russia, has fairly strict security controls. We were able to enter the park expediently because of our chess event badges, but my camera bag was checked by the guards at the entrance, like the bag of the lady in the above picture.
The concert on an elevated stage with thousands of people attending
The band with guitars, keyboards, a violin and a sax
Rock star Boris Grebenshchikov, with a Sanskrit inscription on his guitar reading
"OM Namah Shivaaya" ("I bow to Lord Shiva"), a popular Yoga chant.
Boris Grebenshchikov is considered one of the "founding fathers" of Russian rock music and, together with his band Åquarium, a household name in Russia. As a school boy he was enamored with the Beatles, and then moved on to a deep appreciation of Bob Dylan, whose influence could be felt in the rock concert we visited in Elista. His style is hard to define: "rock" is too crude and noisy, "folk" too bland, "electric blues" comes closer. At the gala dinner (see below) I asked him, and he replied with a wry smile: "Why don't we just call it jazz?"
Our group, with Jorge Saggiante (second from left) entranced by the music
Jorge became the organiser and main sponsor of the September World Championship in Mexico City. He said, and later told Boris Grebenshchikov, that this music was about the most beautiful he had ever heard. Here's a sample – see if you concur.
Город золотойПод небом голубым А в городе том сад Одно - как жёлтый огнегривый лев А в небе голубом Кто любит, тот любим Тебя там встретит огнегривый лев
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Golden CityUnder the clear blue sky There is a garden there With a majestic mane And in the sky of blue Whoever loves is loved, With a majestic mane Lyrics translated by Alexander Shaumyan. |
Fan enjoying the concert – both young and old
After the concert we were taking to a gala dinner in a very luxurious restaurant on the outskirts of Elista.
We were greeted by a bevy (a clutch?) of waitresses dressed in colorful Kalmykian costumes, as well as Buddhist monks and nuns who conversed cheerfully with the guests
Our host, the Šajin Lama Telo Tulku Rinpoche, with Boris Grebenshchikovis
After speaking to Telo Tulko, who is the highest ranked Buddhist Lama in Russia, I said: "Come on, you are American!" (I could tell by the accent in his fluent English). Indeed, he was born Erdne Ombadykow, to Kalmykian parents, in 1972 in Philadelphia, USA. When he was seven he was sent to a monastery in India to be trained as a Buddhist monk. In India the Dalai Lama recognized him as the current reincarnation of a Buddhist saint, Telo Rinpoche, who had lived many centuries earlier. In 1991, under his new name, he joined the Dalai Lama on his first visit to Kalmykia, and became the country's spiritual leader, the Šajin Lama (Supreme Lama). At the time, he did not speak the Kalmyk language, nor was he familiar with the nation's culture. Frustrated, he left Kalmykia and the monkhood. He had met his future wife, an ethnic Tibetan, in 1990 in India. They married in 1995 and moved to the United States.
He then decided to resume serving as Kalmykia's spiritual head ("I renounced my monkhood but retained my title of Šajin Lama," he told me cheerfully. "They can't take that away from you."). Since then Telo has overseen the construction of several Buddhist temples and sent several students to India to be trained as monks. His wife and son continue to live in the US, where he periodically visits them.
Boris the Rockstar receives gifts from Telo, the Šajin Lama
After Boris Grebenshchikov and his entourage had left, Telo and his Tibetan advisor (on the left in the picture above) waved me over to their table, and I spent a very interesting hour discussing their backgrounds, beliefs, rituals and religion in general. The great thing about Buddhists is that they are cheerfully open to skeptical discourse. Nothing is blasphemous, as I discovered at this memorable dinner with the top Lama. He even told me which of his hundreds of priestly vows he had broken. The only thing slightly weird was his explanation that the planet Venus, shining brighter in the dark Kalmyk skies than I have ever seen it do elsewhere, was "made by human beings." The thing is over four billion years old, Talo. Maybe I did not understand his point on this matter.
World Championship organiser Jorge Saggiante with Telo Tulku Rinpoche
Final group photo, with his holiness the Šajin Lama imitating the rock star
