Thiruvananthapuram: It was a nostalgic tribute to the Soviet Union’s halcyon days in space and its era as a lodestar of communism as ‘Gagarins’ from different parts of the state reunited at the Honorary Consulate of Russia here on Saturday to mark a stellar milestone: the 65th anniversary of Yuri Gagarin’s pioneering spaceflight, which falls on Sunday. He was the first person to orbit the Earth aboard Vostok 1 on April 12, 1961.Assembled in the large hall of the honorary consulate, with black-and-white photographs of Gagarin blasting off into space adorning the walls, the five Gagarins — Yuri Gagarin from Kannur, Gagarin Kumar from Punalur, and Gagarin Babu, P Gagarin, and T Gagarin from Ernakulam — reminisced about what it has been like bearing the name of the legendary cosmonaut.Most said they were named by parents who were staunch communists and admirers of the Soviet Russia.P Gagarin said: “My father, P K Padmanabhan, was in CPI since 1946. Russia was the red star of the communists at that time. He was proud of it and was enthralled by the feat of Yuri Gagarin, who went to space for the first time without knowing what would happen, and influenced the world in a big way. He gave hope to all. That is why my father named me Gagarin. It was in Class VI that I first studied about Gagarin in a textbook.”“I got more recognition because of the name when I became a member of the Communist Party,” P Gagarin said, adding that he is happy he could encourage children in his panchayat at Udayamperur. As a panchayat member, he got opportunities to interact with schoolchildren and teachers, during which he was able to motivate them. He has named his daughter Amrutha Gagarin.T Gagarin, who has retired from CISF, said the name brought both ease and difficulty. “My father named me, influenced by communist Russia. We used to subscribe to ‘Soviet Naadu’ (the Malayalam version of ‘Soviet Land’, a magazine published by the USSR to promote Indo-Soviet ties), which many people used to borrow. During recruitment, a commandant asked me why I was named Gagarin and whether I was a communist. I proudly said yes. I was worried, but the commandant gave me full marks.”He said the Gagarins are now a community. “We have a group on WhatsApp. It all started around seven years ago when the Russian consulate put out a call for people with Russian names. Several turned up at that time. Many had names like Lenin, Stalin, and Natasha… Later, they called for people named Gagarin. That is how we all met.”“My friends, who went to Russia, visited the Gagarin museum and brought back Gagarin T-shirts and some Russian vodka,” said T Gagarin, who, like his namesakes, has named his daughter Chinchu Gagarin.There are around 15–20 people with the name Gagarin, most of them in their early to mid-60s. The meeting was organised by the Honorary Consulate of Russia and the International Russophile Movement, said honorary consul Ratheesh C Nair. “Five people have come with their families. There are more people with the name. Yuri Gagarin (64) from Kannur is the oldest among them.”The Soviet Union is no more and the building where they assembled is no longer called Gorky Bhavan, but the legacy of the legendary Soviet cosmonaut lives on through the Gagarins and their children.
