Valery Leontyev
People's Artist of Russia
The Moscow metro station “Kitay-Gorod” evokes my warmest memories. I remember it as “Nogin Square”, although it has long been renamed. I associate it with the State Concert Hall “Russia” (GCCH), which no longer exists. The most cherished meetings once took place near it, wonderful flowers were sold there - then they were in short supply. From “Nogin Square” a stream of people came to my shows, which were staged in “Russia”.
I go down the subway extremely rarely due to my recognition. But I envy those people who constantly use this transport. For them, the concept of “traffic jams” does not exist; they calculate their time, getting anywhere in the city without problems. This dynamic is valuable for a busy person. If I could become unrecognizable, I would only use the metro in Moscow. But it’s impossible for me to even get to the station closest to my house without being surrounded by a crowd of escorts.
I was on the subway in the USA out of curiosity. Their trains run much less often, and Americans attach much less importance to the beauty and cleanliness of the “subway” - you can even see a rat in the passages. In Paris it is cleaner than in America, and the trains run more often, but still there is no such extraordinary beauty as in Moscow, and the traffic pattern is quite complex.
A woman builder is an amazing hypostasis. Such women are usually characterized by thoroughness, patience, the ability to bring any task to the end and the desire for completion.
We still strongly associate the metro with underground passages and complex communications, so I would wish women metro builders on March 8 that their lives have more sunshine, bright colors, fresh air and happy simplicity in human relationships.