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She had made history exactly 40 years ago as the first woman
to fly into space. So it was fitting that the maximum applause
was reserved for Valentina Tereshkova as she made her entry
at the inauguration of the first-ever reunion of foreign alumni
in Moscow recently. Only President Putin, who inaugurated
the meet organised by the Russian ministry of Education, could
compete with her for the longevity of the ovation. Undeterred
by security constraints, a sea of admirers mobbed Tereshkova
clamouring for her autograph.
By doing the unusual, Tereshkova also opened the path for
a later generation of women astronauts like Kalpana Chawla
and many others. Today, she heads the Russian Association
for International Co-operation which comprises cities and
associations promoting cultural relations in 56 countries.
Among the 300 odd representatives from various countries who
congregated at the reunion were five astronauts or as the
Russians call them -cosmonauts. Hailing from Mongolia, the
Czech Republic and Bulgaria, all of them had undergone training
in Russia or the then Soviet Union sometime or the other.
"Mankind is no longer chained to its planet," were
the first words that came to her mind, reminisced Valentina
Tereshkova, when she finally orbited into space after months
of hard work. Tall and ramrod-straight, smartly dressed in
a green checked business suit, she looks fit enough to fly
into space once more. Closely cropped hair frames her face,
almost the same hairstyle that stares at us from those black
and white photographs taken all those years ago when she became
the inspiration and symbol for so many women the world over.
The years have leveled down her cheeks, but have added a certain
softness to her face. The eyes, however, are the same - sparkling
and mischievous.
As a young girl, it was terrible hard work for Tereshkova.
After all, she was not born with a silver spoon. "I came
from a labourer's family. My mother brought me up single-handedly.
Can you imagine how difficult that was?" she countered.
Born in the small town of Maslennikovo in 1937, she soon lost
her father, a tractor driver, killed in action during World
War II. Her mother, Elena who worked in a textile plant, virtually
brought up her children - two daughters and a son. This created
a close bond with her mother which reflects in Tereshkova's
empathy to all mothers even now.
Finishing school at 16, Tereshkova began working to ease
the pressure on her mother. However, she continued her education
by correspondence course and became a graduate on cotton-spinning
technology. Always interested in parachute jumping, she joined
the local aviation club, making her first jump at the age
of 22. "It was all kept a secret," she says with
an impish grin, "my mother would have been too worried
otherwise." But her secret was out when a couple of years
later she set up the Textile Mill Workers Parachute Club and
became its first head. Then came Yuri Gagarin's flight to
space and "… uppermost in my mind was - if a man
could do it, why couldn't a woman?"
So she volunteered for the Soviet space programme and was
one of five women selected as potential candidates in 1962.
The training was rigorous and included weightless flights,
parachute jumps, isolation tests, centrifuge tests, physical
training, rocket theory, spacecraft engineering, 120 parachute
jumps and pilot training through jet fighters. All this hard
work paid off when she was assigned to be the pilot of the
Vostok 6. She became the first person to be recruited without
experience as a test pilot. Her selection was based on her
parachuting skills and her 126-jump record! Her radio name
was "Chaika," - seagull in Russian. Thus on 16 June,
1963, the first woman shot into space from the Baikonur Cosmodrome
in Kazakhstan.
How did she feel looking at the earth from space? "It
was breathtakingly beautiful, like something out of a fairy
tale. There is no way to describe the joy of seeing the Earth.
It is blue, and more beautiful than any other planet. Every
continent, every ocean, had its own distinct beauty,"
she reminisced. Remaining in space for three days, Tereshkova
orbited the earth 48 times, returning to terra firma by parachuting.
The girl from suburban Maslennikovo was now a world celebrity
But wasn't all that a bit contrived - the Soviet Union was
showcasing to the world the status of women whereas in reality,
women did not enjoy much equality in society? No, she said
emphatically. "The state did guarantee us the right to
study, to work, equal pay
for equal labour, and in any case there were other women cosmonauts
too. I simply happened to be the first one."
Later, she enrolled in the Zhukovskiy Military Air Academy,
graduating with distinction in 1969. Soon she became an Ambassador
and spokeswoman for her country at international women's meets.
In the very year that she orbited into space she visited 17
countries including India. The reception in India, which she
visited with Yuri Gagarin, was stunning, she recalled. Specially
entrenched in her memory are the garlands that were put around
their necks everywhere they went. So every time India is mentioned,
the scent of flowers wafts into her memory. On that trip,
which was certainly not the last to India - Tereshkova even
visited Calcutta. Marriage to fellow cosmonaut Andrian Nikolayev,
however, was short-lived. Her daughter Elena is a doctor,
and Tereshkova enjoys the role of a doting grandmother to
the hilt.
A former Communist, Tereshkova regrets the demise of the
Soviet Union and many of the values that the country had upheld.
However, she is optimistic that Russia will once again regain
its authority in world affairs. Says she, "We don't strive
for hegemony, but to create a new world order where might
will not be right and weak states will not be bullied into
kowtowing to stronger ones. We shall succeed in creating a
world where peace prevails with justice and where there would
be no wars so that there are no more war widows like my mother,
and no more children like me who didn't even know their own
fathers."
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