Perhaps the worst of the ordeals was to be shut in a darkened room for long, uncertain periods, in solitary confinement and complete silence. Gagarin himself described the experience. "There was no sound, not even the slightest rustle. No movement of the air—nothing. It was uncanny, unnerving." He would shut his eyes and imagine himself in a space-cabin in orbit, looking at the world passing beneath him; or sometimes he would recite half-remembered poetry to himself. Then, came parachute training. Gagarin made forty parachute jumps of gradually increasing difficulty. One of the most interesting of the training experiments was the method of providing experience of weightlessness. In the early stages the express lift of the great Moscow University building was used. From the twenty-eighth floor to the bottom allowed a drop of 500 feet. At a certain high speed the passenger would find himself suspended between the floor and ceiling of the lift without support. This was a convenient and inexpensive way of reproducing 'zero gravity'. Special air brakes prevented the lift from crashing as it reached the bottom. On the morning of April 12, Gagarin rose at 5.30. He was zipped into his complicated space-suit, on top of which went a pale blue fibre suit, and finally an orange one. Then an Air Force bus drove him to the launching site in company with various helpers. The gantry lift took him up 100 feet, to the nose of the rocket, and he entered the cabin (named Vostok) with a wave to those below.

My home town in the mid-1970s was a laid-back place, resembling a remote rural area, except in having some amenities. Our house was almost at one end of the town. About 15 km away, there was a small village where a fair was held for a week every year during the harvest season. The village deity was worshipped by many from the places in the vicinity. Devotees thronged the fair not only for divine blessings but also for watching street-shows and other entertainment events. Only a mud track led to the village and everyone reached there by walking or on bullock carts. My father, an advocate by profession, was popular among the villagers. His clients from the place used to arrange bullock carts for us and a few family friends and relatives to attend the fair. The journey would start early in the morning. We children will be in a separate cart. I used to eagerly look forward to this occasion every year as though it was a journey of a life-time and worth enjoying every minute of it. Money saved for this fair would be tucked firmly in my pockets during the journey. Whenever the cart jerked or sped away, I would hold my pockets tightly so that coins would not spill out. The crowd at the temple in the foothill used to be highly unorganised, especially the food counter where prasadam was served. Hot and spicy puffed rice and tea made of jaggery were the delectable combination of food and beverage every devotee craved for. Going to the temple used to be the last priority of us children. Fearing elders' wrath, we would hurriedly finish the formality of darshan.