When the trees were big
Thanks to the 1961 film “When the Trees Were Big,” starring Yuri Nikulin and Lyudmila Chursina, the expression became popular. When people use it, they usually mean memories of childhood, that period when you were “walking under the table,” when you were small and the world around you was big. It also brings to mind one of the hidden meanings of the film:
“Kuzma Iordanov’s return to life is impossible without Natasha’s happiness. If he became a locksmith and a decent person twenty times over, but she was unhappy, it would all be worthless. Her suddenly established life is the visible result of his victory over himself. Victory over loneliness — she found a family in her father, and he found the whole world in Natasha.”
What’s the point of all this…
This week, several championships were held in small, “dying” federations. They exist de facto, but their existence is of virtually no use. It’s more like interest groups in a single courtyard, whose activities are only interesting to the grandmothers and grandfathers who participate in them. Like the loneliness of Kuzma Iordanov.
We have to draw some sad conclusions. Once upon a time, most of the current emigrants, having left a structured, complex social system, but one in which, despite everything, children’s sports were developing, sporting traditions were being passed on, and new names were appearing, were unable to create anything at all. Absolutely NOTHING in new, supposedly better conditions. And there is one name for all this – Vanity.
When we are asked why checkers are dying out in some countries and continents, we answer: Pride and vanity, star syndrome and pretentiousness are to blame.
When we are asked why checkers are coming back to life, we find it difficult to answer. After all, it is difficult and complex work that requires total dedication. We simply give examples from Yakutia, Samara, Moscow and St. Petersburg, the Netherlands and China, Mongolia and the Republic of Belarus, and many others… (there are more than the list we have provided).
Let’s look at the results of past tournaments