Canada’s public broadcaster is a unique venue to tell the country something that you haven’t told even your closest friends or family but that’s exactly what one Sturgeon County woman did last weekend.
Russian-born Nataliya Bukhanova, an artist and writer, said that she loves listening to the CBC, especially Definitely Not the Opera. DNTO, as it’s casually known, is a Saturday afternoon program hosted by Sook-Yin Lee. It gives real people the opportunity to tell their stories, or relate poignant moments from their lives.
The theme for the last broadcast was “long held secrets that have been revealed.” Some of the program was devoted to individuals who had come out to their loved ones. Bukhanova had a much different tale to tell. It happened while she was still living in her homeland and she met a man who told her something that she will never forget.
“It was 20 years ago on a dark road in rural Russia,” Lee began, setting a sombre tone for what would turn out to be a sobering story that starts off with elements of Little Red Riding Hood. “She was visiting her family in a tiny village in the Ural mountains. Late one night, she missed her bus. Instead of waiting, she decided to walk back to her grandma’s house.”
“I heard a voice,” Bukhanova relates. “‘Can I walk with you? You look so tiny and small. It could be dangerous here.’ I turned my head and I saw the man. He was taller than me and had a heavy build. I didn’t want anybody to walk with me but I didn’t want him to walk five steps behind.”
She referred to him as a “very unusual person.”
During their journey, he revealed something from his dark past.
“He said that he killed a person,” she revealed during an interview with the Gazette. “He didn’t know what to do about it or why he was telling me. I was absolutely confused and I didn’t know what to do. It was very unusual. It doesn’t happen to me everyday that people start to speak about such matters,” she continued, with an awkward laugh.
Strangely, she kept the stranger’s confession as religiously as a priest would. This was the first time she had ever put words to the experience, except to her husband. She said that it would especially be shocking to her friends in Russia.
This would be a scary situation for anyone and Bukhanova was definitely not unaffected. “I think I will remember it for my life.”
This article won’t spoil all of the details for readers who are interested in hearing the rest of the interaction. If you missed it on Saturday, you can download the podcast by visiting the website at www.cbc.ca/dnto. Bukhanova’s segment starts around the 15:30 mark.
