Change of heart for Russia
Everyone in my family knows the fondness I had been nurturing for Russia all these years. I have been a big Russian fan since 1978. Everything came to a nought on the evening of February 24 when Russia threw caution to the winds and invaded Ukraine to allay its fears on the grounds of insecurity due to Ukraine’s tilt towards NATO.
My long honeymoon with Russia started when I was in Class 8 at Punjab Public School, Nabha. Our Punjabi teacher-cum-in charge of dramatics club, Rana Jang Bahadur, was hunting for talent among junior boys for the annual play (Rana went on to appear in several Punjabi movies and a few Bollywood films).
He had also spread the word around that the ‘play’ would get staged in Tashkent, a Russian city, as part of an exchange programme our school had with Russians. I never had an iota of acting skills in my blood. However, I was cajoled by my friends to give it a try, knowing the oratorical skills I had displayed in inter-house debate competitions.
Eyeing the foreign tour, I relented and was soon competing for the auditions which Rana had organised in the school auditorium. To my utter surprise, I got selected. We rehearsed for the play for a full month. However, as luck would have it, our visit to Russia got cancelled at the last minute.
My tryst with Russia got bolstered when I joined the National Defence Academy. In the second term, we were asked to opt for a foreign language. I opted for Russian. I recall my Russian teacher at the NDA, Mr Mehta, who was pleasantly surprised at my knowledge of Russian basics, like ‘dobre utra’ (good morning), ‘dobre vecher’ (good afternoon), ‘dasvidaniya’ (goodbye) and a few more phrases. I had learnt those little phrases in school itself.
At the NDA, I went on to graduate in Russian diploma part 2 and also learnt to speak Russian. After several years, I never imagined that my two daughters would also pick up basic Russian words to start a conversation.
When I was in Lebanon, commanding my battalion, 15 Punjab, I was more than pleased to find that Mi-17 helicopters, deployed for peacekeeping, belonged to Russia. Bonhomie and camaraderie of the Indian troops with the Russians was palpable. This is the first time I found while flying with them that the Russians kept the door of the helicopter open.
It was a thrilling experience for me. But now, with their invasion disturbing the world peace and impacting the lives of our young Indian children in Ukraine, it has forced me to rethink my fondness for the Russians.
