India and Russia : linguistic & cultural affinity

I was lucky enough to live in Moscow for two years (June 1950 to June 1952) during my posting in the Indian Embassy when Dr. S. Radhakrishnan was the Ambassador of India in the Soviet Union. Before going there, I had obtained Diploma in Russian Language and Literature from Delhi University. In Moscow I was able to study the Russian language and literature further. I also collected a lot of valuable material on the life and culture of the people of the Soviet Union whom I met in Moscow. This gave me an opportunity to study their character, their habits and their likes and dislikes.

On my return to India in 1952, I was appointed Russian interpreter in the Ministry of External Affairs and was further. lucky to be attached to the delegations led by dignitaries from the Soviet Union who visited India from 1955 to 1960, includ ing Khruschev, Bulganin, Voroshilov, Kosygin and Marshal Zakharov, Uzbek artistes, Soviet film artistes etc. Again in 1960, 1 accompanied the late Dr. Rajendra Prasad, the then President of India during his official visit to the Soviet Union. This gave me another chance to meet the people of the Soviet Union, not only in Moscow but also in Leningrad, Kiev, Sochi, Tashkent, Samarkand and Dyushambe Everywhere I found spontaneous love of the people of the Soviet Union towards the people of India.

In 1955 Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru's visit to the Soviet Union laid the foundation stone of the Indo-Soviet friendship which has been growing since then. I als ontributed my mite for strengthening this friendship by compiling the Russian-Hindi Dictionary which was published by Indian Sahitya Academy in 1957. Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru contributed the foreword to this Dictionary.