Literary Tours

My two-year stint in Russia taught me a lot of things about a different culture, living alone happily, and being open-minded.

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1. There are similarities in differences: It may not seem like there’s a lot in common between Russia and India, but there are a number of cognates that stun you into reflecting on the similarities that these two cultures have in spite of their obvious differences. ‘Med’, the Russian word for honey is similar to ‘madh’ in Gujarati, ‘chai’ for tea is exactly the same word in Hindi, ‘maidan’ means playground/open ground in both Russian and Hindi, ‘zeera’ in Russian is similar to ‘jeera’ in Hindi for cumin. These little similarities provide points of connection in the midst of complete strangeness.

2. Be proud of your local language: We, in India, have an advantage in the global space due to our colonial hangover which bred an adulation of the English language, and which allows a large population to speak, even if often in broken sentences, in English. But, this place in the global market comes with the erosion of our local mother tongues and a stigma attached with not knowing English. I am ashamed to reveal that I can read only haltingly in Gujarati, my mother tongue, and after college years, I have never read any literature in Gujarati; in school years, while I used to love English literature, I found it extremely boring and challenging to read a Hindi novel. In Russia, I admired how there wasn’t a stigma attached to not knowing English and how proud the Russians were of their language and literature. Often, when I asked my students what they were reading in their free time, they would say ‘a Russian novel’. I was even more amazed to know that the Russian language has coined words for daily items such as washing machine, refrigerator, and even for a microwave. It was mind-boggling for me to know that my students didn’t know the English words for these items because they were just so used to using the Russian words. Valuing your mother tongue, reading its literature makes a person a much more open-minded and a culturally sensitive person, I learned, instead of the belief I earlier had developed that not knowing English meant you were practically undereducated. English and the mother tongue need not be an either-or scenario; both working simultaneously would provide a win-win situation.

3. You have to experience it to know it; don’t trust the media: Everyone I know thought I was bizarre to go to Russia, a place that has had a lot of bad press in western media. Since we, in India, are mostly exposed to western media, we also form certain stereotypes about Russia and its people. But, in my first-hand experience, people in Russia are....well, people. There are the helpful ones and then there are some not-so-likeable ones, too. Just like anywhere else. As Sting put it in his song ‘Russians’, “We share the same biology, regardless of ideology/Believe me when I say to you/I hope the Russians love their children too.” I was fortunate enough to mostly only meet extremely helpful Russians -- those who have gone out of their way to help me, to stay in touch with me, get to know me and Indian culture better, and to hang out with me. I am so glad I wasn’t a puppet enough in the hands of media to have prejudice about the people and the place; I am so glad I took the chance to experience Russia and realize that humanity is the same everywhere.

4. Enjoying solitude and learning to be kind: This has nothing to do with being specifically in Russia, and more to do with leading an expat life. Although solitude has never made me lonely, I learned to develop many of my hobbies while observing the other expats leading their solitary lives, especially my neighbor. I developed my interest in cooking and having social get-togethers around food and games, crocheting, doing different arts and crafts, and watching Netflix (which wasn’t specifically an enjoyable hobby earlier!). The number of times the other expats were kind to me -- including me in plans when I had refused earlier, sharing the food they had cooked/baked -- showed me how far thinking about others just a little goes. The one incident I cannot forget is when a friend volunteered to go with me to the clinic even when I hadn’t told her how worried I was to go alone. She just sensed that any other expat would feel the same way about visiting a doctor in a strange place as she did -- scared. My ‘no, I will be fines’ and ‘I don’t want to bother yous’ fell to deaf ears, but internally, I was really relieved. I have learned that such acts of kindness are the essence of living the expat life (of course, it is true anywhere; but when you are in your home country and with family, you are less dependent on others).

5. Reconsidering time: With days and nights remaining mostly constant in India, you think about time in a fixed way and have fixed ways of doing things. But, in Russia, where in the winters, it was pitch dark by 3:00 pm and in the days leading up to summer, the sun rose at 2:58 am, I really learned to reconsider routines and how we perceive time. When I was in the US in my early 20s, the sun setting at 4 pm made me feel sad and signalled the end of the day making me feel listless and unable to step out of the house. This was probably because in India, at that age, when it got dark I would be home unless out for dinner. In Russia, I was more open-minded about changing my routine or rather not being defeated by the sun’s rising and setting. So, I managed to go out for walks or to cafes even when it was pitch dark outside. I even heard of friends going for walks at 3 am during the late spring months and finishing most of their morning routine before 8 am! It made me realize that time is just a mental concept, a mindset that we are slaves to. It is so important to be flexible about how we perceive time.