NEW DELHI, April 13. /TASS/. Interest in learning the Russian language has not lost any popularity and is steadily on the rise, despite the West’s crusade to ‘cancel’ everything Russian, teachers from the Center of Russian Studies (CRS) at Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU, New Delhi), a top higher educational institution in India, revealed in an interview with TASS.
"The popularity of the Russian language in India among students is steadily growing. Three-hundred students are currently learning it at our university. They are not influenced by what is broadcast in English about Russia. On the contrary, they try to learn more about Russian culture, politics, what is happening in Russia and why, so they can figure it out for themselves," said Vinay Kumar Ambedkar, a teacher of Russian studies at the university.
According to Assistant Professor, Sonu Saini, 70 people enter the Center of Russian Studies every year. "Russian is very popular in India. The negative things that are transpiring around Russia now will only bolster interest in it. People have been taking an interest and have begun learning Russian," he said.
"Not even an iota of a percent of what is happening in the West nowadays relating to Russian culture, exists in India. There must be logic, and there is no logic in their actions. We carry on with everything just like before, people study Russian language and literature, and they continue to do so now. We didn't even discuss this in class, it is irrelevant here," the scientist pointed out.
Find a good job and translate Gogol
As Saini pointed out, Russian has been taught in India since 1946. According to him, young Indians entering the Center of Russian Studies seek not only to build a successful career. "Students learning Russian also learn their native language. The Russian language in its system resembles Sanskrit, they both belong to the Indo-European group of languages," the teacher noted.
That said, a fifth-year student at the university, Lakshya Kishore, who read Fyodor Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment in the original, admits that he has been learning Russian since childhood. "My grandfather learned Russian. I love the Russian language. India and Russia have good relations in various fields. I will find a good job in the future," Lakshya insisted.
As for the desire of Western countries to "ban everything Russian", he believes that "Russian writers are beyond time." "They have been read, continue to be read now, and will be read in the future," the student contends.
Gaurav Kumar, another student and admirer of Nikolai Gogol's works, shares Lakshya's point of view. He said that it was "not difficult" for him to read The Government Inspector, and he is going to translate this literary work into Hindi.
Gaurava's classmate, Shubam Kumar, is already working on a cookbook about Russian cuisine. In it, he wants to present recipes for making salads that are popular in Russia and traditional Russian pancakes.
Friendship spanning 75 years
Jawaharlal Nehru University’s students consider the day marking the 75th anniversary of Russian-Indian relations to be quite special. "Our countries have never had conflicts, we have always been friends, and it will carry on like so. Therefore, we will continue to learn Russian," Lakshya assured.
On Wednesday, Moscow and New Delhi celebrate the 75th anniversary of establishing diplomatic relations between two countries. India and the Soviet Union established diplomatic relations on April 13, 1947, four months before India gained independence from Great Britain, officially declared on August 15, 1947.