Russia in the days gone by
IN school, geography was my favourite subject, and Russia was a land painted red on the map. I had heard the term ‘Iron Curtain’ and horrifying stories of people being punished severely if they tried to have contact with the outside world or attempted to escape. It was like a forbidden fruit that increased my curiosity.
In those days, foreign exchange in India was restricted to business trips. Since India and Russia had a bilateral agreement for the use of Indian currency in Russia, finally, in 1966, my wife and I were able to visit Moscow. We stayed at a hotel, and being vegetarians, our food choices were limited to bread, butter, cheese, potatoes and cabbage. Thankfully, we did not have to queue up for our meals, like the common Russians, who had to face much hardship to get their daily needs. People were generally friendly to Indians. Their railway stations were like museums, displaying paintings of famed artists and huge chandeliers adorning the ceilings, reminders of the Tzar era.
In 1972, I went to Moscow with our sales manager, RK Sehgal, for promoting the knitting machine needles we manufactured at our Chandigarh factory, Groz-Beckert Saboo Ltd. Our Russian counterparts invited us for dinner, where they just kept drinking vodka. I, being a teetotaller, just took a sip, but poor Sehgal had to continue drinking till he could do it no more.
In 1974, I was in Moscow again for my business, staying at a hotel, when I learned that Raj Kapoor, Mukesh and Lata Mangeshkar were also staying at the same hotel. Raj Kapoor was popular in Russia and was there to perform concerts. They invited me to their concert, which was held in a large open auditorium chock-a-block with people. As the concert began, people started to sing and sway with Raj Kapoor’s ‘Mera joota hai Japaani… sar pe laal topi Rusi…’
My wife and I revisited Moscow in 1978. We knew Sheila and IK Gujral, the then Indian Ambassador to the Soviet Union. They invited us to stay with them, but a problem arose when we arrived — my wife’s suitcase did not come. The Air India flight operated on alternate days, and for two days she survived on Sheilaji’s saris.
Our Ambassador’s office helped me get an appointment with the relevant agency, and as a result, I was able to do substantial business with them. We also visited the Kremlin, which was otherwise not possible. During Gujral’s tenure as Indian Ambassador, an Indian restaurant named ‘Delhi’ was established.
That was our last visit to Moscow. Having witnessed the common man’s life in Russia, I could understand in reality that ‘In capitalism, man exploits man and in communism, it is the other way.’
