Six shared the name Lenin, three Stalin, and two each Pushkin and Pravda (the spelling varied though). The occasion was the third get-together of Malayalis with Russian names organised by the Russian Cultural Centre here on Thursday.
Curiosity, mirth, and warmth marked the gathering attended by 20-odd persons with Russian names and their families.
Kerala’s Moscow
A change in date could be the reason, but Mr. Krushchev, a retired Transport Department employee, could not hide his disappointment at the turnout, as he recalled the previous gathering held at Moscow, near Changanassery, where nearly 90 people were present. Yet he was happy to meet people whom he had befriended earlier and make new friends too.
Some wanted their children to have Russian names too, but could not name them so for various reasons. But not Pravada A.R. She was quite young when she decided that if she had a daughter, she would give her a Russian name. And her firstborn was named Olga.
Inspired by ‘Mother’
Stalin and Natasha, schoolgoing children of Anil Kumar, an employee of the Kerala State Road Transport Corporation, are unlikely to forget this meeting. It was his family’s pro-Left ideology that prompted Anil to give Russian names to his children, overcoming his in-laws’ disapproval.
As Nilovna Kishor, a class 1 student of Nirmala Bhavan school, looked around, too young to make sense of the gathering, her mother Asha C., a homemaker, spoke of how she named her daughter after a character from Maxim Gorky’s Mother .
Pravda R., a teacher and native of Edamon, wants her child too to have a Russian name. “My name has given me a distinct identity. I’m indebted to my mother who named me.”
Five-year-old speaker
Tanya Nair, all of five, came prepared for the gathering with her father and cousin. “Minya zav voot Tanya (My name is Tanya),” she said introducing herself.
It was not just persons named after writers and political leaders who were present at the meeting. B. Berin was named by his father after a Russian scientist, and Volga Jose after the Volga river, the longest in Europe.
V.G. Pushkin, a bank manager, said his name was often mispronounced, causing him much grief, but when he was older, it was the reason he stood out everywhere.
Lenin Lal, a research scholar in History, wears his political affiliations on his sleeve, as do Lenin Francis and Lenin S., all born in families with Left associations.
The two Stalins too were very proud of their names.
A strongman
“Stalin means a strongman. But not many Communists here know it. He ruled the erstwhile USSR with a firm hand for long. Everyone knows what happened when he was no longer there,” said one of them.
Cine actor Nandu was present at the gathering. Ratheesh C. Nair, Director of the Russian Cultural Centre, spoke.
