(^58) THE WEEK NOVEMBER 12, 2017
OCTOBER REVOLUTION@100
alone the details. They have adopted a
western approach to life,” said Lalita.
“Except for Russia, other former
Soviet countries have rewritten their
history books.” Russia’s commu-
nist past was erased in a jiffy under
President Boris Yeltsin, the charis-
matic but erratic leader whose pow-
erful oratory competed with his love
for the bottle. The Americans and
people from other western countries,
for whom the Kremlin was inacces-
sible till then, were all over the place.
And the Russian pride hit an all time
low. “Nobody took Russians seriously
then,” said Devadathan D. Nair, busi-
ness consultant who came to Russia
in 1988 to study broadcast journal-
ism and has since made Moscow his
home. “It was also a time when the
interview with the president was sold
for around $5,000.”
In the chaos, a new newspaper for
the expats was launched in Moscow,
and it was promoted by an entity
which promoted American interests.
One day, during Yeltsin’s first term
in office, Nair saw an ad tucked away
in the inside pages of the newspaper,
asking people who were interested in
having a tour of the newspaper to call
the number given with the announce-
ment. A woman took the call and
asked Nair to report at the metro sta-
tion close to KGB headquarters with
$40.
When he got to the station and
joined the group, he realised that he
was the odd one out: the rest were all
Americans. They were taken on an
extensive trip of the once-dreaded
KGB headquarters. “When we were
taken to the room from where KGB
chief Yuri Andropov used to control
and destroy lives in Soviet Russia, an
American sat on Andropov’s chair,
put his feet on the table and asked his
friend to take a few snaps,” recalled
Nair. The building had high ceilings
and every room looked alike. “It
was cold and colourless,” said Nair.
“The KGB suffered during Yeltsin’s
time. Many of its officers left the ser-
vice and joined private enterprises.
Under Putin, the FSB (KGB’s new
avatar) has regained its lost glory.”
To outsiders it might seem like
the Russians were going through
decades of oppression, but old tim-
ers in the country would disagree.
“My grandparents are nostalgic
about communist Russia,” said Daria
Pavlova, a postgraduate in media
studies. “They say we had one of the
best education systems in the world,
that the discipline was better and
students used to respect teachers.
My grandmother was a scientist.”
Her parents do not have the same
view of the system as they were
caught in the whirlpool of change.
“My parents were engineers and
they lost their jobs post the transi-
tion,” said Daria, who is based in St
Petersburg. “They soon adapted to
the situation, but not many were as
fortunate. My father now runs a com-
pany that renovates apartments.”
Those were tough days, recalled Nair,
with people queuing up for hours for
bread and meat. Many professionals
were rendered jobless.
The people of Daria’s generation
have moved on. And Russia has also
recovered under Putin, whose popu-
larity is at an all time high as he is
set to face the electorate yet again
in March. “The Communist Party
is a part of history and let it be so,”
said Daria. “Among friends we dis-
cuss politics, but only a few follow
the party.” According to Anastasia
Kasatkina, who had been to India
in search of spiritual solace, most
Russian youth are apolitical. They
embrace religion or spirituality, she
said, more for a feeling of belonging
and camaraderie than anything else.
Anna Benedictova, a postgradu-
ate student of Indian literature
at the Lomonosov Moscow State
University, said her generation was
aware of the revolution as they were
all proud of their nation’s history.
“But I did not know that it was the
centenary year,” she said. “How one
views the revolution and the commu-
nist regime is based on one’s personal
experience. If your close relatives
had to suffer under the communist
rule, I am sure you will have bad
memories about those times. But no
one can deny the fact that back then
people had more social benefits, and
patriotic feelings were stronger.
People had an ideology to live for.
They probably lived a better life. In
today’s Russia, the gap between the
rich and the poor has widened. Some
people hardly make a living while a
select few bathe in luxury.”
Under the communist rule, Russia
was healthy, said Anna, and the
nation excelled in sports and games.
Education and medical services were
free. “If the older generation feels a
bit lost, we cannot blame it,” said
Anna. “But, socialism is far away
from us. We are free, can travel the
world and are loving it.” ◆
Violent past: The building that once
housed the KGB in Kremlin
LUKOSE MATHEW
sharon
(sharon)
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