Rahul Shrivastava's Blog, page 4

What are some foods that look good but taste horrible?

When I arrived in Russia in 2001 to study Russian at the Moscow State University, I used to often go to the canteen (столовая, stolovaya) in the building for lunch. The stolovaya served good food. In the beginning, I tried a new dish every day.One day, I found a brightly coloured jelly dish cut into deliciously looking pieces. I took a huge piece and kept it aside on the table to relish after I had the main course. I was eagerly looking forward to enjoying my ‘sweet dish.’When I put a spoonful into my mouth, I did not know whether to swallow it or put it back on the plate. It was salty, tasteless and cold.Known as Holodets (Xолодец), it is a dish in which the ingredients, mostly shredded meat, are set into a gelatin made from meat stock. I later found the English name for the dish - Aspic. However, I have not been brave enough to try it a second time. Apologies to the lovers of Holodets.(Photo source: Blog.kp.ru)

Upon your first visit to Russia, what was the first thing that surprised you?

I was surprised at how wide the roads could be even in Central Moscow. Some of these were built for planes to land during war. Sixteen lanes of traffic jam looks like Diwali from a high rise but not the best thing when you are a part of it.Some of the metro stations were more beautiful than cathedrals.I had not lived in a cold country before arriving in Russia. The autumn colors surprised me. I do not miss the Moscow winters but I feel nostalgic about autumns.

What is banned in Russia?

About three months after my arrival in Moscow in 2001, I once went to a canteen to have lunch. I had been learning Russian for about two months and my Russian was very basic. I could understand someone only if she/he spoke very slowly.At the canteen, one had to take a tray, select the dishes on display and then pay to the cashier sitting at the end of the row of dishes. There was a small queue and as I moved forward to order the dishes, a man came out from the kitchen. He seemed upset and was blurting non-stop. I saw that he was sometimes looking towards me. However, I could not make out if he was unhappy at the workers, addressing someone else in the queue or taking out his frustration, in general. The man went on and on.After a while, the lady who was serving the dishes looked at me and gestured that I should leave my overcoat at the wardrobe outside. And then the words of the man became clearer. He was ranting that despite the notice outside, visitors came with their overcoats on to the canteen. With the little Russian that I knew, I could not reply to the man. I had not seen the notice either. With my knowledge of Russian, I doubt if I would have understood what the notice meant even if I had seen it.In any case, I went to the wardrobe, took off my overcoat and joined the queue again, which by now had become much longer. Thus, I had my first experience of what is ‘banned’ in Russia - overcoats inside canteens. However, you are welcome to enter with loads of snow on your shoes.(Photo source: burobiz.ru)I soon learnt of other things, which are considered socially forbidden in Russia.As soon as you entered someone’s house, you had to take off your shoes. If you see a picture like the one below, you can be sure that it is not from a Russian home.(Photo source: otvet.mail.ru)If you were invited to a Russian home and ended up without a gift (no matter what) for the hostess or the children, you could be ‘banned’ from invitations in future.(Photo source: wikiznanie.ru)

Languages closest to Russian

Russian is the most-widely spoken Slavic language with over 250 million speakers. It belongs to the eastern group of Slavic languages along with Belorussian and Ukrainian. Both these languages could be considered closest to Russian (although, when I hear Belorussian, it sounds to me as being more similar to Russian than Ukrainian). All three eastern Slavic languages are written in Cyrillic script.The other two groups of Slavic languages are western and southern. Bulgarian, Macedonian, Serbo-Croatian and Slovenian are the main languages of the southern group while Czech, Polish and Slovak are the main languages of the western group. The southern languages are written in Cyrillic (or both Cyrillic and Latin scripts such as Serbo-Croatian). They are more similar to Russian than the western Slavic languages, whose script is Latin.In southern Russia, the Cossacks know Balachka, which they consider as a language but which is largely considered as a dialect. It is similar to Russian and Ukrainian. Rusyn, a dialect spoken in small numbers in Ukraine, Czech Republic and Slovakia, is also considered as belonging to the eastern Slavic group of languages and is similar to Russian.In the Soviet prisons, the prisoners evolved a code-language of their own based on slang words in Russian. It was called Fenya. Many Fenya words started getting used in Russian language over time. For example, when one wants a cup of strong tea in Russia, one jokingly asks for ‘Chefir’, which is a word invented by Fenya speakers.

The Best Year I Ever Had

My first year in Russia was the best I ever had. The only countries that I had visited before my posting to Russia were Bhutan and Myanmar (not counting transits through Nepal and Thailand). When the plane was landing in Moscow, the whole place looked very different (and beautiful, of course), something like the painting below:I was in a very different land and did not speak a word of Russian. This place was going to be my home for next three years and I looked forward to the stay excitedly.In a month, I began Russian classes at the Moscow State University. We had very good teachers, who taught us Russian in about 9 months. One winter afternoon, I was sitting alone in the class and looking out of the window. It was a perfect Russian winter day and as I looked out, I thought to myself that this day would pass and I would remember about it nostalgically as years go by. When I think of that moment, I want to reverse time.I lived near the Moscow State University and from the balcony of my house, I could see the top of the huge University building. The view was amazing.Driving back home, when entering the boulevard from Leninsky Prospect (the main avenue), I loved the autumn colours that would appear as soon as one made the turn.And yes, I met my wife during my first year in Russia.

What is the most Russian thing ever?

There are several, which I experienced in Russia and nowhere else. The one’s that immediately come to mind are below:The New Year is the most important holiday for Russians. The whole country shuts down from 31 December till about 10 January. Russians prepare well for meeting the New Year with family and friends - a very elaborate dinner and exchange of gifts are a must. Five minutes before the New Year begins, everyone sits glued to the television to listen to the short speech by the Russian President. When the clock strikes 12, champagne bottles are opened. And every New Year eve, one of the most popular Soviet romantic comedy movies ‘The Irony of Fate’ or ‘Enjoy Your Bath!’ (Ирония судьбы, или С лёгким паром!) is telecast. Russians never get bored watching this movie. The New Year is celebrated more than Christmas. And yes, the Santa Claus (Дед Мороз- Ded Moroz) comes on New Year eve and not on Christmas.(A still from the movie ‘The Irony of Fate’ or ‘Enjoy Your Bath!’. That a movie can have two names also seems very Russian to me.)Russians love their drinks, especially Vodka. But I must say that in the last 16 years, I have seen a rapidly increasing number of teetotalers in Russia. After Russians have had their drink, they will never put an empty bottle on the table. It has to be put on the floor under the table. No one has yet been able to tell me the real reason behind this tradition.You will never find an ill dressed Russian lady. She will never go out without dressing well and putting on her make up. Even if it is a trip to the local market, Russian ladies would never go without dressing up properly. So, don’t be surprised if you see a nicely decked-up lady in high-heels buying vegetables at the market.Russians are fond of their sauna (Banya or баня). If they do not have one in their homes, they will go occasionally to the public sauna. People often hit themselves or others with bunches of dried leaves from white birch or oak (Banniy Venik or банный веник). But the most interesting part is they congratulate each other with the words ‘С лёгким паром!’ or ‘Enjoy your bath!’) when the sauna ritual is complete.If you go to a Russian home and give your hand while still standing out, your host will first pull you inside before shaking hands with you. A Russian will never shake hand across the threshold of a door.The Russian table (Русский стол) is legendary. There is always more food than the number of people, no matter how many people there are. And no one can beat Russians in the length of toasts.Russians sit quietly for a moment (even on their suitcases) before leaving for a journey.(Photo: livejournal.com)If you ask a Russian ‘Как Дела? (Kak Dela) or ‘How is it going?’, she/he will most likely tell you frankly how life is rather than just saying ‘Thank you’ and asking ‘How are you?’ in return. And if the person has not been asked this question for long, she/he may pour her/his heart out to you.Two other very Russian things are:Black rye breadKvass or a fermented non-alcoholic drink made from black rye bread.(Photo: Wikipedia)

What can I learn in 10 minutes that will be useful for the rest of my life?

Have a ‘clutter collecting’ email id.Do not use it to send emails. Never give it to anyone you want to actually correspond with but use it for purposes such as (i) Verification for free wifi in public places (ii) Getting discount cards in shops (iii) Hotel check-in forms (iv) Websites which ask for email ids. for accessing them (v) Any other place where you feel that your email id. is not really required.Your real email account would stop getting advertisements or spam emails or, at least, these would decrease. Chances of getting hacked get decreased, too.

What trivial knowledge might save your life one day?

When you travel to a place, where crime such as theft of personal belongings and money is not uncommon, it is possible that you may be confronted by a person armed with a knife or a gun demanding that you hand over your purse, watch, mobile phone, jewellery and anything valuable that you may have.What comes to your mind when you think of such a situation? You think that you should use self-defence techniques that you have read about, watched online or may be taken lessons on.(Image source: A wonderful place for all things Clipart)If you hand over everything, chances are that you will be safe. The thief may hurriedly take your belongings and disappear. Resist and chances are high that the thief may use the weapon to take the belongings by injuring you.In such places, it is even recommended that you carry some money every time you go out so that the thief does not attack you out of frustration that there is nothing that he can take.So, no self-defence in such cases. Use it only when your life is at risk or the attacker wants to do physical harm.

Most Important Warnings in Life

You get up in the morning, drag yourself to your work. You come back home mentally and physically exhausted. You fume and complain. But you eat, go to sleep, get up next morning and again drag yourself to work. Day after day. Week after week. Month after month….. There is nothing wrong with the world around you. Either you have to change or your work needs to be changed.You buy a treadmill and work on it for two hours a day for a week. And then you stop. A month passes. You look at the treadmill everyday after you return from work. You pity yourself that you are too tired and promise to start the next day. The next day never comes….. You need to get your motivation back before a scalpel or pills become the only option.You get up in the morning and have a look at your mobile phone before you brush your teeth. You are browsing Facebook, Twitter, Instagram…. in your bed at night. You are on them when your mother is calling you to have dinner.You do not want to visit your friend in the neighbourhood because you want to see what your one thousand virtual friends are commenting about your last post…. You need to return to the real world.You keep on saying, ‘When I was your age, I did this,’ ‘When I was young, I could do that,’ ‘I did this’ and ‘I did that’….. You need to shift your focus to your goals in future.You keep saying to yourself, ‘When I am thirty five, all my financial issues will have been resolved,’ ‘I will change my eating habits when I am thirty.’ ‘I will start losing weight when the new year begins’….. That day will never come. If you need to begin something, you have to begin it today.