Students, teachers from India participate in teleconference hosted to mark birth anniversary of Russian poet Aleksander Pushkin

This teleconference between Russia and India was the fourth for TV BRICS. However, this time was the largest in terms of the number of participants. Students and teachers from 20 higher education institutions from Delhi, Gujarat, Kerala, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Telangana, West Bengal, Punjab, and Haryana participated in the teleconference, according to TV Brics report.

These included Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi University, the English and Foreign Languages University in Hyderabad, and Maharaja Sayajirao University in Vadodara. The Association of Teachers of Russian Language and Literature co-organised the teleconference and the broadcast was supported by Russian House in New Delhi.

The theme of the teleconference was "Reading is the best teaching. Reflections on Happiness." The hosts of the teleconference were Aleksandra Burman, Head of International Projects at TV BRICS and Tamara Skok, PhD in Philology, head of the "Modern Russian" international project.

Mikhail Antsiferov, Attache at the Russian Embassy in New Delhi, and Elena Remizova, Director of the Russian House in Mumbai, delivered the remarks at the teleconference. They emphasised the importance of such events for establishing stronger cultural and educational contacts between India and Russia, according to TV Brics report.

During the teleconference, the foreign participants learned about the universal concept of happiness from Pushkin's works and recited poems written by him in Russian. They watched video sketches of places where the Russian author lived and wrote. The places included Mikhailovsky, Zakharovo, Bolshiye Vyazem, Prechistenka in Moscow, and others.

Aleksandra Burman noted that the "Modern Russian" project of the TV BRICS international media network with the participation of foreign partners has been running a series of teleconferences between Russia and India for two years to study the Russian language and learn about Russian culture.

Pavel Kuzmin, General Director of the Library for Foreign Literature, stressed that reading literary works in different languages helps representatives of different cultures to understand each other.

He further said, "We would like to tell about the culture of the BRICS countries and to find the common, deep traditions and human relations that are common to all the inhabitants of the BRICS countries. BRICS is first and foremost a community of people who share similar values."

Indian Association of Teachers of Russian Language and Literature President Charanjit Singh, who moderated the teleconference, expressed hope that the teleconference would help foreign students better understand the work of Aleksander Pushkin.

Singh said, "We hope that in this process, Pushkin's genius and his ideas not only about happiness but also about life in general will be revealed."

Meenu Bhatnagar, Associate Professor, Centre of Russian Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, talked about her impressions of the lecture by TV BRICS representatives. She noted that the interactive lecture prepared by Tamara Skok and Aleksandra Burman gave the participants an understanding of how Pushkin expressed happiness in his poems, according to TV Brics report.

She said, "The teleconference dedicated to the 225th anniversary of Pushkin's birth was a humble tribute to this great Russian poet who continues to instill a love for Russia and the Russian language and literature not only in Russians but also in foreign students studying Russian."

Previously, Russia-India teleconferences were dedicated to international friendship, Russian hospitality and Pancake celebrations. In 2022, the TV BRICS lecture "Peculiarities and Identity of Russian Regions" was held at Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi in a face-to-face format for undergraduate, graduate, and postgraduate students of the Department of Russian Studies. (ANI)