Saurabh from India: ‘For me, the Russian language is love!’
Back in his homeland, Saurabh began to study foreign languages and found he liked Russian the most. That's why he now lives in Moscow and works at ‘Gateway to Russia’!
Why Russian?
Saurabh Tiwari completed his Bachelor's degree in Economics and Commerce from Marwar Business School in Gorakhpur in northern India. But, he dreamed of learning different languages.
“I've always wanted to learn (new) languages and tried different ones, but I liked Russian the most!”
Saurabh is now a postgraduate student at the RUDN University (Patrice Lumumba Peoples' Friendship University of Russia) in Moscow
His passion for languages forced Saurabh to change the direction of his studies, which led him to the University of Delhi, where he completed an intensive program in Russian at an advanced level.
“For me, the Russian language is love! It sounds incredibly beautiful.”
How did Saurabh end up in Russia?
Saurabh actively participated in cultural events organized by the University of Delhi and the Russian Embassy in India and this helped him get a scholarship for free education in Russia through ‘Rossotrudnichestvo’.
So, he went to Moscow and earned a master's degree in philology from the RUDN University (Patrice Lumumba Peoples' Friendship University of Russia).
While studying for his master's degree, Saurabh was elected Secretary of Culture and General Secretary at the RUDN University. “Russian has become the language of international communication for me. I've worked with people from different countries and I've spoken Russian with everyone.”
What’s the most difficult thing in Russian?
“The biggest difficulty in Russian is grammar, especially the cases,” Saurabh admits. Now, he is already in his third year of postgraduate studies at the RUDN University and it was grammatical cases that he chose as the topic of his dissertation.
Saurabh has already traveled to many Russian cities. On this pic he is posing in front of St. Petersburg's Kazansky Cathedral
The young man from India says he really likes to read Russian literature in the original and calls Sergey Yesenin his favorite writer. Saurabh has also tried his hand in writing poetry in Russian and his favorite Russian word is ‘вдохновение’ (‘vdokhnovenie’; ‘inspiration’).
First impressions of Russia
“To be honest, I had the feeling that my mind was just numb,” says Saurabh, recalling his first days in Russia. “I am a man from a small town and, even in my wildest dreams, I never imagined that, one day, I would find myself in such a beautiful country as Russia.”
The day he arrived, Saurabh could not believe that he was in Moscow and only really realized this when he saw St. Basil's Cathedral on the Red Square with his own eyes. “And, for that, I will be grateful to the Russian state all my life.”
The Russian winter is not a problem, you just need to dress warmly, as Saurabh says
Saurabh really likes living in the capital. “Every corner of Moscow is like a work of art: everything is clean, beautiful and well-maintained. This city is so huge that I'm still discovering something new in it!”
In addition, Saurabh has already visited many other Russian cities: St. Petersburg, Yaroslavl, Nizhny Novgorod, Tver, Vladimir, Suzdal, Rostov Veliky and Kaluga and, in each place, he admired just how rich the culture of Russia really is.
Even Saurabh has already got used to the Russian winter, although he admits that it was difficult and cold, at first. “In Russia, you can easily find warm clothes and it helped me a lot!”
