It’s a rare sight when cultures meet. It was one of these rare moments at the KC Open Air Theatre, Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), recently, where students from Russia and India studying Russian in JNU and Delhi University celebrated “Maslenitsa — The Russian Spring Festival”.
The festival is celebrated to bid farewell to winter as the winters in Russia dominate the climate of Russia, lingering for almost eight months. Maslenitsa bids farewell to the long winter and welcomes the spring season.
The festival dates back to the Pagan era and the main element of this celebration is Bliny — Russian pancakes that symbolise the Sun. These are round, golden and warm, and served hot with butter, sour cream, caviar, mushrooms or sturgeon. Bliny completes the celebration that includes a number of games, Russian dance and song performances and burning of an effigy of Lady Maslenitsa — who is stripped of her clothes and put to the flames — as the crowd celebrates around her.
The open theatre came alive with all of these and more as students added some Indian elements to the festivity. So, instead of a snowball fight that is customary in the original celebration, this one saw an orange fight besides a tug of war and other games.
The JNU campus has hosted this celebration for the last eight years. Dr Arun Mohanty, professor, School of Social Sciences, JNU, who organised this with the Russian Embassy and the Russian Department, Delhi University, says that a celebration of this kind doesn’t only help in strengthening ties between two nations but also teaches a lot about other cultures.
“It a great time of bonding. The Indian students studying Russian learn a thing or two about the Russian culture while the Russian students get an occasion to mix with the Indian people,” he says.
Dr Girish Munjal, professor (Russian), DU, who was at the event with a new batch of students who performed Russian folk dance, says that every year he trains a new batch for the performance. “This celebration really gives one a feel of festivity,” he says.