When Alexey Idamkin took the stage at Taj Bengal on the occasion of Russia Day, he was doing so for the sixth time in seven years three months. “I leave the city in two weeks,” announced the Russian consul general, who has possibly held the post for the longest time in the city from his country.
He was handed a plaque by Nayantara Palchoudhuri, honorary consul of Norway, and Pradeep Khemka, honorary consul of Brazil, on behalf of the Kolkata Consular Corps of which he was the dean, by virtue of being the senior-most among the career diplomats posted here.
In his address, he touched upon the city’s cultural links with the Soviet Union then and the Russian Federation now. “Adventurer and linguist Gerasim Lebedev established the first (proscenium) theatre in Calcutta (in 1795). And in April 2024, two Bengali films (Adim and Clerk) were screened at the 49th Moscow International Film Festival,” he said.
Senior consul Grigory Antonenkov with third secretary Andrey Latrygin
Speaking to t2 later, Idamkin said: “I fell in love with the city — so wonderful and warm. I made many friends. I am going home to Moscow now. So it is bittersweet feeling to leave. I will miss Calcutta food, the Book Fair where Russia had regular participation, the concerts, the cultural scene...”
Reflecting on the challenges in his tenure, he chose the repatriation flight during the pandemic in 2020. “We had to send Russians home. A flight was to take off with 103 people. But the Amphan cyclone hit the night before. That was difficult,” he recalled.
Sergey Sushin, director of Gorky Sadan
Over several months, interactions with his peers in the diplomatic community from Western countries had practically ceased due to the current geo-political tension with Russia over Ukraine. He chose to play it down. “My job is to interact with the Indian authorities and people. There has been no problems,” he said.
Idamkin was more forthcoming when asked about a skill he had picked up in Calcutta — cooking. “I experiment in my free time. I like bhetki paturi. I tried cooking it a few times. It was good,” he said, adding with a laugh that he had not asked any of his Indian friends to try it out.
At the reception, a big draw was the canapes prepared by the consular staff and their family members, which were placed next to a samovar and Matryoshka (stacking) dolls. “It took us three days to get the pelmeni ready. The rest we cooked yesterday,” said Irina Pokatova and Irina Averkina, wearing a traditional headgear called kokoshnik. They spoke in Russian, with their Calcutta-based compatriot Iryna Malysheva acting as interpreter. “Lots of Irinas,” laughed the lady, who has been in Calcutta for 16 years now.
Russian women wearing kakoshnic
She was accompanied by her 15-year-old son Artur Kol, a student of Calcutta International School, who had been selected for a six-member youth delegation to meet the Russian president during the World Youth Festival in Sochi this March.
At the bar, Russian vodka fuelled conversation and camaraderie.