This is a fascinating account and thank you for sharing it.
I travelled a lot in the former Soviet Central Asian republics as India's last Consul General in Central Asia between June 1990 and March 1992, and then focused on opening our embassies in Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan. At that time, the air links were like local bus journeys, with the few foreigners like me, the members of the armed forces, and the nomenklatura boarded separately into the planes from the ordinary passengers. A flight that I used to take from Tashkent to Merv to Ashgabat also doubled as a postal flight and accommodated live goats in the front enclosure between the crew and the passengers!
The point the surgeon makes is valid. The changes in the script result in creating illiteracy. It is a pity that politics does not understand it or if it does, exploits it.
Thank you for this very generous gesture, Ajay! I have been enjoying your writings from the time I read your stories from Sakhalin. You are among the few I read who has an empathy for the people of that vast country. Pity that the war mongering tends to divert many away from those people, who in the course of 1914-2022 have undergone so much tribulation, becoming living embodiments of the search for identity that is so well brought out by Godot's "Six Characters in search of an Author". Take care, and have a great day ahead! Asoke
Dear Ajay,
This is a fascinating account and thank you for sharing it.
I travelled a lot in the former Soviet Central Asian republics as India's last Consul General in Central Asia between June 1990 and March 1992, and then focused on opening our embassies in Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan. At that time, the air links were like local bus journeys, with the few foreigners like me, the members of the armed forces, and the nomenklatura boarded separately into the planes from the ordinary passengers. A flight that I used to take from Tashkent to Merv to Ashgabat also doubled as a postal flight and accommodated live goats in the front enclosure between the crew and the passengers!
The point the surgeon makes is valid. The changes in the script result in creating illiteracy. It is a pity that politics does not understand it or if it does, exploits it.
With best wishes,
Asoke Mukerji
Dear Ambassador Mukerji,
Thank you so much for taking the time to read this post, for the kind words and for sharing your experiences.
I am giving you a complementary subscription upgrade, so you can read all my other posts from Uzbekistan.
With best wishes,
Ajay
Thank you for this very generous gesture, Ajay! I have been enjoying your writings from the time I read your stories from Sakhalin. You are among the few I read who has an empathy for the people of that vast country. Pity that the war mongering tends to divert many away from those people, who in the course of 1914-2022 have undergone so much tribulation, becoming living embodiments of the search for identity that is so well brought out by Godot's "Six Characters in search of an Author". Take care, and have a great day ahead! Asoke