Russian and the post-Soviet space

How my Russian language skills have helped me make new and interesting friends from former Soviet republics.

Four years ago, a friend of mine who worked for the National Centre for Performing Arts (NCPA) in South Bombay introduced me to one of her colleagues, the manager of the Symphony Orchestra of India (SOI). With a great amount of pride, my friend told her colleague, a middle-aged woman from Kazakhstan that I spoke Russian. The curiosity in this Almaty-bor…