Interaction with Russian interpreters

There were Russian specialists in practically all the departments and, whilst there was one specifically meant to advise the General Manager, there were others in the design department, in the workshops, even in the planning departments. The gentleman in the planning department would come every morning with his worksheet to check and record how much work had been completed till then and submit the report to his higher ups.
Along with the Russian specialists were their interpreters – some of them were Russians and some of them were Indians. Moreover, before the actual work began on manufacturing the MiG fighter aircraft, groups of employees who had a diploma in engineering had been given training in Russian language. Most of them were attached to the design department and the planning department where documents would be coming regularly from Russia about updates. These would require to be translated on priority and passed on to the user departments for implementation.
Obviously, there was a fad to learn the language.
Here I must make a mention of one Russian interpreter. She was from one of the earliest batches of Russians who had come to Nashik and, as luck would have it, she fell in love with an Indian boy. It became a scandal of sorts. Then there was another interpreter – she was a Punjabi and had many admirers.
To cater to the Russians, there was a shop in the township dedicated to products that Russians loved – and, there was a Russian Mess where the cooks were trained to cook meals for Russians, the way they love them in their own country. In the initial stages, Russians were not permitted to have their families with them and they relied on the Russian Mess for their meals. Later, the restriction was removed but the mess remained because many of the Russians were bachelors while many of them preferred to live without their families.
For marketing, there would be buses on Sundays and the Russians would go to Deolali. They would roam the streets peering into the shops, do their marketing and return back in the evening. (to be continued …)

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Another interesting blog - Citizen Journalist

Links to some more interesting stories –


Nashik Kumbhmela 2015 – a once in 12-years pilgrimage

Trip to Nashik should take in Shirdi and the Ajanta and Ellora caves


My Boss wanted me to become a detective

My job interview over a cup of coffee

Train travel to and from Kanpur to Kolkata

I gamble away my month’s earnings before Diwali

I finally join the MiG factory in HAL Nashik

From Deolali to Ojhar to manufacture MiG fighter aircrafts

The work in Nashik was far different from the type of work I had been engaged in Kanpur. That factory manufactured the HS-748 transport aircraft at the rate of one every year. But, Nashik was geared up to manufacture fighter aircraft at the rate of 30 per year. Moreover, the HS-748 was of British design and origin and the MiG was of Russian origin. Therefore, in Kanpur it was easy to interact with the specialist Engineers because English was the link language – in Nashik, we had to rely on interpreters. Some of them were Russians and some were Indians.
Anyway, the trip to the factory was a long affair.
I stayed in Deolali and the factory was in Ojhar – a distance of around 25-Km. Therefore, transport was provided by HAL and its fleet of buses would arrive at the scheduled stops to pick up the employees. Shift started at 7am and the buses would be there by 6am – the journey took around 40 to 45 minutes.
Most of the passengers in the bus would go to sleep, some would occupy the last seats and play games of cards and, as for me, I would read. I had discovered a fantastic outlet of books – it was a bookshop and the owner would allow me to take out one book every day. That was my pastime – I would pick up a mystery books and read half of it on my way to the factory and the second half on the return journey.
It was a good arrangement – I paid him a monthly fee for services rendered.
As for meals – I would take my lunch in the canteen and, for dinner, I would go to a joint managed by South Indians. It was Vijaya Lunch Home, the hotel for most of us who stayed in McKenzie Bungalow. The charges were reasonable – for Rs 30 per month, we had one mutton dish, one omelet, chapattis plus rice. There was no restriction on the quantity of rice and chapattis. (to be continued …)

Another interesting blog - Violence and atrocities

Another interesting blog - Citizen Journalist