Older Russians recall Mithun Chakraborty and the song Jimmy Jimmy Aaja from the movie Disco Dancer.
Is Russia the next Middle East for workers in North India as the latter was for Keralites and Tamilians some decades ago?
It seems so, given the number of Indians -- apart from students -- who were at the airport in Moscow recently to fly to India.
"There are a lot of Indian skilled workers from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar working in factories in Russia," a native of UP told this reporter.
"About 40 of us will be boarding the Aeroflot flight to Delhi today," the person who works at an automobile unit said.
He was going home to a village near Gorakhpur for about 45 days after working in the Russian factory for about 10 months.
Queried about life in Russia he said, "It is a five day work week. Russians respect Indian workers."
"People would say Putin-Modi to us," he added, referring to the friendship between the two countries and between the two leaders.
Older Russians recall Mithun Chakraborty and the song Jimmy Jimmy Aaja from the movie Disco Dancer, he said.
Food and shelter are provided by the employer; an Indian chef cooks Indian cuisine.
"On Saturdays and Sundays we go for sightseeing. On those two days the factory is empty and in the open space we will play cricket," he said.
The manpower agency has placed over 500 Indian workers in Russia.
Apart from electricians, welders, painters and other workers work at the automobile facility making Russian vehicles.
Some of the workers worked earlier in Dubai, the UAE and South Africa.
"The salary is good. And if one does overtime there will be more money to be sent home," another worker said.
One problem faced by Indian workers in Russia is the language.
"We had to learn Russian and pass a test to get employment," one worker said.
Learning Russian is a challenge as some of the letters look and sound like English and some letters look like English but sound differently.
For instance, the Russian letters B and H sound like V and N.
But Б/б looks like the lower case English b and also sounds so!
"After reading English alphabets in a certain way for 20 years, it was difficult to remember and pronounce differently in Russian," one worker said.
The workers learnt the Russian alphabet and words by writing the Russian alphabet and words in Hindi.
"Accountants have to learn Russian numbers, language first. Otherwise, the work environment is good. Russians respect hardworking Indians," a person who worked as an executive in Russia a couple of years ago said.
Apart from Russia, the workers had the option to work in Israel where the pay is much better.
Indian migrant workers started landing in Russia in 2024 owing to the workforce shortage there.
Indian Ambassador to Russia Vinay Kumar told the Russian news agency TASS that Russia is in need of skilled manpower and Russian companies are hiring Indians as per the regulations, quotas and laws.
According to the ambassador, most of the Indian workers are employed in the construction and textile sectors.
Venkatachari Jagannathan can be reached at venkatacharijagannathan@gmail.com
Feature Presentation: Aslam Hunani/Rediff