Apka hardik swagat and ushno obbhyorthona!” Russian consul general Maxim Kozlov proved his language skills in both Bengali and Hindi at the very start of his speech at the Russian National Day celebration held recently at Taj Bengal.

Kozlov, who had been a student at Visva Bharati, went on to speak in English about the 25th anniversary of the strategic partnership between the Russian Federation and the Republic of India that had been signed in 2000 and its importance in a multi-polar world. He quoted poet-philosopher Fyodor Tyutchev, a 19th century diplomat, in both Russian and in English translation, and concluded with another touch of Hindi: “Jai Roos! Jai Hind!”

Guests were given a visual tour of the expanse of the land that he had described in his speech — stretching from Kalinigrad on the Baltic Sea to Vladivostok on the Pacific, from the Arctic reaches of Vorkuta to the sunny subtropics of Sochi — in a photography exhibition that was put up on both sides of the stage.

Russian consul general Maxim Kozlov and his wife Natalia Gerasimova with Chinese consul general Xu Wei

Sights and sounds of Russia, including historic monuments and locations, like St. Basil’s Cathedral and Red Square, were beamed on the giant screen that formed the backdrop of the stage where the consul general raised a toast to Indo-Russian friendship with the chief guest Anoop Kumar Agarwal, additional chief secretary to the state government.

Harking farther back in the bilateral relationship to the 1971 Indo-Soviet treaty, Agarwal spoke about the long history of collaborations in defence, technology, space exploration, as also cultural exchanges. “When we were young, we used to get a lot of Russian literature which we used to like a lot,” he said, referring to the easy availability of children’s literature along with Soviet classics at affordable rates in the ’70s and ’80s.

Guests could take a pick of Russian candy on their way in, kept at the reception desk under the care of a full set of Matryoshka dolls of varying sizes. A backdrop with the golden double-headed eagle coat of arms of the Russian Federation was a popular selfie point.

The dinner featured Russian specialities like Chak Chak, deep-fried, honey-drenched balls of dough, Medovik, a layered cake, and Borscht, a sour-cream chicken soup, alongside local fare.