PRATAPGARH: December have been surprisingly cold and dry that 12 months in 1966 when Svetlana Alliluyeva, daughter of Joseph Stalin, stepped foot on the stony paths of Kalkankar, a village in Uttar Pradesh's Pratapgarh district. It was the longing to connect with the roots of the person she liked for 3 years and to empty the remains of his being from an urn into the Ganges, that introduced her to the erstwhile royal property, and made her stay there for over two months, 50 years ago.
Daughter of Russia's head of the Communist Party, Stalin, who had died in 1953, Svetlana's relation with Kalakankar royal circle of relatives's Brajesh Singh, an Indian communist, began from the uninteresting corridors of the Kentosevo Hospital in Moscow in 1963, the place they had been both getting better from their sicknesses.
It ended handiest after Svetlana, who though was no longer in a position to marry Brajesh however known as him her husband, was in a position to come to India to immerse Singh's ashes in the Ganges after cremating him in October in Moscow, and along with her in the end defecting to the United States, developing world sensation. Brajesh Singh was former Union minister Dinesh Singh's uncle.
Tracing again her steps from 50 years ago, when TOI visited the village of Kalakankar, the "Roos ke tanashah ki beti" as she was referred to via village people, was extensively remembered. They recalled her golden hair and critical eyes.
About 150 km from Lucknow, in the royal property of Kalakankar stands the white 'Raj Bhawan', taking a look like a steamer on the shore of the Ganges, as Svetlana noticed it.
"She used to wear knee length skirts and a blouse that was sometimes half sleeved and sometimes cut-sleeved. Had small golden hair and would go to the post office, inside the village and to the ghat during evening," mentioned 70-year-old ML Gupta, retired head clerk of Pandit Madan Mohan Malviya Inter College in Kalakanka.
"The visarjan ritual of Kunwar Brajesh's ashes was held in the morning and thousands gathered to be part of it and to see Stalin's daughter," added Gupta.
As villagers toppled over one every other, stumbling in the back of the automobile that drove Svetlana into the village and to the Raj Bhawan, she mentions in her guide - "Only one year" -- how the women of the circle of relatives had perched on the terrace of the house, built on the Ganges, whilst Brajesh's brother Lal Suresh Singh and nephew Shirish had been ferried in a boat to the middle of the holy river to immerse Singh's ashes.
As she had anticipated for her "unshed tears to melt and flow," this was the moment that Svetlana in spite of everything broke down and attached with India even more.
She spent her days in a small room that belonged to Brajesh, in 'Prakash Grih' - slightly any distance from the Raj Bhawan, amidst his white picket English furniture. It was right here that Svetlana had also started taking lessons in Hindi.
"At 5 pm every day, from December to January, I used to go to Prakash Grih for 30-45 minutes and give Hindi lessons to her. She knew a bit of the language. She used to seldom talk, was serious but had kind eyes," recalled 79-year-old KK Lal, head of the Sanskrit department of the inter faculty again then. Lal was given the extra activity of providing Hindi lessons to Svetlana.
"Once she told me that when her father Stalin was buried, while his body was immersed in the ground, his face was left open and out of the grave for people to see. It was only later, during the time of Russian Premier Nikita Khrushchev, that the face was also buried properly. It was then she had found peace," mentioned Lal.
And whilst the seed to start a clinic in the reminiscence of Brajesh Singh was sown in Svetlana's center in the village itself, it was handiest later when in the United States, that she was in a position to send budget from the royalty of her guide -- "Twenty Letters to a Friend" -- to get it built.
The basis of the 35-bedded Brajesh Singh Memorial Hospital with Svetlana's lend a hand was then laid in May 1969 via Hindi creator Sumitra Nandan Pant. It was in a position to run till the late 70s till Svetlana was in a position to send budget for it.
The clinic development is now a personal college on a 30-year rent after Svetlana in her own financial disaster may just send not more money for the clinic. Two picket framed portraits that say "Srimati Svetlana" and "Kunwar Brajesh Singh" in Devnagari script that had as soon as adorned the walls of the clinic, now lay in the 'Prakash Grih.'
Daughter of Russia's head of the Communist Party, Stalin, who had died in 1953, Svetlana's relation with Kalakankar royal circle of relatives's Brajesh Singh, an Indian communist, began from the uninteresting corridors of the Kentosevo Hospital in Moscow in 1963, the place they had been both getting better from their sicknesses.
It ended handiest after Svetlana, who though was no longer in a position to marry Brajesh however known as him her husband, was in a position to come to India to immerse Singh's ashes in the Ganges after cremating him in October in Moscow, and along with her in the end defecting to the United States, developing world sensation. Brajesh Singh was former Union minister Dinesh Singh's uncle.
Tracing again her steps from 50 years ago, when TOI visited the village of Kalakankar, the "Roos ke tanashah ki beti" as she was referred to via village people, was extensively remembered. They recalled her golden hair and critical eyes.
About 150 km from Lucknow, in the royal property of Kalakankar stands the white 'Raj Bhawan', taking a look like a steamer on the shore of the Ganges, as Svetlana noticed it.
"She used to wear knee length skirts and a blouse that was sometimes half sleeved and sometimes cut-sleeved. Had small golden hair and would go to the post office, inside the village and to the ghat during evening," mentioned 70-year-old ML Gupta, retired head clerk of Pandit Madan Mohan Malviya Inter College in Kalakanka.
"The visarjan ritual of Kunwar Brajesh's ashes was held in the morning and thousands gathered to be part of it and to see Stalin's daughter," added Gupta.
As villagers toppled over one every other, stumbling in the back of the automobile that drove Svetlana into the village and to the Raj Bhawan, she mentions in her guide - "Only one year" -- how the women of the circle of relatives had perched on the terrace of the house, built on the Ganges, whilst Brajesh's brother Lal Suresh Singh and nephew Shirish had been ferried in a boat to the middle of the holy river to immerse Singh's ashes.
As she had anticipated for her "unshed tears to melt and flow," this was the moment that Svetlana in spite of everything broke down and attached with India even more.
She spent her days in a small room that belonged to Brajesh, in 'Prakash Grih' - slightly any distance from the Raj Bhawan, amidst his white picket English furniture. It was right here that Svetlana had also started taking lessons in Hindi.
"At 5 pm every day, from December to January, I used to go to Prakash Grih for 30-45 minutes and give Hindi lessons to her. She knew a bit of the language. She used to seldom talk, was serious but had kind eyes," recalled 79-year-old KK Lal, head of the Sanskrit department of the inter faculty again then. Lal was given the extra activity of providing Hindi lessons to Svetlana.
"Once she told me that when her father Stalin was buried, while his body was immersed in the ground, his face was left open and out of the grave for people to see. It was only later, during the time of Russian Premier Nikita Khrushchev, that the face was also buried properly. It was then she had found peace," mentioned Lal.
And whilst the seed to start a clinic in the reminiscence of Brajesh Singh was sown in Svetlana's center in the village itself, it was handiest later when in the United States, that she was in a position to send budget from the royalty of her guide -- "Twenty Letters to a Friend" -- to get it built.
The basis of the 35-bedded Brajesh Singh Memorial Hospital with Svetlana's lend a hand was then laid in May 1969 via Hindi creator Sumitra Nandan Pant. It was in a position to run till the late 70s till Svetlana was in a position to send budget for it.
The clinic development is now a personal college on a 30-year rent after Svetlana in her own financial disaster may just send not more money for the clinic. Two picket framed portraits that say "Srimati Svetlana" and "Kunwar Brajesh Singh" in Devnagari script that had as soon as adorned the walls of the clinic, now lay in the 'Prakash Grih.'
When Stalin’s daughter came to Kalakankar
![When Stalin’s daughter came to Kalakankar]()
Reviewed by Kailash
on
November 05, 2017
Rating:
