After the defense of my dissertation, almost no changes occurred in my life. Except that the salary for a PhD in philology was slightly increased, but the position of a junior researcher, known in common slang as menees, seemed to be assigned to me forever. But for me, titles were not so important as publications: articles, reviews, and literary translations. I could only dream of serious books. Perhaps it would be more logical to write a book on the work of Razipuram Krishnaswami Narayan based on his dissertation. But over the years, I managed to collect material for the monographs "English-language Literature of India" and planned to publish it. It was published in 1974, and the book "R. K. Narayan" - only in 1981. FIRST TIME IN INDIA October 1981 was an unusual year for me: my dream came true - I visited India for the first time in my life. My "Journey across the three seas" began with a plane landing in Delhi at Palam Airfield. Until recently, in Moscow, I was standing in a coat, wrapped in a scarf from the rain and cold wind. And here it was 35-degree heat, although the hands on the clock showed six in the morning local time. As soon as we crossed the threshold of the luxury hotel, we felt the romance of oriental hospitality: a beautiful Indian woman gave each of us a fragrant garland of flowers, and painted a traditional red circle on our foreheads - tika, and we immediately felt almost like locals. IT'S BETTER TO SEE IT ONCE THAN READ IT A HUNDRED TIMES We were delighted to plunge into the sunny world of Delhi: we visited the Red Fort, admired the Presidential Palace, visited, after removing our shoes, the largest mosque in India-Jami Masjid and the ruins of the most ancient-famous Qutb Minar of the XIII century, as well as the Krishna Narayan Temple. We also managed to touch the historic Ashoka column. There is a belief that the one who stands with his back to her, pulls his hands back and, if he can, connects his fingers, he will be rich and happy all his l ... Read more