New Delhi: Professor Meeta Narain of Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) has been conferred with the Pushkin Medal, the highest honour given to an Indian scholar by the Russian government.
She was awarded the medal at an event organised at the Russian Center for Science and Culture earlier this week. The award was given to Narain for her contribution to Russian studies abroad.
The Pushkin Medal was instituted in the name of famous Russian author and poet Alexander S. Pushkin. Only a few Indian scholars have received this medal since its inception in 1999. One among them is Kerala poet O.N.V. Kurip, who had received it in 2015.
Rewrote Russian textbooks
Narain has contributed towards re-writing of Russian studies textbooks for graduate students after the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Her work gave a contemporary flavour to the textbooks, which are now being used in departments of Russian language studies at various universities of India, in many former Soviet nation institutes, Europe, the US and other countries.
Narain is frequently invited by various global universities for lectures and short-term teaching courses. She has been a visiting faculty at the Department of Russian Studies in Columbia University and New York University.
Narain completed her PhD from JNU.
Her academic excellence in Russian Philology and Translation Studies has been recognised worldwide and has won her many accolades, including several national and international research papers. She is also on the editorial board of academic journals published abroad.
An alumnus of Delhi’s Modern School, Barakhamba Road, Narain was a school topper. She was recently honoured with the ‘Lifetime Achievement Award’ by her school.
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I am surprised that you did not mention the first Indian recipient of the Pushkin Award, Prof C N Chakravarti. He is widely recognized as the doyen of Russian studies in India.
He being a Bengali, may be reasons for not mentioning his name. Hindi belt since Motilal & Jawaharlal Nehru periods, Bengalis were never regarded respectfully.