Irina Chikova 32 , Dharamsala

Irina Chikova had never thought of marrying and settling in a far off country. Born in Moscow, Russia, Chikova was interested in art, dance and paintings. During her five year course in fine arts at an instituted in her native city she once visited the Indian Culture Centre, Moscow. It was at this moment that she decided to learn Kathak. It was destiny that she got selected under a cultural exchange program between the two countries and arrived at India in 2002. She lived in Delhi learning the classical dance.

During her stay at Delhi she learnt about the Tibetan painting art-Thangka. “To learn the art I decided to come to Dharamsala,” said Chikova. While in Dharamsala, Chikova, searching for a suitable accommodation landed at Rohit Panchkaran’s house. Rohit was a law professional practicing in Dharamsala court.“It was our first meeting. I liked the accommodation and decided to stay not knowing that it was my destiny,” she says. She used to go to the Thangka painting school run by Tibetans at Dharamsala. While the two continued to know each other, love blossomed slowly. “With passage of time our conversations turned into long meetings. It was the time when we started understanding each other and finally in 2010 we decided to get married,” said Chikova.

“Usually the Indian society doesn’t except a foreign national easily. Though there were some hitches, in the beginning but everything went smoothly for us,” said Rohit Panchakaran. They got married in 2011. The long stay in India helped Chikova to adjust in the new culture. “I am familiar with Indian culture and tradition as I was here for long,” says Chikova adding that she knows a little bit Hindi and language was never a barrier. However, sometimes it becomes difficult to communicate with my mother- in- law but I am learning local dialect also.”

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