‘Visit to Kolkata is like a pilgrimage for me’

VILNIUS (Lithuania):Moments before her first India trip, Laimute Kiseliene, the daughter of Antanas Poska — one of the world’s greatest explorers who visited India from Lithuania on a motorbike in 1929 — felt like going on a “pilgrimage”.
“Visiting a country that my father called his second motherland is like a pilgrimage to me,” Laimute Kiseliene told TOI from Vilnius. She will in Kolkata to attend a programme on November 28 where Calcutta University will confer a posthumous doctorate on Poska.
President Pranab Mukherjee, governor Keshari Nath Tripathi and vice-chancellor Suranjan Das will attend the function to confer “a posthumous honorary DLitt degree to Poska for his contribution to Indological Studies”. During his visit to India, Poska had studied in Calcutta University and also worked at National Museum as a scholar.
Lithuania’s ambassador to India Laimonas Talat Kelpsa is bringing Kiseliene to Kolkata to receive the doctorate.
On Monday, Kiseliene spoke to TOI in an exclusive interview before leaving for India. “I am thankful to India and Calcutta University for this honour. It is not only important to my family but Lithuania as well. It makes us very happy to know that India hasn’t forgotten the contribution my father made to popularize India,” Kiseliene told TOI.
Kiseliene is very excited to visit Calcutta University “where my father studied” She will also visit the dormitory where “he lived”. “We have heard stories from my father about India since our childhood. We have read about his travels through the country in his many diaries. Kolkata is a part of India I’ve always wanted to visit. I want to see in person the stories and description my father left in his books. I am sure a lot hasn’t changed in Kolkata as far as culture and its rich heritage is concerned,” Kiseliene added.
TOI had first unveiled the extraordinary tale of Poska and a never- known facet of his work – the first-ever translations of Rabindranath Tagore’s works into Lithuanian language.