Abstract
Abstract Extracts from Russell’s autobiography, Part 1 (Findings Keepings) describes how he first learnt Urdu. Conscripted into the army and sent to India, he learnt basic Urdu in army training near Abbottabad, where—unusually for a British officer—he took it seriously and became a fluent speaker; through subsequent transfers to other parts of India, and eventually to the India/Burma border. He describes his appreciative contacts with any local people he was able to meet despite the constraints of army life: his Urdu teacher from a landowning family; camp servants; hawkers; a Pathan fellow officer; and two destitute children who attached themselves to his unit. Knowing Urdu enabled him to get to know them personally and learn about their different life conditions; and with the sepoys in his unit he was able to discuss current political issues in India, without senior army officers’ knowledge.
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