Indirect signs sometimes indicate trends emerging in society in a more relevant and accurate way than the statements of the authorities. In Tbilisi and other Georgian cities the demand for Russian or Russian-speaking nannies has increased recently. They are worth their "weight in gold" by the standards of Georgia, which is a poor countrywith many economic and social problems. To hire a Russian nanny costs about $300 a month, with an average salary in the private sector of $150-200. And the issue is not one of educational abilities or childcare skills - a Georgian, Armenian or Azerbaijani nanny could look after the child to the same degree. In Greece, for example, a Georgian nurse is valued very highly - tens of thousands of Georgians work there just as nannies. But in Georgia a Russian nanny is praised more. Why? The answer is simple: parents want the nurse not only to care for the baby, to feed it and change its diapers, but also to teach the baby the Russian language, because a child is most susceptible to learning in the pre-school years.
Why Russian? It seems it is not only easier to find a Russian-speaking nanny in Georgia than a French or an English-speaking one. Parents want their child to master one of the world's languages, and Russian is preferred from completely pragmatic considerations. It would seem that the situation is rather strange: Russia and Georgia have no diplomatic relations, virtually no transport, a visa regime has been introduced, the Georgian authorities invite tens of thousands of English-speaking teachers to the country to teach the younger generation the language of Shakespeare, Russian TV channels are not accessible, the law prohibits screenings of films dubbed in Russian, but it is in the Russian language that Georgian parents want their children to be taught.
Parents, for whom the principal value and meaning of their child’s life is his or her future, understand the feasibility of the choice better and more precisely. They not only know, understand and calculate, but (perhaps even more importantly) sense: the current standoff will not last long, and knowledge of the Russian language for a Georgian opens more prospects than knowledge of English. Indeed, for every citizen of post-Soviet space the Russian language is "instrumental" to a great extent - the huge and in many ways "compatible" space from Central Europe to China speaks in Russian. And in conjunction with this space an ordinary Georgian will succeed more easily than in the huge, but still not quite "compatible," English-speaking world. Parental instinct and intuition are difficult to deceive - they rarely make strategic mistakes.
The surprising phenomenon with Russian nannies in Georgia demonstrates that there is no hatred towards Russia and the Russian phenomenon in society. It is this "symptom" that actualizes the problem of the notorious "soft power" of Russia in the former Soviet Union. Many people rightly believe that Russia, unlike the Western powers, has not yet learned how to use this technology to protect and promote her interests. But its ally is the aspirations of an ordinary man. In this case it is the most powerful, all-conquering parental love and desire to help a child to find a better place in life. The “soft power” remains a force, in spite of all the embargoes, blockades and visa regimes.
Georgy Kalatozishvili, Tbilisi, exclusively for the “Vestnik Kavakaza.”
