BENGALURU: From the sights and sounds of KR Market to the flower show at Lalbagh, Dana Kursh, Consul General of Israel in Bengaluru, shares the memories she is taking back with her as she gets ready to bid adieu to India
If all had gone well, Dana Kursh, the outgoing Consul General of Israel in Bengaluru to South India, would have celebrated her farewell with friends she made here over the last three years. But now, with uncertainty looming over her departure date and well as her successor, Kursh is hosting small gatherings – with social distancing norms – as she gets ready to bid goodbye. “I would have liked to have done it in a more personal manner, hugging them before I leave. But they’re in my heart,” says Kursh, who is returning to Jerusalem where she has spent a large part of her life, including college.
Five years ago, when she accepted a posting in India – two years in New Delhi as Deputy Ambassador of Israel to India and three in Bengaluru as CG of Israel – Kursh says she knew this would be the “job of my life.” “Born into a family of farmers, I haven’t felt prouder about my roots than when I came here,” she says. Looking back now, the apprehensions – especially regarding the schooling of her then three-year-old son, Ofek – have far outweighed the opportunities, including being part of the team when Pranab Mukherjee became the first Indian president to visit the Jewish country in 2015, followed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit in 2017.
When Kursh announced to her loved ones in Israel that she would be coming to India, many enquired if they could hop on, even in the container. Coming to India is a practice for young Israelis soon after completing their term in the Army. “I spent five years and I took that route in my 40s instead of my 20s,” says Kursh with a laugh. Even so, it did take some getting used to experiences of requests for photographs and cows wandering on the road. “I was raised in a village but even then I wasn’t used to this sight. So I sent a photographs to friends back home showing what my backyard view was like,” she says about her first weekend in India.
Talking about cultural differences like the ‘Indian Standard Time’ that most expats struggle with, Kursh admits that she “tends to be late” so that didn’t bother her much. “But I’m particular about deadlines. We either say ‘yes, it can be done’ or ‘no, it can’t be’. We use the term chutzpah in Hebrew to describe that,” she says, adding that gradually her team adapted to the Israeli style of being direct.One of the first memories she holds of the city includes blue skies and greenery. “People here are less formal and I’ve always felt at home in namma Bengaluru,” she says. Visiting the flower show at Lalbagh, looking at piles of flowers at KR Market, and recently even witnessing the floral tribute to COVID-19 warriors,
Kursh has spent her after hours taking in what the city has to offer. “I spent my 2019 birthday in Puducherry and this year’s in Varanasi, soaking in the tradition of these places,” she says. With both India and Israel being startup nations, Kursh has worked in driving innovation and hopes to continue doing so. “An Israeli team is coming here to partner with Indian experts to develop rapid testing kits for Covid-19,” she says.