Magyar Hírek, 1983 (36. évfolyam, 1-26. szám)
1983-08-20 / 16-17. szám
'THE YEARS OF ONE S YOUTH ARE INDELIBLE A conversation in London with Lord Kaldor BREAKING AWAY HUNGARIAN FLAVOURS On the occasion of his 75th birthday Lord Kaldor, the Hungarianborn British professor of Economics, gave an interview to our correspondent, Sándor Lintner. The conversation was in Hungarian and the full text is on p. 9. of the present issue. Excerpts in English appear below. First Lord Kaldor talked about his studies at the University of Berlin and the London School of Economics. After the Second World War he accepted an invitation by Qunnar Myrdall to head a U.N. body deeding with questions of research and planning. In 1946, at the request of tlie Hungarian Social Democratic Party, he took part in preparing plans for the stabilization and reconstruction in Hungary. Following Lord Kaldor’s account of his life the interviews asked his opinion about the present situation of the Hungarian economy in the world context. “To tell the truth, I am a little pessimistic. Hungary must improve relations with the economically and industrially developed Western countries—that is beyond question. In these years, however, this is very difficult because the West is going through a recession, and it is hard to sell anything, consequently it is hard to develop things. At the same time I don’t know how long the business deals on dollar account will last, how far they can be relied upon. Therefore my view of the situation is that on the one hand it is necessary to develop, and on the other hand it is practically impossible, or at least very difficult, to make any progress. But the Hungarians are a talented and hard-working people, they certainly hold something in reserve. When I was at home a few months ago, I was told about the latest miracle of thepharmaceutical industry, Cavinton, for which the inventors were rewarded with a State Prize. Here in England, however, I have not heard a word about it, which, frankly speaking, I do not quite understand. When I returned to England, while on the plane I read in Népszabadság an article about Cavinton. I have clipped it and will send it to a few renowned professors here in England, perhaps that will be of some help . . .” It is surprising and even touching as I now see that you have taken out of your pocket a folded Hungarian newspaper, and that you visibly concern yourself with this matter. Do you feel so much of a Hungarian, though you have barely lived at home? “I am as much of a Hungarian as you are. But I am British as well: I grew up in Hungary, but I have lived the best part of my life here, and I like this country. Talking to me, you don’t feel, do you, that you are talking to a foreigner. I speak without an accent, don’t I ? It is 55 years since I have lived in Hungary, and I have spoken Hungarian practicallyonly with my friend Lord Balogh. The years of youth are indelible, I still have relatives in Hungary. I do not understand how one can speak broken Hungarian after an absence of twentyodd years.” Further on, the interviewer inquired PHOTO: VIKTOR GÁBOR about Lord Kaldor’s opinion of the cluinces of getting over the economic recession which has lasted just about ten years note, sparing no country. “That we shall recover is certain, I am optimistic about that. The question is only when. There are a number of theories on the subject. Kondratiev’s theory of business cycles holds that good and bad periods follow each other every 25 years. The crisis of 1873 came to an end in 1896; it lasted almost 25 years. The oil crisis that broke out a hundred years later seems to confirm Kondratiev’s theory. But prediction is very difficult, the crises are elicited by local causes, and much depends on how powerful the impact of such causes is. The development of capitalist countries is characterized by intensive changes of rhythm. At times unemployment disappears totally; and it even becomes necessary to import foreign labour. It suffices to look at the Federal Republic of Germany and the Netherlands, or Britain, in earlier years. Unemployment is again growing in our days, governments in many places even pay repatriation grants to rid their countries of excess manpower. These periodical phenomena also permit the conclusion that the recession will be followed by an upswing. I do not believe, or at least I should not like to believe, that war will be the solution. The situation will be changed much rather by technologies and inventions revolutionizing the uses of energy the world over. Solar energy will be equally accessible to all countries and utilizable at little cost and in unlimited quantity given the appropriate process -—well, I think this can be a method of coping with the crisis and averting the danger of war. This may seem illusory to many, but economists and scientists and engineers are very much occupied with questions of this sort. Of course, slow progress cannot be ruled out in the meantime either. According to reports by American economists certain important indices of the U.S. economy have been stabilized following the recession or are going up, though at snail’s pace. This is expected to make its effect felt in the Western countries only later, not to mention the developing world which this upswing can reach only at a further remove, later still. And this probably applies to Hungary as well.” SÁNDOR LINTNER If you find yourself being driven through Budapest these days, you may hear a voice coming from somewhere around the driver’s knee and saying something which sounds like “Break, break, break!” Don’t be alarmed, for if your driver replies into a handmike, you are about to hear your first Hungarian C.B. radio conversation. C.B. (for Citizen’s Band) sets first appeared in large numbers in Hungary in early 1978. Most of these had been individually imported by returning Hungarian holidaymakers. The following year sets became available domestically and the Post Office had ' set up a registration system. (This is a simple matter of applying for a call-sign number and then registering it along with your equipment.) The only restriction is that applied in most countries—your set should not interfere with the frequencies used by public services. Who uses C.B.? At first, as in most countries, it was those who wanted to break the monotony of long journeys by talking to fellowdrivers. But by now it has been taken up by a large number of enthusiasts, many agricultural cooperatives and more and more self-employed people for whom fast communication is a must. Into the latter group, for example, fall taxi owner-drivers, automechanics and plumbers. (Many of them advertise their C.B. call number as well as their telephone numbers.) The Post Office has published a directory of registered call-numbers and an emergency channel has been set aside and monitored by the public services. This has been widely publicised and indeed praised by the authorities. The average C.B. enthusiast is a gregarious being and, not surprisingly, C.B. clubs have sprung up all over the country. Although the special language of American users has not been adopted as much as it has in, say, French or German, Hungarian has quite happily made a home for a few Americanisms. “C.B.” in Hungarian has become a noun meaning the user of a set and is also the root of the verb cébézni which means to use the same. “Break” which in American simply indicates a wish to join in someone else’s conversation is somewhat richer in Hungarian. It doe3 have that meaning, but it is also the word for the set itself—a topic of constant interest to the enthusiasts. Already, a rich C.B. slang is in use: the rather bleak English U.S.B. (Upper Side Band) has taken on the personal name “Ubul”, one which has comic and ironic overtones to the Hungarian ear. And where a U.S. (or British) user would say “Smokey is on the Highgate road”, the Hungarian equivalent is “the tobacconists is open on the Budakeszi road”. (They both inform the listener that the police are checking traffic.) A feature of C.B. language here is the universal use of the informal “te” and the second person singular of the verb. Perhaps this is one of the reasons why C.B. users have so quickly acquired a reputation for friendliness and helpfulness. pETER DOHERTY More than 400 years ago the conquering Turks naturalised many Balkan dishes in Hungary which have stayed basic items of the menu ever since. In winter choncroute or Sauerkraut is eaten, and generally believed to be Hungarian by now; in spring podlupka, sourcreamed kohlrabi chips wrapped in fresh kohlrabi leaves and in the autumn the particularly juicy töltike which is a mixture of spiced minced meat and rice, wrapped in vineleaves and served with a savoury sorrelsauce. Ingredients: 8 large vine leaves (make sure they have not been sprayed), 300 grammes of lean minced pork, 2 spoonfuls of half-cooked rice, 1 egg, salt, ground pepper, a pinch of ground nutmeg (or a teaspoonful of grated onion), the juice and grated peel of a quarter of a lemon; ingredients of the sauce: 750 grammes of sorrel, 50 grammes of butter, 2 tablespoonfuls of flour, 200 grammes of milk, the same amount of sour cream, salt to taste. Scald the vine leaves with salt water and leave them to cool in the brine, than drain off thoroughly. Mix well the minced pork, the rice, the egg and the seasonings, and place a lump of the mixture onto each leaf. Fold the sides of the leaves first, then roll them up. Place them side by side, packed tightly in a two litre pan quarter filled with fast boiling, salt water, and cook them on a slow fire, with the lid on, for a half an hour, then drain. In the meantime clean, and braise the garden sorrel on the butter, and in its own juice until it is quite pulpy. Let the liquid boil away, then sprinkle flour over it, pour on the milk, and when the ingredients are well cooked,, top the dish with sour cream. The garden sorrel may be pulped in a. mixer, if you do not like the slightly “stringy” texture. Bring to the boil, placing the rolls in it, and let the lot simmer together for 1 or 2 minutes. Potatoes boiled in salt water go well with it. ANGÉLA F. NAGY
