CHENNAI:

president

on Thursday said he had to answer several questions due to his name when he visited

as part of an assembly committee in 1989.

"As soon as I landed at a Russian airport, I was asked to mention my name. When I said ‘Stalin,’ many people at the airport started looking at me. While checking my passport, officials asked me several questions before I was allowed," said Stalin while speaking at a party functionary's marriage function here.

“Many people in Russia didn’t like

, who was the general secretary of Communist Party of the Soviet Union,” said Stalin, who was named after the Soviet leader.

“Similarly, I lost a chance to study in Church Park School in Chennai due to my name. The principal said my sister and I would be admitted under one condition that my name would be changed,” he said.

Stalin advised people to give their children Tamil names.