Archive sections: ‘For the Record’
To be honest, the name of Al Biruni didn’t mean that much to me until, not long ago, I listened to a podcast about him, which aroused my interest. In the past have more or less ignored references to him mainly because he was not from Kyrgyzstan, but I now have to admit that this [...]
Welcome to the first day of Spring. Here, March 1st is reckoned to be the first day of Spring. If that surprises or confuses you, then, don’t worry … you are not alone! For a start, it’s all relative. If you happen to be in the Southern Hemisphere, then Summer is coming to an end, [...]
One of the books on my bookshelf which gets taken down every now and again in order for me to dip into and read a short section. It’s a 2004 reprint, of an 1829 translation from the original Arabic, of a fourteenth century account of his journeys around the then known world, written by Ibn [...]
Maxim spent the back end of last busily scouring the internet for inspiration. For homework one of his teachers at school had given him the task of drawing a poster, (a gazeta), to commemorate February 23rd, Dehn zashitnika Otechestva, (Defenders of the Fatherland Day – otherwise known as Army Day or Men’s Day). February 23rd [...]
Sunday was a rare “day off”. Tatiana, my accountant, has a friend, Anna, staying from Russia, and suggested going into the mountains so we decided to make a day of it. The obvious choice for a day trip from Bishkek is to go to one of the valleys in the Kyrgyz Krebet, just South of [...]
On Saturday I wrote about the Swiss charity Parmir Bridges and some events that they are organizing in various Swiss towns in March. In the post I mentioned that they had arranged for the translation for a book by Ella Maillart into Kyrgyz. Being a Swiss based charity concerned with Kyrgyzstan, their interest in Ella [...]
Every now and again we have experience which gives us a sense of having a “brush with history”. In fact we are living through history, it’s just that much of it is mundane and ordinary … everyday life, the details of which are “grist for the mill” for social historians who try to piece together [...]
It is not clear to me whether the great Mongol leader Tamerlane died on February 17th or the 18th, in 1405, I have seen both dates recorded in the literature. Whichever it was, I am sure that were plenty of people who were relieved by his passing – if only the envoys of the Chinese [...]
Yesterday, I commented on the fact that it was Saint Valentine’s Day. I could just have easily chosen to mark an anniversary which has slightly more relevance to Kyrgyzstan, but the day passed by without anyone really noticing it. It was February 14th, 1483 when Babur, (the “Tiger”), the first of the Mogul Emperors, of [...]
On Saturday, the International Women’s Club in Bishkek organized a Valentine’s Day Ball in the Hyatt. I didn’t go, because: a) I didn’t know about it … (so they need to look at their marketing … usually they write to everyone and approach us for sponsorship or prizes for the raffle but this time we [...]
