Postcard from Bishkek

Yesterday I came across one of the saddest posts that I have seen for a long time …

It was a short post – just a single paragraph comprising three sentences and a youtube videoclip.  It was about Jenishbek Rayimbaev … and told how he had been “forced” to be photographed for money in Osh bazaar in order to earn money for medical treatment.

Rayimbaev is in his mid-thirties and, at 232 cms, (that’s 7 ft 7½ in), is recognized as the tallest person in Kyrgyzstan.  According to one list that I have seen, (which admittedly did not claim to be a complete and exhaustive list … which is just as well because it didn’t include him), he would have ranked as the 16th tallest living person and the 46th tallest person, (for whom we have reliable records), ever.

To be fair, the record statistics are full of controversy with several disputed figures  and another list that I have seen – which, once again, omits to mention Rayimbaev – would put him in 20th place.

 

Apart from everyday problems like trying to find clothes and shoes to fit him, like most extremely tall people, Rayimbaev is not well.  Many people who reach such dizzy heights, for example, suffer from a multitude of medical problems – especially circulatory and skeletal problems.   They may have difficulty walking and cannot move without assistance or crutches.

In 2009, there were reports that Rayimbaev was diagnosed with diabetes and it was discovered that his body was covered with boils and on his face and head there are benign tumors.  He was advised by his doctors to move from his native village of Ak Kiya, (in the remote mountain Ah Talaa region of the Naryn oblast), where he lived with his retired parents, to the capital where the climate was not so extreme.  He didn’t have a job, (indeed, he was another one of those who didn’t have a passport), and he fell ill – almost starving to death …

He arrived in Bishkek, thanks to some compassionate people who paid the expenses and arranged for him to travel to the city.  After a successful course of treatment improved sufficiently to be able to at least move about and returned home to Naryn but the following year was given an apartment in the city where specialist medical help would be more readily available.

Even so, it’s a struggle to make ends meet – and although he apparently needs special treatment twice a year, he hasn’t been able to afford it … hence the modelling … but, unfortunately, I doubt that he’s not going to be earning the sort of fees that other photo models can count on.

 

The clip from youtube embedded in the post was by no means his only appearance on the site – there’s a less disturbing one, a news report from a local TV station – in Kyrgyz – where he receives a visit from the controversial Kyrgyz politician Kamchibek Tashiev back in 2011.

 

Rayimbaev would be exceptional in almost any society – but seems to be more so amongst the Kyrgyz, who are not really a tall people … many of them, but by no means all, are quite small – I am tempted to say diminutive.

Perhaps the most famous was Kojomkol, (after whom the Sports Palace on Togolok Moldo in Bishkek is named).  He was also a giant of a man, at 2.3 meters tall – 7 ft 5 in, (and weighed 164 kg. – 361 lbs or nearly 26 stone).

Kojumkol was born in 1889 and died in 1955 at the age of 67 and Despite his size, he doesn’t seem to have suffered the same sort of health problems that Rayimbaev and so many other extremely tall people do … indeed he became a local hero for his feats of strength.

In his youth he would easily beat other “strong” men in wrestling competitions. On one occasion, already famous for his feats of strength, he received an invitation to participate in a competition in the neighbouring Toktogul area, (at that time wrestling competitions were an integral part of any celebration), being organized by one of the local “bais”, (one of the richest and noblest people in the area). Participation in that competition made Kojomkul even more famous as he beat several well-known wrestlers and won prizes comprising 50 sheep and several mares, which, apparently, the young fighter then distributed amongst the poor residents of the village. He fought many bouts but by the end of the 1920s there was no-one to rival Kojomkul in Kyrgyzstan.

One contest of note was against the Kazakh wrestler, Cholok Balaban. At this time Kojomkul was the Chairman of the District Council and thought he had no right to participate in such competitions. It took the intervention of “Higher-ranking” authorities to persuade him that he should compete for the Republic. He won in the 23rd minute of the match.

Sometime in 1930s, some residents of Suusamyr were going to the Chui Valley on horseback. At the Too-Ashu pass, a huge boulder, as big as a yurta, had fallen and blocked the way. They turned to Kojomkul for help and he told them to start digging a big pit near the boulder. Digging the pit took a long time and when it was ready, Kojomkul sat down on the ground, pressed his back to the mountain and began pushing the boulder into the pit. The huge boulder slowly moved and finally fell into the pit.

Kojomkul had eagerly adopted Soviet ways – having worked as a labourer for bais. He served as Chairman of the collective farm in the Suusamyr Valley for 20 years.

All was not well, however, and in 1937 he was imprisoned for a year for refusing to write information against the Chairman of the neighbouring collective farm. In prison he was “an authoritative person” for both prisoners and guards. During the years of the Second World War, he is reputed to have saved the poorest villagers from hunger – although I can’t find any details about this.

 

 

Tags: People