Jokes and Japes
Well, I am back from my monthly trip to Naryn where we have a guesthouse.
I enjoy my regular trips up there. They get me out of the office, into the fresh air and I see a bit of the countryside. It is interesting to see how the scenery changes with the passage of the seasons. This time there wasn’t as much greenery as I would have expected for springtime; the Dolon Pass still had a little snow, but the sun was shining and it was pleasantly mild … until the thunder and hail arrived, that is, but it was a short lived storm and the sun re-emerged to brighten things up. It was still shining quite late into the evening, when we descended to the dining room for supper.
In a way they have had a quiet month in Naryn, but then again, (of course), I always hope for better: 100% occupancy (OK, I’d be happy with 99%) and anything less is disappointing. On the other hand I was busy during the visit.
I had been asked to call in to the office of the Free Economic Zone where I discovered that there was a director, a woman who is quite dynamic and seems to have plans for developing not only the zone itself, but the Naryn region as a whole and especially with respect to tourism., especially when it comes to cooperation with China, (which is something that I have long felt and argued is important for Kyrgyzstan as a whole, and not just Naryn). I have known and worked with her for several years and I think she could provide a welcome injection of new ideas and direction, and I wish her luck.
Another piece of good news was that Marat, our Manager in the guesthouse was not there to meet me when we arrived. Perhaps I should explain why that was good news: five minutes before we drove in through the gates, he received a phone call to say that his wife had just delivered him a healthy baby boy; their third son. To be honest, they had been hoping for a girl, but even so, they were obviously very happy with the new addition to their family … and, obviously, Marat had other family commitments. As a true professional, however, he had prepared all the paperwork for me and I was able to deal with everything that I had to do in his absence.
The staff in Naryn assured me several that Marat would turn up, but I scoffed at this and said that he would be far too busy. However, Marat did actually turn up at about eight o’clock in the evening and I happily coughed up the 100 som stake that I had rashly offered. After hering that mother and baby were both well, we duly set about “whetting the baby’s bottom”, although there was problem in that all the toasts were to “the new arrival”, or to “the baby boy”, because he is as yet unnamed. According to tradition he will be given a name by his grandparents, and so we will have to repeat all the toasts again next month once we have a name … and then, once again, in a month’s time, (because a Kyrgyz baby has an “official” birthday only after forty days).
When they were true nomads, they would hang a talisman by the door of the yurt on the day that the child was born and each day move it a little around the walls of the yurt until, after forty days, it arrived back at the door. Only then did the mother and child emerge from the yurt into the daylight. The practice was derived from an ancient Shamanistic tradition which was supposed to protect the newborn, when he or she was at their most vulnerable, from the attention of evil spirits.
When people comment about the paucity of festivals in Kyrgyzstan, I tell them: the Kyrgyz love a celebration as much as the next man and seem to be pretty ingenious at finding reasons to hold one … and family celebrations are especially important.
At least the new arrival made his appearance on Thursday, March 31st. I can imagine the ribbing he would take if he had been born just one day later, April Fools’ Day. Although it is usually a low key affair, this year there were a fair number of what called be pranks. I got caught out, for example, by Maxim who told me that he had come off his beloved BMX and then had a “fight” with a woman who was going to issue a complaint against him to the police. When I started asking him for more details he went shy and started laughing, a sort of embarrassed giggle, and I couldn’t tell if it was just a sign of “discomfiture” or if he wasn’t taking it seriously and just thought it was funny. Of course it was both, he was thoroughly enjoying my concern and anxiety.
Someone decided to announce that the government was going to construct a special duplicate of the White House and some shops so that tourists could re-enact the protests, storming the building, rioting and looting the shops and, finally, setting up a new government. I’m not sure that was in the best of tastes.
There was also a scuffle in the parliament building between two of the deputies. Unfortunately, it wasn’t a prank but a serious confrontation between them which started with shouting, progressed to pushing and shoving and, apparently, led to blood. After the incident, access to one of the upper floors of the building was blocked by “unidentified” people and apparently security in the building has now been stepped up, with access extremely limited and some “young people with athletic body shape” have been detained in the surrounding area.
Apart from the April Fool jokes, much of the news this week has been continuations of previous stories:
Last week, for example, I mentioned the “hunger strike” being held in Kyrgyzstan’s prisons, to protest against the crackdown on organized crime. If that story had broken on Friday this week, we might have easily assumed that it was another practical joke, but it was all too serious. Indeed, it cost a couple of the protestors their lives, although as a complication from TB rather than from hunger. Although the inmates did call for an end to “unlawful mass arrests” as part of the crackdown, they also raised some other important issues, such as the alleged use of torture during interrogation; the conditions within the prisons; the procedures for dealing with those convicted for life; violations in proceedings involving issues relating to “weapons” and “drugs”; corruption amongst officers of the prison service and the medical care afforded to prisoners. The hunger strike was finally called off during the week, having made its point.
Another protest that might well have come to an end during the week, is the one surrounding the development of Osh Bazaar. Once again crowds of protestors gathered, blocking the city’s main road – Prospect Chui. The Russian media suggest there were about 2000 of them, but local press reports suggested just 500. This time they seem to have been successful in that the Parliament has instructed the city authorities to take another look at the situation.
The situation surrounding the Megacom mobile phone network continues to dominate the news with yet more claims and counter claims. It has cost the Chief Prosecutor his job, dismissed by the President over a “conflict of interests”, something which he hotly denies. There are further allegations of large scale transfers of money for non-existent contracts
The controversy over the US Transit Base at Manas Airport also resurfaces on a regular basis, with onje of the deputies asserting that it will close. The government are pursuing their aim of removing the firm Mina from the delivery of fuel to the airbase, and Mina are continuously issuing statements about the irregularities of the government’s position.
The Mining Industry continues to face uncertainty with doubts and delays, about the issuance of licenses and allegations of “kinship ties” between members of the responsible commission and some of the mining companies. Kumtor, the country’s biggest gold mine, is facing a huge fine for “irregularities”.
Another politician is facing claims that he has a Kazakh passport, something which has been alleged several different politicians in the past. If true, this would mean that he cannot hold office in Kyrgyzstan, which is problem because he happens to be the Deputy Prime Minister. Both the Kazakh Interior Ministry and the Kazakh embassy here in Bishkek have denied the accuracy of the report, but some scans have been posted on the internet, so this story is likely to keep going for some time.
Actually, the use of the internet has aroused much comment. I suppose this could be a result of the use of Social Media in other trouble spots around the world, and I see that the events of April, 2010, are being referred to by some analysts as the “Twitter Revolution”.
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On a more general note, one of the news items that caught my attention during the week related to a research project carried out by a group of consultants who have been monitoring natural disasters since the turn of the century. The consultants reported that in the last decade they monitored over seven and a half thousand natural disasters, which amounts to about 2 a day. About a quarter of them involved floods, and the majority were in Asia – which, I suppose shouldn’t surprise us as it is the largest continent. Over half a million deaths were ascribed to these disasters, once again, the majority (65%) being in Asia, the largest group being associated with earthquakes. Although I thought it was interesting to have some concrete data, I wasn’t particularly surprised by most of the conclusions from their report, especially this one: “natural disasters in developing countries take its toll mainly on human lives, whereas in developed countries, the consequences of such disasters are mostly financial”.
If yesterday was April Fools’ Day, then today is World Autism Awareness Day and International Children’s Book Day.
The first started in 2007, when the United Nations decided to dedicate a day to raising awareness of this disorder and its effect on the lives of the tens of millions sufferers worldwide – only one of three medical conditions which are so recognized by the organization. We don’t really understand much about the disorder which affects the development of the brain, causes sufferers problems with interacting socially with others and often manifests itself as repetitious, compulsive behaviour as well as outbursts of inappropriate behaviour, (which can sometimes lead to self injury). Unfortunately, (and surpisingly, because the Kyrgyz authorities do usually commemorate such days), I haven’t seen any activities here to indicate that we have marked the day.
The second has been marked ever since 1925 and is now sponsored by a non-profit organization called the International Board on Books for Young People, and the date was chosen because it happens to be the birthday of Hans Christian Anderson. Declared a “National Treasure” and given a pension by the Danish government, his children’s stories are popular around the world having been translated into numerous languages. This year, a play based on his story, “The Snow Queen”, has been a feature of the winter season in the Russian Drama Theater, here in Bishkek. His stories don’t exhibit the more disturbing attributes that some of the folk tales recorded by the Grimm Brothers, but I am sure that “The Emperor’s New Clothes” would have made a good April Fools’ prank … and fits in well with the tradition of the atysh – a competition between bards where performers vie with each other in composing impromptu songs – where the most popular entries usually involve bringing down the arrogant and the haughty to reality.
In a way, that’s what the Tulip Revolution and the Twitter Revolution were all about. Except, they weren’t jokes, even if they were both one week away from April Fools’ Day.
Bishkek