Postcard from Bishkek

The Kashful Mahjub or Unveiling the Veiled –  an early treatise on Sufism – by Ali bin Uthman al-Hujwiri. Tomorrow evening marks the start of Ramadan – probably, it all depends on the sighting of the new moon and whereas some Muslims are happy to calculate the date on the basis of astronomical data, in Muslim circles this is […]

On Sunday, at the 38th session of the  Intergovernmental Committee of UNESCO, held in Doha, it was decided to accept a number of historical and cultural sites from around the world into the UNESCO World Heritage List. Among the nominations that were approved was one relating to the Silk Road, making special mention of the […]

Some time ago I was invited to an event in one of Bishkek’s many Universities, the one named in honour of Ishenaly Arabaev. It is one of the oldest and most prestigious Universities in the country – based on six sites located in the city center – the main one being adjacent to the main […]

Arthur C. Clarke once wrote a short story tells of how a relatively unknown and insignificant scientist leading a humdrum and ordinary life during the Cold War is persuaded by a couple of strangers to change his name  … not in any major way, just by a single letter … and, they promise, his life […]

I have mentioned, several times, that there used to be a website which stated that “Kyrgyzstan is not particularly well endowed with festivals” … which, in my opinion, is grossly unfair.  They may not always be the best organized affairs, but there are a wide variety of festivals giving visitors the chance to see (and […]

Today. 21st March, happens to be World Poetry Day.  The day was inaugurated by UNESCO in 1999 to recognize the  unique ability of poetry to capture the creative spirit of the human mind. The Day is also intended to support linguistic diversity through poetic expression and to offer endangered languages the opportunity to be heard within their […]

I am not sure if there is a recognized collective noun to describe a gathering of Prime Ministers  … in my search I came up with a number of humourous suggestions, but I would would like to suggest one … at least for Kyrgyz Prime Ministers … a Pony of Prime Ministers.  If you can have a […]

In a previous postcard, written to commemorate the birthday of Pyotr Semenov, (the Russian explorer whose accounts of his journey and the samples he took back to St. Petersburg opened the Tien Shan Mountains to Western science – for which he was given the honourary title Tienshansky), I gave a summary of his first foray […]

Today would have marked the birthday of an interesting character in Kyrgyzstan’s history: Djumabekov Asankulovovich Asankulov, who served two terms as the head of the KGB in Kyrgyzstan, (from 1967-78 and 1989-1991). The KGB, (Komitet Gosudarstvennoy Bezopasnosti – Committee for State Security), was the main security agency for the Soviet Union from 1954 – when it […]

Something unusual happened last May; the Committee on Science, Culture and Sports of the Jogorku Kenesh, (the parliament), passed a resolution. You might think that there’s nothing unusual in that … after all, that’s what parliament’s do.  It’s their job. This one caught my eye, however, because this one concerned marking the 75th anniversary of […]