Dushanbe Update
I’ve been really poor about blogging on Tajikistan. When you’ve been in and out of the region for four years, little seems to stand out. But I have noticed a few new things in Dushanbe since I returned from Afghanistan.
These are (and I apologize in advance for the poor quality of pictures):
A new public telephony system. The government had installed a few phones in 2004 and 2005, but it seems these were vandalized. So now, anyone who wants to run a phone booth rents the booth, buys the line and a telephone, and stands by it timing calls with his or her own watch, or if it’s a good phone, with the phone itself.
There has also been an increase in foreign advertising. Here is an advertisement for the candy bar “Nuts”. I don’t think they’re going to make big inroads until they match the Turkish taste (less chemicals) and price (about 1/5th the price). The sign is in Tajik (top) and Russian (bottom). It says “Straighten out Re-charge your mind!” (I am a very poor translator… obviously this must correspond to some catchy phrase in English, since the Russian is not particularly catchy. Edit: I took the wrong meaning of the word zaryazhay, sorry! Finally, after a couple of weeks of wondering what they meant, it finally occurred to me…)
There’s been a serious increase in the number of hijabs in the city. It doesn’t appear to be spreading to the countryside, where people tend to stick more to tradition. This is a small picture (ooops) but I’ll try to get a bigger one. Our neighbours are also fundamentalists. Which, I suppose, is why they will never let us use their water when ours runs out. Because that’s what Islam is all about, not opening your door for your neighbours, covering your hair, and keeping your children from school.
For those of you who haven’t been to Tajikistan, to wash away the hijab image, here is a picture of “typical” Dushanbinki. The one on the left is wearing the traditional dress with a “modern” pattern. To her right (front) is a girl wearing a long black skirt and tight black shirt. The next girl is wearing the traditional atlas, about which I have already posted. The girl on the right, not facing the camera, is wearing a Pakistani-style outfit, which is coming in style here.
I liked this picture because the girl is a very typical Tajik Dushanbe girl (traditional dress with non-matching headscarf) with a very typical Dushanbe boy (white short-sleeved shirt, black pants). Notice that the man is carrying everything. Men don’t let women carry heavy bags, even if they end up carrying their wife’s purse. I see this picture a hundred times on my walk home from work.
Finally, an example of our modern-dressing urban dwellers (who make up about 15% of the population of Dushanbe, it seems to me):
Modern dress is commonly worn in the cities by christians, muslims of Caucasian descent (Tatars), and also by Central Asian muslims. Nobody remarks on modern dress.
- The CIS | Time: 13.1.08 (UTC+8)
Elizabeth…
Sorry to leave this here…I couldn’t find your email address.
You might find this interesting:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/india/story/0,,1761360,00.html?gusrc=rss
G.
Comment by Gollios — 26.04.2006 @ 15.1.59
The green “Pakistani” outfit that the girl is wear looks alot like what the men in Afghanistan wear. (except I never saw on in emerald green before.)
Comment by exmi — 26.04.2006 @ 16.1.02
I simply wish I could get away with wearing that Pakistani outfit. It looks so comfortable.
AND why isn’t that modern boy carrying that modern girl’s purse?! Kids these days!!!
Is the population in Dushanbe fairly mixed with people from all over the former USSR?
Comment by Shannon — 26.04.2006 @ 20.1.06
I’m interested in why you would say ‘wash away the hijab image’?
Comment by Asiyah — 26.04.2006 @ 21.1.29
Exmi- That’s poor photo quality for you. It really is of a totally different cut. V-neck, gold embroidery with red threading, etc.
Shannon- The Tatarka’s purse is too small for a man to have to carry. Dushanbe used to be more mixed, but a lot of other nationalities left after and during the civil war. You see way fewer Russians than you would see in, say, Tblisi, Tashkent, and certainly less than in Almaty.
Asiyah- Because the fundamentalists started the war, and want to take away the people’s traditional dress and replace it with something foreign. Makes me sick, anyway. There’s been ZERO increase in charity since the fundamentalists got their part in government: instead of building orphanages, they build fancy, Arab-style mosques and spend their time telling girls to cover their hair. This is not indigenous to Tajikistan- I have no problem if that’s someone’s tradition, but I hate foreign interventionism, be it American, Arab, or anything else. (Note that mosque attendance- if you count ‘informal’ mosques- actually DROPPED in Tajikistan after the end of the USSR. Do you know why? It’s because the mullahs were so heavily involved in the war and politics and so many died.)
Comment by Administrator — 27.04.2006 @ 03.1.49
Mate, thanks for these images. Tajikistan is nothing like I thought it would look like. I realise how ignorant I am on all things Central Asian. (Yeah, I’m one of those who come to Afghanistan from the south, where you come from the north).
I’m astounded by the last photo. Mate, that’s almost equivalent to wearing a bikini! (If it where here).
Comment by vasco pyjama — 27.04.2006 @ 07.1.55
Gollios:
Sorry, your comment was in the moderation queue. Thanks for the link (look to the top, everyone). I have heard of this, but it’s all fuzzy up to now. I can’t quite figure it out and am waiting to see what this could mean. Generally the Russians have been better with India, and it’s certainly no proxy, though I admit I’m surprised they got here before the Turks.
Vasco, hah, if you think that’s bad, a story:
So there I was in the southern provincial captial of Qurghon-Teppa (Kurgan Tyube), dressed like most modern girls in the summer in a little flowy tank-top thing and a black miniskirt with high-heeled black sandals. I mean, if you’ve got it, why not? In walks the team just arrived from Afghanistan, all expatriates, and their jaws just drop. They’ve been staring at women’s faces for the past two hours along the road, but since Q-T is pretty empty at night and they haven’t been to the bar yet, they haven’t seen the modern girls yet.
My friend, also in a tank top and short khaki shorts, offers them a beer. Guard walks in, offers them some beer and french fries, and we say no, we’re going out to a bar. I don’t think they shut their mouths for the rest of their stay in Tajikistan (though I admit, we always did to try and give the “afghan” suckers a damn good time).
The same will go for you if you ever come up (though please do let me buy my apartment first). Caveat: my figure has changed- you know why- and thus, you will not have the joy of seeing me in a miniskirt. Sorry.
Comment by Administrator — 27.04.2006 @ 08.1.38
Hmm, you’ve given me something to think about. I share your issues with fundamentalists. The fundies in the U.S. drive me crazy for the reasons you described. But I don’t have a problem with the hijab and see it very differently.
Comment by Asiyah — 27.04.2006 @ 11.1.57
Asiyah,
The hijab is one thing. The hijab appearing suddenly in certain countries, sponsored by political parties who were responsible for war, is another. It’s also the way they wear it, tying / pinning it in the Arab / fundie way instead of the traditional Tajik way, the way Tajik ladies wear their big scarves at the mosques. You can totally tell the difference, even from far away. My mother in law wears a big scarf, but in the Tajik way. You still can’t see her hair, neck, or any of the “immodest” parts, but she looks completely Tajik. Not these new hijab-wearers. They look like they belong in Qatar or somewhere. It’s a political, not a religious symbol. If they wanted to be religious they could easily wear the traditional Tajik scarf.
Comment by Administrator — 27.04.2006 @ 12.1.59
Fundamentalists are really screwing stuff up for the rest of us…can’t understand how that outlook appeals to anyone with half a brain.
Comment by sideshow bob — 27.04.2006 @ 13.1.42
I think you hit the nail on the head with that “half a brain” part.
Comment by Administrator — 27.04.2006 @ 14.1.01
So it’s the cultural aspect that bothers you? The fact that they don’t look Tajik? I don’t really know what a modest Tajik headscarf looks like. But what about the ‘modern’ dressers, why don’t they bother you? One could argue that they (with the Western influence) are political symbols too.
Also, after having said that I have issues with the fundamentalists, I would like to further clarify that I mean fundamentalists who are not focused on the religion but rather, only the political and who refuse to see others’ perspectives. The hypocrites, I mean. I know plenty of Muslims who can be categorized as ‘fundamentalists’ (although perhaps they wouldn’t categorize themselves as such) or conservative, and they come by it honestly. They genuinely believe that they are living the way God intended. I have no problems with them.
(I’m not trying to be inflammatory here, I am sincerely interested in what you think. I’ve enjoyed your thoughtful posts on Afghanistan and since I have never been anywhere else in Central Asia, I’m interested in your strong reaction against the ‘arab’ hijab.)
Comment by Asiyah — 27.04.2006 @ 14.1.27
Asiyah, I don’t agree with Russian imperialism, either, but the Russians have left. The Russians never asked Tajiks to adopt Russian dress: women in very high positions continued to wear the traditional dress throughout communism. Tajiks have adopted modern dress very slowly, in certain circumstances, and most have not. The Russians were wrong to take over the country, but all those people are gone now, and the remnants are just wearing their own clothes. But communists also wear traditional clothes and go to the mosques.
In this context, Western dress is not a political statement. It’s more a personal / ethnic choice. Certain ethnic groups (those brought by the Soviets) tend to wear it, while only a few others do. It’s a symbol of urbanization, which has been going on for the past 80 years. 80 years and even at its peak, only about 30% of the population was dressing in “Russian” dress. What is happening with the hijab is not going that slowly.
I don’t mind religious traditionalists, either, but again, it’s easy to spot these guys. The traditionalist mullahs never take women’s seats on the bus; the fundamentalists will never stand up for a woman. The traditionalists wear the Tajik or Uzbek or Kyrghyz hat and long white beards (rish-safeds). The fundamentalists wear modern suits, no ties, trimmed beards, and white skullcaps. This is what pisses me off- the artificiality of it all.
Comment by Administrator — 27.04.2006 @ 14.1.37
Oh, I gotcha now. Thank you for taking the time to respond. It seems that you’re reacting to the hypocrisy, (which is one of the worst things to be in Islam, btw). I also have problems with that too. I have an uncle who has become a fundie (in the worst sense of the word), and my aunts make him kiss cheeks every time they see him. “Mullah Sahib, I remember when you were bad and you’re too old to be attractive now so you might as well kiss cheeks.”
Comment by Asiyah — 27.04.2006 @ 15.1.17
Asiyah, thanks for taking the time to coment. Yes, you’ve hit the nail on the head. It’s the hypocrisy, amplified by the fact that there is a “real”, indigenous Islam here, which people could easily adopt if they were concerned about God and love and humanity. Which, clearly, based on their preoccupations with dress, political power, and generally bugging the rest of the population, they are not.
Comment by Administrator — 28.04.2006 @ 03.1.17
“The traditionalist mullahs never take women’s seats on the bus; the fundamentalists will never stand up for a woman.”
I guess that sums up the mode of fundamentalism very well. A very good post, and thanks for the insight.
Comment by moorethanthis — 29.04.2006 @ 13.1.39
Thanks so much for the pictures Elizabeth! My prayers are answered! Your only worry is getting your readers hooked and not being able to keep up!
Comment by Chirol — 29.04.2006 @ 22.1.04
Moorethanthis, welcome to the site. Chirol, thanks for commenting.
Comment by Administrator — 30.04.2006 @ 04.1.35
Reminds me of Tashkent…but much nicer….
Comment by haji-o-matic — 30.04.2006 @ 11.1.43
Thank you - I have enjoyed your sometimes provocative comments at Coming Anarchy, and I found this post, and its discussion, fascinating.
Comment by Alfred Russel Wallace — 01.05.2006 @ 01.1.42
HOM- It is more beautiful than Tashkent, but also substantially more expensive and with less entertainment.
Sir Wallace- no, thank YOU for stopping by DLMDMP.
Comment by Administrator — 02.05.2006 @ 03.1.37
Great pictures of Dushanbe!!!
I truly enjoyed it!
Comment by alex — 03.05.2006 @ 17.1.50
Can anybody help me by sending me some more recent pics from Dushanbe? I truly appreciate it!
Comment by alex — 03.05.2006 @ 17.1.51
Late to the party, but I wanted to say that I have only the fondest of memories of Nuts candy bars. My absolute favorite from my time in St. Petersburg!
Comment by ms. daisy — 15.05.2006 @ 23.1.55
can anyone help? i have been thinking of going to tajikistan, dushanbe, i am from south africa and would like to know what its like there.
Comment by megan — 11.06.2007 @ 11.1.34