Некто не забыт, нечто не забыто
Nobody is forgotten, nothing is forgotten.
This is what the citizens of the former U.S.S.R. say regarding the Second World War. It is also what is written on nearly every monument to the veterans, heros and victims of the war. It explains why, if anybody does more WWII documentaries than The History Channel, it’s Russian television.
Last year I did a big post on the TV specials. This year, we went to Park Pobedy (in Tajik, that’s Boghi Ghalaba) to see what was there. The funicular was still working, though it has no windows and the operator looked a little sketchy. We took it up to the top of a hill overlooking all of Dushanbe. Artemis gets so hot in the carrier in this weather so I let her whole top hang out. However when she falls asleep she kind of flops about as sleepy babies do so I wasn’t hands-free as usual.
She was awake for the funicular, though. She didn’t seem to get any thrill of being high up, possibly because she has no concept of falling.
At the park there was a much higher proportion of Russians than one usually sees in Dushanbe these days. There were also the children of jugi (the local name for Roma) stealing the flowers that the Russians set down near the eternal flame.
This year there were no parades here, just a small official ceremony up at the park for the veterans. We also didn’t get a May Day parade. Is Rahmon- he took off the “ov” from his name and now he’s just Emomali Rahmon- trying to distance Tajikistan from its Soviet and Russian periods as part of a nationalistic push? Or does he just want people to forget how happy they were?
We walked around the park in the searing heat, saw the monuments, said hello to some people my husband knew, then went to a little outdoor restaurant with nice wooden picnic tables and tropical straw hut-type shades, and had ice-cream and beer and then went home.
This is what Victory Day has come to, in Dushanbe.
- The CIS | Time: 05.1.35 (UTC+8)
Floppy babies are so cute, especially yours, nomekhuda. What do other Tajiks think about Victory day, or is it somewhat ignored by people who have no relatives who are soldiers (like Veterans’ Day in the U.S.)?
Comment by Asiyah — 21.05.2007 @ 01.1.36
It’s not ignored. Everyone in the former USSR had relatives in the war. But they are slowly fading from people’s memories as they die off. The symbolism for the older generation was so huge, but for this new generation, it was not their country which fought. It was the USSR and the USSR is gone.
Comment by Administrator — 21.05.2007 @ 08.1.07
Elisabeth?!
A blog? and a kid? Congratulations.
I’ve been reading your blog for a few months now (probably found it through The Road to The Horizon, i guess), and I only realised today that we met five years ago, when we were both interns in Dushanbe : so how are you?
Comment by klari — 25.05.2007 @ 12.1.04
Here’s another blog!
Comment by Ishtar — 25.05.2007 @ 12.1.12
Thanks for the insight - i guess it’s similar to the U.S…
I had to ask J.G if it would be weird if I said that you were pretty - and he said it was fine. So, you and your baby are so pretty (looking at my nails).
Comment by Asiyah — 26.05.2007 @ 00.1.17
KLARI!!! Salut! C’est toi, du Centre Culturel? Oui, c’est moi, avec bebe et blog. Mais tu es a Paris…avais-tu les plans de visiter l’Asie centrale? Ca fait trop longtemps que je ne parle pas en francais alors j’ai decidee de le “parler” avec toi. Trop cool.
Je me rappele toujours cette fois que nous faisons le “silly walks” et F* est venir le moment exact ou tu faisais ton “walk”. Je souris encore.
Ishtar- thank you!
Asiyah- Thanks. Baby is even cuter when not wearing a hat that covers her entire head and neck.
Comment by Administrator — 26.05.2007 @ 10.1.05
you’re welcome. I like the floppiness aspect and babies with hats just make me happy. almost as funny as babies with sunglasses. i am easily amused.
Comment by asiyah — 26.05.2007 @ 11.1.47
Babies with sunglasses make me laugh. They look absolutely ridiculous. Especially since they accept it so passively. But the hats aren’t superfluous. They keep the sun off their heads.
Comment by Administrator — 28.05.2007 @ 05.1.05
“This year there were no parades here, just a small official ceremony up at the park for the veterans. We also didn’t get a May Day parade.”
Is that true? I guess I saw the parade on Mir Channel.
Comment by Vadim — 29.05.2007 @ 12.1.45
Dans ce cas, je continue en français. Je me rappelle beaucoup de nos bêtises (et surtout du parmesan que tu avais ramené des US), mais pas du silly walk. Cela dit, je pense qu’on a du faire plein de silly choses à l’époque..
Des nouvelles de Bactria?
Je vais éplucher ton blog, histoire de voir s’il y a des photos non pas du bonnet d’Artemis, mais de son visage.
J’ai transféré l’adresse de ton blog à d’autres anciens collègues, tu devrais avoir d’autres visites depuis la france, héhé!
Grosses bises!
Comment by klari — 29.05.2007 @ 15.1.37
Et moi, je me ne rapelle pas le parmesan! Je n’ai rien ecoute de Bactria, mais je suis occupe du bebe alors je ne fais pas beaucoup de choses culturelles. Pas de temps. Merci pour les pubs!
Vadim- I personally didn’t see a parade in the center or anywhere. They did have a little mini-parade ceremony but I meant that they did not have a big celebratory parade.
Comment by Administrator — 31.05.2007 @ 08.1.16
i don’t understand the title, but all i can say is that, the girl on the picture is so beautiful.
Comment by Parantar — 19.10.2008 @ 03.1.45