Inspired by Central Asia
Inspiration comes to all of us in different ways. We can find it in the eyes of people we love, in the beauty of nature, or by reading a book or even going through facebook or instagram feed.
I found mine in the patterns of my grandma’s beautifully embroidered chest, which in Kyrgyz means sandyk. I remember sitting by the stove with all my siblings, listening to the melodic voice of our grandma, my Ene, telling all her made-up stories or the tales she heard from others. While my mind was inside the stories, my eyes were busy exploring her sandyk’s intricate motifs as they were the colorful illustrations. Through these tales she taught us about wisdom and bravery, importance of gentle attitude to nature and animals, consequences of being lazy, advantages of being united as siblings and disadvantages when apart. Now as a mother of two I truly admire my ene’s way of teaching morals and immensely grateful for handing me such a crucial guidebook in my life.
The SandukTales is the collection of stories I heard from my ene, my mom and her mom – my tayane. These inspirational women in my life were the genuine image of Central Asia and they just happened to be the representatives of different nationalities from the region. They themselves were like a treasure chest for me, full of amazing collectibles: stories, characters, beauty; an example of a person I wanted to be - strong, caring, and wise. Being around them was like opening a chest every time for the first time - you could find new things you missed last time. So now with this site I am opening it again, and this time not in the role of mere admirer but adding some new valuables myself to continue good old tradition and pass along these stories to my kids. Hope they will find my "sandyk" as fascinating as I did and serve as guidebooks in their lives as well. Besides in some way it is an attempt of giving these stories continuation by introducing them to western world, perhaps for some they will also be in assistance to picture common life of Central Asain people.
The stories we are sharing here will be translated from other published collectors as well as from other sources mainly left in oral version. And jewels like illustrations will be added by my talented sister Eldana J. and in some cases we will be using the pictures from old books, illustrated by prominent painters of that time.
The name of the site as it is came from my constant source of inspiration and another true Centralasian, my beloved friend, Nargis. In Tadjik, her mother tongue, chest sounded as sanduk, which we liked for its enigmatic appeal. Together with Nargis we will try to guide you through our journey to the world of magic, trickery and romance.
Every inch a Centralasian and truly yours,
Elga J.