Last year a resident of Bashkiria, Rail Vakhitov, once again visited Grozny. He has visited Chechnya six times already. On the way to the capital of the republic he also travelled through Dagestan, Ingushetia, Ossetia and Stavropol Territory, where he met a lot of interesting people.
During his journey to Chechnya, Vakhitov was a guest in many villages. In answer to the question why he chose this region, he says that he always dreamed about seeing this mysterious place and getting acquainted with this mysterious people. When he was at school, he visited North Ossetia once. However, he hardly remembered anything about it. Now he could see the Caucasus with a fresh eye.
The adventurer decided to write the result of his first journey. "To dispel myths about Chechen people, I decided to write a book about this legendary ethnic group," he says. He headlined his book "Notes by a deaf-mute, or yet another journey to the Caucasus." According to the author, he was lucky to make many new friends by accident: "They were farmers, workers, policemen, taxi drivers, retired people, trade and service workers, medical workers, managers, tutors and professors, sportsmen, cultural workers and so on. And of course, I met Chechen writers and poets."
Here are some extracts from the book:
"Magomed, a taxi driver, not only drove me to a hotel, but also invited me to his house. Later, I went to the sauna of his relatives, who lived in the same village."
"There were two similar situations. Once, I pushed a young man in the street accidentally. I thought he and his friends would kill me." However, they asked for an apology and went on their way. In another case a young man shook my hand, smiled and caught up with his friends."
"The head of the culture department of Shelkov region, Israpil Salgireev, invited me to visit his house. He helped his wife in the kitchen, while I noticed a beautiful knife hanging on a wall. When Salgireev saw that I was interested in it, he presented me with the knife, as is the tradition in Chechnya." Alexander Babayev, a member of the Writers Guild, comments: "Presenting himself as a deaf-mute, with only the ability to watch and register, the author focuses his attention on the peculiarities of Chechen upbringing and traditions. Chechnya is presented as a land of optimism and vitality, surviving after years of war."The author expects that his book will be useful for all Russia's residents in the future.
Timur Utsaev, Grozny. Exclusively to VK.
