Ak Kalpak Yrlary

Sary-Say

Thirty-six years ago tonight. I was director of the House of Culture then, thirty-nine years old. Three days after the mud they brought the survivors to our district, to the school sports hall, and I took the komuz players there. Not to sing. We did not know what to do. We sat. An old woman asked someone to play, "the one that goes on the first string". We played it. Nobody spoke. The woman cried and said thank you.

I have never written a song about Sary-Say. I wrote one line only, in 1974, and I still have it: "The river knows the way, the people don't." I do not know how it continues.