Forum of Tatar Women: ‘Tatar man did not use to hit his wife, it is a lie. It is not true’
A correspondent of Realnoe Vremya visited Kalfak-party without any national hat and costume, and nothing happened
The fourth International Forum of Tatar Women continues its work. As it is known, earlier there was a condition – every participant of the forum was to wear kalfak but have no trousers. And the strict dress code was applied to journalists too. Correspondents of Realnoe Vremya tried to visit the event without the traditional hat and knew about other new trends of Tatar fashion.
Kalfak as a gift
The fourth International Forum of Tatar Women caused a public outcry before its opening: the chairwoman of the forum Kadriya Idrisova stated on the threshold of the event about a strict dress code – to have no trousers. Moreover, the participants, including the journalists, need to wear kalfak. People who won't meet the requirements will face a punishment – they won't be able to see Kalfak Tuye (KalfakWedding; kalfakis a national hat of Tatar women) in the Kazan City Hall.
At the entrance to the Tinchurin Theatre, where a plenary session was held in the morning, no one controlled the presence of hats – there was not any registration of participants in general. Nevertheless, it was practically impossible to see a woman whose head was not adorned with a kalfak. Organizers thoughtfully prepared special sets that included booklets and a small kalfak with an orphrey for those who came unprepared, in spite of the strict instruction.
However, the participants has one chance more to choose kalfak: in the foyer of the theatre, there was an exhibition that could be called like Tatar 'women's happiness'. Here there were books for kids, tableware – cups and teapots with ligh blue, red interlacing ornaments, clothes for kids with a national print and even a real wooden cot. What is more, painters brought velvet shamails whose Koran phrases were embroidered in silver stones.
But stands with clothes, shoes and accessories were the most popular places among the women. They tried on earrings, rings, ichigi (Tatar national boots), kerchiefs. There was a great number of women near bags embroidered in stones and clutches. It should be told that the prices for these accessories were reasonable: they cost 1,500-2,500 rubles on average. Leather boots were more expensive – 10,000-15,000 rubles. And the price for the whole costume consisting of a dress and a waistcoat made by Ebivol reached 50,000 rubles.
'Parents don't want their children to receive their education in their mother tongue'
The plenary session, which took place in the hall of the theatre, was quite official: the most part of the speakers sat at a long table on the stage. There was a small number of men. For this reason, the Ministry of Education of the Republic of Tatarstan Engel Fattakhov and the chairman of the World Congress of the Tatars Rinat Zakirov were probably given the best seats in the middle of the table. By the way, they were the people who reminded the Tatar women about their maternal mission. Fattakhov told how the government of the republic is ready to help to preserve hearth and home. They were speaking about a legislative initiative of Tatarstan, according to which the timing of the decision on the annulment of marriage is offered to be prolonged from one to three months. If the couple has a child, the consent of both parents is needed.
Rinat Zakirov paid attention to problems of national education. He emphasized that nowadays there are many opportunities to learn the mother tongue and the culture: books are published, performances are staged, but there is no result yet.
'Today the reduction of the national language teaching in schools is tried to be explained as a desire of parents who don't want their children to receive their education in their mother tongue. I want to tell one thing, our dear women: our national schools have their advantages – a national climate forms there, kids get a dignified education. Come to think of it, it can be a barrier for the appearance of mixed marriages. Almost a new history is appearing now: national school closed in the 80s on the parent's initiative too,' Zakirov complained.
About who should go to design contest
Then representatives from Moscow, St. Petersburg, Omsk, Kemerovo Oblasts, Kazakhstan, Turkey and China told about their contribution to the conservation of traditions: embroider kalfaks, tubeteykas, izyus (pectoral adornment), prepare kystyby and ochmochmak, learn national songs and dances. Many participants who came from abroad found it difficult to speak in 'Kazan' Tatar language. Nevertheless, it was seen how glad they were about their success.
In her welcome speech, Kadriya Idrisova stressed how it is important to foster love to the mother tongue from the very first months, when a child starts to learn and remembers the main part of information. Idrisova also announced events that will be included in the programme of the 5th International Forum of Tatar Women – national costume design contest and lullaby contest. For example, Fakhinur Anverovna came from distant China and brought several bags with dresses, waistcoats, embroidered pillowcases and tablecloths. It was noticeable that the Chinese tradition significantly influenced the seamstress. So, a rose dress was more sumptuous and shinier.
Elmira Khammatova, a Candidate of Technical Sciences, docent of Design Faculty of Kazan National Research and Technological University, noted that now Tatar women choose clothes sewed according to Arab patterns, while the Tatars have their own rich tradition. It seemed that she wanted to demonstrate her words using her own turquoise costume – the dress had big patches on the shoulders, indeed it distantly reminded a Tatar costume.
'Tatar man did not use to hit his wife, it is a lie'
But Rabit Batulla's speech was the most touching and interesting. He told the history of the word 'kalfak', which was mentioned many times before the start of the forum. It turned out that the name of a beautiful hat was to sound differently – 'kalpak', because the Tatar language doesn't have the 'f' sound, it appeared together with Arab borrowings. Initially, people did not wear kalpak for aesthetics: it was woolen and kept the head of its owner against the cold. As Batulla told a joke, the form of kalpak was similar to modern men's beanie to a certain degree. When time went by, it turned into kalfak and transferred to women's wardrobe because its adornment could tell about the position of a woman and her wealth. For instance, Zakhida Tinchurina, Karim tinchurin's wife, had a kalfak embroidered in diamonds.
After a small literacy project, Batulla tried to dispel a myth about Tatar woman's lack of rights. The Tatar language is called 'Ana tele', which means mother tongue, it was a proof.
'Why is not it 'ata tele' (father's tongue)? Father is the head of the family, he hangs the lash to hit his wife. But the Tatar man did not use to hit his wife, it is a lie. Why should he hit the mother of his children, the bearer of the family name? It is not true.'
In Batulla's opinion, Gabdulla Tukay was mistaken a bit when he called the Tatar language native language. In his point of view, it's more correct to call the Tatar language mother tongue because it is mother who teached her kid to say the first words.
Without kalfak to the City Hall
The reports of the participants on the events organized during the year were very detailed, which means that they were very long. This is why Kalfak Wedding started 20 minutes later. While the guests were taking their seats, a live orchestra played the national music. It should be reminded that this event required the strict dress code.
We will note that actually it was not too strict. We carried a risk and put trousers on and without kalfak, which was the most horrible thing. But no one stopped us nor made a remark. Anyway, we could not escape indignant looks of women who put Tatar costumes on.
A great deal of performances pleased the guests in the event: the string orchestra, Tatar singers and children dancing national dances with yokes did their best for the delegates. An extremely positive atmosphere reigned in the hall. People sometimes song together with the singers, but when Bas Kyzym Epipe(a Tatar popular folk song) began, all guests could not help but throw into a dance.
