World celebrates prince of Russian poetry Alexander Pushkin

The president amid the celebrants (Photo : Raisa Safiullah)

On the day of the Russian language: The world celebrates prince of Russian poetry Alexander Pushkin

For almost 150 million people, the Russian language is considered their mother tongue, added to that figure nearly 100 million more who speak it fluently as a second language. For all of them the sixth of June is celebrated as the Russian language day, or Pushkin Day, as it is the birth date of one of the most important writers and poets in the world; Alexander Pushkin.

Although the Pushkin festival is the Day of the Russian Language may mean a lot for Russia, but the nationalities and peoples of other nations are organizing many functions to mark this day in many parts of the world, which are not linked to each other geographically and linguistically.

In India, as an example, they organize a poetry reading contest in Russian, Hindi and English. In UK, they also launched poetry festival “Pushkin in Britain” by Russian-speaking poets from 13 countries.

A tatar actress performs a scene written by Pushkin (Photo : Raisa Safiullah)

In the Crimean region, they organizes the festival VII’s “Great Russian word” In Sevastopol regulate children’s plays and musical programs in the squares and of course concert “Pushkin days”.

At the gala birthday Pushkin all lovers of literature and poetry could visit the Pushkin Museum for free, listen to the lectures and special programs related to this feast.

Alexander Pushkin is the Prince of Poets Russians, was born in Moscow, on the Sixth of June, 1799, and grew up in a family of nobles who lived a luxury life. His father was a prominent poet, thereby contributing to the development of the son’s poetic talent, and his mother was of African family.

Ashraf among the celebrants (Photo : Raisa Safiullah)

Laying flowers on the statue of Pushkin (Photo : Raisa Safiullah)

Kazan was ready for the special celebration of Alexander Pushkin. In the morning, the celebrants gathered at exactly eight in the morning. The rain drops were knocking the clock to begin laying flowers ceremony before the statue of the great poet at 8:30 am. All figures of arts and politics have gathered, headed by the President of the Republic of Tatarstan Mr. Rustam Minnikhanov , accompanied by the Minister of Culture and the Mayor of the city.

A boy reads Pushkin poem for the president of Tatarstan (Photo : Raisa Safiullah)

Among the crowd whom were saluted personally by the president was a young boy who read a poem of Alexander Pushkin for Mr. Rustam Minnikhanov.

Ashraf reads one of Pushkin poems in Arabic (Photo : Raisa Safiullah)

Later in the afternoon, at 16:30, the second section of celebrating Alexander Pushkin started by reciting his poems, in front of the great poet’s statue next to the Opera House. I read his poem Caucas:

The Caucas lies before my feet! I stand where
Glaciers gleam, beside a precipice rock-ribbed;
An eagle that has soared from off some distant cliff,
Lawless as I, sweeps through the radiant air!
Here I see streams at their sources up-welling,
The grim avalanches unrolling and swelling!

The soft cloudy convoys are stretched forth below,
Tattered by thronging mad torrents descending;
Beneath them the naked rocks downward are bending,
Still deeper, the wild shrubs and sparse herbage grow;
But yonder the forests stand verdant in flora
And birds are a’twitter in choiring chorus.

The famous Tatar poetess Liliya Gazizova (Photo : Raisa Safiullah)

Yonder, cliff-nested-are dwellings of mortals,
There pasture the lambs in sweet blossoming meadows–
There couch the herds in the cool deepening shadows–
There roar the Aragua’s blue sparkling waters,
And lurketh the bandit safe hid in lone caverns,
Where Terek, wild sporting, is cutting the azure!

It leaps and it howls like some ravening beast
At first sight of feeding, through grating of iron–
It roars on the shore with a furious purring,
It licks on the pebbles with eagerest greed.
Vain struggle and rancor and hatred, alas!
‘Tis enchained and subdued by the unheeding mass.

I read the poem in Arabic, which was not understood by nearly all of the audience, except a Tatar Sheikh who came to shake hands with me after my reading, in the event organized by the famous Tatar poetess Liliya Gazizova.

Moscow School of Drama Art performance Lessons (Photo : Raisa Safiullah)

In the evening of the next day, in Kamal Tatar National Academic Theatre, in the city of Kazan, and as a part of the 11th edition of the International Theatre Festival of Turkic Peoples; Naurauz, we gathered again to celebrate Pushkin watching the performance of the School of Dramatic Art, Moscow, in their “Lessons” show that clearly enlightened the creativity of Pushkin poetic language.