The hearts of the Türkmen people are as
good as the Türkmen carpets, as brilliant as our cotton, as
emotional as our music, as modest as our nature.
(182-183.)
I
often remember my mother. Her smile still appears before my very eyes
although she passed away more than fifty years ago. The smile is visible
to me in the dark of the night, even if I have my eyes shut.
My
mother wove rugs all day.
The
sound of the loom echoed in our home like the clatter of hoofs. I woke
up early, as usual, and I saw that my mother was awake working. She kept
on working after putting us to bed. I was rather worried, for my mother
did not take a rest as other mothers did. She would not go out either.
It was only after she passed away that I could understand that she
worked
day
and night to provide a living for us. She relieved herself of her pains
through working. I remember saying to her:
“My
dear mother, please have some rest. Look, your hands seem tired.” Then
she would take me on her lap and would caress me as if she was hugging
and caring for a baby. She would look me in the face, watch me with her
dark eyes and smile at me. That smile of hers is still in my heart, mind
and world. I always remember the smiles of my mother.
(339-340.)
|
If
one wished to create a flag of beauty and perfection, then this flag
would be a Türkmen carpet.
The
ancient historians wrote that the best cloth was woven in Merw and
Nusay. In their books the Türkmen plateaus are well-known for silk
cloth and silk carpets.
The
same must be said of the Türkmen horse of Ahalteke, the Türkmen
iti (dog), the carpet and the other artefacts.
In
the past our ancestors presented themselves to the world by the strength
of their swords; now, we should present ourselves with our rationality
and with our immense spiritual values. Türkmenistan is known for its
unique Ahalteke horses, for its carpets that are examples of the wonders
of the world’s art, and for its limitless wonders of nature. 
The
carpet is an art to us.