Dreams of the princess from Kostek. Gezel Vagabova from Dagestan talks about her life in St. Petersburg

At one of the recent international holidays, Dagestani Gezel Vagabova performed several folk songs in the Kumyk language. This pretty, graceful girl with the soft movements of a dancer and a high, transparent voice puts you at ease from the first words of the song and from the first minutes of meeting you. How? Hard to say. Perhaps, due to its leisurely pace, restraint and modesty combined with obvious inner dignity. And also – the confidence that life is arranged fairly, that there is a lot of good things ahead and that dreams will definitely come true if you go towards them progressively, step by step.

PHOTO OF THE AUTHOR

In her white stage costume, Gezel Vagabova looks like an oriental princess – but only in appearance. She builds her destiny herself, making bold decisions and not being afraid of difficulties along the chosen path.

There is an ancient village of Kostek in the Khasavyurt region of Dagestan, which was formed, presumably, in the 17th century – around the 1660s. Where this name came from is not known for certain. However, in 1893, the Tiflis newspaper “Caucasus” published an article by a teacher from this village, Mikhail Afanasyev. According to the teacher, it was founded by the Russian fisherman Konstantin. A Terek Cossack from the village of Braguny settled here on the banks of the Sulak River, and Kumyk fishermen from nearby villages settled nearby and also fished. Since the Cossack’s name was Konstantin (Kostya, Kostik), the Kumyks named this settlement Kostek. As Afanasyev reported in his article, Konstantin subsequently converted to Islam and remained among the Kumyks. His descendants in Kostek bore the surname Balaev…

Gezel Vagabova comes from that very ancient village of Kostek. She grew up in a large family: she has four sisters and a younger brother. Father is an entrepreneur, mother is an accountant.

From kindergarten, Gezel was an “activist” – she happily sang, danced, read poetry, and went to various performances and competitions. She often won.

— Actually, our whole family sings, says the girl. — And my aunt – poetess, teacher, writer Dzhennet Musaeva – writes songs for many Dagestan performers.

— And did she write to you?

– I haven’t yet…

In 2015, Gezel suddenly decided one day that she wanted to live in St. Petersburg – and moved.

Now she recalls with pleasure her first impressions of the Northern capital:

“At first, St. Petersburg amazed me with its size – I thought that I would never explore such a large city, I would not understand its structure, I would not remember the roads and streets. But literally a week later he became like family to me. But it took me a long time to get used to the white nights; somehow I even got lost in time and sometimes couldn’t realize whether it was night or day. I could call my mother at midnight, thinking that it was noon… That first summer I was very impressed by the raising of the bridges (and now my favorite places in St. Petersburg are the embankments, especially the Palace). And I really liked winter. We rarely have snow in Dagestan, but here the winters are real, white.

She speaks with restraint about how she settled in a new place, got on her feet and learned to live independently: at first she worked, later she entered the Russian State Pedagogical University named after. Herzen in the specialty “Human Resource Management”, and after receiving a diploma, she got a job as a medical representative. Works with doctors, representing a large pharmaceutical company.

What about the difficulties?

— When I moved, I didn’t know Russian well, – recalls Gezel. — Many fellow countrymen living here told me: this is your main problem, develop Russian speech, learn to formulate your thoughts correctly. It is difficult to think in one language and translate out loud into another. It was especially difficult in the first year of university – I was afraid that my studies would not go well, that I would not be able to write, communicate and respond to the teacher in Russian. And no one could help me with translating incomprehensible phrases – all my classmates in the group were Russian. But I overcame my fear, and everything worked out. Our teacher Asel Ibragimovna Rashidova invited me to the student association “Multicultural Dialogue” – and I found my place there. It helped me a lot. Over time, I mastered the Russian language well, and now I think in it. I consider him my second family.

As a child, Gezel dreamed of becoming a singer, and certainly famous. But it didn’t work out to sing professionally and become a star that everyone would recognize.

— Somehow it didn’t work out initially, – she explains. — We managed to take steps towards our childhood dream only here, in St. Petersburg. I began to study singing seriously with a professional teacher when I entered one of the St. Petersburg vocal schools. And having joined the Youth Commonwealth of Dagestan, she actively took up folk art. At every holiday, we introduce viewers and listeners to our culture, talk about our traditions and learn about the traditions of other peoples.

— Is it difficult to comply with them here in St. Petersburg? – I’m interested.

– It’s not difficult to comply. It can be difficult to explain them to others. For example, when it’s Ramadan and you’re fasting, and everyone treats you intensely, offers you to try something and even gets offended when you refuse. Every time we have to talk about the rules of fasting, about what it means for us… Some St. Petersburg residents are very surprised when they find out that we can eat and drink in Ramadan only after sunset and before sunrise.

When asked what dreams replaced childhood ones for the adult Gesel, she replies:

“I dream of raising my son to be a worthy man.” Now he is ten years old, he is studying at school and is also involved in Dagestan folk dances. In the future, I see him as a doctor, and he wants to become a good cook and open a restaurant business. He’s really seriously interested in cooking, and he’s good at it. Well, if he decides so, I will support him. But for myself… I don’t even know. I live in a wonderful city. Received an education. I found a job that I really like. I have friends. I have a passion too – I sing and perform with pleasure… However, I have one dream: I want to go to Turkey. I’ve never been abroad…

The material was published in the newspaper “St. Petersburg Vedomosti” No. 76 (7652) dated April 25, 2024 under the title “Dreams of the Princess from Kostek.”

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