Checha is 83 years old: about the actress of Arab origin, who grew up in an orphanage and had a famous singer as her son-in-law

**Checha is 83 years old: about the actress of Arab origin who grew up in an orphanage and had a famous singer as her son-in-law**

People's Artist of Uzbekistan, actress Aziza Begmatova turned 83 on September 7. She grew up in an orphanage in Denau and in her youth came to the capital to study with only three soums. Throughout her career, the artist became known to audiences especially through her portrayal of the "checha" (sister-in-law) character. On the occasion of her birthday, we talk about the life path of the actress, who went through many hardships during her life and met her mother after 40 years.

Aziza Begmatova was born in 1943 in the Surxondaryo region. Little Aziza, whose childhood coincided with the war years, was raised in an orphanage until she was 14.

### "In the orphanage, we lived better than children who had parents"

— It was the post-war years. From a very young age, I grew up in an orphanage in the Denov district of the Surxondaryo region. All of our educators there were kind. Sometimes they might have scolded us for being disobedient. We were little girls. If we came back dirty from playing, every evening they would wash us, put us in new clothes, and put us to sleep.

Sometimes even children who grew up with parents do not have such conditions. There, I grew up wearing new clothes often and watching concerts every week. In fact, my love for art was awakened by my educators. In the orphanage, I played the piano, the garmon, and even the accordion. Plays were also staged frequently. I was given the roles where I had to cry in the plays, says the actress.

### "After I turned 14, they made me leave the orphanage and sent me to a technical school"

— I lived in the orphanage for seven years. After I finished the seventh grade, when I was 14, they said, "that's it, you have turned 14 now." Because children were raised there only up to that age. They put a bedsheet inside a case, gave me three soums, and sent me to a technical school. For the next four years, I studied at the technical school to become a teacher. Until I graduated from there, the state also supported me, she says.

### "I was left all alone in an unfamiliar city"

— After graduating from the technical school, I bought a ticket with three soums, got on a train for the first time, and came to Tashkent. I enrolled in the Faculty of Journalism at Tashkent State University. Because I was good at literature. At one point, I noticed everyone had gone home. I was left all alone, a young girl in an unfamiliar city. I didn't know where to go. The idea of walking around the city came to my mind. It was getting dark, and I set off for a walk around the city. I don't know where I walked, but I didn't encounter any bad people either. As I was walking around by myself, a friend I studied with at school suddenly appeared next to me.

Seeing me, she also asked, "what are you doing here?" I happily told her that my teacher Boltajon aka had sent me to Tashkent to study, and that I had been accepted into the Faculty of Journalism. After hearing my words, she said, "oh, Aziza, leave that. There is such a university where you can sing and play the piano. The institute itself will teach you everything." When I asked, "what will happen to the documents I submitted to the journalism department?", she said, "the people at the arts institute will retrieve your documents themselves."

### "We headed towards the arts institute"

— After that, both of us went to the "theatrical" institute. We went and observed the first floor of the building through the metal bars. My friend said, "the exam has started." We looked, and teachers were sitting in a row. At one point, a teacher came up to us and asked, "did you come here to study?" I said that I had entered Tashkent State University. But the teacher paid no attention to this, took both my friend and me by the hand, brought us into the exam, and both of us were accepted to study.

### "I experienced affection for the first time from this person"

Aziza Begmatova, who worked as an actress for 60 years in only one venue — the theater named after Abror Hidoyatov (now the Uzbek State Drama Theater), says she met her spouse there for the first time.

— I met my husband at the theater. The late To‘lqin aka worked as a stage decorator at the theater. From time to time, he also worked as a driver and administrator. Since I grew up without experiencing parental affection in childhood, I felt this feeling for the first time from my husband. He never lied to me. We lived together for half a century. He was a good person who never did harm to anyone.

### "I found my mother after forty years"

— I was two and a half or three years old when they handed me over to the orphanage. At that time, I didn't even know my name. Forty years later, in 1985, my mother searched for and found me.

An article titled "I am looking for you, Orzixol" was published in the "Surxondaryo Haqiqati" newspaper. This newspaper fell into the hands of my teacher Boltajon aka, and he helped me be found. Until the time I came to the technical school, everyone called me "Arza". This teacher of mine had said, "your name is not Arza, it is Aziza." Remembering this conversation of ours, he connected the names Aziza, Arza, and Orzixol, guessed that the child being searched for in the announcement might be me, and sent my photo, writing a letter saying, "this girl studied under me. Look at her photo, is it not her?"

### "We borrowed money and went from the capital to Surxondaryo to see my mother"

— To search for and find me, my mother came to Tashkent together with my nephews. At that time, I was on a tour along the Black Sea. After we returned to the theater, the secretary said, "Aziza opa, it turns out you have a mother." At first, paying no attention to her words, I said, "what are you talking about? I don't have anyone." The secretary said, "if you don't believe it, look, they even left a letter."

We got permission from the theater director and wanted to go to Surxondaryo. But we didn't have a single penny — we were dependent on our monthly salary. After my late husband found some borrowed money, we left quickly.

### "Why did you give me away to the orphanage?"

— We arrived at a house with a large courtyard. Those inside told each other, "call her mother!" At one point, my mother, dressed exactly like my character (actually, the clothes are theirs, I took the "checha" character from my mother), came running and hugged me. A person who does not know what a family is struggles a lot in life. Since I had never said "parents" in my life, and didn't know what a family was — in a way, I was also upset with them.

At that moment, I didn't feel any emotion in myself. After we sat down, out of nowhere, I suddenly asked, "why did you give me to the orphanage?" After that, I also asked, "what is my nationality?" Although my mother said nothing to my first question, she replied to the next one, "you are from the Arabs."

After we reunited, my mother told me that my real name was Orzixol. It turned out that my mother Qurbonoy calling me by the shortened name "Arzi" had remained faintly in my ears, and I began to remember. Then my uncle expressed their gratitude to me for building a beautiful family and living well without bringing shame upon them. But still, they did not tell me the reason why they had given me away. I was upset by this, says Aziza Begmatova.

### "I was not destined to live together with my mother"

— I told my mother, "don't leave, live with me. Bring my sisters too, we will live together with your son-in-law and your grandchildren." But even after finding my mother, I was not destined to live together with her.

### About the actress's personal family

The actress's daughter married the famous singer Tojivoy Shukurov. And the young and talented singer Izzat Shukurov, known today for his songs, is the grandson of Aziza Begmatova. Speaking about her family and loved ones, the actress notes the following:

— Fortunately, God did not deprive me of anything. I have my children, daughters-in-law, son-in-law, 10 grandchildren, and 11 great-grandchildren. Both of my daughters-in-law are teachers. Only when my husband passed away did I fall into a very deep depression, she says.