"I named my grandson after my father." Bobur Yuldashev on his new role in life and giving up the opportunity to go abroad

“I named my grandson after my father.” Bobur Yoldoshev on the new stage in his life and why he gave up the opportunity to go abroad

Theater and film actor, director, and Honored Artist of Uzbekistan Bobur Yoldoshev was a guest on the YouTube podcast “Shirinsuxan”. During the conversation, he spoke about recently becoming a grandfather, naming his grandson Bahodir, how he always goes on a two-week trip after every play he stages, and how his father stopped giving him money after he turned 16.

“Becoming a grandfather gave me unfamiliar feelings”

— Becoming a grandfather is completely different; it gave me feelings that were unfamiliar to me. I had never felt such an emotion before. For example, I have four children. There was a different kind of excitement when each of them was born. But becoming a grandfather gave me a completely different feeling. The moment my daughter-in-law came out and said, “My stomach hurts for some reason,” my legs went weak, and I felt like I was going to collapse. I could barely control myself from the excitement.

I was home alone at the time. I was drinking coffee in the morning before going to work. When I asked, “Are you okay, did you rest well?”, she said she wasn't feeling well. I immediately called my son and told him to return home. Then I forced them to go to the hospital. Thinking about this, I rushed to work so as not to lose my composure. But I still couldn't work. From time to time, I called my son to check on them. Thank God, my grandson Bahodir Yoldoshev was born. For now, we are calling him Bahodir aka, no calling him “Baho”, the actor says jokingly.

“My family told me they wouldn't give me money starting from the age of 16”

— I started working for the first time in 1995. Those were difficult times. At that time, I couldn't manage to achieve anything on my own. Naturally, my mother and father helped. But after I turned 16, my father called me to his side and said they wouldn't give me money anymore. He said, “If you need jeans, you call, and I will buy those clothes for you. If you want to eat, I will buy your food, but I won't give you any more cash.” I was 19 when I lived on my own money and managed everything myself, he says.

“A teacher coming to class unprepared is one of the greatest sins”

The actor explained why he did not pursue a teaching career as follows:

— I think teaching is a difficult, separate profession. Because when you come to teach, you must have knowledge to give to your students. Also, one of the greatest sins is a teacher coming to teach unprepared. Because your students should come out as different people after a two-hour class. The knowledge you teach must be so vast that at the end of the class, they should leave knowing things they didn't know and having answers to their questions. Some teachers start the class and then, remembering events from their own lives, start talking about random things. Who needs this? Students need a lesson. Therefore, coming to class unprepared means stealing two hours of your student's God-given life. That is why this is considered among the great sins.

“What a person has read and seen stays with them”

— Our family has a close friend from Kattakurgan, a wealthy man. One of my father's close younger brothers. After my father passed away, I met and spoke with this brother. At that time, our close friend told me about a conversation he had with my father. During the conversation with my father, the topic came up, and he told him that he had set aside some things for his sons. Then my father told him, “If your sons are smart, they will find their own money. If they are fools, they will spend even the money you left behind. Therefore, live for yourself, this is your earned money. Thank God for allowing you to reach this point, travel, go to the sea, see the world. The only things you will take from here are what you have seen and what you have read.”

I also love traveling. I spend my money only on this. After working and staging a play, I definitely leave to travel somewhere for two weeks, says Bobur Yoldoshev.

“I do not regret not going abroad even when there was an opportunity”

— I will tell the truth, this is not any kind of flattery, the development of our country from 2016 until now proves that it is a good thing I did not go abroad. At one time, I had many opportunities to go abroad. Fortunately, my father stopped me from doing so. I was upset with him back then, but now I say thank you to him for this, says Bobur Yoldoshev.