Givi Kereselidze

Givi Kereselidze
05-05-05

At 9:30 pm Luarsab, Giorgi Gvimradze, and I knocked on Givi Kereselidze’s door, hoping to ask a few questions. We came with two bottles of wine and a can of olives, Givi’s favorite from the days when his great uncle, Ekvtime Kereselidze would come to visit his house in MtaTsminda, Tbilisi and share olives with the family.

Givi was wearing his slippers and bathrobe, a winter cap perched on his head. He had clear blue-gray eyes, a days stubble, a gray mustache, and thin white hair. Born in 1927, he seemed to be in fine shape for such an old age.

The first thing I noticed in his house was all the expensive, nice looking furniture. Turns out that Givi repairs fine furniture as a business. Many pieces were in black varnish with gold gilt inlay and latticing. He took us into his studio where I was able to see a couple pieces he is working on.

He was embarrassed not to have a supra for us, but we put off his concerns saying that we had arrived unannounced. Givi called out the window for bread, saying, ‘quickly quickly, I have guests!’ Sure enough, two big pieces of tones puri (oven baked bread) were passed up through the window within five minutes, how fantastic! Givi brought cheese and cucumbers, we opened the wine and olives, and we were ready!

We made toasts to the Kereselidze Family, to Saint Ekvtime, to Faith, to our Gathering, and other topics. We sang a few chants including Aghdgomasa Shensa, Kriste Aghsdga, Aghdgomisa Dghe Ars, Dghes Saghmrtoman Madlman, and Umetesad Kurtkheul Khar Shen. We asked Givi questions like how did Ekvtime treat you? What was in his chest of possessions in your house? Did he chant?

Givi said that Ekvtime would visit the home of his parents in Tbilisi twice monthly. Sometimes when he woke up in the night, Givi would see Ekvtime standing in his corner with the icons, mumbling and humming to himself as he prayed. Ekvtime baptized local children at night. He met the priest of Saint David’s church, where I sing now, on one occasion. He didn’t like the radio, or the Communist party, and would not visit one of their relatives who was a member of the communist party. He collected and brought berries and other fruits from the forests around Zedazani Monastery. He dug his own grave and died in it. When the villagers found him, it appeared as if he had even tried to pull dirt over himself before passing away. Relatives came from Racha, and it’s said they took something away from a secret hiding place in the well where Ekvtime kept something, Givi didn’t know what it was but remembered his father being angry that these relatives had not visited them in Tbilisi. Givi himself was seventeen and in World War Two Krakow when his great uncle Ekvtime died. Only later did he ever visit Zedazani Monastery, located outide of Mtskheta.

I was a little put out because Luarsab talked a lot and I wanted to hear Givi talk more, but later I understood that it was too late to be doing a formal interview anyway, and Luarsab was just trying to ease the burden by telling some stories himself, to make it more of a conversation.

We drank good toasts, had a few laughs, and recorded some good conversation, promising ourselves to come back. Overall, a wonderful evening.