The film is a bildungsroman, treating universal issues of growing up in a rural landscape (see "Pather Panchali" for a famous movie of similar form). The movie shows little or no Kyrgyzstan-specific footage, except for a brief glimpse of money at one point. However, it depicts several Kyrgyz customs - including the ceremony of placing a baby in a cradle ("biseke salu"), the funerary ceremony and the engagement ceremony. The ceremonies depict several ethnic Kyrgyz artifacts, like the tekemet rugs of the region, the kigiz felt carpets and the Kyrgyz cradle or besik.