The story "The First Story" was first published in 1962 and describes the lives of Kirghiz villagers after the Russian Revolution. The story describes a generation of workers brought up to be the labour force for the Russian Imperial Railway, educated in Russian schools for indigenous peoples, all with the aim of trying to change society.
The writer's father, who belonged to the same generation was an active promoter of those changes in the new Soviet Kirghistan. Torekul Aitmatov was a role model for his son Chingiz, who became a world-famous writer.
Altynai, a teenage girl in a small Kirghiz village wanted to go to school to learn to read and write. Duishen, a young communist took on the responsibility to educate the children from poor families in his community and he became the original, The First Teacher' in their lives. He was responsible for transforming the lives of Altynai and instrumental in helping her grow into becoming a famous academic in her own right.
The first screening of this story was very successful and it was shown by none other than the famous Russian Hollywood director, Andrei Konchalovsky. The first collaboration of Chingiz Aitmatov and Andrei Konchalovsky was not only fruitful but remains important to this day.
The story had a tremendous impact on the lives of the Kirghiz people, "The First Teacher', written in the Kirghiz language underlines the impact of this literary work. The writer himself became one of the Great Teachers of the Kirghiz Nation forever.