New Year's in Persia by Sina Zaeimzadeh

New Year’s in Persia

The celebration of the New Year is a big tradition within many cultures, and of course each country of the world celebrates the New Year differently. I was born and raised in Kerman, Iran. In my country, we celebrate the New Year on the twenty-first of March. The New Year starts on the first day of spring in Iran, which is called “Nowruz” and it has a great history. Before Nowruz begins, there are many traditions that take place. In addition to cooking, cleaning, and decorating the home, my family and I visit family members such as our elderly grandparents to show respect and honor for their position in life. However, from my experience living in Chicago, I have begun to realize that there are many differences between celebrating Nowruz in Iran and how it is celebrated in Chicago; because, in Chicago many of the unique cultural aspects of the Nowruz celebration have sadly been lost.

Decorating the table before the beginning of Nowruz is a very detailed process. We decorate the table with seven things that start with the letter “S”. Iranian people believe that seven is the luckiest number, because each week has seven days. First, we decorate the table with a paste made of wheat sprouts called “Samanu”. This edible paste is believed to bring fertility. The second table decoration is jujube or “Senjed”, which is a berry that brings love. The third is garlic or “Sir”. Sir is also used as a medicine for recovering from illness. The fourth is “Sib” the Farsi word for “apple”, which brings health, natural beauty, and adds a nice fragrance. The fifth table item is vinegar or “Serkeh”, which brings age and patience and also wards off bitterness in life. The sixth is “Sohan”, a baked sweet, which symbolizes sweetness in life. And the seventh and final decoration is wheat or “Sabzeh”, which brings purity, opulence, and good fortune. Also, we put some other thing such as coins, live goldfish in a bowl of clear water, and a bowl of clear water with an orange and the leaf of a rose bush floating in it. The orange symbolizes the turning of the year. The goldfish brings life to the table, and the coin is to bring prosperity. However, last year I tried hard to celebrate Nowruz in Chicago. I went to the store to buy jujube with my poor English. After explaining to the salesman about jujube and what it is used for, he asked me why I wanted to buy it. I said with excitement, “For Nowruz”, and he responded “What the hell is Nowruz?” I really did not have energy to explain it and I left the store.

A few days before Nowruz starts, all Persians have to clean and decorate their home. Also, most of the women cook sweets and everyone goes to buy new clothes for the New Year’s celebration. After the festival of Nowruz, all the family members visit each other. Every family must visit elderly members from oldest to youngest first to show admiration for them. Family members such as grandparents, uncles, and aunts will give money to the kids as gifts. This year I celebrated Nowruz alone with a half decorated table. I have a few Iranian friends in Chicago, and I was not that close with them to go and visit them. Instead, I just called them and said “Merry Nowruz!” I wanted to call my parents, but it is too expensive. So, I made contact with them via the internet, but they were having some problems with their internet in Iran. I felt like the loneliest person in the world, and far away from my traditional Nowruz.

Furthermore, Nowruz is a very sacred in Iran and it is observed by all Iranian people. If you go out one week before Nowruz, you will see how beautiful the government decorates the city. You can smell Nowruz in the air. Everyone has at least one day off before Nowruz. However, Nowruz is unobserved in Chicago. In addition, no one even knows about it. The American people do not know much about Iran and even less about Iranian holidays. Middle Eastern holidays are not very popular except for some Jewish and some Muslim (Sunnis) holidays. Because Nowruz is a Shias holiday, it is not celebrated by the Sunnis Muslims living in the cities. Most Muslims in the city are of the Sunni sect of Muslim faith, and therefore it is difficult to connect with the other Shias peoples.

In Chicago, you can see many foreign holidays being celebrated. Mexican holidays, Chinese holidays, and Polish holidays are celebrated in the streets of Chicago with parades and festivals. Americans do not know much about Iranian culture because there are not many Iranian people here. When you move to another country, some traditions inevitably get lost. Unfortunately, Nowruz is one of them. Persian people have been celebrating Nowruz for more than three thousand years, and they want to save this big tradition. Personally, I have been excited for each Nowruz and I really enjoy this holiday. In fact, I look forward to celebrating future Nowruz in the United States. I actually celebrated Nowruz here in Chicago last year. Even though it wasn’t as lavish and it was more scaled down, I honored the tradition.