Celebrating a New Year!

Today was the first day of spring and the Persian New Year. Persian New Year, which has been celebrated for over 3000 years, is plain and simple the celebration of the arrival of Spring… celebration of a New Day, No-Ruz. No-Ruz encompasses the essence of a culture that has survived a history marked by severe political and religious turmoil, preserved and passed down by each and every proud Persian regardless of their creed, religion, or political views. No matter how rich or poor…

Whether you meet a Full-Blooded, Half-Blooded, Hyphenated, or Few- Generations Removed Persian, in Iran or in any other corner of this world, there is an essence that you will quickly recognize as their Persian-ness. It is tangible and visible… there is no escaping it… no amount of bleach or wax can remove it… And thank got for that. I love that Persian essence. And I love that the tradition of No-Ruz celebrates everything that is good and wonderful about this ancient survivor culture.

The festivities start with your immediate family all dressed in their best new clothes, gathered at a beautiful spread (Haft-Sin) that symbolizes rebirth, love, health, prosperity, enlightenment, and fertility. As the clock strikes the arrival of spring, you sweeten your palate with little cookies made with cardamom, rosewater, chickpeas, pistachios and walnuts. And then you rush out to visit family and friends. Relationships must renew, and what better than over cups of delicious tea and more little cookies made with cardamom, rosewater, chickpeas, pistachios and walnuts. This will go on throughout the day, until you reconvene with your immediate family at a dinner of herb-saffron rice, fish, and herb quiche. And hence you start anew. Forget old grievances and disappointments and put your faith in the year ahead.

Tonight, after a day of celebrating and eating, feeling giddy with the smell of spring in the air, and passing down the all important bundle of Persian culture in the form of little cookies made with cardamom, rosewater, chickpeas, pistachios and walnuts to my little girl, I look up at the beautiful Silicon Valley sky and the sight of the moon takes my breath away. I am comforted that I can share this story with you, you who may also be looking at the same moon… I am comforted that the Persian-Canadian-American me is connected in a real way to you, whoever you may be, just by the virtue that you understand the importance of and appreciate the goodness and simplicity of little cookies made with cardamom, rosewater, chickpeas, pistachios and walnuts…

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