Celebrating Nauroz with friends

Nauroz, also known as the Persian New Year, is a secular holiday commemorated on March 21st all over the world by people of several different faiths because it heralds the coming of spring; a new day or a new beginning.

To kick start the celebrations, the wife of the ambassador of Republic of Uzbekistan, Gulchehra Sidikova, gave members of the Islamabad Foreign Women’s Association (IFWA) a pleasant surprise by inviting them to participate in the celebration along with the ladies of the embassy.

The event was held at the embassy and very well attended by IFWA members and their guests, who created quite an excited buzz of conversation as they waited for the celebrations to begin after viewing an exhibition of clothes and beautiful artefacts that had been arranged in one room. A few male members of the embassy were also noticed seeing to it that all goes well! The programme began with president IFWA, wife of the ambassador of Bosnia & Herzegovina, Jasmina Makarevic welcoming the gathering and warmly thanking the hostess for her generous offer.

MC for the event was Defence Attache, Major Saadullah Tashmatov, who has good command of the English language in which the programme was conducted and before each performance he explained the meaning of what was going to be shown, adding a touch of humour here and there! He began by welcoming the ladies “to a piece of Uzbek land; to the atmosphere of friendliness, love , warmth and happiness on this wonderful spring day,” then introduced his country in these lyrical words – “When the Almighty gave out the land to people he wished all of the beauty of his nature to be transferred to Pakistan, starting from the highest mountains; ending with stormy rivers and amazing vistas of desert sands; and when the turn of the Uzbeks came the lands of the Almighty had finished, but taking into account the noble soul of the Uzbek; He decided to give him a piece of His own paradise. In order for you to believe this, we will now show you a documentary.”

The documentary showcased the beauty and bounty of the country after which the ladies and children presented a dress show from the different provinces; dances of varied steps and an after wedding ceremony when the bride is presented with gifts. As a token, these ‘gifts’ were also presented to the audience in the form of a handkerchief, the pieces of material numbered for a lucky draw at the end of the show. Many prizes were given away to ladies with lucky numbers.

Throughout the performance the music was lively and motivated the ladies to clap along, creating a cheerful and happy go lucky atmosphere which everyone enjoyed. The show over, refreshments were served with a very generous amount of specialties that are part of Nauroz celebrations. The round table had been beautifully set with the traditional ‘haft seen’ -- the arrangement of seven symbolic items all starting with the letter ‘Seen’ in the Persian alphabet, including freshly sprouting wheat arranged on plates for decoration, marking a new beginning. Full credit goes to the ladies who prepared the delicious food items all of which were enjoyed by the ladies as they relaxed and conversed! Since the celebrations last for a week or ten days here’s wishing the members of the embassy a happy and blessed Nauroz.