ISNA / Kurdistan Yalda night, the so-called Kurdish “Shaho Zestan” or “Shaho Cheleh” is one of the best, purest and most traditional days that is full of nostalgia and traditional customs for the Kurds and the pure feeling and mood of the old days.
The first means of warmth among the Kurds Setting up a chair is the best means of warming up the beginning of the first cold day of the year, although now, as in the past, there is no more snow and blizzard in Yalda, and I remember when I was a child going to my grandmother’s house in the village. The first winter snow announced the beginning of Yalda night and the coming of the cold winter season.
As we said from the chair, the family gatherings around the chair and the mischief and rocketry of the children playing under the chair had a different feeling, the grandmother pulled coal out of the hot oven on the courtyard platform and poured it into a bucket to make Yalda’s charcoal tea.
It was late at night, and the grandchildren, clinging and grabbing the skirt of the grandmother’s dress to unveil the dried fruits and pussy quotes and nuts of the night, and inviting the grandmother to wait until it got dark and set the simple but pleasant Yalda tablecloth, are the nostalgia of us children of the seventies.
It was us and the grandmother who is now old and a world of beautiful memories that she has left in our minds from the nights of Yalda.
Now, although it is Bob that they leave jam for Yalda night and it is considered as a kind of Yalda night brand; But at that time, the broth and Daisy was a tandoor that Grandma had put in the tandoor since morning to fit well, and the taste, color, and smell were so pleasant that after all those years, the taste is still fresh under our teeth.
The air was getting a little dark and everyone was trying to start a beautiful night, the people were simple and the bride and groom were taking a corner of the work, the grandfather was sitting in a chair with his sons and daughters and telling them about the snowy weather and his distant past.
It was late and there were days when there was no news about the high prices of the market and the turmoil of the situation and Corona disease.
The dinner was spent in purity and intimacy, away from worries and stress, amidst the joy and happiness of the family members and the taste of the children, and the dishes were washed in the snow-covered yard in the cold winter weather.
By the time dinner was over, they were all out of work, and we would blink at Grandma’s hand to unveil her snacks; In the old box he opened, there was a market for himself, and he took out walnuts, almonds, raisins, pussy quotes, prunes, prunes, dried figs, berries, roasted wheat, elm, apples, and all kinds of dried fruits that had been harvested for a year. One would pour blue tiles into the bowls and give them to us.
Two of the young girls of the family, who had been rehabilitated, took the dishes from the children for themselves and delicately arranged them to show off their tastes to the others. The grandmother brought a charcoal bucket and poured tea to brew.
Now everyone took refuge in the warmth of a chair from the scorching cold of winter; We would gather and eat our grandmother’s nuts, telling our grandfather stories from the time of the plague and the war, and his childhood memories on the night of Yalda, and the children would relax as if we were traveling to the past!
After the anecdotes, it was the turn of the local game, the Kurds know that the most famous and fascinating local game is the socks game or “gurwa game” in Kurdish, the game started and excitement and turmoil reigned in the crowd.
After playing socks, it is time to play with Doz with “Choz” in Kurdish, which was the traditional form of this modern game and was done with chickpeas and beans; you will arrive. While two people were playing dosing, two members of the family were throwing their wrists on a chair; After all this, we sat quietly around the chair again, our grandmother or grandfather was saying something, or so-called “dead” in Kurdish, and everyone was trying to find an answer.
Wrestling or “zoran bazi” was another night’s custom, we were so immersed in games and talk that when it was late at night and we looked outside, the snow was everywhere and the men were shoveling their roofs until morning and The women of the house were talking and the children could not sleep because of the taste of seeing all that snow.
Really remember that this year’s Yalda is virtual, let’s live this traditional Yalda alone by reviving the traditional customs in the hope of good days to come.
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