Photo Credit: Borna SHAFIEI
Title: Friendship in Persepolis
back to the 2500 years ago and watching Nowruz celebrating in Persepolis.
Talking about Nowruz brings joy and happiness. Each year you can feel the Nowruz vibes in the air. Every tradition, every activity, every ritual takes you to thousands of years ago; to a rich heritage. The poetry, the stories, and history all take you to a world of inspiration and meaning.
The story of this Blog started when we wanted to write about Nowruz but in a much different way. There were lots of brainstorming sessions, discussions but we finally came to the conclusion; To introduce Nowruz from a fresh perspective and define a theme tailored for the last year of 14th Hijri century.
Nowruz is like a pure wine that becomes more valuable as it ages, now this wine is in its 1000’s. It has aged so well that we have totally forgot what its philosophy was and when or where did we start to celebrate.
In the words of Ferdowsi, Iranian Poet/Sage: “ May you be victorious every year, May all your days be Nowruz”
But how can we be victorious every year? How can we interpret the joy of Nowruz in all aspects of our lives?
What is the secret of feeling fresh on Nowruz and the beginning of spring, which has been stated over and over by our great philosophers and mystics, and has been proven in today’s world as one of the principles of living; Being happy in the moment.
Perhaps the freshness of spring and the euphoria caused by new year is a relic of the Old cultural behaviors that have been passed on to us and we must teach the next generation to honor this legacy.
Perhaps it is not bad to return to another verse of Ferdowsi which says: “There comes Nowruz and there comes a new celebration, Get up and resume universal deeds you fortunate human”
This resumption of Universe’s deed can translate into: “Let us not be captivated by events, problems, wars and conflicts and know that we can have a new beginning to build life at any moment.”
From the first periods of humane social life, people noticed the return and repetition of some natural events or as we call them now; Seasons. The need for calculation in the agricultural period, that is, the need to know the time of planting and harvesting, created seasons and peasant and agricultural calendars. The first calculation of the seasons was undoubtedly done in all societies with the rotation of the moon, as its change was easier to notice. Finally, as a result of the inadequacies and inconsistencies that the lunar calendar had with the peasant calendar, the calendar was calculated and adjusted based on the rotation of the sun. According to Iranians, the year has been divided into four quarterly seasons since relatively ancient times, and as Abu Rihan al-Biruni has mentioned in “ Asar-o-lbaghieh” , the beginning of the Iranian year from the time of human creation (ie the beginning of the seventh millennium in the history of the world) was Hormoz day in April. The sun was at the meridian, at the equinox, and the zodiac sign was Cancer.
Nowruz is attributed to the first kings. Poets and writers of the fourth and fifth centuries AH such as Ferdowsi, Unsuri, Biruni, Tabari and many others whose historical and mythological source is undoubtedly pre-Islamic literature, know Nowruz from the time of the reign of Jamshid.
But did you know it isn’t just a day to celebrate the new year but a 2-week holiday that gives us the chance to reconnect with our culture and traditions?
Not only it is the most precise estimation of new year, but it represents the rebirth of nature which is meant to be honored greatly.
As a part of Nowruz tradition, we show our respect to elderly by visiting them and reconciling with our roots. This gives us the opportunity to keep our tradition and culture alive, and firm, so nothing, not even COVID, can harm it. – Well maybe a little, but not that much, right? –
This coming year -1400- is an outstanding one though; The last year of the 14th Century, A year starting with the memories of a whole year with on and off Quarantine lockdowns caused by Coronavirus Pandemic.
United nations has named the year 2021 “International Year of Peace and Trust”, “International Year of Creative Economy for Sustainable Development” and “International Year for the Elimination of Child Labour”.
A new year is always linked to making resolutions and making dreams come true with the fresh mind and fresh set of goals, that is why we accept and pursue all that the United Nations has set for this year and would like to add a Name or a Theme; Year of Striving.
We have designed a campaign called: “Striving”. Now you may ask what is Striving?
Urban dictionary states it as:
“Striving is like trying. When you try, you put effort into whatever you’re doing and then stop. Thus the phrase, “Try, try again”. When you strive to do something, you put 110% into the task and you keep going until you either accomplish it or you confirm that what you’re trying to do is impossible.”
And Cambridge dictionary describes it as below:
“to try very hard to do something or to make something happen, especially for a longtime or against difficulties”
This past year we have all strived to survive, but it is time to Strive and get the Goal. Watch the video below and let us know what you are striving towards in the new year via our social media or email ( info@tedxtehran.com ) (You can share with us pictures, notes and your essential elements on your way of striving) and We will share your answers on our social media as our campaign cover.
Note: You can just write down what are you striving towards in new year, Take a picture of your resolution which you will be striving towards and any picture you know will show your striving in the upcoming year of 1400.
Written by: Mona Eslami Baladeh, Sarah Nazari, Sepideh Lashkari, Mina Haselian, Niusha Tadrisi, Asal Ghamari
Edited and Published by: Asal Ghamari
