Afghanistan is that land of violence whose culture has been hidden by bloodshed and Taliban and Islamist groups fighting since 1970s to get hold of this beautiful land, its people and its culture wounded and children born after 1970s came to be called as CHILDREN OF WAR in the process. But before that, Afghanistan was a beautiful country with beautiful traditions.
There was a time in Afghanistan when young and beautiful children played along the sidewalks, the buzkashi, the nowroz festival and many more festivals like that, while Ahmed Zahir’s doste darom used to blare in the background and young Afghan women used to work as teachers, doctors, professors.
NOWROZ literally means new day and this festival marks the beginning of Afghan New Year, also celebrated as farmer’s day. Nowroz contains many festivals on its own, some and main of which are, Guli Surdh , which is tulip festival, Buzkashi, which is the kite flying tournament, Haft Mewa, which is a festival during which seven dried fruits are served in their own syrup, such as resins, pistachios, almonds, Hazlenut, Apricot. Jashn e Dashqan- which means festival of farmers , in which farmers walk the city streets dancing and celebrating as a sign of encouragement to agriculture.
So what changed all this? The Afghan war, rather these were a series of wars,the Soviet Russia, the Taliban, the American invasion…But we are here to talk about love not war, and it is only the royal Pashtun resilience that love and life has prevailed under covers, sleeves, scarves and landmines, that the culture of Afghanistan not only sustained, but is also reviving now. The main language spoken in Afghanistan are Dari and Pashto, and main sects in Afghanistan are Pashtuns, Hazaras, Uzbeks, Mochis and Balouchs, with Pashtuns dominating in numbers. And it is fight of these factions for power that dominated Afghanistan in late 1990s. Almond cakes of Afghanistan are a famous snack, almost in every Dari book ,there will be a reference of carrying Almond Cakes on long journey as a sweet snack and almost every time there will beautiful “hamshireh”* tagging along her grandfather “agha jan*” and both of them sharing almond cakes on their beautiful long journey via mountains of Kabul.
That brings us to Kabul city, the heart of Afghanistan. Kabul city is believed to be cultural centre of Afghanistan, but lately many centres like Hairat and Mazri Sharif have developed as cities and big cultural centres. Hairati accent of Dari and Pashto is very famous in Afghanistan, you can almost recongnise a Hairat*i person because of their thick Pashtu accent.
Then there is famous late Afghan singer, Ahmed Zahir, although I do not understand Dari and Pashtu, but this man made me fell in love with this foreign language, his voice is so magical. A lot of young Afghanistan women are taking interest in music* now, after decades of suppression at the hands of Taliban. Performing Arts, law, medicine are famous professions chosen by women after that of teaching, and more than 7 million children of Afghanistan are taking up education. Some factions of Afghanistan people also know Russian, mostly those on Uzbek side. Besides, Afghan weddings are a lavish affair and attan, which is traditional dance of Afghanistan, is performed at weddings, almonds, almond cakes, walnuts, cashews, saffron are famous food gifts of Afghanistan.
And a famous line which all women sing for the bride leaving for her home to be in Dari is:
“Ahesta Boro maahe maan*”
Which means, “Go slowly my lovely moon”.
Aghan proverbs are famous for being crisp and precise and quirky , along with Mullah Nasrudden jokes*.
And it is to see that modern Kashmiri language has many many Dari and Pashto words, and so does Hindi*.
There is always a granny or a loyal servant performing “sadka*” when you go out of the house to ward off the evil, and then always some football fans, lovers hiding, and a Hairati carpet shop, or some quirky hamshireh tagging along wying to get small plate of ferni* or serbet*. Always.
And there is always a hill to cross. Afghanistan is mainly hilly,and most of the population follow simple way of life, waking up for Fajr*, going downhill to collect water , and naan for breakfast, and then bathing and going for work.
The Afghan way of life is simple and still evolving after many decades of war, like they say in Dari:
Qattra Qattra Dariya Mey Sha.*
River is made drop by drop.
KhodaHafiz!
#References and Meanings#
• Hamshireh: language- Dari, meaning: Daughter.
• Agha Jan: language- Dari/Urdu/Pashtu, meaning: used to address some elder male of family, mostly father, elder brother or grand father, in many cases, used by servants for male members as a sign of respect.
• Hairat/Hairati accent: Hairat is a very famous cultural city of Aghanistan, it is 3rd largest city in Afghanistan and is important as it has links with Kandahar, Mazr I Sharif, and also Iranian city Mashhad by a small village named Islam Kala.
• People of Hairat speak Dari and Pashto with a very thick accent that is easy to recognise, this accent has also been locally a butt of joked for Afghan people and is used in many comedy and parody videos.
• Afghan women interested in music and arts: Training is given by CCAA (Centre for Contemporary Arts, Afghanistan) and programs in Kabul University.
• Ahesta Boro Mahe Maan:
This is a famous wedding song which is mainly sung in Afghan weddings. It literally translates to, “go slowly my lovely moon”. Translations and full lyrics for this Pashtu song are available on youtube.
• Mullah Nasruddin Jokes: Mullah Nasruddin used to be a famous character for local jokes, and these jokes are famous in south asian countries of India, Pakistan and Afghanistan. This character always used to be in trouble due to his over smartness.
• Dari and Pashtu words in Hindi: Common Hindi used these days in north india is also referred to as HINDUSTANI language is a mix of words from many dialects of ancient India, ancient India that comprised of Pakistan and parts of Afghanistan, and hence we find many words common to these languages. Some examples are : Saaya, pareshan, ahmaq, darwazah, mast, beparwah, shahr, pasand ( from Persian word “pasandidan”) and so on.
• Sadka: sadka is performed in order to ward off evil from the people of family who go outsideto work/play etc. It mostly involves reading an islamic dua by someone who is not going out.
• Ferni/Serbet: Ferni is a sweet dish of rice and milk and Serbet is a cold drink made by milk and added flavous such as rose or dry fruits etc.
• Fajr: Fajr is the namaz performed at dawn.
• Dari Proverb: Qattra Qattra Dariya Mey Sha
• There are many more quirky Dari proverbs such as:
• Durugh go hafiza nadarad: A liar is always forgetful.
Eisha Tomar
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