From The Editor’s Desk

From The Editor's Desk

The Messages That Jamshedi Navroz Greets Us With!

Dear Readers,

As a Community, we are indeed blessed twice over – celebrating not just two birthdays and two anniversaries in just one year… we even celebrate two New Years in one year! We have, as is understood by most, the March-walu Jamshedi Navroz and the August-walu Parsi New Year. With just over a week left for our auspicious Jamshedi Navroz, it would serve us all well to go beyond what our March-walu Navroz symbolizes outwardly, and try and reflect on what its essence tries to imbibe in us… and whether we have done justice to its legacy, as individuals and as a Community.

On the surface, Jamshedi Navroz celebrations are essentially defined by bhanvanu, khavanu, peevanu and majhaa…  but maybe we could look beyond the new clothes, new gifts, plans of Parsi naatak and dinner with family and friends… to comprehend and respect the true meaning and spirit of this auspicious occasion.

Navroz or ‘Nowruz’, as it is more ethnically spelt, is known as traditional Iranian festival welcoming and celebrating the commencement of the lively ‘Spring’ season in the Northern Hemisphere. More technically, it marks the day referred to as the Vernal Equinox, when the sun crosses the equator and equalizes night and day. Our Irani brethren consider it as the start of the New Year. ‘Nowruz’ has its genesis in the Avestan meaning of ‘new day’ or ‘daylight’. So, for just one moment, if I dared to put aside the typical fun and frolic and khavanu and peevanu that defines this propitious day, what could we take away from this celestial suggestion?

The Spring season brings in new life – as trees and fields begin turning a lush green with a boosted life-force that culminates into the exquisite blossoming of colours and freshness, breathing life into weary souls. Spring signifies welcoming the new and rejuvenating the old – Mother Nature urges us to set our sights on newer and better goals, rejuvenate our old selves; and encourages blossoming our inner goodness and strength so we can resurrect ourselves and shine our light onto others. On Navroz day, night and day are equal – another inference we can choose to decipher to our advantage – ‘Equality’, symbolising ‘Balance’ – and balance, as we know, is crucial to survival. Balance of the mind, body and soul keeps us happy; imbalance in any one of these aspects leads to misery and disaster. Another symbolisation of Equality is respect – the indispensable basis of every single successful relationship, especially the one you have with yourself. How well you treat yourself and those you love, is directly proportional to how much you respect yourself and your loved ones, respectively!

And should we ponder harder and longer, we could realise so many other wonderful hidden messages that the auspicious Jamshedi Navroz greets us with. However, the one resounding message, bigger than them all, is the all-pervading concept of ‘Change’ – from autumn to spring, from day to night, and so on – symbolising how change is as unavoidable as it is constant. Without change, there can be no growth, and where there is no growth, there is stagnation and death… the truth of which is best expressed in the words of the great Benjamin Franklin, “When you are finished changing, you are finished.” And what lesson can we take away from this truth? ‘Our lives get better not by chance, but by change’.

Have a lovely weekend!

 

Anahita

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