Human nature is quite amazing, we have examples before us of great adventurers who explore the world through traveling and get knowledge about the surroudings, the same is in my case but what differentiates me is my passion for traveling, learning, exploring new things and meeting new people. Today I know six different langauges and have friends from 100 different countries across the world. The most common language during my travels has been English, Urdu/Hindi, interaction with new people is always amazing and great fun but one can't deny the company of other Afghans while traveling or back home in Afghanistan, if you ask an Afghan refugee what he misses about his country, majority of the time the will answer will be the same thing, that is the gatherings of Afghans. Just like other nations, Afghans also have their customs and rituals, the most popular is Friday gatherings where relatives invite each other after Jumma prayers, these gatherings have been a tradition in Afghanistan for many centuries, we have kept and we live these traditions the same way as before, despite many faults I would like to focus on positive side, the three of the main features of such gatherings on holidays are as following.
1. Our elders sharing stories and giving us advises using different proverbs as well.
2. The locations such as river sides, mountainous areas, food contains Afghani pulao, kebabs and salad.
3. Music such as rubab, tabla and dambura after food gives a capstone touch.
Some of the common proverbs are.
Da khaar uza, da narkh ma uza
Translation: Leave your town, but do not forget the price
Landai la halal na, da khanak pa sar garzawe
The animal is not even slaughtered; you come with your plate on your head
Sar depasa sar wi
There is always a boss over a boss
The stories sharing is awesome, personally my favorite part because that's where I learn about their way of living and things about our culture, history and forefathers, we always get to hear some quality stories from elders with plenty of experience in their lives, some stories are forgotten while some really touch the heart and make a connection which is unforgettable, at least in my case. After the food, tea and music adds the comforting taste to the gatherings, those who can sing share their lyrics as well and those who can perform a cultural dance shares them as well. To sum it all up, one really feels living the centuries old culture and traditions, for me I don't want Afghans to forget these traditions as the situations have changed a lot and these gatherings are becoming rare.
Note: This blog is about the positive side and an amazing centuries old traditions.
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