SHINING STAR’ S PARDES WAYAND’ S FAVORITE NAWRUZ MEMORY
“ In Grade 10, my classmates and I planned a Nawruz trip to Bamiyan. Four of my 25 classmates didn’ t want to come at first because of money, so we secretly covered their expenses to make sure no one missed out. With our teachers’ support, we got everything ready, though a few friends wanted to go to Nuristan instead. We held a vote, and Bamiyan won 20 out of 25 votes. About a week before Nawruz, we gathered on a picnic blanket with our friends and our kind-hearted geography teacher to finalize our plans. Everyone was buzzing with excitement, and soon our physics teacher decided to join as well. Our geography teacher joked,“ If any of you get lost in Bamiyan, don’ t worry, I’ ll personally draw a giant map of your mistakes, hang it on the mountains, and make the rivers point the way home!” One student quickly replied,“ Great! Just make sure my house is on the map, I don’ t want the rivers dumping me in someone else’ s backyard!” Everyone laughed out loud.
We all rented a large bus and boarded it on the eve of Nawruz. The air was alive with excitement. Passing through Parwan province, the stunning scenery outside competed with the chaos inside: someone sang completely off-key; another clapped badly. Our physics teacher was also on the bus and was completely quiet for some time, then a friend joked,“ What is our physics teacher doing in Bamiyan?” Another laughed and said,“ If he goes to Bamiyan, he’ ll probably study the waves of Band-e- Amir’ s water for physics from the mountain!” The bus erupted in laughter. In the days before the trip, we had debated very seriously what food to cook. After a lively vote organized by our teachers, we chose Kolokhi( potato stew) and Kabuli Pulao. One friend said proudly,“ I always eat Kabuli Pulao!” Another jumped in joking,“ Kabuli Pulao is so powerful, even if you just ate a 5-course meal, it knocks on your stomach and says,‘ Step aside, peasants, I’ m coming!’” Everyone burst into laughter, some clutching their stomachs, others pretending to make room for the“ invincible rice army.”
After arriving in Bamiyan, some friends, including our teachers and I, started cooking the Kabuli Pulao and preparing the Kolokhi right there in the open field, with the mountains as our backdrop. The air was filled with laughter, chatter, and the rich aroma of rice, potatoes, and spices, a perfect start to our Nawruz feast. Meanwhile, most of us ran to the open fields to fly kites, a favorite Nawruz tradition. The sky was dotted with colorful kites dancing in the wind, each string tugged by excited hands. Some kites soared gracefully, while others wobbled or got tangled, prompting bursts of laughter. One friend shouted,“ My kite is faster than yours!” Another replied,“ Only because it’ s pulling you!”
As the trip ended and we headed back to Kabul, I realized what mattered most wasn’ t the roads we traveled or the sights we saw, but the laughter we shared and the way we looked out for one another. Nawruz wasn’ t about the destination; it was about the people beside me. Even now, thinking of Bamiyan, I don’ t just see mountains and Band-e-Amir; I hear laughter, feel friendship, and remember a time when we were young, united, and alive.”
Pardes Wayand Program Implementation Manager Shining Star Educational Organization of Afghanistan( SSEOA)
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