A Talking Heart: November 2008

Tuesday, November 25, 2008

YOU SNOWY! A traditional snow trick in Afghanistan

A tradition in my homeland which I have to write you about
The person who remembers his past, he always keeps things as signs and symbols of memories to be able to go to the past with and rewind pages of the past times and history and these signs can be any thing that reminds a good or a bad thing of the past.

As one of those signs, today in the morning opening my eyes, when I glanced to out of the window of my room I found everywhere lightly white. The trees that were once green in the spring and summer and slowly became pale in the autumn, today they were wearing a thin white cloth as it snowed lightly last night.

It snowed lightly yesterday in Milan

Yeah! Yesterday it snowed here in Milan and it was the first snow of the winter of this year. And taking it as a chance to remind my past and to relate what the Afghans did in Kabul with the first snow of the winter I went back to think about every one of mine who were and still are in Kabul.

Me in a muddy street of west of Kabul in winter 2006

I went once again to Kabul, like I did a few months ago, and this time remembering the winter of Afghanistan I traveled to muddy streets of west of Kabul which are terrible when it rains or snows in winter but I still miss them, however they are, thus my trip of this time was a bit further than the recent past; I went to many years back, which is not found again easily but rarely in seasonal dreams.

Well, it is very interesting to know about the tradition that is called BARFI in our language and it means Snowy. I think this snow trick tradition may exist in other cities of Afghanistan as well, but I am sure of Kabul only.

When it snows for the first time in winter the people play a trick with each other to win a little feast that could be a dinner or a lunch invitation by their friends and relatives.

Usually a young boy or a teenager puts a bit of the first fallen snow in an envelope and takes it to the house of a near family relative and gives it to the elder member of the house like his uncle for instance, saying that there is a letter for you, but if the envelope receiver doesn’t remember the snow, the young person giving the envelope quickly says; “BARFI!” that means “Snowy” indirectly means you are snowy.

A street in Kabul during the winter

But if the receiver of the envelop already remembers the snow, he says to the young person “BARFI”, and then the other members of the family blacks the young boy’s face with charcoal and sends him back to his house, in this case the young person or the teenager is the loser and their family has to invite the winner family.

When it snows for the first time in winter, early in morning every one tries to do the trick first, so you see young children or teenagers in the streets carrying envelopes with a little snow inside, going towards their friends and relative’s houses.

Some lazy boys can not maintain the envelope until they reach to the addresses, whether it is torn or snow is seen clearly from far away.

The boys who are awkward in this trick normally get blacked by their relatives and return home crying or shameful. That is it. it is a funny tradition isn’t it?

Well, this time it is enough to give information about “BARFI” that is a tradition among us and we like it but still there are more things to write how the Afghan children play with snow in the winter which I may write in the next postings.

By the way, now you are BARFI! And be careful that you have lost to me!
Wow! I won the BARFI trick against you all readers (especially the ones who live in Milan), I won it because I told you first about the first snow of this winter but I don’t know who will invite me for a dinner? I know there are hundreds of readers, let’s see, will some one invite me??!