#1: Shabeh Yaldah

[ the winter solstice ]

 

Of my memories of winter, what stands out the most is the warmth and coziness of the korsi, a pot of hot charcoals placed under a knee-high table. The table is then overed with giant thick quilt, creating a toasty nighttime refuge for the entire family. Parents and children could easily spend the entire night around the korsi, chatting, eating and sleeping.

My parents had proudly become westernized, so there was no korsi at our home. But my grandmother, true to her Persian roots, invited us all to gather around her korsi during shabeh yalda (the Winter Solstice).

On the longest night of the year, we cuddled under the quilt and on giant, velvet cushions as she recounted for us ancient myths and treated us to watermelon, pomegranates, and aajil (mixed nuts). Remembering those meaningful stories, the tangy, sweet taste of the pomegranate, and the crunch of nuts breaking under my teeth brings back feelings of youth and hope.

My beautiful and bright memories from shabeh yalda turn dark and bitter when I remember my overbearing uncle, pompously sitting on a chair above us—the typical proud and domineering Iranian man. NEXT >>