An Uzbekistan Bukhara mosque.
The Central Asian Student Association (CASA) celebrated Navruz, a traditional New Year held in common among all Central Asian countries translated literally as “New Day”, last Sunday by inviting the community to experience their culture.
The ticketed event introduced Central Asian cuisine, dance and apparel to the audience. “It is important to show our culture and share our experiences with others,” Fahriddin Basitov, a member of CASA from Uzbekistan, said. “Many people do not know very much about Central Asian countries. When I tell them where I’m from they say, ‘Oh, you’re from one of the Stans.’”
CASA intended for the event to raise American awareness of Central Asian countries and customs. “We wanted to get more knowledge about Central Asia to the general public,” said Dr. Marianne Kamp, the academic advisor for CASA and president-elect of the Central Eurasian Studies Society. “You tell someone about Kazakhstan and they ask, ‘Where’s that?’”
Central Asia consists of Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Xinjiang, the northwestern province of China, according to the University of Indiana’s Central Eurasia Program. These countries all share common practices and traditions, though they are separated by political, religious and linguistic boundaries.
“Cultures across the middle of Asia celebrate this holiday,” Kamp explained. “Navruz is a time for celebrating Central Asian culture without it being dominated by politics and religion because it doesn’t belong to any one particular country. It is a time for dancing, celebrating and seeing family.”
Unlike our New Year which only lasts one day, Navruz can be celebrated anytime between the middle of March until the middle of April and feasting is common throughout.
Spring is normally not a bountiful time in Central Asia as most of the stored supplies of food have been consumed but very few crops are available for harvest. But, while it is not a time of surplus, it is a time of promise and renewal.
“Everyone feels happy and energetic, and everyone is singing and dancing.” said CASA president Dilnoza Khasilova. “You cannot feel the difference between winter and spring in Laramie because it is normally still cold, but in Uzbekistan the trees are usually blossoming in beautiful colors. Of course it makes you feel happy; you want to get up early and do new things.”
Wheat sproutings are one of the crops that can be harvested in spring and, because of this, they are a symbol of Navruz. These wheat sprouts are cooked, seed and all, for between 12 hours and two days. The result is a sweet paste called sumulak.
Sumulak is a popular cream used to sweeten other foods and provide extra vitality for the spring months. “It is like chocolate, except it doesn’t have the chocolate flavor,” Khasilova said. “It has lots of energy and vitamins, but you can only eat about 3-4 spoonfuls a day because it decreases your blood pressure.”
Though sumulak was not among the dishes on Sunday, the feast did include such dishes common to Central Asia as: achick chuckchuck (a salad with tomatoes, onions, cucumbers and fresh parsley), souzma (another salad with cucumbers, radishes and yogurt), polaf (a rice dish with beef, onion and carrots), somsa (spinach and onion filled pastry), baursaq (fried daugh) and dimlama (a mix of potatoes, carrots and meat all tenderized by steam).
Complementing the food, CASA students, along with Central Asian exchange students who flew in from Indiana for this event, demonstrated traditional dance styles from Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and Mongolia.
They also showed off their traditional clothing during a fashion show. First, the women performed the special entrance reserved for a new bride, called a Kelin Salom, wearing a special head covering. The men followed sporting chapans, a long coat worn over clothes in the winter months.
CASA shared many of their customs during the Navruz celebration, but the students did not do it only for the audience. “It’s important to have a little piece of the Motherland. We miss it,” said Basitov.
