
Nooruz no longer has the same atmosphere as before. / Keyomars Amiri
With just over a month left until the New Year and the celebration of Nowruz, the biggest ancient and traditional festival of Iranians, the markets were becoming crowded. The scent of perfume, rose water, incense, and spand were filling the air as vendors, especially street vendors, were setting up their stalls here and there. The city was filled with a pleasant fragrance. People from the city and villages would come to the markets during the days of the holiday to buy new clothes and shoes, as well as snacks and food. Children would wear new clothes and families would cook delicious dishes like rice and various other foods at home. People would also go to each other’s homes for gatherings and warmly welcome their guests.
The special drawings for this holiday, which were especially performed by young people in cities and villages, were spectacular. Everyone was immersed in the joy and happiness of the holiday. Many people went on Nowruz trips. Students also went to celebrate Nowruz one month before the holiday, and every day they wrote the countdown to the arrival of the holiday and the new year on the blackboard in their classrooms, eagerly anticipating this big celebration.
Everything was prepared for the grand ancient celebration. The employees not only received their regular salaries, but also a considerable amount of bonus to cover their holiday expenses and not face any financial difficulties. Business owners were at ease, knowing that they would make a significant profit during the holiday season and could spend more freely on their families. From early morning until late at night, they were busy with customers from all walks of life, and some shops, such as nut and candy stores, had long lines of customers waiting to make their purchases. Many men and women had placed orders for tailored clothes months in advance, and tailors were so busy that they couldn’t take on any new orders a month before the holiday. The sales and profits during this month were so high that most street vendors only set up their stalls during this time and were content with the profits they made for the entire year. Similarly, many store owners and wholesalers referred to their profits for the year as “Nowruz profits.”
Nowruz has always been something else for children, teenagers, and young adults. In addition to wearing new clothes and participating in different and pleasant customs, they would receive gifts from their parents, relatives, and acquaintances during the holiday. Many of them would save these gifts in a bank or a piggy bank for the future. Hajji Firouz, with his red clothes and hat, and his strange and fascinating appearance, would come among the crowd and with his special dance and circle, he would excite everyone, especially children, and sing: “Hajji Firouz, two-day year” and receive gifts from people. Everything was according to their wishes and people would hug each other and wish each other a hundred years of happiness or say “may every year be like this year” and celebrate the holiday together.
Another Norooz, Norooz of those years is not.
For several years now, the famous Norooz congratulation “a hundred years to these years” is no longer heard among people during the holidays and the new year, and this well-wishing has almost been forgotten; because each year, the economic situation and purchasing power of people have worsened due to poverty, scarcity, inflation, and high prices, making it harder for them to celebrate and their tables have become smaller, and often, like in the past, they no longer have the ability to buy and hold celebrations.
Yes, in recent years, the coldness of Eid days has become worse and worse, and the market no longer has the same prosperity as before. Business owners are not satisfied with their sales and do not go home happily. People also reluctantly make their purchases and sometimes just pass Eid like any other day of the year.
In the final days of Esfand in the year 1402 of the Solar Hijri calendar, I went among the people in the city of Kermanshah to research how Nowruz was being celebrated. Although the people were flocking to the market and the street vendors were shouting to attract customers and everything seemed fine on the surface, when you start talking to the people and the merchants, you realize that there is a deep pain inside. Everything about the days of the holiday is overshadowed by inflation, shocking prices, poverty, and deprivation that have been plaguing the people for years. The value of the country’s currency has greatly diminished and people cannot afford their expenses, let alone celebrate the ancient traditions. There is no sign or news of the busy Haftseen tables of the past years, filled with sweets, chocolates, and various dishes. Many families no longer have a Haftseen table and there are very few gatherings and celebrations, taking away the spirit of the holiday
Of course, the market is still crowded, but the purchases are not enough to satisfy and please the merchants and people. According to the merchants and based on their statements, people come to the market but are forced to return home with the minimum amount of purchases. Perhaps they want to entertain themselves by coming to the streets these days, so they can forget a little about the grief of not being able to buy for themselves and their children for Eid. However, we must not forget that many people from the lower class of society are also among them who have no fixed income and struggle even harder to make ends meet, and they do not leave their homes during these days.
We also sell chocolate beans.
In the first step, we approach a fruit seller to have a brief conversation with him. “Mehran” is a young man who owns a relatively large fruit shop in one of the good neighborhoods of the city. It becomes clear during our conversation with him that he is dissatisfied with the market situation and his business.
Mehran says: “There is no stability or predictability for fruit prices in the market and prices change rapidly like lightning and hourly.” He talks about his income this year compared to last year during this time: “Our sales have decreased by 60-70% compared to last year.” He mentions the high prices of fruit and the poverty and scarcity of people as the reasons for this decrease. Mehran continues: “Last year, my sales during these days were between 17 to 18 million tomans per day, while now it doesn’t even reach 5 million tomans per day.” He talks about the prices of some items compared to last year during this time: “Last year, cucumbers were 15 thousand tomans per kilo in the market, and now they have become 27 thousand tomans.” He adds that he bought onions for 14 thousand tomans per kilo a week ago, and this week the price has become 20 thousand tomans
After talking to Mehran the fruit seller, I went to a nut shop to see the prices of nuts in Kermanshah. The nut seller says, “Last year, a kilogram of pistachios was 540,000 tomans and this year it has become 1,200,000 tomans per kilogram. Each kilogram of almond kernels was 360,000 tomans last year and now it has become 570,000 tomans. We used to sell a kilogram of Sanqeri seeds for 70,000 tomans last year, but this year we have to sell it for 150,000 tomans per kilogram. As a result, the mixed nuts that were 420,000 tomans per kilogram last year, are now 640,000 tomans per kilogram.”
Mr. Hosseini adds: “To be honest, until a few years ago when prices weren’t this high, we didn’t sell anything less than half a kilo. We didn’t bother to sell 100-200 grams of almonds or chickpeas. We had a lot of customers and made a lot of sales. The customer had to buy at least half a kilo for us to even consider it. But now, since we don’t have many customers, we sell even 10 grams of goods. We even sell chocolate seeds, something we never thought we would do for our business. In short, now we are forced to behave like street vendors.”
The rights holders are dissatisfied.
Mr. Panahi is a retired employee of the Social Security Organization. He is married and has two daughters, and receives a monthly salary of 8 million and 300 thousand tomans. Panahi is a tenant and claims that “in addition to the 200 million tomans deposit that I have given to the landlord, I also pay a monthly rent of 3 million and 500 thousand tomans. That means almost half of my total salary goes towards rent and we are forced to manage our affairs with the remaining 4-5 million tomans. And we also have to pay for water, electricity, and gas, which the government increases every year. If we pay late, they cut off our services. We are under a lot of pressure and this situation is truly torturous for us.” He also mentioned their Eid purchases, saying “these days, we are struggling to buy things for Eid and we came to the market to at least make ourselves feel a little better, but to
I continued the conversation with a bank employee. The employee, who did not want to mention their name, said about their salary: “With almost 26 years of experience, I now receive a monthly amount close to 17 million tomans. We also have overtime, but it’s not much.” They added: “To be honest, before the Ahmadinejad government came to power, we used to receive other benefits in addition to our salary, which was almost half of our salary. We received bonuses, loans, and assistance with expenses, and considering the high prices during those years, we always had some savings. But for the past three to four years – meaning after Ahmadinejad and especially after the government of Ebrahim Raisi came to power – we are really under pressure and even for basic food and expenses, we are struggling due to the overwhelming inflation. The salary that I have been receiving for all these years of service, in these conditions of high prices and inflation in the
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