Sunday, April 15, 2007

Qiddah..

I think its Qiddah time now in Baghdad ..
Betna was in a street which used be covered with Qiddah in April..the houses lieing on both sides of it, had so many Ashjar Protuqal and Narenje.. the scent once you start walking down the street was incredible.. it was a great big Festival.. Qiddah Festival .. small scented petals covering every spot of the street, the small neat gardens attached to the doorsteps, on the walkways leading to the inside of the houses..the flower beds, Hadiqtna, every inch was buried with wonderful perfumed pearly white petals..
And though Neesan was a month for unpredictable weather, and dust storms , I loved the world when it came to visit.. cause it would bring with it Reehat el Qiddah ..
The world, my world at that time of the year would turn into something else, a certain joy always engulfed me , I would be in a good mood almost all the time, and nothing can really upset me, i would have the feeling thatsomething happy is about to happen..the world would be shining, Baghdad would be shining ..
Coming back from work, walking down Sharaena , inhaling the magnificent scent , I would walk with careful steps , watching where i put my foot, I wouldn’t want to step over the white petals.. at that time my sister and many of my friends were out of iraq, I would gather a handful of the white petals , and wrap them in with the letter I would be sending, and I would think happily of their faces when they open the envelope and smell the magic scent , I knew how much they would b missing Qiddah..out there, in their Ghurba..
As I remember that now, I try to think of who is left from my family back there.. who would send me Qumshat Qiddah to smell and bury my face in ..No body really ..besides, no mail service is left there now..
We once had a life.. now when I think back , my God , we once had a life..all the flowers of the world would not replace Qiddah for me neither now nor ever..the wonderful fragile pearly flower..
What would I give for just a few petals ..?! how much would i give..?!
Do they still have Qiddah in Baghdad?? Does Sharaena lie covered with it these days?? Its Neesan ..
I feel im going to cry.. I better go..

13 comments:

3eeraqimedic said...

Yasmin
Don't cry please!
I know exactly what you mean, Our house also had the lovely surround of trees with the multicolourd Qidda7 and the leaves of the trees that had that unique citrus smell, odd how it is the little things the scents the sounds that remind us. Thanks for another bittersweet glimpse at 3raqna.

Dreamer said...

mmmmmmmm Qiddah. I completetly forgot about it. The smell is so enchanting and refreshing.
Flowers here do not have a smell, they just look great. However, we did buy yasmine the other day, although, it doesnt smell like our yasmine, it is still something familiar.
We all hope that one day things will improve and we will once again be able to rejoice in the Qiddah.

Little Penguin said...

for some reason, im not exactly figuring out what qidda7 is, perhaps I never came across it in Syria.. or maybe I have but under a different name..

Mama allah yer7amha taught me this thing with flowers.. I would take a petal, form a circle with my index finger and thumb, place the petal on top of the circle and BANG with my other hand.. it would make a POP sound and it would split in half..

on our way to the maqbara that she was buried in, I would always pass by a very very narrow alleyway, smelling of heaven.. they said the smell was from a flower called 'mo7amnedi'.. i've never smelled it anywhere else.. that distinct mo7ammedi smell..

Regards

ahmed said...

Penguin, Qidda7 is the flowers of orange trees.
We had i think 3 or 4 orange trees in our huge back Garden, I didn't pay much attention for the Qidda7 as I did for the Orange fruit itself, I'm a boy, excuse me, or the Gardenia flower which Granny was alwasy so afraid we'd break apart during heated soccer matches.

Oh, and please Yasmine, if you really seriously want to eat Kahi, i don't know how to describe the shop for you because it's not on a main street or anything, you can email me on the address listed on my profile for more information.

Wish I'd hear from ya soon.

Yasmin (Blanche) said...

dear 3eeraqi Medic,
as u said, sounds, scents, any small incident would bring back glimpses of the past ..happy or sad, one always end up feeling sad..
the nostalgia sometimes so overwhelming u simply dont know what to do..i dont blv any life in any other country than iraqna will ever b the life we enjoy..ever..

Yasmin (Blanche) said...

dear dreamer,
u r so right.. ab flowers with great color and appearance but no real smell..
inshallah one day we shall b back .. ameen..

Yasmin (Blanche) said...

dear Little Penguin,
Qiddah is the flower of Protuqal trees, its first a flower, then it grows into a Portuqala, i hope i got that right..
yr comment sounded like a lovely post to me..
i used to do the (bang) thing with the rose petals too..we had so many rose bushes b Hadiqtna..
the describtion u used for this Mohammadi flower is more than beautiful, i dont know it though..
may Allah rest yr mom's soul in heaven .. ameen..

Yasmin (Blanche) said...

Konfused Kid,
Execuse me, but not care ab Qidaah OR Gardenia..how could u ??!!
just joking..
thanks ab the Kahi reply..
yes, im really seriously honestly truely want to eat Kahi..
i will let u know if i did drop by..
many thanks..and alf afya ..

A&Eiraqi said...

Yasmin
Qida7
The name itself sounds beautiful , when I read it , I just rememberd manythings
Then, you're abolutely right , we once had a life
But I'm sorry to say
يالتظنين الشمل .. يلتم ..
شمل عزّج .. تشتت

Regards

Little Penguin said...

A&E, how many times are you allowed to quote that extract? :P

it's ever so precise.. allah kareem..

Yasmin (Blanche) said...

a&e iraqi,

شمل عزّج .. تشتت
eeeeeeeee Wallah.. oooof how sad was the poem u included in yr post.. and how so true..
someone once said :when u r ouside Watanak, laaazem tenzel paya..and i say , not one paya, payaaaat..
regards..

كريم المدون said...

مساء الخير ياسمين

كمشة قداح...مدمر هذا الطلب يا صديقة ...كمشة قداح ...اي زمن لعين

شلون وكت اغبر

على اية حال ... ولا يهمج اني راح ادزلج قرنفلايتين واربع رازقيات ... شدة صغير ة احلى... اعرف تذكرين الرازقي ...بس مو تكوليلي ناسية القرنفل

تحية

Yasmin (Blanche) said...

Sabah el Kher Kareem,

welcome back..
i hope u brought some klecha Sada weyyak for me.. i love klecha sada w Chai abo el Hel..
and what a heavenly gift.. Rasqi !!i really need el Rasqi today, bas maykhalef u make it all Rasqi?? Qrenful we used to have alot b Hadiqtna.. but i can find it here, its Rasqi i cant find..
taheyyatee..