Four years ago, at Delhi’s Lodhi Gardens, words in Dari Farsi reached 30-year-old librarian Laila Azimi’s ears. It was the dialect of her hometown Kabul, and she found the speakers were Pashtuns and Uzbeks, and like her, they now lived in India’s capital. Today, they are Azimi’s second family, celebrating special days and festivals together. This year too, on Navroze, when the sun enters into the sign of Aries on March 21, marking the beginning of the Persian new year, Azimi will be celebrating it with her new friends and family.

Navroze, meaning, new day, is celebrated by the Zoroastrians and Shia communities all over the world. Azimi tells us that while there are some similarities, the Afghans add haft mewa (seven fruits) to the ceremonial food platter, (or instead of) the haft sin (seven items to decorate the new year table starting with the letter ‘S’), which is common in Iran.