Norooz a Traditional Celebration in Iran

Norooz a Traditional Celebration in Iran

     Iran, with a history of more than 2500 years of kingdom is famous for its traditional celebrations. One of the most famous of these is called Norooz (No for new and rooz for day). As it begins in the first day of spring, it was called Spring Celebration in ancient Iran.  It was established in Iran in 728 BC as a national-religious celebration and after that in 521 BC as a national celebration in Pasargad, Iran, by order of king Darius.

    For this celebration the Iranians spread a table and put something on it from about one hour before the beginning of New Year. On this table they put seven things which start with “S” in Farsi and call it Haft (for seven) Siin (for S). Seven, because it was a holy number to the ancient Iranians. These seven “S” include Samanoo (a kind of dessert prepared from cooked wheat sap), Sekke (coin), Siib (apple), Siir (garlic), Sabzeh (green grown wheat in a bowl), Somagh (sumac), Senjed (Sea buckthorn) and/or Sonbol (hyacinth, a kind of flower). These seven “S” are the symbols of abundance, wealth, health, curing all diseases, renaissance, love and beauty, respectively. Iranian also put something else on the table, such as painted cooked  eggs as a symbol for fertility, candles in front of a mirror for a bright future, and live tiny red fishes in water for life.

        In the last hour of the last year and while the new year is beginning, all the family members gather around the table and read the Quran  and pray for people in all over the world. In the new year, they give gifts to each other and wish each other success. Over the next 5 to 13 days young people would go to see the older family members and relatives who will then visit those young people in turn.

         Finally, on the 13^th day of the new year everybody goes on a picnic to enjoy the beauties of spring, dispose and put away all the disasters and bad things from their lives. They call this day Sizdah (for 13) Bedar (for putting away) in Farsi. These days Iranians are preparing for Norooz celebration, which will be begun on March 20 at 5:30 am.
         However, in the new year beginning, the families that had lost one of their members in the last year go to the cemetry and spread their Haft Sin table beside her/his tomb to make this feeling that all the family members are still all together. This year I am not happy with this celebration because all my best memories from Norooz are from the times when my beloved mother was with us to make the best celebration for her kids, but I have lost her in the last two months. Moreover, it is the first year that I am not in my country with my family members and relatives, and it is very difficult for me to deal with this sorrow.         

 

An Introduction to Medical Microbiology 

   Microbiology was established in 1674 when for the first time Antoni van Leeuwenhoek could see the world of very tiny creatures in one drop of lake water under his glass lens. When scientists found these living creatures that could not be seen by the naked eye, they called them microbes. These Microorganisms include bacteria, viruses, fungi and parasites. Microbiology is the study of microorganisms. There are three main branches in microbiology, namely medical (clinical), industrial and environmental microbiology. The discovery of antibiotics was one of the most important eras in microbiology history, which started in 1928 with Professor Alexander Fleming's discovery.

   Medical microbiology consists of two parts, medicine and microbiology, dealing with the study of microorganisms that cause infectious diseases in human beings. It includes the study of epidemiology, prevention, pathology and the treatment of infectious agents. A medical microbiologist should be experienced enough in these fields to help the patients with infectious diseases to be treated efficiently based on reliable and proper lab tests for the recognition of the pathogenic organism. Over the last several years there have been very impressive improvements in the fields of controlling and preventing some of the most important infectious diseases through antibiotics and vaccines. The discovery of antibiotic-producing organisms was one of the most important in microbiological history by Professor Alexander Fleming in 1928. We should also thank microbiologist for their efforts in controlling and in some instants eradicating deadly and debilitating diseases such as mumps, chicken pox, small pox, measles, polio and tuberculosis. However, this science can also act as a double-edged sword. Unfortunately, bioterrorism is one of the fields in which microbiology has been misused to kill people in war.