The life of a Peshmerga

By Ashna Shareff:

They are old in age, but young in heart.

Life is a sequence of endless struggles, fights, endless pains that take over our hearts as years pass and we grow old.

Each one of us experiences life in different ways. We often tend to analyze life, doing our best to inhabit a clearer view of life. Yet, understanding life remains an impossible mission.

The journeys we take seem to be a thousand mile journey. However, some are gifted with accepting whatever life brings, unwearyingly, and taking this into their hearts. These people tend to be the ones who are warriors of life: after all, for them, age remains merely a number.

I have witnessed this as I and a few of my friends visited Baxi Shar back in 2010. I had the privilege to meet a couple of gentlemen and talk about their lives.

Baxi Shar (Garden of the city) is a traditional Chayxana (Tea house) located in the heart of the Erbil city. In this Chayxana, old retired Kurdish men come together from different backgrounds everyday to play chess and dominos and talk about their lives while they were living on the mountains. Mainly, they recall their memories of a Peshmerga’s life.

Entering Baxi Shar I have to admit I felt shy and things appeared to be awkward at first. The experience was new for both sides. For me, it was the first time going to a Chayxana and, for the old men, it sure seemed to be the first time of young girls visiting them.

Soon after we were seated, we were able to build a bridge between us and walk the distance. We spend two most informative and delightful hours talking about a mixture of issues in Kurdistan and the rest of the world.

We talked about the times when Saddam Hussein was ruling Kurdistan. We talked about the beauty of knowledge and the power of love. We talked about all the struggles and fights we have to take in order to achieve our dreams in life. We talked about Art, Music, theater and so many other beautiful and interesting topics.

Those men were not just simple men. They carried in their heart the power of love for their families, friends and more importantly their land. They way they were talking about each others’ talents amazed me. One of them was writing poetry, another a musician, another an actor, and so on. But one thing that they all shared in common was their memories as Peshmergas.

Looking at them, I could see the bravery of fighters and the strength of young men. Life for them is a bunch of different colors. The spirit of young men is still in their souls. Ageing never stopped them from living life.

The eyes of each man sparkled when he talked about his experience on the mountains. There was a pride in his soul, the pride of a Peshmerga whose life is dedicated for Kurdistan. Those men come into groups every day, to share their pains, pains from diverse backgrounds. But, they also come together to share one dream, the dream to see an independent Kurdistan.