Nar­in is intro­duced in the year 2014, near the Riv­er Tigris, where she eager­ly antic­i­pates the arrival of her cousins from Ger­many. Her fam­i­ly, orig­i­nal­ly from Turkey, is filled with joy as they pre­pare to wel­come them. Nar­in, while impressed by her cousins’ flu­ent Ger­man, takes pride in her unique her­itage and the spe­cial tal­ents passed down through her grand­moth­er. Her grand­moth­er, an esteemed mem­ber of their com­mu­ni­ty, has inher­it­ed the rare skill of dows­ing, using her con­nec­tion with the earth to locate hid­den under­ground water streams. This abil­i­ty is some­thing Nar­in is eager to learn and one that she hopes to per­fect in time. As she reflects on her grandmother’s lega­cy, she shares with her cousins the impor­tant role of water dows­ing in their lives, some­thing that has been passed down through gen­er­a­tions of women. Despite some play­ful squab­bles between her cousins, Nar­in cher­ish­es their time togeth­er, feel­ing a strong sense of belong­ing and joy that recon­nects her with her famil­ial roots.

The excite­ment of the family’s prepa­ra­tions cul­mi­nates in a grand break­fast, where the table is adorned with tra­di­tion­al dish­es that show­case their rich cul­tur­al her­itage. For Nar­in, this meal rep­re­sents more than just food; it sym­bol­izes the care, respect, and uni­ty that define their fam­i­ly. As they sit togeth­er, Nar­in reflects on how their cus­toms extend beyond the food they pre­pare and eat—there is also a deep rev­er­ence for the depart­ed. The fam­i­ly hon­ors their ances­tors through rit­u­als per­formed at the vil­lage ceme­tery, where the women lead the remem­brance cer­e­monies. This moment is sacred for Nar­in, as she observes the impor­tance of show­ing respect to their ances­tors, ensur­ing that their cul­tur­al prac­tices are passed on and nev­er for­got­ten. The vis­it to the ceme­tery is not just about memo­ri­al­iz­ing the dead but also a way to keep their lin­eage alive, con­nect­ing the liv­ing to the spir­its of those who came before them.

Dur­ing their vis­it to the ceme­tery, Nar­in and her cousins dis­cov­er a grave­stone that stands out—a mark­er for an Eng­lish­man who died near the Tigris Riv­er. His sto­ry, it is said, was one of search­ing for a poem, a tale that sparks intrigue and ques­tions among the chil­dren. This dis­cov­ery becomes a cat­a­lyst for a deep­er con­ver­sa­tion about iden­ti­ty, his­to­ry, and the loss of cul­tur­al her­itage. The fam­i­ly, fac­ing the immi­nent threat of the con­struc­tion of a dam that could flood their ances­tral home of Hasankeyf, begins to dis­cuss the impact this would have on their con­nec­tion to the land. The thought of los­ing their home, which holds cen­turies of mem­o­ries and his­to­ry, leaves the fam­i­ly with a pro­found sense of loss. This real­iza­tion about their her­itage being threat­ened by mod­ern devel­op­ment prompts deep reflec­tions on the imper­ma­nence of life and the ever-evolv­ing land­scape of their home­land.

Lat­er that evening, the con­ver­sa­tion shifts toward more press­ing con­cerns about the ris­ing vio­lence in their home­land. Nar­in over­hears her uncle’s dis­cus­sions about the esca­lat­ing dan­gers in the region, which have made them ques­tion their safe­ty and future. As the fam­i­ly con­tem­plates relo­cat­ing to Ger­many, Narin’s father express­es his hes­i­ta­tion, torn between the desire to pro­tect his fam­i­ly and the pro­found attach­ment to their land and tra­di­tions. This gen­er­a­tional con­flict becomes a source of ten­sion, as Narin’s par­ents strug­gle to bal­ance the need for safe­ty with the impor­tance of stay­ing con­nect­ed to their roots. For Nar­in, this con­flict stirs her own fears about what the future holds—not just for her fam­i­ly but for her­self, as she grap­ples with the loom­ing uncer­tain­ty sur­round­ing her health and safe­ty. Despite her grow­ing anx­i­eties, she finds com­fort in her family’s love and in the rit­u­als that con­tin­ue to pro­vide a sense of sta­bil­i­ty in the face of change.

The chap­ter cap­tures the essence of how tra­di­tion and iden­ti­ty inter­sect with the chal­lenges of moder­ni­ty and con­flict. Through Narin’s jour­ney, we see the com­plex­i­ty of famil­ial bonds and the bur­den of her­itage in a world that is rapid­ly chang­ing. The sto­ry high­lights the impor­tance of cul­tur­al prac­tices, the mem­o­ry of ances­tors, and the way fam­i­ly dynam­ics shape our under­stand­ing of our­selves and the world around us. Narin’s reflec­tions on her past, her fam­i­ly, and the ever-present flow of time pro­vide her with a deep­er sense of who she is and the lega­cy she is a part of. Despite the uncer­tain­ty that looms over her future, Nar­in holds onto the hope that the love and strength of her fam­i­ly will guide her through the most chal­leng­ing moments.