July-September 2005
Archive -- Latest

ADVICE
Pissed off Persian

What you can control, over time, is your own reactions to the world around you
Shokooh Miry

A reader writes: I am writing you to talk about something that is really beginning to hurt my life. I am very angry. All the time. And it seems to be getting worse. The smallest things upsets me and sets me off... dealing with my boss, waiting in line at the movies or watching the news. I feel enraged all the time and I don’t know what to do. I am not violent, I haven’t done anything stupid like hit anyone, but I just feel so hostile all the time and I verbally explode at the smallest thing. Can this be helped or am I just stuck being angry?

LIFE
His name is Ali

This is a story of two friends
Farzad Fadai

From time to time, memories of Ali come and go and I still remember him like it was yesterday. How can I not? At one point, he was a big part of my life, and those memories are somehow tattooed deep in my mind. This is a story about friendship, struggle, survival, loneliness, laughter and sadness. It's about a relationship of two Iranian teenagers who find themselves fighting for their dreams in a cold, foreign land. This is a story of two friends. It all began in the spring of 1985, in Montreal, Canada. This is when and where I first met him.

LIFE
A peace march

It deserved to be in the history books as much as a day of war
Siamak Vossoughi

There had been all kinds of protests before the war and just as the war had started, and on his way to attending them, he had felt like a man of the world, full of feeling for the place halfway around the world where the war was intended for, wanting to show to the people there that they were not forgotten about, that their lives waking up in the morning and walking in their streets and going home were not forgotten about, and giving dignity to their lives like that, he was able to see it all around him as well. And he had not thought that being a man of the world would stop a war, but there had been so much peace created along the way that it was still a surprise to wake up one morning and think: war. It was still a surprise on the two-year anniversary of the war, a day when there was a protest scheduled.

LIFE
When did I become so detached?

I’m sick of trying to sift through what is offered in the name of ancient tradition in order to find a fragment of my culture
Zohreh Khazai Ghahremani

My father used to say, “When you hear a conversation that’s way over your head, just listen and nod.” Now when people discuss religion, I nod wisely as if to agree. That’s being polite. Deep down I don’t agree with most of what I hear. I’m just being careful not to offend anybody. I do the same when it comes to tradition, there too, I may not like most of what I see, but mindful of other’s feelings, I smile and nod. It’s hard to admit these facts. It’s much more acceptable to talk about the grandeur of our old traditions, how we need to be the keepers of what used to be so that we can pass it on to the next generation.  As for religion, people still respect you more if you are a believer and agree that all mankind needs religion. Also, they want you to say you’re all for keeping tradition, but what tradition are we talking about?

KATRINA
New Orleans, 1989

Remembering our short trip to New Orleans back in 1989
Farah Ravon

HOPE
The plague

Are we a hopeless, hapless nation indeed? I hope and believe not. But I wonder how much longer it will be before our national consciousness awakens from a centuries-old slumber
Moe

Maybe I am being a pessimist after all. Maybe my two months in Iran and the extent of the utter backwardness (I've always cringed at using that word -- but no longer!) I've seen has colored my judegement with new, darker-shade glasses. May be my recent visit to Dubai [photos: Old & new], my first, and the contrast of what is possible and what we have has unduely influenced my opinion. Maybe recent articles have reaffirmed the worst I always feared. Maybe the entangled, devoid character of the Tehrangeles community -- who live in the prime of convenience and liberty -- and yet, by and large, have embraced its basest values, has finally taken its toll.

SHORTS
Missing mother
I have a friend, Mrs Simonian, who fosters young refugee children in the UK and she has a young Iranian boy aged about 15 from Shiraz living with her since November last year. He is ill and very sad because he lost his mother somewhere en route from Iran past Turkey but he doesn’t know which country because it was dark and they were all running away as some people began to shoot at them.  He dived into the back of a lorry which he thought his mother had gone into to take them to England. His mother's name is Sakineh Nejati and his name is Mehdi. He is pining for his mother and if anyone knows her whereabouts please do contact me by email and I will pass on the message. Many thanks -- Dianne Mahboubi

LIFE
Leaving their mark

At 23 months, Siavash and Kourosh are as mischievous as two spider monkeys
Siamack Salari

I could see a two-year old walking around the kitchen with a permanent black marker in his hand. I could see the picture on wall was slightly crooked but there was no one to straighten it while I watched to make sure it had been squared. Roughly 2 minutes after seeing Kourosh with the magic marker, a few warning lights went off in my head. This, I should have known, was a nightmare waiting to happen. Instead, I turned back to the marrow fritters I was cooking and carefully turned them over one by one. What happened next took my breath away. Kourosh, marker in hand, was making large squiggles on our new oak kitchen floor. Siavash, his twin brother was watching him thoughtfully. “Naaaaaaa!” I bellowed.

FOOD
Dreaming of lentils and porriage

i imagine the surface to be pebbled and crisp, toasted flour barely clinging to the dark edges, sandy to the touch, smelling of secret recipes
Daniela

my mom has been telling me these mouth-watering stories of iranian breakfasts. after i had a traditional week-day breakfast of warm pita bread, salty feta cheese and sweet dark tea, she told me the bread story: our driver or someone from the household would wake up early in the morning to buy the bread. bread is not made at home, we leave that to the bakers. and they take it out of the ovens and place it into the driver's waiting hands, hot from the stones and coals on which it was baked.

TRAVELERS
Road to Hamadan

It always happens that I fall in love with a place just as I have to leave it
Sara Nobari

"Where are you from?" she asked.
"America," I answered. "San Diego. Do you live here?" I motioned around me.
"Yes." There was a moment's pause. "I don't like it here," she burst out. "Iran is not good." She motioned to her scarf and coat and then to mine, with a show of repugnance. We burst out laughing.
"I like Iran," I said. "The country is beautiful." I motioned again to the land around us. 
She smiled but motioned again to my coat. "Iran is not good for girls," she said. She shook her head sorrowfully and ran off.

LIFE
School? Not again!

On a larger scale, our own planet rotates once a day and revolves around the sun once a year, producing day and night, and four seasons, over and over again
Arash Emamzadeh

Last week I overheard my friend's son utter "Not again!" as he stumbled across a bubbly back-to-school commercial while scanning the TV channels.  I guess he did not relish the prospect of spending his free time, starting in September, "shackled" to his desk, memorizing page after page of esoteric content, and having to come face to face with the procrastination monster within him.  I can not blame him. I think it is human nature to avoid repetitive and dull tasks whenever possible.  Schoolwork does not exactly get anyone's adrenaline pumping.  One spends hours motionless listening to the teacher go on and on about some obscure Shakespearean passage or mathematical principle, writes quizzes, exams, and essays, and several months later, the cycle repeats itself. Yawn.

COMMUNITY
More, please

Mehregan conference in San Diego left us with an even greater thirst for knowledge than the one that drove us there to begin with
Mersedeh Mehrtash

Iranian Identity as a topic is one that spans across so many fields and is dependent on so many variables, that it is difficult for anyone to offer a universal answer or explanation. Iranian Identity in Farsi, is referred to as “Hoveyat-e Irani”. I am embarrassed to say that before this conference, I did not know what “hoveyat” meant, nor had I really thought about my own identity in the same way that I started to when I left this seminar. In fact ever since I left the seminar last night, I have been preoccupied with processing all that I absorbed in the previous 3 days.

LIFE
Exile, Part II

Vive la France! Vive la Republique!
Setareh Sabety

So now I have decided to stay here in Nice... This small city, here since the time of the ancient Greeks, has a history of welcoming exiles and foreigners from all over the world. I feel at home here. Here, I do not have roots but I have freedom. I know that no one will chastise or punish me for what I think or write or what I do in my bedroom or what I wear in the street. Here, I know that I am considered equal to a man in the eyes of the law. Here, in the land of Montesquieu, Danton and De Beauvoir, I know that I walk safe down a path of life paved on the foundations of civil liberty and respect for the individual.

LIFE
How does it smell?

I felt a unique and extra ordinary high after hearing that word "Iran"
Farzad Fadai

I said to myself, this is great. I can sit here and listen to their conversation and enjoy the whole thing as much as I want. After a few minutes, one of them asked the other one, "So, how was your trip to Iran?" When I heard that word I felt my blood rush through my veins... It was like he was just there and left to come to gym half an hour ago. He talked about food, love, places, people, family, friends, streets, houses, parties, cars, girls, boys, etc, etc. and I was there digesting it as a total stranger.

LIFE
Lungs of the earth - Oh beloved forests

Environmental issues in Iran have to be taken as the most serious and urgent problem to be tackled
Vida Kashizadeh

Whatever happened to that cool basement room of my aunt's old house in Dezashib with turquoise blue tiled little pond (hoes), Summer afternoons with watermelons in the little pond to make it cool, and my uncle having a siesta before going back to work? And where is the reflection of that beautiful and mysterious Berkeh-e Niloofar -- Water lilies Pond near Kermanshah is ever to be found? That pond which has been destroyed to build roads and houses and the air pollution to match?

RELIEF
Can you help?

Katrina's victims are desperate for shelter
Afshin P. Pishevar

It's been reported that hundreds or perhaps thousands have lost their lives to Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans and surrounding areas. A tragic situation with new fears more will die as deadly water borne illnesses brew around survivors wading through the filthy waters that now fill their beloved neighborhoods. Their homes lost, no shelter, weary from the storm there seems to be no relief in sight for those who survived Katrina's blow. Is there any hope for a warm meal, shower and a place to recover from the tragedy anytime soon?

LANGUAGE
Lovely word

Next time when I say “I love you” to an English-speaking person I will do so with the reminder that the word “love” is of Persian origin
Guive Mirfendereski

This summer, I learned about the origin of the word “love.” It is an Indo-Iranian word. I would think that in Old Persian luvu or lubu would have existed as a word for love or desire. In the Slavic language of southern Russia, which was influenced by the Median and Scythian (Saka) languages, the word for love is lubov. The word lobat in contemporary Farsi applies to a beautiful woman and, despite the Arabicization of its orthography, could have derived from libet of Old Aryan/Old Persian. I wonder also if the word lavat (love between two men, sodomy) too belongs to this group of Sanskrit/Old Aryan leubh family of words.

NOTES
Excellent question

From Akbar Ganji to California real estate
Hamid Boroumand

No one anywhere, in their right minds, wants to have a bunch of unelected, unaccountable, and irresponsible "loonies" with suspect agendas (and I am not talking about any one specific country or system in the world, but the world at large) being in a position to upset world peace and stability. At the same time, I really don't think there is a calculated hegemonic conspiracy to deny developing countries access to progress and technology (otherwise, Korea and Taiwan and Malaysia and... wouldn't be where they are today).

CHOICES
Marzieh or Delkash? Gina or Sophia?

This issue was so serious that if anyone liked both, would never admit it openly for the fear that they would be perceived as an outsider (which seems to be a swear word for some Iranians)
Vida Kashizadeh

I have experienced this phenomenon in the UK only when it comes to pet lovers. Here it is very rare to see a cat and a dog in the same household. People here usually either like cats OR dogs. And during a conversation about pets if you say that you like both cats AND dogs, there is usually a pause and depending on what kind of people you are talking to, you either get ignored (by the more stupid) or given extra attention (by the enlightened ones).

FICTION
Beer with a bang

A classic Canadian beer story
Laleh Behjat

I have come from Revolution Street in Tehran, to King Street in Canada ... such a wonderful journey. Now I’ll be able to wear what I want to wear, drink what I want to drink, watch all those great Hollywood movies and walk with whomever I want to. I’ll even be free to fall in love. I’m going to celebrate, buy myself a drink, make a toast, drink the poison and go to hell.

SHORTS
Heart of gold
Afshin Pishevar writes: There was a miracle at our house this morning. I recently cooked an eggplant dish ("khoresh-e bademjaan"). Because my wife Maria is away on a trip, I used a bit of garlic in the dish. She can not stand the smell of garlic and onion. Well, last evening, I came home and started warming up the leftover eggplant. I placed the empty container from the eggplant in the sink.

The sombols had bloomed and I was suddenly taken by the flowers' strong perfume. I turned to look at my small haft-seen arrangement for "Norooz" (the Persian New Year).To my dismay, in the center of the arrangement, I saw one of the goldfish floating feebly in the bowl. On its side, motionless. I fished it out with my hand. He was stiff. I grieved a few seconds and dropped him in the sink. I went on with my evening.

The dirty dishes were in the sink all night. Waking up in the morning, I was drawn to the sink. I sensed a strange need to do the dishes. As I cleaned each dish, the sink became more and more empty. I finally arrived at the container which had the residue of the eggplant dish. Water had collected in it. The water was murky with the eggplant khoresh.

I paused a moment, with no particular purpose. My eyes were out of focus. In the faraway haze of my thoughtlessness, a vague motion slowly began to stir. My eyes awoke from their lethargy. I began to gather focus on the container. A simple sensation of white-hot pure joy collected in my chest. There was a new dawn. A second chance. My little red and black friend was alive!

IRAN
There's a monkey in the back yard!

And to my amazement my mother responded by saying "Shahrokh, go do your homework"
Shahrokh Nikfar

I knew that I could not have just imagined what I had seen. There was a monkey up there and I had to expose it to prove that I was not a liar. So the next day, when I thought that the tenants had left, I took the spare key to the upstairs apartment from my dad's desk drawer, and cautiously went up the stairs. I wasn't scared of getting caught because of my experiences of stealing fruit from the neighbor's cherry tree had me well prepared for this type of a covert operation.

BABY
Roya Carter

Photos & video clips
Jahanshah Javid

KIDNEY
Brazilian bait

When I woke up I felt a sharp pain in my back and the room was in darkness
Kayvan Mobini unedited

It was some times that I was mesmorised by those beautiful Brazilian girls who paraded their heavenly bodies on the beaches of Rio do Janeiro and being a human I had decided that I must embark on a trip to the city and taste what was on offer in Rio, being married with 3 children I made the excuse of going on a business trip to Brazil for a week and promised to bring back some worthy presents for the family.

SHORTS
Persian poetry in court
Afshin Pishevar writes: I had an interesting experience in Court in the Washington DC area today. The opposing attorney got tangled up in his own motion. It was not too hard to go in for the kill. In short, It was ugly, the Judge Denied all their requests. When opposing counsel tried to protest and get the Judge to Reconsider, the Judge looked at him for a few seconds and Quoted this Rubayiat-eh Khayyam:

The Moving Finger Writes; and, Having Writ
The Moving Finger writes; and, having writ,
Moves on: nor all your Piety nor Wit
Shall lure it back to cancel half a Line,
Nor all your Tears wash out a Word of it
-- Omar Khayyam

The Judge then told him: "Stop by anytime..." [pause]
I said: "I think for a split-second he thought you were serious about 'stopping by.'"
[Laughter from the Gallery]

PILOT
Tars va parvaaz

Struck by lightning on a flight from Tehran to Ahvaz
Amir Kasravi

LIFE
Nice try

"Sahar, Khanoom," Haniye started asking me "Are you married?" Where the hell did that come from? Please shoot me now.
Sahar Dastmalchi

A few weeks ago I was enjoying one of those rare Saturday mornings, I was alone in my apartment and didn't have to be anywhere, no papers due, hadn't taken any work home, didn't have to go grocery-shopping, didn't have any family obligations. I had the whole morning to my self. I actually had time to read the paper and drink my cup of coffee while sitting down. As I was enjoying the virtues of being single and untied my phone rang. I answered it not taking my eyes from my paper.

LIFE
You need a hug

... to fathom the existence of a great marriage
Sanaz Khalaj

Have you ever thought that a revolution may have had something to do with the psyche and therefore downfall of some Iranian marriages? Not to mention, Iranian women who've come to this country and have become more successful than their husbands, that is the main reason my mom's friends have divorced -- so add these criteria to your statistics. People like you -- who marry for the wrong reason(s), will end up middle-aged, divorced, and unhappy. The only time anyone should get married is when and only when they are ready. I am getting married in 2 weeks and I couldn't be more thrilled and excited, because I'm marrying my best friend.

PARENTS
Good boy

Worries about mom and dad's mortality has made me want to go to Iran sooner and more often
Hamid Bakhsheshi

Lately, I have noticed that I think about my parents more. The fact that they are mortal and will be gone has started to bother me. I can't get it out of my head and I'm afraid I'm going to lose them. This has made me want to go to Iran sooner and more often. As most of us who work and run a business know, that is just not possible. It is not a weekend trip. Knowing that little fact doesn't help my guilt however, that I have abandoned them and the burden of their old age, doctor visits, and needs of any kind has fallen on my sisters' shoulders. Sending money only remedies that guilt a little, but it does not, in any ways, replace my being there.

ROCK
Record company rats

I wish for them nothing but a soothing and serene sleep
Raman Kia

Recently, I have spent most nights chronically unable to sleep. Lying there awake I analyze the situation I have found myself in but never quite find a solution. I actually think I may be losing my marbles -- as the saying goes. I had always considered myself quite hard-boiled and emotionally prepared for anything obscene, offensive, and outrageous that the music business could throw at me, but, for the moment, my life seems to have choked on a piece of bad news.

LIFE
'Til time do us part

The diminishing bond of Iranian marriage
Hamid Karimianpour

It is not a secret that many Iranians who live abroad have fallen prey for the ever-increasing divorce rate. One has to ask: does marriage still offer a perfect arena for mutual love, happiness, and fortune? Or do the transformations of the twenty-first century necessitate a call for casting a new light on marriage and relationship? Approaching this question is likely to offend the readers. However, the purpose here is not to ridicule anyone who chooses to marry, but to instigate a debate on this very important issue.

RELATIONS
Which side are you on?

When it comes to relatives and members of the family, we are often judged based purely on which side we belong to
Zohreh Khazai Ghahremani

We are so selective with relatives that we pick sides and make sure each person sticks to their own side. Not only do we have a particular name for each relative, when we mention them, the undertone in our voices carries enough weight to define a few priorities. While to the rest of the world, an aunt may be just an aunt -- be it the sister of one’s mother, a sister of father or the wife of an uncle -- to a true Persian there are distinctions that cannot and will not be overlooked. To an Iranian each aunt has a special place and while we respect them all, they have to stay where we place them and no trespassing is allowed. Of course, the same goes for uncles, and most certainly, applies to in-laws.

PROTEST
Naa looti

London protest against homosexual executions in Iran
Sent by E.K.

One hundred people protested outside the Iranian Embassy in London Thursday, 11 August 2005 -- coinciding with simultaneous US and European protests against Iran's "tyrannical, homophobic, misogynistic and fundamentalist regime." We condemn the execution of two teenage boys in Iran on charges involving homosexual acts.

FAMILY
Farewell Farangis

In memory of our matriarch Farangis Davar Ardalan (1912-2005)
Davar Ardalan

After more than nine decades and a full life, my grandmother died peacefully yesterday in Arlington, Virginia. As her youngest granddaughter I have vivid memories of playing in her garden in Tehran in springtime and in the winter snow... the cherry blossoms that adorned the entrance to her house... those carefree days when she taught us to leave an empty bowl out in the cold to catch fresh falling snow and then drip cherry juice on top for our very own homemade snowcones! I learned that as a young girl, Farangis Davar was raised primarily by her grandfather, known as Khazaneyeh Khalvat or personal treasurer to the Qajar king.

PARODY
Two Iranian brothers

The concept of "tarof"
Behrang Litkouhi

The following is a play I wrote that makes a parody of the concept of "tarof." The characters are two Iranian brothers and an American prostitute. The brothers tarof with each other about who should go first, and they offer their guest tea. The prostitute picks up on the Persian culture and then refuses to be paid for her services.

DIASPORA
Salam from Sweden

I just want you all to know that it does not matter how much better our life is outside Iran -- some of us have pain in our heart and soul
Cyrus

At first both my parents were very homesick and unease in Sweden. When the Immigration Board of Sweden gave us our political asylum we where moved to a small community in the middle of Sweden. With us many other Iranian families left the refuge camp and were settled in different parts of Sweden. It was a very wise plan at first but with time more and more Iranians left the smaller towns to search for better opportunities in the cities. This has left many Iranian families quite lonely in this country. And this for sure leads young people like me to lose our Iranian identity as our Swedish identity grows stronger.

LIFE
Beecheshmoroo

If you took a pair of tweezers to your brows, your mother might not hesitate to tell you looked like a whore
Jasmin Darznik

You cannot find a pair of bushy eyebrows anymore. They have gone the way of virgins, that is to say, they are now the stuff of Persian fairytales. Still, I cannot seem to stop thinking about them and why they have left us. Eyebrows have enjoyed a special place in the history of our people. Iranians are apt to speak rapturously of a woman’s “cheshm-o-abroo.” In describing a beautiful woman, we do not speak of her eyes alone, but of her eyes and her eyebrows, as if they were of a piece. Their role in supporting the beauty of a woman’s face is not merely incidental. Eyebrows are in fact crucial.

PORROO
Sahar Khanoom mord

"Bale Farhad told me you could get me a fridge... Cheap." Ok. We have lift off.
Sahar Dastmalchi

Have you noticed that no matter where you meet a fellow Iranian, they are always in need of a favor? I am not talking about relatives, I mean the whole Iranian community. Since I helped a friend out with my company discount on household appliances, every Persian Tom, Dick and Harry has been on the phone with me. It's like I have opened a new home appliance store. Few weeks ago a friend of a friend of a friend of my moms calls me out of the blue at my office nonetheless. This is how the conversation went. "Salam Sahar Khanoom..."

BAD
Poker addict

I see countless Iranians in poker rooms every day many losing $200-$1,000 a day
Manouchehr Mehrparvar

My good friend Amir (obviously not his real name) started playing poker in 2002. Back then he had a nice house in Tarzana, southern California, a beautiful wife and 2 great kids. Amir had a thriving insurance and financial planning business. He had 3 office workers, drove a nice BMW and his wife bought clothes for parties (without the need for returning them the next day). Amir started playing poker once a week at the Commerce casino in LA. Once a week at nights turned into 2 nights and then almost every night. He was in effect prefering poker to his wife and kids because he could only see them at nights like most working dads.

LIFE
Soul in Sangak

The lady would not leave until we took one of her two pieces of bread
Tamara Nakhjavani

I found soulfulness in Iran when I went back after 13 years of being on my own. I remember one day, my mom and I were desperately looking for a bread bakery that sold Noon Sangak, my favorite bread. As we were walking up and down the street, my mom asked a strange woman who had two Sangaks in her hands where the bakery was. My mom told her that I was leaving Iran that night and really wanted to eat some. The lady told us where the bakery was but would not leave until we took one of her two pieces of bread. She said that she would not feel good eating the bread unless I had tasted it before I left.

ADVICE
Baby blues

You are absolutely not the only depressed new mom
Shokooh Miry

Nadereh writes: I am hoping that you can help me. I am the mother of a newborn baby and I think there is something really wrong with me. My daughter is two weeks old, but ever since she was born I have become very different. I used to be a very happy and busy person, but now I can’t shake feelings of depression no matter what. I have lost interest in everything and everyone -- even my new daughter! I cry for no reason, I can’t even stand to look at her!

IDENTITY
A Persian thing

I am tired of this Persian-Arab conversation, which I am not winning
Hossein Samiei

In the evening I go over to her house. After dinner we put the video on. I sit down on her new white sofa. She lies down with her head on my lap. I run my fingers through her long and soft hair as we watch the movie. Everything is nice and happy. Until, that is, we get to the scene when Shohreh Aghdashloo shouts to that anti-Christ Ben Kingsly about not wanting to live like bare-footed backward desert Arabs, or something to that effect. She jumps up, looking startled. "What the hell is that all about? Is this what you think of us Arabs?"

LIFE
Freedom or death

For all bi-cultural Iranians who feel they don't really belong anywhere
Mahsa Meshki

Sami beckoned to the waiter to bring over an ashtray. He lit a cigarette and took a sip of his cappuccino. He looked at Nousha and said, "I am so confused Noush, azinja moondeh azoonjan roondeh ... Do you ever get the feeling that we don't belong anywhere? When my parents sent me to the West I was a child of 12 years. With my dark features and strange name I became a hermit in a strange land trying to make sense of what had happened. Looking back, I don't know how I got through it. The other day my mom told me to be careful when I cross the street. It made me laugh and cry at the same time. Parents can be such a nuisance."

TRAVELERS
Inja Tehran ast

Sure, streets and traffic lights have changed, but nothing has changed
Shahin Milani

After almost eight years, it was finally happening. I was on the Iran Air flight from Amsterdam to my beloved Tehran. The plane was full, and all the passengers that I saw were Iranian. The dude who was sitting next to me was quite a character.A little after I had started the conversation he was telling me about how his female cousin was divorcing her husband because she was caught watching porn and having sex with her husband's sister! I was shocked, of course. I had heard about the spread of lesbianism, but I didn't think I would hear stories about it before I had entered the Iranian airspace. Talking with that dude was fun, and it heralded a fun time.

LIFE
Nature of friends

The best definition I heard for a friend is in a story told by our 7th grade Farsi teacher in Iranzamin
Sepehr Haddad

My 6-year-old son, Riyan, came home from summer camp the other day, and as usual was explaining what he had done that day. He kept mentioning his new "best" friend, and I asked him who this particular friend was, since I had never heard his name. It turned out that he had just met this kid that morning and all of a sudden he had turned out to be Riyan's best friend. It made me laugh at how easily a new person can become a child's best friend, and got me thinking about my own friends.

WOMEN
WomBomb

My detonating agent turned out to be a Persian-born European-raised boy named Ramin
Sahar Dastmalchi

Now as I'm standing in front of Amsterdam central station waiting for my darling I am telling myself that as a confident, mature, attractive, young woman, I had no reason to be insecure. No matter if he is 15 minutes late... and has a history of being forgetful, and has called me twice during the week to ask me if we are hooking up on Saturday or on Sunday? And has already blown me off twice... Nope I am just great... by the way I like these shoes ... yes how can he resist me? How can any one resist me in these shoes?

WORLD CUP
Electrifying loss

After watching Iran's 3-0 loss to QPR, I have decided that perhaps I have a future in football
Payam Ghamsari

On Saturday I went to watch Iran (their second string team) QPR (Queen Parks Rangers) in a "friendly". I had only ever watched one football game before Saturday and that was Iran vs America during the 1998 World Cup and that was on TV. So Iran vs QPR was my first live football match. I have always thought football was a silly game, but as I knew a lot of people were going I decided to go along out of curiosity and a misplaced sense of national pride.

LIFE
Not so good

According to the many rules of our courtship, Houman was allowed to take me out only one night of the week
Jasmin Darznik

Our courtship started and ended with a problem of names. For a long time in our house that imperious Persian word, khastegari, was invoked only when speaking about Iran and the past. When I turned nineteen it gained new currency. That year I managed to find the most unsuitable of suitors. Houman was thirty-one and lately separated from his wife. Suitors were not supposed to have ex-wives, because Iranians didn’t get divorced (though one of course heard rumors from time to time). Houman was both Iranian and divorced. If he was to exist, we would have to find a name for him.

RADIO
Faraazhaa va foroodhaa

Highs and lows of Dr. Holakouee's popular radio show
Fariba Moghadam

FOOTBALL
Shooteh bad

Lessons in Persian II
Peyvand Khorsandi

Beh ghabr-e babat khandeedee. (You laughed at your father’s grave). Expression used when one is extremely annoyed at the ineptitude of an individual or group. Take yesterday when Iran’s national side lost 3-nil to QPR in London. Iran were demolished by a team whose players used the time-honoured strategy of passing the ball to each other and providing a defence. It would be fair to say that “be QPR-e babashoon khandeedan”.

LIFE
Praying in Persian

I usually pray in my shower and in Farsi
Baharak Sedigh

I do not pray in Arabic for the very simple reason that I do not speak the language. Sure I have memorized a few prayers over the years, but it's a simple regurgitation of words I do not understand. How genuine is that? The other prayers I know from my Catholic school years may as well be in Arabic too, for they feel no more authentic. I give my family, my friends, and even my co-workers the courtesy of speaking to them in a language I understand, and I always attempt to remain true to my thoughts and beliefs in my interactions, why would I not extend the same honesty when communicating with my God? My words, my tone, and my emotions evolve, both in life and in my "talks" with him.

DOCTOR
The joys of saving a life

Responding to a question on a form in medical school
Maziar Shirazi

I pride myself on my gut; since I can remember, it was never difficult for me to follow my instincts and commit myself to a pursuit, especially a fulfilling and useful one. My family, well aware of this, made sure that I would cultivate my better instincts. They made me understand that whatever I ended up doing in life, it should be something that would be a vehicle both for my own well-being and that of others. Thus, reciprocity is the bedrock upon which my expectations and aspirations, in life as well as a physician, are built. I get true satisfaction from knowing that one day I will be fully committed in a profession that makes a positive difference in my community.

PERFORMANCE
A night with Aghili

He belted out tune after tune, the classics, the pop songs, and provided more than a few funny stories in between
Tahereh Aghdassifar

A little over a week ago I was on my lunch break at work, and like all good Iranian children, I called home to check in with my mother. She picked up and began to yell "AGHILI IS COMING!" I laughed and asked what she was talking about, and instead of an explanation I just kept getting "Aghili is coming, Aghili is coming!" What you have to understand is that I, like many children of immigrants, was raised on shoddy VHS recordings of music videos and worn tape cassettes made in Iran during the 70's. Somewhere between the pop sounds of Googoosh and Sattar though, I fell in love with the majestic voice of Houshmand Aghili.

POLITICS
Future leaders?

Secular democrats meet in Frankfurt
Photo essay

SHAH
Khodabiamorz

In the course of time the world has held the memory of the Shah in great esteem, and history will be a fair judge
Anonymous

The jetliners’ four engines droned at low altitude, wings slanted in a half-circle approach to the runway. The returning king saw the army band, a unit of his beloved royal guard standing in perfect rows, the front line bearing the colors. Worried officials jostled about. A throng, no doubt the welcoming committee, stood meters away from the red carpet where the liner was supposed to stop. In front of the royal pavilion he saw his old limousine kept well during his absence. His wife, sitting by his side, held her face near him. He was about to say something to her when suddenly his attention passed on something unexpected. On the grounds below, the mass of humanity that had come to welcome him reached horizons.

DIASPORA
Deeper pain

Americans often comment, “Aren’t you lucky?” We nod out of sheer politeness, but why is it that deep down we don’t feel so lucky?
Zohreh Khazai Ghahremani

It offers little help to remind ourselves of all the people around the world who would give their right arm to change places with any one of us in America. There’s that deep melancholy in our eyes and tears ready to be released at the strum of a ‘Tar’, the lyrics of a sad song or for all that we have left behind. Indeed we are a nation of sufferers who, regardless of the comfort offered us, at times fold inside ourselves in search of the sad memories and find sorrows that we should have left behind and only through such a remembrance do we feel whole.

SHIRAZ
Enduring kindness

What is in this magical word Shiraz that makes everyone sit up and take notice?
Reza Bayegan

Is it the poetry, the wine or the fabulous gardens? Is it Shiraz’s proximity to the ruins of Persepolis or Cyrus’s tomb in Pasargad awakening in us a reverence for the roots of our civilized humanity? What is in Shiraz’s land and water that makes it different from any other place? It has a soil not in any way unique. The oxygen one breathes there is like any other oxygen. The trees and vegetation are not that different from those found in a land of similar climate. And still we know that Shiraz evokes in us feelings and sensations that no other place is able to.

HUMOR
Jacket over a cross

The jottings of Ali Mashangian
Peyvand Khorsandi

“Can you go back to Persia?”
“I have passport issues.”
“Oh.”
“Are you from London?” I ask, turning the tables.
“Cornwall,” he says.
Rather cheekily, I say: “Can you go back there or is there an Islamic government?”

GAMBLERS
Look who's bluffing

Iranians in 2005 World Series of Poker
Manesh

With only a handful of players left in this years World Series of Poker chamionships in Las Vegas, there were two Iranians who were still in the field as of Wednesday. My favorite Bonyadi finished 41st and won $235,000. Shahram "Sean" Sheikhan finished 11th and won $600,000. You are probably unaware of this, but this is a HUGE money tournoument. Total prize money is $52 Million! More than 5,000 entrants paid $10,000 each to compete. All but a few have been eliminated so far. First place gets $7.5 million

LIFE
My Iranian kharoset

The problem is that my parents' recipe tastes much closer to what I remember of our Iranian mixture than mine
Farideh Goldin

Once again, I ask my father to give me our family recipe for the Passover kharoset (charoset). He says, “Chop walnuts, almonds and pistachios in a food processor, add apples, bananas, and grapes -- only if you wish--pomegranate juice, wine, and vinegar--as you like--cinnamon and cloves, and dates and even figs--if you want.” Surprised, I ask, “Bananas? When did we start adding that?” I know this is not our recipe because I was in charge of making it every year when I lived with my parents in Iran.

DEBATE
They know best

This Iranian women's conference was more chaotic and verbally abusive than ever
Golbarg Bashi

I do hope that open-minded women will start coming back to this conference, and 'teach' a thing or two about the realities of the world, and how we need to have dialogue to achieve the change we all want. Or we should start an objective and democratically orientated Iranian Women's Conference which might draw fewer people but will be far more democratic and fruitful? I propose to all who are supporters of this kind of project to urge the Iranian Women's Studies Foundation board to reform! Or we’ll have to break away and start afresh which is a tragedy.

IRANIANS
All Iranian Denial Syndrome

At this rate it won't be long before we will witness in Iran what happened to Yugoslavia
Matt Bina unedited

The fact of the matter is, this disease is just like AIDS but with different words comprising this acronym, it stands for All Iranian Denial Syndrome (AIDS), and we don't know how to treat it. And as long as we don't acknowledge the disease, fixing the symptoms won't cure anything! Sometimes I feel that we don't really want to cure ourselves and we rather live with this disease until death. After all if we get rid of its crippling "Me-Manship" no sorry it's "Me-and-only-Me-Manship" symptoms, what will we do with ourselves all day and all year? Year after year! What will keep us busy and occupy us? And don't you know it ... there is a method to this madness!

>>> Diaspora Archive -- Latest

>>> Top