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The Iranian Features
December 27-30, 1999 / Dey 6-9, 1378

Today

* Iran: Sure, it's very possible
* Culture: Not so fast

Recent

* Iran: My lemon yellow roosari
* Music: Andy
* 00: NONE
* Cover story: Remember?
* Family: Thinking of you
* Culture: Borrowed ideas


Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday


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Thursday
December 30, 1999

Iran

Sure, it's very possible
Active resistance to strict hejab rules

By Dokhi Fassihian
December 30, 1999
The Iranian

Second and last part of an article on personal experiences with women's public appearance in Iran.

During my nine months in Iran, I went to airports and traveled on domestic flights with sandals, painted toenails, makeup, and a revealing hejab and was questioned only once at Mashad's airport. A female security guard asked me to button my top button and pull forward my head scarf. I ignored her instructions and only acted like I was readjusting my roosari. As I headed toward the curtain, she called me back.

"Wait, I asked you to close your button."

"Thanks for your concern, but I'm hot and more comfortable this way," I said softly.

"I understand, but it's not possible, is it?"

With a surge of bravery, I smiled sweetly and took her on.

"Sure it is, it is very possible." >>> GO TO FEATURE

Culture

Not so fast
Similarities in Christian-Persian traditions may not be what they seem

By Reza Ordoubadian
December 30, 1999
The Iranian

Even though the Gospel of Matthew passingly mentions "the wise men from the east," none of the other gospels, nor the rest of the New Testament, mentions the "Magi." It seems that, through the ages, the idea has caught on because it lends itself to wonderful theatricality. It is true that the origin of the word "magi, plural-magus, singular=a magician, a man of skills" is from the Old Persian (Avestan) word /maguS/ (magush), referring to the Zoroastrian priests, it was borrowed by the Greeks and then by the Romans (/magos/ and /magus/) long before the advent of Christianity.

Since borrowing of words (not necessarily the content because each borrowed word is normalized in the language which has borrowed it) is a natural process of language making; as such the word must be accepted as a Greek-o-Roman lexicon, and not Persian >>> GO TO FEATURE

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Wednesday
December 29, 1999

Iran

My lemon yellow roosari
My hejab had to say something about me
(Part 1)

By Dokhi Fassihian
December 28, 1999
The Iranian

I braved Tehran's summer heat one day after work and went shopping near the crowded Vali Asr Square. I was having an all-linen summer manteau sown and wanted the perfect buttons for it. At the time, I only had a black manteau I bought in the spring when the weather was still cool. When summer came to Tehran, I endured a magnificent sauna inside the polyester garb. When I took off the manteau, steam would rise off my body.

It was almost impossible to find plain medium-sized bone-colored buttons, even in Tehran's button district! Everything was hideously gaudy, just like the ready-made manteaus I was trying to avoid. Near the meydoon, I saw a store with bright fabric beaming from its window. Wow, a roosari shop! >>> GO TO FEATURE

Music

Andy

    The Iranian
    December 28, 1999

    My daughter reached for the CD player in the car and put on some music. She asked me if I knew who the singer was. I didn't. She said it was Andy. "Andy?!" I asked as if I was being force-fed a chocolate-flavored diarrhetic.

    Truth is that I had never heard his music before -- except for 15 second video clips on Iranian TV stations now and then. My impression was that he's the worst of Iranian music in exile -- silly, devoid of any musical value and good for that certain LA crowd. And dude, what's up with that headband?

    When my daughter played his "Tanhaie" CD in the car, I only heard two songs. Based on that, I still would not rank Andy close to Ebi or Daryoush. But, hey, I enjoyed it. I really did. Has my taste deteriorated? I don't know. All I can say is that it was fun and entertaining. I guess dad's genes (Aghassi) have passed on >>> LISTEN HERE

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Tuesday
December 28, 1999

    NONE. No internet connection.

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Monday
December 27, 1999

Cover story

Remember?
That was me, that was you, that was us

December 27, 1999
The Iranian

When I saw these pictures at a friend's house last week, I thought of all the incredible things that have happened to us, our families and our people in the 20th century. The oldest photo here might be 60-70 years old. But they all seem like ancient history. Where were we then and where are we now? I guess what matters most is where we are heading. But that doesn't make these pictures any less fascinating >>> GO TO FEATURE

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Friday
December 24, 1999

Family

Thinking of you
Never got to meet my Amu Hamid and Ameh Nahid

By Roozbeh Shirazi
December 24, 1999
The Iranian

I watch American grandparents beam over their new grandchildren, aunts and uncles chide their nieces about colleges and boyfriends, and I watch cousins play chess and chase each other around while uncles get quietly drunk with nephews in a corner.

I use these images and then desperately try to substitute the faces of American strangers with Iranian ones -- the grandfathers who I never got to meet, my Amu Hamid and my Ameh Nahid and Ameh Aghdas and Ameh Pari. I try to picture me laughing and talking about women with my arms around my cousins Babak, Arash and Miad -- whose voices I hear once or twice a year -- instead our awkward Noruz fiber optic family experiences >>> GO TO FEATURE

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Cover story

Remember?
That was me, that was you, that was us

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