Letters
February March 6-10, 2000 / Esfand 16-20, 1378
Today
* Elections:
- Deep emotions
* Language:
- Salty head
Previous
* Rafsanjani:
- Unreliable
* Women
- Redemption
* Diaspora:
- Bombay hostages
* Economy:
- Seven sisters
* Green Card:
- Don't give up
- Owe apology
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Friday,
March 10, 2000
* Deep emotions
I, too, stayed up all night searching for news about the elections of
the Majlis ["Misplaced"].
Shadi Mokhtari captures the deep emotions of quite a few more people than
she might realize. And she does this with an even-handedness, compassion,
intelligence, and honesty that is simply beautiful.
Behzad Sadeghi
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* Salty head
In your Photo
of the Day (March 9), you translated SHOORE ZENDEGI as salt of life!
Just for your information I must say that SHOOR does not mean salt. The
word SHOOR is one of the most beautiful Persian words which means sensation,
emotion, passion, fervor and enthusiasm. By your translation, the song
EMSHAB DAR SAR SHOORI DAARAM, EMSHAB DAR DEL NOORI DAARAM ..... must be
translated as, "Tonight, I have lots of salt in my head!" :-)
Neda X
REPLY: Technically speaking, "Salt of life" is correct
but not common. A better translation, as Shahrokh Mortazavi has suggested,
would be "Spice of life". I changed it. jj
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Thursday
March 9, 2000
* Unreliable
Mr. Fisk's piece ["Revealed:
Role of a president in the murder of his people"] has a few factual
errors which make the whole article unreliable.
He maintains that Rafsanjani was the first to disclose the Iran-Contra
affair. Anyone familiar with Iranian politics knows how impossible that
could be. In fact the first to blow the whistle on the affair was Mehdi
Hashemi, Ayatalloah Montazeri's son in law who leaked it to a Lebanese
journal (he was summarily executed, and initiated the rift between Montazeri
and Ayatollah Khomeini).
Fisk also claims unequivocally that both Saidi Sirjani and Said Emami
were murdered by potassium injection. The official announcement is that
they died by heart attack and swallowing hair removing paste respectively.
Does Mr. Fisk have any new information to confirm they were murdered? He
has not made such a claim in the article and no source has been mentioned.
Lastly, Mr. Fisk writes that Rafsanjani did not gain more than 25 percent
of the votes in Tehran, but he did. Calculate the number of voters divided
by the number of votes for Rafsanjani and see.
Rasool Nafisi
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* Don't give up
In reply to Kasra's article "She
changed overnight":
Dear Friend : I know exactly how you feel and I was as naive as you
are and experienced a simmilar situation and ended up having a child as
well. We aredivorced now.
If I am not wrong, according to immigration rules, her Green Card becomes
valid two years after she has received it and only if you are still married
and only if you still are willing to petition for her. Therefore, if the
same rule still exists, the ball is in your court and you may void her
Green Card.
Truthfully, I think you got lucky that you got to know her BEFORE you
ended up having kids. This way she can go her way and you never have to
see her again.
Get on with your life and leave this ugly memory behind you. But don't
give up on beautifull Iranian girls, they are the best. Next time PLEASE
do your homework and marry someone with a clear background.
Ahmad from Atlanta
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Wednesday
March 8, 2000
* Scientology
You think the Anthony
Robbins thing is bad? I was working for a professional translation
company and those guys put me in touch with this F R E A K who calls me
asking me if I would translate L. Ron Hubbard's "Dianetics" --
the Scientology Bible -- into Persian!
I told the guy... Boro Aghaa khejaalat bekesh ... Irooniaa beh andaaze-ye
kaafee pedareshoon az dasteh deen dar oomadeh.
The guy then tells me that that is exactly the reason they need Scientology
back in Iran -- to free themselves of Islam. So I said, you know, sorry
I'm a heathen and don't believe in replacing one addiction with another.
Ban Ban
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* Broken promises
My coming to America was a dream. I once thought I was lucky to a country
with lots of hope. My mother didn't want me to leave. She had raised me
single-handedly for twelve years under harsh war-timeconditions. She raised
me without my father, without the help of a single family member or friends.
She dreamed that some day I would become somebody -- somebody who could
make her proud.
The sad part is that I was tempted -- tempted to see, to know, and to
experience what was happening on the other side of the world. I chose the
U.S. over my mother, my loved one, and the only person who could understand
me. I left her only because of money, greed, and lack of family.
God, I miss those days when I would wake up in the morning and ask my
mother to give me 10 tomans, so I could go to the noonvaii and by two barbaris.
God I miss the days I came back from school and there was always delicious
food waiting for me, and my mother was waiting for me at the door to greet
me and say " azizam chetory, madreseh chetor bood?"
Well, I made a choice. I left Iran to experience something new. However,
no matter how amazing those experiences were, to me the experience of being
with my mother was the best. I was just a victim of promises.
Mehrdad S.
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Tuesday
March 7, 2000
* Redemption
It's tragic enough to be young, energetic, enthusiastic, bright and
intelligent individual in Iran; just image being all that and a woman.
Imagine your day to day life of restrictions, a constant reminder of being
a second rate citizen in your own home. It's no wonder how Iranian girls
are dying to get out of the country at any price. Marrying a strange man
half way a cross the world is a ticket for FREEDOM! It's not necessarily
about marriage; it's about recovering from a lifetime of destitute and
faded dreams. It's about gaining their basic rights as human beings first,
not as married wives. It's about redemption! >>>
FULL TEXT
Saghi Zarinkalk
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* Bombay hostages
How about this for a story: Because of a dispute between Iran, Britain,
and Afghanistan (the siege of Kabul), a whole bunch of Iranian businessmen
and merchants were taken hostage and shipped to Bombay sometime in 1850s.
By the time the ship got there, the dispute was over, so they freed the
hostages in Bombay.
My great great grandfather was one of them. There was no such thing
as POW exchange, etc. So, many of them stayed there and that's how my dad's
family ended up in Burma. I'm taking dad to Burma next week. He hasn't
been there in 58 years!
We found the street he lived on in the city map. I'm going to find out
more about the history of the Iranian community there. Dad is very excited,
so am I.
Shirin Bazleh
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Monday
March 6, 2000
* Seven sisters
A new phase of "Dowom e khordad" is unfolding, which is a
calculated attack on the "Bonyads" or various charity fundations
supported by the state's annual budget. Recently President Khatami asked
Bonyad e Mostazafan to start a "self critique." A deputy of the
Behzisti Organization also criticized openly the Bonyad e Emdad e Emam
Khomeini >>>
FULL TEXT
Rasool Nafisi
Go to tp
* Owe apology
First off, bravo! for the excellent work! I am a devout fan : ) However,
I am writing in regards to the story "She
changed overnight." I am writing not in regards to the author
or story, despite the apparant flaws of both.
Rather, I would like to respond to the editorial comment "sadly,
it is not uncommon" which ran as a header over the story. So, this
type of thing happens all the time, does it? It is "not uncommon"
for Iranian men to travel back to the homeland and marry part time prostitutes
and drug abusers? It is "not uncommon" for Iranian women to behave
in such a depraved fashion?
I believe in freedom of speech and have no problem with the printing
of this article, despite my disgust for the author and his wife. However,
I hold your editors responsible for the offensive header. The vast majority
of Iranian women are neither drug abusers nor part time prosititutes. Frankly,
you owe us an apology.
Shokooh Miry
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