Letters
Dec 14-18, 1998 / Azar 24-28, 1377
Today
* Lost & found: Search
for meaning
* Music: Deep crap
* Rights: Double standard
Previous
* Khomeini: Ignorant?
* Politics: Seeming indifference
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Friday,
December 18, 1998
* Search for meaning & belonging
Looking at your feature "Where
on earth" was quite an emotional experience for me. I browsed
through alumni sites and looked at names and places. I was not looking
for any particular person, just looking.
The "psychology of marginalization" (that is the psycho social
and mental health consequences of experiencing a marginalized status) and
the "psychology of migration" are important matters to look at.
Perhaps the most fundamental disruption of migration is the uprooting of
meaning. What are roots to plants, meaning is to human beings. Through
the structure of meaning, each person keeps their relationships to others,
to work, and to a soil and a culture that provides familiarity and stability.
During our lives we belong to different groups or acquire membership
of different cycles, such as our nationality, gender, language, education,
etc. We pass through different periods of our lives and go on different
pathways. The need for shared meanings and experiences stays with us.
I suspect the fact that Iranians are all over the world and are looking
for each other, is another confirmation to of the need to belong and the
power of belonging.
Yasaman Mottaghipour
yasamanm@flex.com.au
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Thursday
December 17, 1998
* Deep crap
Wow just what we needed, more Disco! I'm sorry, "House"!
I tried. I really tried. Maybe I'm getting old. But I just can't accept
another slick-packed Iranian DJ duo as legitimate music. Sorry, Deep Dish
is too predictable, from the name, right down to their black background
website!
Maybe in the U.S. east coast this is considered a novelty. I have noticed
that east and west coast Iranians have developed somewhat differing scales
of what is considered culture.
Here in the west coast, we have a lot of Iranian "House" DJ's.
All the music sounds the same and while it makes for a fun night out with
friends, I wouldn't call yet another assemblage of pre-recorded stock loops
and drum machines, art.
Get a guitar, hit the keyboard, grab the mike and let's see what you
can do! But don't use a mouse, some cheap software, slap it on a $200 CD-burner
and expect me to bring it into my "House"!
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Wednesday
December 16, 1998
* Double standard
Double standard: I wish all the people who make up the minorities in
Iran were "writers" and "intellectuals," then what
has been happening to them for a long time would get the proper attention
["In the name of the pen"].
Sepehr Sohrab
ssohrab@mail.fm
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Tuesday
December 15, 1998
* Ignorant?
I don't agree to a few things in this article ["Lunch
with Khomeini"], but the point that really bothers me is that,
the Ayatollah here is actually referred to as "IGNORANT." Ayatollah
Khomeini, ignorant?
Iram V.
kazimv@emirates.net.ae
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Monday
December 14, 1998
* Seeming indifference
Why is it that you do not provide us with more detailed information
about the current political situation in Iran?
The current atmosphere of terror against Iranian writers and intellectuals
is not only of concern to those who live inside the country but also to
those of us living outside Iran and the international community at large.
It is not enough to only report what "IRNA" and other such
news agencies provide on the current situation. Your so-called feature
writers seem to be engaged with either nostalgia or their daily affairs.
While I do not suggest that such topics are unimportant, I remain concerned
about your seeming indifference as to what goes on inside our country.
Since Khatami's election we have seen a "reversal of fortunes"
for our people ; daily violations of human rights seems to be the reward
for casting "22 million" votes for Khatami.
And yet one has to search hard to find anything on the subject in your
electronic news magazine. Living in exile is a multi dimensional experience
and needs to be addressed from all directions.
We can not, however, be ignorant about the struggle of our people under
a primitive, outdated system of government which is an embarrassment to
us all.
Faramarz Nahapan
p.navab@worldnet.att.net
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