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Baba Taher
Fiction
I dream of you still
Lying in a pool of black ink
By Khordad
I remember the night I found you. It had been a long day and I was looking
forward to being alone. I'm ashamed to say that I was relieved to find
the lights off when I first got home. When I did find you though, lying
there, lifeless, in the dark, it took me a few seconds to realize what
had happened. The reflection of light made it seem as if you were lying
in a pool of black ink. My first reaction was to clean up. Clean the house,
clean the bathroom. Clean you. Dress you. I wanted to cover your naked
body that left you so vulnerable. I wanted to make you presentable, before
a hoard of strangers accosted our house to find you lying there, as I had,
lifeless, drenched, in your own blood ... GO TO FEATURE
Outlook
Trends:
A Persian Love Machine
Madonna, Demi, Goldie and Deepak are mad for Rumi--the hottest
dead Sufi poet in Hollywood
By Patricia King
Newsweek
December 21, 1998
Move over, Brad and Leo. The newest love machine is a 13th-century Persian
mystic poet named Jalal al-Din Mohammad Balkhi--or Rumi for short. A mere
700 years after his death, Rumi's got two hot releases out: a CD called
"A Gift of Love," with celebrities like Madonna,
Martin Sheen, Demi Moore and Goldie Hawn reading their favorites among
his poems, and a best seller (for a book of verse) called "The Love Poems of Rumi," edited by mind-body guru Deepak
Chopra--also a huge fan. And his fame is spreading fast. A few weeks ago
Chopra was outside the Memphis airport wrestling with his suitcases when
a 19-year-old skycap suddenly realized he had a celebrity at hand. "Aren't
you the dude who is talking about Rumi?" the skycap asked Chopra.
"Deep stuff, man. It's cool." ... FULL TEXT
Top ten subjects searched on Yahoo, AOL and Excite search engines this
month and referred to The Iranian:
1 - Googoosh
2 - Iranian/Persian names
3 - Iranian webguide
4 - Nimrooz
5 - Iranian music/songs
6 - Iranian sex
7 - Iranian news
8 - Iran radio
9 - Mojahedin
10- Iranian periodicals
More Letters
* Canonizing martyred writers
Arazoo Dorosti writes: Iranians, like all other human beings, too easily
forget the events of the recent past ["In the name of the pen"]. I think it is important
that a "List of Martyrs for A Civil Society" be kept on The
Iranian for those who have died in the IRI since Khordad of 1997. People
can then go and see that Iran's struggle toward "civil society"
is real, painful, tragic, and embarrassing ... FULL
TEXT
* Cold and cheated
Salian writes: It was nice to see that you had a photo of the late Mohammad
Mokhtari ["In
the name of the pen"]. You also had him as the "feature,"
meaning that there would be articles about him, his work, what he said,
life story... something!
Instead you have links to other media announcements form various sites.
Which is okay, and I found information that I had not found before, but
you are mislabeling your front-page.
I felt a bit cold and cheated. I expected a lot more out of your website.
* Conference: Persian Gulf: Present
realities
The Center for Persian Gulf and Middle East Studies at the Institute
for Political and International Studies (IPIS) intends to convene its ninth
International conference on the Persian Gulf under the title "Persian
Gulf: Present Realities and Future Perspectives " on February 22-23,
1999.
Distinguished scholars, university professors, researches, and specialists
will discuss political, international, economic, security as well as cultural,
and energy issues relating to the present situation in, and pertaining
to future cooperation among the countries of the Persian Gulf region.
The main topics of the discussion are as follows: ... DETAILS
HERE
Book of the Week
Closed Circuit History
The illustrations of Ardeshir Mohassess
Ardeshir Mohassess is recognized internationally as Iran's leading caricaturist
and graphic artist (see feature in The Iranian). Yet, as the powerful images
on the following pages show, neither appellation fully describes the breadth,
depth, intricacy, and complexity of his art and vision. In his drawings,
be they detailed tableau or simple, primitive sketches, Mohassess quite
literally dissects his characters with his pen and then peels away the
conventional facade to expose the underlying reality of his world... --
Ali Banuazizi
Recent
featured books
THE IRANIAN
Bookstore
New! Bestsellers
New! Books on Rumi
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More
news
Court won't free Karbaschi
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) -- An Iranian court has rejected an appeal by
the former mayor of Tehran who was sentenced to five years in jail for corruption.
Gholamhossein Karbaschi's appeal was reviewed by three judges, and the ``charges
and the cases of conviction remain the same,'' Iran's official news agency
reported Tuesday. It quoted judiciary spokesman Fotovat Nasiri-Savadkouhi
... FULL TEXT
Iran forms panel to probe killings
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) -- The chief of Iran's hard-line judiciary has
ordered the formation of a committee to investigate a spate of dissident
killings, Tehran newspapers reported Tuesday. The official, Ayatollah Mohammad
Yazdi, said the committee would improve coordination of information and
evidence concerning the cases, the Farsi-language Iran and other newspapers
reported. No other details were available ... FULL TEXT
Iran eyes agriculture measures amid drought
fears
TEHRAN, Dec 22 (Reuters) - Iran's President
Mohammad Khatami called on Tuesday for measures to modernise agriculture
and curb consumption as a senior official cautioned about the possibility
of a new drought due to low rainfall. Khatami, quoted by the official news
agency IRNA, said Iran needed to boost mechanisation and modern technology
in agriculture to limit reliance on food imports ... FULL TEXT
Report: Stray U.S. missiles land in Iran
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) -- Two stray cruise missiles
from the U.S.-British attack on Iraq last week fell on a port city in southern
Iran, the Tehran Times reported today ... FULL TEXT
Art & fantasy
Tehran, (Hamshahri) - Parvaneh Etemadi's fantastic
art work goes on display at the Niavaran Cultural Center ... FULL TEXT IN
PERSIAN
Soccer: The positive side
Tehran, (Hamshahri) - A look at the positive aspects
of Iran's gold medal in soccer at the Asian Games ... FULL TEXT IN PERSIAN
$ Rate
The
dollar now offered at up to 710-717 tomans
Source: Sehaty Exchange (U.S.) Tel: 602-595-0777
Business
news
The Web
Iran
Hassass
nuts
A nuts and dried fruits company established by Asadollah
Asgaroladi (Habibollah Asgaroladi's brother?) with a "turnover of
$70,000,000 during1997."
Beyond Iran
Flights
of Inspiration
The Franklin Institute of Science Museum presents an interactive
look at pioneering efforts in aviation history.
More
web sites
Quote Unquote
Ironic
It is ironic that the country which gave birth to and claims Hafez, Sa'adi,
Khayyam, Rumi, Ferdosi, Attar, Nezami, Sohrevardi, Dehkhoda, Bahar, and
on and on is now systematically allowing its next generation of greats be
buried without a pause or gasp or shreak.
Arazoo Dorosti
Letter to The Iranian
December 22, 1998
Photo of the Day
Tank magazine
More
photos
Music
Musician of the Week
Haydeh
* Soghaati * Neshaaneh
* Man ham raftaniyam
* Khodaa haafez
Music
artists index |
