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Confessions of a Secret Agent
22-Dec-2007
When I first began "blogging" here (or more accurately, "threading") about two months ago, I had to defend my right to speak, because I was not an Iranian. It was hard, and sometimes painful, to hold my ground. But I knew I had finally arrived when I began to be accused of being a secret agent of various governments and organizations. I was “in”, I was accepted, I was one of the family. I met this victory with an odd mixture of satisfaction, frustration, and occasional despair.
Recently these accusations have been popping up left and right, and I mean literally left and right, because I am now apparently both a Hezbolaahi and a Zionist agent. I reply to these claims patiently, but still they multiply like mushrooms after a rainstorm. So today I posted a lengthy reply to one of these posts—lengthy even by my standards--intending to convert it into a blog. And thinking, well, from now on I’ll just refer my accusers to that blog. But then I thought, why bother? After all, the reply I wrote today to accusations leveled at me under the December 20 Iranian of the Day entry entitled “Brilliant Physicist.,” is really good enough. I can just refer them to that. And anyway anyone can track all my posts on my blogspace. So I decided to translate a poem instead.
It is a Chilean poem I've long known as a song, and heard again yesterday in a cafe near my home in the East Village. It was written by progressive activist Violeta Parra in 1965. It is called “Gracias a la vida.” It is very well-known.
The nation of Chile has known major CIA interventions, dictatorships, tortures, gross exploitation of its natural resources, economic disaster, and depredations upon its indigenous peoples. But it has also known great strides in democracy and autonomy, and it has given us this song.
I confess. I am a secret agent. There are two secrets whose sanctity I always honor: the mystery of the unfolding of the human heart and that of the ultimate fate of the soul. And I divulge the name of my agency: My agency is myself, my autonomy, and truth as best I can understand it.
And I understand the sovereign agency of nations to be based on this same individual agency. An agency whose coming has long been announced in the timeless works of the two great Eniightenments, the secular and the spiritual ones. And yet whose fruition remains a dream, as long as these Enlightenments remain severed from each other.
But their union is whispered in every human breath, and also by the wind.
Forthwith, Violeta Parra.
Gracias a la vida
(Thank You, Life)
Thank you life for giving me so much.
It has given me two stars which, whenever I open them,
distinguish perfectly between black and white,
and in the high sky its starry depths
and among the crowds the man I love.
Thank you life for giving me so much.
It has given me my hearing, which, in all its breadth,
records day and night crickets and canaries;
hammers, turbines, dogs' barks, rainstorms,
and the gentle voice of my beloved.
Thank you life for giving me so much
It has given me sound and taught me my "abc's",
along with it the words which t I think and proclaim:
mother, friend, brother and light illuminating
the route of the soul of the one I now love.
Thank you life for giving me so much,
it has given me the progress of my tired feet;
with them I walked through cities and puddles,
beaches and deserts, mountains and plains,
and your house, your street and your patio too.
Thank you life for giving me so much.
It has given me my heart which shakes its very frame
when I look at the fruit of the human mind;
when I look at good so far removed from evil,
when I look into the depths of your clear eyes.
Thank you life for giving me so much,
It has given me laughter and it has given me weeping.
Thus I distinguish joy from affliction,
the two materials which shape my song,
and the song of all of you which is the same song,
and the song of everyone, which is my very own song.
Thank you life for giving me so much.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=WyOJ-A5iv5I
****
Happy Holidays.
Salaam, Iraanrikaa
And don’t forget, paranoia will destroy ya! :D
Robin Jayne Goldsmith
New York City, December 20, 2007
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Rosie,
by Q on Sat Dec 22, 2007 10:51 PM PSTThey are all faux-rebellious children as far as I'm concerned. You may have talked to some Mojaheds. They are simply braindead stalinists and are very active in the New York area. I don't include them under the label of "Tehrangelesi", but they could very well be children of some. Tehrangelesi kids tend either rebell by become completely apathetic, or they actually rebell by becoming caring human beings, secular progressive with respect for Islam, and some even become devout muslims. I have been very impressed with some of the college organizations of the current student generation.
I do consider Jamshid, himself, however a classic Tehrangelesi. He has several unmistakable qualities that indicate so. But I'd rather not get into it.
Teach, Gholam...
by Rosie T. on Sat Dec 22, 2007 10:47 PM PSTkomak, lotfaan...gom shodam, piedaa shodam, nemifahmam...mifahmam...nemidunam...tozieh laazem daaram...tarjomeh...bebakhshid... kalak, sar, khar kardan...it sounds just like...A Midsummer Night's Dream...is that what it means? turning your heads into asses...like Puck...or am I just...dreaming?
Queremos Paz
by Reza San Diego (not verified) on Sat Dec 22, 2007 10:29 PM PSTGracias Sasha, This one is for you...
Queremos una vida mejor para nuestro pueblo... :-)
//www.amazon.com/Revancha-del-Tango-Gotan-Pro...
Track 1 : Queremos Paz
//www.amazon.com/Lun%C3%A1tico-Gotan-Project/...
Track 3 : diferente
Ali G..........RespeK...........?
by Sasha on Sat Dec 22, 2007 10:22 PM PSTSo now you have two links, one to SEX EDUCATION and the other one to FEMINISM.
This thread is getting interesting.
solh
RespeK...
by Ali.G (not verified) on Sat Dec 22, 2007 09:56 PM PST//www.youtube.com/watch?v=oftOCN1jkNo&feature...
//www.youtube.com/watch?v=1vEx2RwJHLA&feature...
Mujeres al borde de un ataque :o)
by Sasha on Sat Dec 22, 2007 09:21 PM PSTQue gracioso. Really it is amusing. Bueno pues Reza de San Diego, vamos a ver que dice Rosie T.
Rosie T., what do you think?
solh
Rosie, Here is a song for you...
by Reza San Diego (not verified) on Sat Dec 22, 2007 09:14 PM PSTYou remind me of characters & stories from Pedro Almodo'var films... :-)
You may already know these films & songs! In case you haven't, I recommend these two albums for you too :
//www.amazon.com/Songs-Almod%C3%B3var-Various...
(Track no: 8 Wait for me in heaven- Mina)
//www.amazon.com/Talk-Her-Alberto-Iglesias/dp...
(Track 2 : Hable con ella)
Regards,
Reza
Delicate , delightful & Devine...
by Reza San Diego (not verified) on Sat Dec 22, 2007 08:42 PM PSTThank you Rosie T (or Robin Jayne Goldsmith) for the beautiful song & translation in English. It was quit inspiring... :) I lived in few countries in Europe for few years & speak few different languages. I especially have an affinity for Latin languages, cultures & songs. It is much closer to my original culture (Iranian)... Anyway, I don't know your reason of being on iranian website debating with many frustrated individuals... :) I'm sure you and your challengers on the other side, both have good reasons... (I hope! ) :) Regradless of all the side issues, welcome aboard and Thanks for indulging us with beauty & serenity of that song... :)
Best wishes & Happy Holidays,
Reza (San Diego, CA)
Gholam Reza Joon Dele Teach.
by Teach (not verified) on Sat Dec 22, 2007 07:44 PM PSTEy kaash hameh be khoubi va mehrabooni and khosh-sohbatiye to boodan.
Vali az oon gozashteh, hameyeh donya, arab va ajam, gharbi va sharghi, ma raa dast andaakhtan va khar kardand, poolamoona va keshvaremoona azamoon gereftan, taa aavaareh va bivatan shodim; Hala bezar in rosie ham be maa kalak bezaneh taa delesh khosh basheh keh az digaran aghab nist. Toori nemisheh, belakhareh khodaaye maa ham bozorge.
Shameful!
by Anonymous. (not verified) on Sat Dec 22, 2007 07:23 PM PSTQ, very well said! That's exactly what I had in mind when I expressed my anguish in my earlier post about the treatment that Rosie is receiving from these so-called civilized, western-educated people.
--
I have also found this group of Iranians the most intolerant, irrational, and vulgar people. They usually show no respect for opposing opinions and resort to bad mouthing when they find no logic in their own.
--
That's a shame!
Sasha Joon
by Gholam Reza (not verified) on Sat Dec 22, 2007 07:10 PM PSTBebakhshid, vali Sare to ra ham mesl in ke "Khar" karde :) !!
finally............some intellectuals...............:o)
by Sasha on Sat Dec 22, 2007 07:05 PM PSTFinally some intellectuals to cleanse the gutter like mentality of some people on this thread.
By the way it is a love poem people...........A good translation from the original.
solh
PS: Estos hombres son tremendos. Cuando podran comunicar sus sentimientos. :o)
you are ...
by Anonym7 (not verified) on Sat Dec 22, 2007 07:04 PM PSTRosie, you are either a shirzan (lioness) or a Zionist agent! We need you to post here either way!
Personally I think you are a shirzan ...
Thank you so much Qumars
by Rosie T. on Sat Dec 22, 2007 07:04 PM PSTyou've given me a lot to chew on here and you know I will and I'll get back to you on it.
There is just one thng I'd like to clarify right now though. I'm absolutely certain that the claims of my Zionist and Hezbollaah affiliatons came from two separate camps. The Hezbollaah claims came from what I'd call "ultra-Shahis" and I understood those people, (Actually I met some similar people in the Persian Parade crowd in New York...) But the Zionist claims came from...some kind of odd "leftist" faction with...no GROUNDING...in history...or economics...or ANYTHING...it was so ODD...is it possible they are perhaps the REBELLIOUS children of the same demographic of which you speak? Come to think of it, Jamshid actually said that. He said they were privileged Tehrangelesi romanticizing the IRI...and they'd say things like Hitler never killed children and the Shah did...and I just didn't understand them....
Robin
Teach Joon
by Gholam Reza (not verified) on Sat Dec 22, 2007 06:43 PM PSTMan fekr konam in Rosie kheili "Kalake" :) Mikhad Sar hamaro khar kone !!
Rosie
by Bache Jigool (not verified) on Sat Dec 22, 2007 06:39 PM PSTBaba Cheghadr Zood Badet Miyad :) I thought you were a "Liberated" Woman. Anyway, I hope for God's sake, you are not neither that short, nor that fat or ugly as you descibed. Remember, Iranian Men Are The "Best" :)
Hey Rosie...
by Teach (not verified) on Sat Dec 22, 2007 06:32 PM PSTIt takes great courage for someone with your background to be fair, and you are fair. Think of all those who have not spoken. There are a lot more of them than those who have accused you of this and that without any proof. We iranians are sometime strange, very strange, and surprisingly stranger here in the west than those in iran. So, please don't be offended, seriously. Fortunately, people inside iran are by a vast vast margin fair-minded and very comfortable with variations in shades of religion and ethnicity. A true iranian cares deeply for a fellow human being, specially one who is good natured, and particularly one who shows positive interest in iranian matters. Some in the silent majority get really upset when they see you attacked unfairly. Believe me. Here's to you fair lady:
.
Geli khoshbouy dar hammam roozi,
Rasid az daste mahboobi bedastam;
Bedou goftam keh moshki ya abiri,
Keh az bouye delaavize to mastam;
Begoftaa man geli naacheez boudam,
Valikan modatti baa gol neshastam;
Kamaale hamneshin dar man asar kard,
Vagar nah man hamaan khakam keh hastam.
.
I wish we had more of you, a lot more of you, the world would have then been a much better place. May god of all good things bless you.
Rosie, you Hezbollahi Zionist BBC agent from Ardabil,
by Q on Sat Dec 22, 2007 05:58 PM PSTRosie,
I quite admire you putting yourself out there for the mental midgets of our community to curse us with what could be hardly called "commenting." It really is a sign of your dedication and humanity --what we Iranians call Ensan-doosti, for you to continue associating with us even after the High School locker room treatment you keep receiving.
I encourage you to travel to Iran and meet real Iranians so that you may see the actual beauty in our culture. You probably haven't seen much of it in New York.
Allow me to introduct to you the relevent subject: Tehrangelesism. Which I hope to delve into further in my upcoming book.
A Tehrangelesi is that vocal subset of Iranian diaspora, living in LA, DC, SF, London, NY and similar large cities, "professionals" or otherwise well-off individuals usually tied to the upper classes of the former Iranian Monarchy. While they usually value education (espeically medicine and engineering), they lack very little common sense or social knowledge. Their political identity is deeply rooted in cultural elitism, selfishness, anger and hatred of "the other" (in the postmodern sense.) Their world view is heavily influenced by their class status and their family.
It's not an accident that you were called a "Zionist Hezbollahi," just like the Shah himself, they are both anti-Islamic and anti-Semetic (and in that, I include Arabs as well), as well as sexist, racist, homophobic, etc... there is no contradiction. They do claim to hate the British and blame them for almost everything that has ever happened in the Universe, but in reality they actually admire the British, their Monarchic system and their superior intelligence. They think in terms of the caste system.
I have lived and interacted with these people for the better part of 2 decades in the Los Angeles area. In my opinion, they are unreformable. But they control most of the wealth and influence of our community in the US and Europe. They insist on living in the late 70's and see the world through eyes of 15 year old boys, self-entitled to bully others, belittle women and who think they know everything about everyone.
If the day ever comes that these people (thorugh the help of the CIA or anybody else) ever come back to rule Iran, you will see blood washing the streets of Tehran. It will be the worst genocide in history. Their very being is so offensive to the Iranians that many are willing to undergo their own process of democratization under than to ever even allow the possiblity of these people coming back to take over.
More about this later...
Bache Poroo...kheili bitarbiati...
by Rosie T. on Sat Dec 22, 2007 05:40 PM PSTthe rest of my body is four foot eight, weighs three hundred pounds and is covered with pockets of pus-filled welts. I also have one wooden leg. Despite this, I have been involved wtih four Iranian men who for some reason.were willing to overlook my physical deformities. My experiences with the first three, like Violeta Parra, taught me to distinguish between joy and affliction, and they were mostly of the afflictive sort, So I gave up the habit for some time,,.until recently...and now well lo and behold yes I am again and so far so good...I've grown a lot in these four years....
Actually I've been thinking about writing something called "My First Iranian Lover." It's a very surprising story. So I won't spoil it for you by spilling the beans prematurely in case I do write it....we'll see...there's so much to write about but gender relations are at root of so much of the problems in the world....we'll see....
Rosie (Robyn)
by Bache Jigool (not verified) on Sat Dec 22, 2007 04:57 PM PSTAre you dating any Iranian men now? If this is your picture, it's not bas at all. I don't know if the rest of your body is any good or not? Tell us about your "Romantic" relationships with Iranian men. The "Good", The Bad", etc. :)
Fozooli: Why Iran?
by Rosie T. on Sat Dec 22, 2007 03:33 PM PSTThat's a good question. And the answer is so simple yet so complex. I broached it at the beginning of my article on "Tanhaa sedaa" last month and so I'm copying that here for you. But to be perfectly fair I have to admit that there was also a man involved...those Persian eyes of Eternity and kohl...and also that as I proceeded in my studies it became clearer and clearer to me the extent to which Persia has been foundational in the entire formation of the so-called "West"...and how that history has been intentionally hidden...and well, anyway, from that article:
People here sometimes ask me how I came to things Iranian, and this is a difficult question to respond to. Because one never comes to things like this; these things always come to one. And if I explained how Iran came to me, those who had to ask me would never believe me, and those who would believe me never ever ask.
Nonetheless, I shall single out two "events". The first one was September, 11, 2001, when I like many of my "hamvatans", looking deeply into the flames, began to ponder the "Muslim world." But my research led me inexorably to Iran, as though it were a road I'd trodden often long before. So throughout most of 2003, while my "progressive" friends and colleagues were all screaming Iraq, I was already singing Iran.
The second "event" which crystallized this evolving path for me, was when, while web searching at the end of '03, I chanced upon a poem in translation. I did not know at that time who the author was, or whether it was even a man or a woman. I only knew that this voice of movement, majesty and light was an old old voice, and my voice too, and that I needed to learn this language to come home. If only just to read that poem in the original. ******
etc. etc.,,,tanhaa sedaast keh mimunad...RJG
On Dancer, on Prancer, on Sasha, on Slasher!
by Rosie T. on Sat Dec 22, 2007 02:05 PM PSTon Comet, on Cupid, on Dasher, on Vixen!
YOU are...GORGEOUS...and YOU are ALL of SANTA'S REINDEER...and YOU BRING...the gifts...of the MAGI,,,from the POLE...to the PEOPLE...and YOU ARE...FF...frequent flyer....freedom fighter....flaming flake...and Mexican jumping BEAN...
Arriba!
Mata Hari? ??? :o)
by Sasha on Sat Dec 22, 2007 01:53 PM PSTSo I see you are a Mata Hari....Ha ha ha ha What was the name of that other woman. Was it Salome? :o) So many inspiring beauties and not a bad category to be in. Sophia Loren was indeed a very beautiful, voluptous and seductive woman.
Gentlemen, I have seen a full picture of the one you see on this page. I can assure you that you will not be disappointed. :o)
Rosie T., I once heard a man say that there is nothing more attractive in a woman than self confidence. I totally agree. :o)
solh
PS: Bellisimo poema. :o)
To THANKS: You're very welcome...
by Rosie T. on Sat Dec 22, 2007 01:47 PM PSTAnd as for "backward minds", well...as the Zen Buddhists say: O snail, climb Mount Fuji! But slowly, slowly...
Yavaash, yavaash....
Rum wasn't built in a day....
PS PLEASE no one assail me with that Orientalist bs....I'm just answering the poster...and Edward Said...is...THE MAN!
Anonymous
by Molla Loghati (not verified) on Sat Dec 22, 2007 01:45 PM PSTbaba darim sar be saresh mizarim. enghadr jedi nabash. We still would like to see her photo full height :) :) !
Thanks!
by Anonymous. (not verified) on Sat Dec 22, 2007 01:36 PM PSTThank you for the poem. It's inspiring! And sorry for all the nonsense and idiotic remarks that you receive here. Now you know why Iran has always been in a mess! Apparently, living and educating abroad cannot change some backward minds.
To math genius:
by Rosie T. on Sat Dec 22, 2007 01:17 PM PSTOh, you mean my nostrils! They're real. And average size...
Rosie...<
by 2+2 = 3 (not verified) on Sat Dec 22, 2007 12:33 PM PSTBig was referring to the two under your nose! Are they real or augmented?
Rosie are you giving the game away?
by Hassan Kacahl (not verified) on Sat Dec 22, 2007 12:07 PM PSTWith your "knowledge" of words, you are beginning to sound like Guive Mirfedereski. Migam nakoneh ...?
Rosie Khanom
by Javad Maaroofi (not verified) on Sat Dec 22, 2007 11:52 AM PSTAlen Delon and others are right. We would like to see a picture of you. Could you please upload a full photo of yourself, from head to toe, and link it to here. You can upload it on google, yahoo, or even JJ may let you do that. Looking forward :)