Archive - Mar 18, 2008 - Article

Confessions of a Farsiholic

The first time I was fined for saying “Farsi” instead of “Persian” I didn’t fight the ticket because back then the action was all about French. French fries had become “Freedom” fries, ruining a flavorful shortcut to khoresh-e-gheimeh. Flag wavers claimed fried potatoes sliced lengthwise should never have been called French fries in the first place. There were “chips” to go with fried fish in England as early as 1864. Surely the US adopting fries in the 1930s, should have named this calorie bomb after her freedom-loving ally, and not after folks who would leave Iraqis in peace. The Francophile in me worried that the logic of Iran experts who said the term “Farsi” broke ties with prestigious Persia, could also apply to French culture>>>

Wake-up call for day-dreamers

We have just witnessed the passing of yet another defeat for the struggle for freedom in Iran, and yet another victory for a regime that is far too incompetent and far too unrepresentative for a progressive and prosperous Iran. Sixty percent or more of the Iranian electorate went to the polls, therefore tacitly approving the unfair electoral process that was cooked for them. The best way to deal with the elections was to boycott it, as so many, including myself, had suggested, and the vast majority of the Iranian electorate considered (for various reasons that I will try to deal with) otherwise. It is worth noting that 60% is pretty much the figure that most Western democracies are happy to have for their elections>>>

Committee with a cause

According to the World Encyclopedia, cultural genocide is a term used to describe the deliberate destruction of the cultural heritage of a people or nation for political or military reasons. Since coming to power twenty-nine years ago, the Islamic Republic of Iran has been in a constant battle with the Iranian people as well as her culture and heritage. Over its life span, the Islamic Republic zealots have tried innumerable times to cleanse the pre-Islamic Persian heritage in the name of Islam. First, they declared war against the Persian New Year or “Nowruz”, and then, they attacked other Persian traditions and customs>>>

ای لبت لعل لاله‌گون دلم

«استاد شهریار این شعر را كه با صدای خودش روی نوار كاست ضبط كرده بود به آیت‌الله‌ هاشمی رفسنجانی هدیه كرد.  استاد در این شعر استواری و زیبایی خطبه‌های نماز جمعه ایشان را ستوده است.»
ای غریو تو ارغنون دلم
سطوت خطبه‌ات ستون دلم
خطبه‌های نماز جمعه تو
نقشه حمله با قشون دلم

>>>

Heavy Norouz

I shed tears
Centuries old,
Tears of my ancestors.
All those women
Who cried,
Not so much for their
Loved ones,
but
For their own inability to move >>>