Life

دریچه تنگ منافع فردی

فوران خشم و نفرت برخی از ایرانیان نسبت به پژوهش گری که تقریبا همه زندگی حرفه ای خود را وقف تحقیق در باره ایران کرده است خواننده را به فکر می اندازد که: نویسندگان این گونه مطالب به چه درجه ای از بلوغ فکری رسیده اند؟ انتشار چنین مطالبی را با کدام ضوابط حرفه ای روزنامه نگاری می توان توجیه کرد؟ و تا چه حد می توان این گونه رفتار را نمونه ای از پندار، گفتار و کردار جامعه ایرانی دانست؟ >>>

Short-Termist Iranians

For the past week, I have watched with bewilderment and sorrow the onslaught on my friend and teacher, Dr Homa Katouzian, in connection with the admission to Oxford University of a son of the former Iranian President, Akbar Hashemi-Rafsanjani. By now, Dr Katouzian has clarified his academic involvement in the process of admission of Mr Mehdi Hashemi. Oxford University too has announced that its investigation has found no basis for the allegations of impropriety in Mr Hashemi’s admission. From a formal point of view, therefore, the matter must be considered closed>>>

The Birth of Hope

It was interesting to me, there she was, in prison on her birthday and she was worried about me. She was still the Bahareh I remembered. Always putting concern for others ahead of concern for herself. Bahareh will not be calling home for her birthday this year, though her friends gathered once again to celebrate the day in her absence. I have no doubt that despite over a year of being in prison and despite all these pressures, she remains the same Bahareh, putting concern for others ahead of her own needs>>>

Home is where your heart breaks

I went to Khorramshahr by train and took my nephew’s wife because her mom is from Abadan and she had never seen that area. My cabin had all Abadanis which included a police woman. When she took off layer of black clothing the true Dokhtar Abadani was revealed. I was shocked to see latest skinny jeans, revealing top with English writings, and a fancy belt. I chuckled because looking at her chador and the head covering, I would have never guessed such fasionista existed underneath all that clothing>>>

Frozen in time

The two art series that I am submitting relate to the culture of Iran during the 70s pre-revolution. The series "When Iran Went Pop!" was created back in early 2010, and the second series "Minimalist Posters for Iranian 70's TV Cinema Radio" I completed recently. Despite their appearance and titles the two series (that are closely related) are two conceptual works of Art disguised as a pop art and a minimalist series. I have used an Art school as a medium just as one might use tapestry or metal as mediums for conceptual work>>>

Which Road to Iran?

As revolutionary spirit is gaining momentum in the Middle East, it is only a matter of time before we see millions of Iranians take to the street demanding democratic change. The question is whether the US should seize the opportunity, at a time when Iran’s central government becomes vulnerable, to effect regime change militarily, through a coup, or other coercive methods? The Saban Center for Middle East Policy at the Brookings Institution drafted in 2009 nine different policy options for deal­ing with Iran>>>

Searching for Meaning

Much is written about Iranian women, Iranian films and Iranian women in Iranian film. But, the lives of Iranian immigrants in their new Western homes are rarely projected. In her debut film, The Neighbor, The New Yorker film editor, Naghmeh Shirkhan, takes a brave leap to make an elliptical narrative film about the rarely mentioned reality of Iranian women’s lives in ‘exile’. A dance instructor, struggling with memories of her mother and grandmother encounters her enigmatic neighbor Leila and her young daughter>>>

A Woman of Thirty in Prison

Like the millions of younger women and men of her generation, Bahareh desires rights, dignity, prosperity, family, and love. Why does she have to celebrate her 30th birthday in the Evin prison? What is the crime that she has committed that warrants her spending her 30s, the best years of her life, in solitary confinement? Why she is denied the basic and simple human rights of celebrating her birthday and wedding anniversary with her beloved husband on April 5th? She is in prison because she dared to exercise her civil rights and demand what belongs to her>>>

A Matter of Mind

A nice anecdote says, “Age is a matter of mind, if you don’t mind, it doesn’t matter.” The youngest in my family, I don’t mind my age, but it sure does matter. My first “age alarm” came as a huge surprise. At a lecture in Chicago, I ended up in the balcony with a group of youngsters. With the program delayed Iranian style, they became restless and started making paper airplanes. Unskilled, I noticed none of their missiles made it to their pals sitting in the lower level. Finally, I picked up one that had landed at my feet, unraveled it, and showed them how it’s done>>>

From Koorosh to Khoresh

Before Cyrus, Iran was made up of a collect of tribes and states. The diets of these people in Persia were very simple made up of bread, cheese and some forms of vegetables and fruit. By the early 6th century BC under Darius I, Iranian people’s diet was varied namely the nobles and kings. This included all sorts of meats, vegetables (imported from India and the banks of the Nile) nuts (from the hills of central Iran) and complex dishes>>>

صادق هدایت و برتری نژادی

نمی دانم اما کافی‌ست که به آلبوم های خانوادگی عکس های دوران رضاشاه نگاه کنیم تا دریابیم که گذاشتن این نوع سبیل رواج همگانی داشته و مانند سبیل پرپشت ملی ‌گرایان و ریش شرعی اسلام ‌گرایان نشان از دلبستگی ‌های آرمانی می ‌دهد. در آن زمان تب هیتلردوستی در کشور بالا گرفته بود و طبیعتاً گذاشتن سبیل هیتلری نیز میان جوانان باب شده بود>>>