I Must Go Home to Iran Again
New York Times / MARJANE SATRAPI
03-Jul-2009 (2 comments)

Six years ago, I went to listen to a man, whom I will not name, in a café in Paris.

He said it had been 24 years since he had been back to Iran, that he had to leave right after the revolution of 1979 for political reasons.

He talked of many things, and he ended by saying: “Once you leave your homeland, you can live anywhere, but I refuse to die anywhere other than Iran — or else my life will have had no meaning.”

His statement touched me very deeply. I’ve thought about what he said, not just understanding him intellectually but feeling his meaning with all my heart. I, too, was convinced that I must die nowhere other than in my country, Iran, or else my life will also be meaningless.

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hamsade ghadimi

good find david

by hamsade ghadimi on Sat Jul 04, 2009 07:30 AM PDT

satrapi's piece is well-put. she described those yearnings that the expats feel for their homeland in a simple and yet eloquent way. when i went back to iran, i too felt that i was under my own sky, climbing my own mountain and breathing my own air. above all, i was amongst my own people.


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Maryam Hojjat

David ET

by Maryam Hojjat on Sat Jul 04, 2009 05:36 AM PDT

I have felt this matter for a long time too that I must dye in IRAN other wise my life has no meaning. I think a lot of Iranians feel the same.

Payandeh Iran & Iranians

down with IRI


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