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 >>>

No future for nokhodis

The Iranian parliamentary pseudo- quasi-elections are finally over and, surprise, the “moderates” did not do well. The spring is a few days away and Norouz is around the corner. Here are a few sayings that I find very seasonally a propos regarding the recent non-electoral experience in Iran and the moderates' aspirations One saying is bozak namir bahar miyad, konbozeh ba khiyar miyad. It is a promise to a goat that with spring will arrive the watermelon and cucumber that he desires. The poor “moderates” keep hoping that one day their turn will come at the goodies of power, only to be reminded of another saying. This one is a bit more elaborate: shotor dar khab binad panpeh daneh, gahi lolof khorad, gahi daneh daneh >>>

Joy of cooking

This year, by sheer luck, I came across something wonderful, an item that could make a great Nowruz present for young parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles, and anybody who is in touch with young Iranians. It is Najmieh Batmanglij’s new book, Happy Nowruz: Cooking With Children to Celebrate the Persian New Year. In the tradition of Batmanglij cookbooks, this book offers excellent presentations of beautiful pictures, historical background, nostalgic memories, and of course pretty robust and fool-proof recipes. It is filled with decorating and cooking ideas we can share and do with children, celebrating our traditions and creating new memories. I should say that though I enjoy cooking very much, I have never warmed up to the idea of baking, feeling like a miserable failure every time I have tried it! >>>

اين خران خرما نمى‏رينند خاطر جمع دار

شهريارا اين مديحت‏خوانى ِِ بيجا چرا
هتك حرمت‏كردن از خود اين چنين رسوا چرا
تو كه عمرى شعرهاى نغز و شيرين گفته‏اى‏
حاليا اين گفته‏هاى پوچ و بى‏معنىٰ‏ چرا
خودفروشى در جوانى باز هم حرفى وليك‏
تو كه يك پايت لب گور آمده حالا چرا
آبرو بردى ز شعر و شاعرى با ياوه‏هات‏
آبروريزى چنين بى‏درد و بى‏پروا چرا
>>>

Man of dialogue

In addition to our shared interest in world peace and global dialogue, Alikhani and I shared something else in common: we had both suffered grievous injustice in America, and we had both brought civil rights law suit against the perpetrators of human rights abuse against us, in his case the US federal agents who abducted him and chained him to a bed for weeks, and in my case the rights abusers at Harvard University who framed me with a fictitious crime story in order to silence me. "We are comrades in suffering," I told Hossein one day and he chuckled, and I always felt he was one of the few people who knew the depth of my emotional pain caused by the blindness of American justice to my cry for justice>>>

The Spider Killings (9)

A crowd of civilians had gathered around the crime scene, vociferating their complaints to the police officers. Ramin could hear various angry and bitter voices. He did not have the strength to turn around to look at them for now. Leaning against the side of his Jeep, it was taking every ounce of his will not to double over and vomit. His officers thought he had just become queasy at the sight of the dead woman. Little did they know Ramin was still going through the symptoms of opium withdrawal. Even in the awful state he was, Ramin could not help but pay attention to the voices of the men. He was outraged at their cavalier attitude>>>