When taboos must be broken

Muhammad was before the prophecy a reliable businessman (Muhammad-al- amin), working for his wealthy wife, Khadijah. As a prophet in Mecca, he was a sage thinker, a quick speaker, who could invite people to believe in the only God “Allah”. He was decent, humble and generous to the poor, with whom he shared his meal. After 10 years of prophecy, he had to leave Mecca and his migration--“Hijrat”-- to Medina in 622 marks his new career. In Medina, as a powerful prophet with personal ambitions, Muhammad did not only used and abused the existing traditional norms of society; he s also violated ethical rules of his own religion to achieve his goals>>>

Why not IRAN?

I care for my own more than others. Why do I need to feel so sorry for others while my own kind inside Iran have a much worse fate than Palestinians? Palestinians are… how many? Are they 3 million, 4 million? Iranians are probably more than 75 million if we take into account those who are outside Iran too, like me. Why should I put Palestinians in my priority-list while I really feel sorry for Iranians, especially my own relatives who have no justice and no hope inside their own country? So many Iranians want to leave Iran to pursue their dreams and I understand them perfectly. So, Israelis are kicking the hell out of Palestinians. So what? Why do I care for them while Iranian rulers are kicking the hell out of Iranians inside Iran? >>>

The Way

Why should I stay?

why should I talk repeat?

I have crossed this way

I have smelt the love

and want nothing more...

I have touched the mirage

pictures of fascinations in a land

lost in dreams of water and growing green

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What will Israel do?

Though the White House press release read "President Bush to travel to Middle East to follow up on progress made at Annapolis," his January trip actually centered on Iran, a country he did not visit. America's friends -- the Persian Gulf monarchs as well as Israel -- fear that the publication of the recent National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) means the United States is weakening in its resolve to confront the rising threat from Iran. President Bush made his Middle East jaunt, in part, to assure them that that assessment was premature>>>

The quiet side of Pop

I discovered Barzin a few months ago when I was browsing the Internet. Barzin was supposed to open for Kiosk in Toronto and yet, I had never heard of him. I quickly Googled his name and found his web site. Lucky me, I found a few full-length mp3 files from his music there to listern to. I think the first few notes did it for me. I was rather surprised at the fact that an Iranian act would create music in the same style as bands such as Wilco, Mazzy Star, or even Radiohead. The next thing that surprised me was his smooth Canadian/American/English accent, to the point that I first had doubts about him being Iranian>>>

احیا کنندهء شرمساری بشر

این چند روز گذشته اخبار فاجعهء بزرگی که دارد در غزه رخ می دهد زخمهای کهنه ای را بر پیکر بشر باز گشوده است و دردهای زیادی را زنده کرده است. از یک طرف تصاویر مردمی که به رویشان امکانات حیاتی را قطع کرده اند و در تشنگی و گرسنگی و تاریکی در میان آب های آلوده و مسموم فاضلابی که در خیابانهای شهر نشر کرده است٬ برای ادامه زندگی دست و پا می زنند٬ احیا کنندهء درد و رنج تمام انسانهایست که در طول تاریخ٬ جریان حیات را به رویشان قطع کردند تا که در انزوا به تدریج بخشکند: گولاگ استالین٬ کربلای یزبد٬ اردوگاهای هیتلر...>>>

Red lines

Currently, over 65% of students entering university in Iran are women and slowly, these women will become a strong force that will make their dissatisfaction with the inequalities in law, society and the family known. Iranian women have not achieved this success easily and this representation is not secure. The current government has planned to reduce the number of women entering universities and has set up obstacles making it more difficult for women to achieve this goal. After the revolution, women who played an important role in the Revolution with the aim of reversing discriminatory laws against women were shocked to find that these laws not only remained intact, but that the human rights that women had achieved before the revolution were also eroded>>>

دریچه ای سوی ایران معاصر

وبلاگنویسی نمای فراخی است از ایران معاصر؛ ایرانی که به تصویر هرگز ندیده ایم،از کوچه و خیابانهایش نمی توان شناخت، ایرانی که در پس انگاره های مذهبی و سیاسی نهفته است. وبلاگنویسی روز به روز در ایران مورد استقبال بیشتری قرار می گیرد. با توجه به محدودیت ها و قوانین حاکم بر صنعت نشر و رسانه های عمومی، هیچ جای تعجبی نیست که اینترنت پیوندی است به دنیایی بازتر برای باورها و گرایش های گوناگون.>>>

شب سده!

کدام سده
از حافظه ی کيهانی من گذشته ای
که اسم شب را نمی دانم
و ميان مهربانی و آتش سرگردانم؟
در کدام جاده ی کهکشان
نوازشم کرده ای
که تا ابد در عطر ستاره غوطه می خورم؟ >>>

Touran Khanom

In the vicinity of Baharestan, the old Parliament, there used to be an elementary school that was a little gem of an establishment. Dabestan-e Farhad opened in 1958 in the building and grounds that had been home to Mirhadi family. Touran Mirhadi—or, as she is universally known, Touran Khanom—was the youngest daughter of the family and the principal of the school. Her old students, some now well into their fifties, still refer to themselves as Farhadi, and are perpetually in quest of establishing contact with each other and their old teachers. For those us living outside Iran, no trip to Tehran is complete without touching base with Touran Khanom>>>

From Shah to Ayatollah

We are approaching anniversary of an extra ordinary event in the history of our nation, which had a profound effect over the lives of every single Iranian in one way or another even if we had no contribution to it. I remember those days that when traveling on the roads, from one place to another, we would encounter mobs of people with clubs in their hands while blocking the road asking you to say “death to shah” so they let you go! Then they put a picture of Khomeini on the windshield of your car after getting what they wanted and before you run into another group of them a bit further. It was a truly unusual scene to see and live in those days in a country, which was considered an “island of stability” in a troubled region, not much earlier!>>>

A National Obsession

The British are greatly influenced by cultures that have filtered into our own culture through centuries of exploration, discovery and colonisation. So it was only a matter of time before I decided to pen a piece that would shine a light on culinary unsung hero of our fair England… Namely, the beautiful and mysterious Eastern treasure that could only be... India... India itself is a cornucopia of culture influenced by different cultures and religions. Even the Persians had a very infamous hand in the history of India and the ‘Parsee’ culture (as it’s now known) is alive and well in India to this very day. The Persians established the ‘Mughal Empire’ which introduced an era of decadence and luxury that was previously little known to India.>>>

حسن نیت؟

((نامه به دکتر محمد مصدق)): آقای نخست وزیر گرامی، مایلم پیش از آنکه شما آمریکا را ترک نمایید، مطلبی را به عرض برسانم. من اطمینان دارم که سفر شما [به آمریکا] بسیار ارزشمند بوده و موجب حسن نیت میان آمریکا و ایران است. ممکن است که سرمقاله امروز صبح در ((واشنگتن پست)) شما را مأیوس کرده باشد. آن سر مقاله منعکس کننده نظر انگلیسی ها در مورد ایران است و به باور من نظر آمریکایی ها را نمایندگی نمی کند. من مطمئنم که مردم و همچنین مقامات آمریکا در نتیجه سفر شما متوجه مسایل بزرگی که برای کشورتان مطرح است شده اند.

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