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Wednesday * Why not in Iran I completely agree with "If he had a different name". The example of what has recently happened in Bulgaria is very interesting. The ex-king, who was de-throned at the age of 9, formed a political party in April, fought fair and free elections in June and won power. He is now the Prime Minister of Bulgaria. He does not want to be king, he fought to save his country and the people trusted him enough to vote for him and his policies. If this can happen in Bulgaria, why can it not happen in Iran ? * Return that billion first In response to Homayoon Mehr's suggestion ["If he had a different name"] Yes Reza Pahlavi can be listened to AFTER he returns all the stolen money by his family. In a recent article in Wahington D.C.'s Iranians newspaper, based on Leila Pahlavi's expenses, it has been calculated that so far the Pahlavi family has spent about $1 billion (with b not m) just for expenses of the last 23 years. This is just part of the income from the capital they have transferred to abroad. Then we can sit and listen to his promises and remind him of the broken promises of his father and grandfather in regard to peoples rights, freedom and democracy. * Wait 160 years Dear Rocsanna, I enjoyed reading your letter,"Now THAT's progress". However your calculation is incorrect. You said that it took four years to gain extra four centimeters of freedom, that is one centimeter for every year. So it is going to take 160 (not 40) years before you can dress like your mum. Are you trying to push our beloved liberal president by any chance. Be patient and things will be wonderful in 160 years! Regards, * Would he do that to Mossadegh? In response to Mehdi's letter "Royalists always less tolerant": I don't think so. Mr Khorsandi is a well known nationalist and a huge fan and follower of Dr Mossadegh. Would he write in the same way about Mossadegh's funeral as he did about Leila Pahlavi? ["Gozaaresh", "Leila Pahlavi beh faarsiye saadeh"] What is distasetful is mocking someone's funeral. And if he wrote such an article, would the nationalists not be just as upset as the royalists were about his article about Leila ? Also, the point that you miss is that some of us who objected to that article are not even royalists. We are human and think mocking a funeral is wrong -- regardless of who may be inside the coffin. * What about you? This is in reply to Hamed Vahidi's opinion piece about humanism ["Last refuge"]: Dear Mr. Vahidi, "The sun will shine for millions of years, and hopefully the human race will continue to exist, but AM I going to be alive? What happens to ME and all the things that I loved and lost?" Your question is a perennial one, but it is a question that does not necessarily have (or deserve) an answer to your liking. Does a piece of dust sitting on your dinning table ask "what about ME?" If we humans realize that we are not more than just a piece of dust in the universe, then we won't have the dilusional feeling of self-importance, and ask such self-indulgant questions like "what about ME?" What about you? Do you have some claims on the universe? Isn't it enough for you that you are alive? Isn't that a big enough gift for you? Now you have to "do ghorto nimet baaghi bashe", and ask for eternal life too? What makes you think that you HAVE to have such a priviledge? Stars are born, and they grow and then they explode, and are disperesed in interstellar space. Galaxies are born, and at times they collide, or go through other evolutionary changes. What makes us humans, as the tiny pieces of dust that we are, think that somehow we should be more important than the stars and galaxies in the universe, and that we should somehow deserve to have "immortal souls", and be creations "in god's image"? You, me, and everyone and everything else on Earth, will one day be engulfed by the Sun, as it becomes a red giant. Do you think "anybody" or anything will be asking about you and me at that moment? Dissapointment and depression, many times come from unreasonabaly high expectations and dilusions about one's importance. If one lowers one's expectations, and humbles oneself, and comes to grips with one's actual place in the universe, instead of adopting an arrogant and self-indulgant attitude and demanding more from the world than we already have, then one won't become depressed as you said from reading Dawkins' Selfish Gene. There is no reason to be depressed from realizing our very small place in the universe. We have been "given" the "gift of life", and that is plenty already. Enjoy it while it lasts, and don't waste your time and energy by asking pointless and self-indulgant questions like "what about ME"?
* Larger percentage I quite enjoyed this informative story ["Mary"]. I personally have heard so many abusive stories from Iranian or non-Iranian women about Iranian guys, sometimes I have hard time believing that I haven't seen any abusive relationship around myself! I think -- as Tannaz indicated -- in any nationally we have these type of people, However, the percentage of these people apparently tend to be larger in the Iranian community. Hopefully, one day we come to a point that make us to understand having taking what is good from both cultures is positive. Thanks for the story. Best wishes, * Fact or fiction? I read your recent work, "Mary". Having had the opportunity of living in Denmark for many years I suggest you do some research on a country before you write a story about it. I think you as an artistic creator are responsible not to enforce your personal understandings of a matter on a society - in your writings - and in presenting one as all the population. Statistically speaking you can not find many women in Denmark living under the pressure of a man -- be it Danish or otherwise. Women in Denmark and other Scandinavian countries have more social and economical rights than women in any part of the world. Although there are more than 150 shelters for women in Denmark, statistics show most of these abused women are of other nationals. A famous Danish newsletter wrote about a statistical research that showed Danes are in first place in Europe for abusing Danes of other ethnic backgrounds. Legally, one doesn't have much of a chance if they have been abused or psychologically raped for reasons such as race and religion ! Most Iranian males married or living with a Danish partner have less than %50 of power in the household, mostly because of separation and divorce.On the other hand most Iranian women married or living with their Danish partners have extremely successful relationships. I think your story needed more research if it is not fiction. It is always easy to badmouth races, religions, nationalities and intermarriages, isn't it? We do not want to create a Ms. Mahmoudy who made her family problems a nation's mirror. There are many wife and mother beaters in Iran, as well as other parts of the world -- there are huge cases of wife beating husbands in the U.S. If the story is true, it has some holes and misinformation. Anyway, please do not get discourage by my letter. I am a fellow writer who appreciates similar criticisms and support from you and others. I look forward to reading more of your works and wish you more success with your literary works. Sincerely, * Our friends The 1952 picture of Iranian students in Berkeley, left hand corner, the lady with the rose on her dress is Wanda Amin next to her husband Reza Amin. He became minister of mines and minerals under the Shah. Some others look familiar but I can't remember their name. Farhad Gharemani Ghajar (my former husband) was receiving his B.S. in mechanical engineering at Berkely in 1952. Our son Jamshid Ghajar was born in Berkeley in 1952. We did not belong to this very elite group because we were too poor. But we did know Reza and Wanda -- they were our friends. Wanda recommended her doctor for the birth of Jamshid. When I saw the doctor I told him I didn't have any money because my husband is a student, he said I won't charge you, you just have to pay for the hospital. * Love your humor I access your cartoons via iranian.com and I love your humor! ["Eyeranian"] Oh, to take a trip inside your head! I am not Iranian but I appreciate so much about Iranian culture and people such as yourself! Thanks again! * Glad you are "here" Dear Yana, Your article touched my heart ["Hug a tree"]. I am glad you are "here" and I read about your experience. Thanks for sharing it. * Not a walk in the park It was refreshing to read a story from Nooneh that does not use four-letter words and wanting to f--- someone's brain ["Xerxes"]. It was a beautiful story. However, as an educated and professional Iranian woman, she has a moral responsibility not to advocate unsafe sex. She is sending the wrong message. The fact that the character in her stories chooses to hop in and out of bed is her choice (and I do not have a problem with that). However, with all the abortions she mentions, somehow she never manages to catch a sexually transmitted disease. Deadly viruses such as AIDS are a reality and should not be taken lightly. Just because the men in her stories are Iranian, it does not mean that they may not carry a virus. We have many young Iranian women and they need to protect themselves and be responsible. By the way, I am pro choice, but an abortion is not a walk in the park. In fact it is a monumental decision. Do not portray it as a trip to the doctor's office only. The emotional toll can be devastating. I encourage Nooneh and all other writers not to advocate unsafe sex. * Not just soft porn Good job! ["Xerxes"] Nicely written... real and touching... and..definitely not just soft porn...:-)..Good job. I had to wait all the way to "X"?.... but hey... good thing come to... * It's sad I would love to respond to the complete hypocrisy by the "American" author ["Real Iranian girls?"]. This is meant for the other people who know better than not to actually digest the material as remotely valid. It is not to initiate any sort of conversation with "him". That wouldn't be possible, even if I wanted. A person with his views is the same as any racist, sexist, closed minded person that in "America", home of the free and land of the brave, we berate... and solemnly ache for. We ache for their inability to see, feel, and cherish individuality. We ache for their lack of comprehension of the true meaning of humanity and love. We ache for their lack of knowledge, education, and true perspective of people, not by the color of their skin, the country in which they were raised, or the language they speak. We ache for the absence of love and compassion in their souls, so much so, that they are unable to give it... to anyone, especially, themselves. These people deprive themselves of amazing, wise souls, ordinary people with extraordinary experiences, extraordinary people with ordinary experiences and everyone in between. The value of an open mind and a non judgmental perspective is your most valuable possession. Without it, you can never fully enjoy the wonders of the world and all the special beings in it, who make everyday a new day, with more to learn. Each person presented to us on Earth, teaches us something different and necessary for our growth as human beings. When you label and categorize and discriminate, you only deprive yourself of true self actualization, true knowledge, and true love. Love. That is what everyone is ultimately looking for. Love is why you should marry, or not. Love is the gift of life. It's sad to know that our dear friend the "American", will never experience it. It's sad that he could not open his eyes and see the wonders presented to him, right here. The wonders and uniqueness of all of the people who are half American and half Iranian, or any other configuration of ethnicities. It's sad that he'll never experience the high and utter blissful joy of falling in love with someone, but will have to spend the rest of his life married to someone because she was an "untouched" piece of cake. The strange thing is, they both really belong together. Most women in Iran who are not married, actually are not virgins. They have a procedure done which "reverses" their non virginity. Basically, they get sewed up. A woman who has to go through such pain just to get a man to marry her and a man so uneducated and ignorant to fall for it. Ironic, to say the least, because chances are, she has been "touched" more than "he" can ever imagine. As I said before, no judgment. I did not write this to judge our dear friend. Simply to enlighten someone worth enlightening. Of course, I can't change your mind if you want an "untouched" piece of cake, just be sure that it wasn't already eaten a few times and thrown up into a pile of vomit, restructured, and baked all over again.
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