|
April/May 2004 Page 6 * Whimsical parade filled with errors AliReza Tarighian's photo essay on the 27 of March 2004 Persian parade in New York City raises many questions that need to be answered [Persian pride]. As a New Yorker, born and raised I must explain the parade and the scene behind the scene. First of all, it was a Persian parade but it was filled with Iranian minorities: Kurds, Zorastrians, AHA (The Iranian Telephone directory which is run by Jewish Iranians), people from Gilan, and people who are from villages or towns (dahat or Shahrestan) in Iran. There was also some athletes who portrayed the weight lifting aspect of Iran, the "Zur Khaneh" dress. The Zurkhanehs in Iran are viewed as places where low classed people from the lowest economic status have membership. People who are members of a zurkhaneh are usually called a bum, "laat" or a "chaghoo-kesh", a thug. Anyhow, the parade made Iranians look bad. There was even a religious muslim community from New Jersey who were part of the Parade, the Danesh va Noor organization. At least I can say they were Iranian muslims. The minorities that took part in the parade were not organized. And the dancers were out of step. And there were Iranians from all over the east coast:Washington DC, New Jersey and New York, who knows probably even Maryland. What was disturbing was the choice of flag for the Persian Parade. For over 25 years the flag of Iran has been one with the symbol of God in the middle of it. The Symbol that the parade chose was an old flag prior to the revolution. That flag is outdated and not accepted by the UN as the correct Iranian flag. One would conclude these people are ashamed of being Iranian. Even the name of the parade was trying to hide their Iranian identity. Why can't Iranians be happy to call themselves Iranians? Why do they look and try to connect themselves with the Persia of Ali Baba and the 40 theives? These people have inferiority complexes. Next year the parade will change it's name to the "middle eastern" parade. And the year after it will become the Asia parade. You Iranians who are looking back in time should be proud of what you are. You shouldn't be ashamed of what you are. There is "freedom of expression here" in the United States and especially in New York City. I wish one day an Iranian would sit down with me and not tell me a story about Cyrus the Great. That was thousands of years ago. It doesn't matter today. But unfortunately these guys have not only a chip on their shoulders, they have a large stone on their shoulders that weighs more than a ton. God forbid if there was not a civil rights movement in the USA then we Iranians along with American Negroes would have to enter through the back of the bus. And what would the embarrsed people think and say? I did not attend the Parade. When they update the flag and call it the Iranian Parade then maybe I'll show up. They also have to organize it better and get some professional dancer to practice with the dance group. It was a typical Iranian event. Whimsical and filled with errors. And God forbid if you ask an Iranian to meet with you at 9 in the morning; they will show up at 11:15 in the morning. Rahbary * Defending defunct idiology I wish I could believe there is a god, then I would pray that
he would rid us of Idealogues like M. Mohsen [Incomplete
puzzle]. They see but refuse
to acknowlege the truth. It was our stupidity that caused us to follow
the
likes of Shariati, Jalal Al Ahamad and etc etc etc. To end up in this
despicable state ("LAJAN"). M Mohsen's argument is like
those who argue about how good real islam is, well real islam is this
Lajan. As Nabavi alluded [Doktor Ali Shariati, moalem-e shahid-e maa], it was necessary for this to happen and for the Iranian youth to understand how outmoded and dangerous those ideas were, except there are hypocrites like Mr Mohsen who have the audacity to defend a defunct idiology. But then I suspect he is beyond help, otherwise he would have been wise enough to stay quiet, "roo keh neest, sang e pa ghazvin". I am sorry to be rude but there was no other way to express it. * Outstanding talent This young artist [Laleh Khorramian: "Nomad"] has outstanding talents and bright future. Her works are detail oriented, with a strong storytelling. My congratulations and best wishes to her. * Bone Marrow Registry In this moment that I am writing to you, you are the first possible chance that I have. I want to ask you to ask the Iranian communities around the world to join the International Bone Marrow Registry. My boyfriend has diagnosed with Leukemia 6 months ago and now we are desperately looking for a unrelated-donor. I will be greatful if you help us out. * Unforgettable night with 'Haji' Last night I went to Faramarz Assef's final performance in Sydney, Australia and it was a very creative as well as entertaining concert. I felt so sad for such an artist that was expected to give everybody the infamous 'dambaleh dimbos' type of Iranian night but then I realized that from the day one nobody understood why he wrote the 'Haji' song accompanied with such a rhythm! Because of the popular 'reng' Haji became NOGHLEH every single party in Iran and abroad, which maybe that is how he wanted to tell us about dislocation and contemporary social and political situation but nobody really listened to his message. As everyone was enjoying the Rhythm (reng) ignoring at the same time the bitter reality of 'Haji' (perceived by the public as the latest Samad Agha) thinking about moving to LA and wants assurance that he is going to be OK from 'Mobarak' who acts as his Morshed. From my perspective his performance was a master piece last night in Sydney as it was filled with beautiful poems that were ignored by the demanding public who only wanted to hear the rhythm not the content of an artist's expression. Maybe the public also needed to appear in this event to spy on each other's superficial aesthetics, which will become the cause for the aftermath gossip as well as some GHEREH KAMARI, possibly get drunk and sometimes get into a fight with other fellow Iranians? The public could not even respect him when he was repeatedly begging some parents to move their GHONCHEHAYEH GOLESHOON away from the loud speakers, which were in front of the stage!!! I wish he did not have to perform in such a way of having his beautiful work mixed with some cheap 'dambaleh dimbos' icon and learn to respect each other for who we are and the artists such as Faramarz Assef who is committed to express the real issues surrounding his state of being. Maryam GHOLAMSHAHI * Some... smell Sons and grandchildren of Iranian immigrants have always battled about, "Should we wash our backsides or smear the feces around until it becomes dry with a piece of toilet paper?" [Running out of ideas] Warm water on the anus and its surrounding after defecation is the best way to clean the anus. Afterwards to prevent a fungus from occuring one should wipe their anus dry with toilet paper. Women should wash their anus by directing the water away from their vagina. A female can infect their vagina by getting feces and water in their. The water should be directed from behind. Men can easily wash from the front or behind with water, no infection will happen as long as one raises the penis and testicles and directs the water straight at the anus. This is a very clean process. I take daily showers and wash my anus and then dry off with toilet paper. And I love expensive cologne like Tommy H., Calvin Klein, Cerruti Image, and Aqua di Gio. People should also use under arm deoderant. I have submitted this essay due to the fact that some of my fellow American immigrants of Iranian ancestry smell. May God almighty, Allah help those people. As for me I smell so good all over. Thank God and God bless America. * Dirty dishes Why so your paintings [Unlimited] remind me the dirty pots and pans in my kitchen? ;-( I dont understand at all. REPLY FROM THE ARTIST: Maybe you need to look at the dirty pots and pans in your kitchen with different eyes. On another note, are you aware of the history of painting especially in the past 200 years? At any rate we all don't have to like the same things. I (and some other people) see things in these pieces that you do not see. You probably see a lot in some other things that I do not understand. That is fine too. We can thus respect the differences in our views. -- Yari Ostovany More letters (May 2004) |
Archive By
subject U.S.-Iran-Middle East
|
|