The Iranian Features
Nov 30-Dec 4, 1998 / Azar 9-13, 1377
Today
* Music: Googoosh cybershrine
Recent
* History: Lunch with
Khomeini
* Marriage: Tonboon-e faati
* Image: Oil, mean
people, dark skin, terrorism
* Cover story:
Where on earth?
Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday
| Thursday | Friday
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Friday,
December 4, 1998
Icon
Googoosh's cybershrine
Finally an internet home for the most-loved Iranian
By Bruce Bahmani
Hello to all you lifetime Googoosh fans! I am happy to announce //www.googoosh.com is live!
You can hear many of Googoosh's best-loved songs in RealAudio format
and browse one of the most extensive galleries of her fan pictures (depicting
almost all of her many hairstyles!).
Everyone is encouraged to send articles, letters, features, photos,
recollections, and basically anything relating to Googoosh. Be a part of
Googoosh's cybershrine!
We will be constantly updating the site. Drop
me a line to tell me how it looks and send me any suggestions you might
have to make it better.
Above all, if you like the site, pass it along for friends and others
to enjoy! ... GO TO GOOGOOSH.COM
Thursday
December 3, 1998
History
Lunch with Khomeini
How a former SAVAK chief saved the ayatollah's life
Excerpts from Memoirs of Fatemeh Pakravan: Wife of General Hassan
Pakravan: Army Officer, Chief of the State Intelligence and Security Organization,
Cabinet Minister, and Diplomat, edited by Habib Ladjevardi (1998
Iranian Oral History Project, Center for Middle Eastern Studies, Harvard
University):
My husband told me, "You know, I had lunch every week with the
ayatollah." I said, "Yes. I knew that but you never told me what
was the atmosphere of these meetings." He said, "Very good. Very
cordial. Very friendly. The ayatollah used to say in this very flowery
Eastern way, 'Timsar, I count the days until we reach the day of
our luncheon.'" I asked, "How was he?" My husband said,
"He was very handsome. And I'm sure he's not as old as they say. I'll
tell you why. He was very handsome. He had extraordinary presence, a power
of seduction. He had a great charisma." ... GO
TO FEATURE
Go to top
Wednesday
December 2, 1998
Marriage
Tonboon-e faati
With so few rights, Iranian brides-to-be are extra cautious
By Nasim Bagheri
Mr. Soroosh:
I read your article "Marrying
an Iranian woman" with interest. There are two faces to a coin,
the Persian saying goes. Although you are very much attached to your heritage,
I am surprised at your naivete when approaching such a delicate subject
as marriage with an Iranian woman. Perhaps it is the idealism and the romantic
in you that beckoned your loved one to let go of all the traditions and
the "strings" that hold her to her roots, and to join you in
the land of the free. Things are not that easy in the real world and especially
in today's Iran. In the words of Hafez:
... Eshgh aassaan nemood avval, vali oftaad moshkel-haa!
Under Iranian law (which incidentally predates the current regime) a
woman has limited rights to her husband's assets either during her marriage
to him or in the event of divorce or death. In case of his death a woman
will inherit one eighth of her husband's cash assets (excluding land, building
or stocks). After the belongings are all divvied up among the man's offsprings,
siblings and parents, the wife's share comes LAST. A woman's only "security"
in case her husband decides to divorce her or dies is her mahriyeh
(dowry)... GO TO FEATURE
Go to top
Tuesday
December 1, 1998
Image
Oil, mean people, dark skin, terrorism
Mental images of the Middle East influence relationships
By Yahya R. Kamalipour
"What images come to your mind when you think of the Middle East,
Muslims, Arabs, Iranians, and Israelis?" This was a question that
I posed to nearly 500 high school students in five cities throughout northern
Indiana, during a 1997 world affairs conference for which I was the principal
speaker. Using an assessment method called "word-association,"
I asked them to write, without censoring themselves, whatever images came
to their minds immediately after hearing certain terms. Although space
limitation does not allow me to outline and discuss the disappointing results,
the following responses, compiled in no particular order, should reveal
their perceptions of the Middle East, Arabs, Muslims, Iranians, and Israelis:
The Middle East: Terrorism, war, dangerous, Muslims, oil, desert,
hot, camels, sand, Saddam Hussein, the Gulf war, PLO, fanatics, radical,
destruction, oppression, dark skin, dress funny, black veils, cab drivers,
oppressed women, OPEC, always in the news... GO
TO FEATURE
Go to top
Monday
Nov 30, 1998
Cover story
Where on earth?
People looking for long-lost relatives & friends
About a year ago we stopped posting messages from people searching for
lost fathers, friends or childhood pals. Maintaining the Lost & Found
page was difficult and time-consuming. But the messages keep pouring in.
We have listed some of the messages received in recent weeks.
There are a lot of people out there looking for that someone special
in their lives. Are you that person? Do you know that person? If so, make
someone happy -- really happy ... GO TO FEATURE
