Archive - Article

Let's get engaged

Iranian nationalism is based on the belief that while Iran is by all standards a powerful country, it is prevented from assuming its place on the world stage by perennial American, British and Israeli opposition. Iran is a populous, culturally sophisticated, nationally cohesive and - by the standards of the developing world – technologically advanced country. How else can a policymaker in Tehran explain why Israel, India and Pakistan have been allowed to develop nuclear arsenals without much international outrage while Iran is ostracized for its own program, so far carried out within the framework of the Non-Proliferation Treaty?>>>

Concierto de Aranjuez

What I can tell you about Miles Davis is that when I listened to his music, I could see her. I could see her and she was even more than I thought she was and I was even more than I thought I was too. I couldn't see her face or anything like that, but I could see the world where she existed. It was the same one where I existed. As long as there was a music like that, the worlds where we existed were the same. She didn't even have to like the music necessarily, because it liked her. It had been made with her in mind, and it had been made with my hope in her in mind. The way that it had us in mind was unconditional. Look, it was saying, I am trying to be beautiful, so I have to believe in you whether you believe in me or not. Of course if you do believe in me, then where we'll get to together will really be somewhere>>>

The Indian's gift

I think my first impression of America was when I landed at Chicago O'Hare Airport and I had to walk what seemed like a fifteen-mile hike to my next plane. But the impression that has stuck with me all these years is what I saw in the second airport where I was waiting for a connecting flight to my final destination, Oklahoma City. There, in a waiting hall no larger than my grandfather's living room back in Iran, I saw something that simply stopped me breathing! In the corner of the hall stood a statue of an American Indian. A tall, handsome, and muscular man, with long black hair cascading over his broad shoulders. He must have been at least six and half feet tall. His eyes looked directly forward, as if focused over the tops of some imaginary rocky mountains miles away.>>>

I Jumped For You

Dear Son, I wish I could tell you that your maman and I don’t still cry, but that would be a lie. We miss you more than ever and our hearts weep every day. Some days are better than others, of course, but not having you with us is still hard to cope with, but… we are doing the best we can. On this Nowruz I feel a flood of mixed emotions, just as your mother does. On the one hand, we both feel the heavy weight of your absence, but at the same time, we know just how much joy we had together over the years during Nowruz, and we don’t want to lose that like we lost you>>>

بی انصافا

از زنی که یکروز اون رو
برهنه تو شکمش داشت
ولی حالا روشو ازش برگردونده
که زخمیش نکنه،
با وجودی که تموم وجودش اشتیاقه،
می خواد دوباره قورتش بده،
می خواد بچه ش دوباره کوچولو بشه
و خودشودرسته توش بندازه

>>>

نوروز به هيچ ايدئولوژی سرسپردگی ندارد

تجربهء هفت هزار ساله به ما می گويد که اگر نوروز يک عيد و جشن مذهبی بود در همان نخستين خم کوچهء تاريخ از ميان رفته بود. اما نوروز، تنومند و با شکوه و زيبا ـ تکيه زده بر عصای ستبر جداسری (جدائی از ايدئولوژی و مذهب) ـ از راه بندان همهء مذاهب رد شده است تا امروز نيز در مقابل اين پهلوان پنبهء خرافات زدهء حکومت اسلامی بايستد و بگذارد تا نوکران حکومت شان تملق اش را بگويند، تاريخ و هويتش را معوج بازگويند و در لحظهء تحويل سال بسوی «عرش الهی» شان دست بگشايند و، در عيدی ايرانی، به زبان عربی التماس کنند که: «يا مقلب القلوب و الابصار...» >>>

کوه نخست

درسفری اخیر به تهران خود را برای اولین بار شیفته البرز یافتم. گویا یک آشنازدایی رخ داده بود که مرا دلباخته کوهستانی میکرد که سالیان سال با بی تفاوتی نظاره گرش بودم و این در حالی که هر روزم را با نگاهی به البرز آغار کرده بودم. باید سالها میگذشتند تا دور از وطن و در شهری عاری از کوه، به ارزش صلابت و استفامت البرزپی میبردم، چراکه علی رغم آنچه در طی قرون و اعصار بر ما رفته است، علی رغم اهانتهایی که به میراث فرهنگیمان منجمله تخت جمشید و پاسارگاد روا داشته اند، این کوه ها را نتوانسته اند از ما بگیرند. هزاران نگهبان هم که به البرز روانه شده اند تا از درهم آمیختن دو جنس جلوگیری به عمل آورند، کوه ها همجنان با استحکام ایستاده و پذیرای عاشقان عشق و دوستداران طبیعت بوده اند.>>>

The Spider Killings (10)

Roxanne had been grilling Ramin for a half hour now, about the state of crime, in particular prostitution, in Mashad, his crime statistics, his office hierarchy, the qualifications of his staff etc. It had all boiled down in the end to the recent murder of the woman found on a busy city street a couple of weeks ago. The woman Roxanne believed was maybe the third or fourth victim of a serial killer, nicknamed the Spider Killer behind closed doors. Her friend Peyman’s informant would not elaborate on a precise number of victims, just that there had been more than two>>>

Pre-emtive failure

Iraq was occupied by the US-led troops from March 20 to May 1, 2003. Five years have passed since the Bush administration launched the war on terror beginning with the campaign entitled "Operation Iraqi Freedom" to topple the Saddam regime in Iraq. Yet the panoramic picture of Iraq continues to remain in a sombre situation. The US was yet to reach its target to “disarm” Saddam Hussein’s regime of weapons of mass destruction in the fight against “terrorism”, but nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons were never found in Iraq after the military occupation>>>

87 days and 50 pounds

...>>>

Sign Language as second language

I am in a line at my bank. The Brazilian and the Italian teller are busy with the customers who crane their necks to grasp what the tellers are saying in their thick accents. The quickest of tellers—a short, stout young man who doesn’t have an accent—a real Canadian—with short dyed blond spikes, is not in today. There is a sign on his counter: CLOSED. I look at my watch. The Italian and the Brazilian take their time. Keep talking. I’ll have to grab something to eat on my rush to class. They don’t care. They just shoot bland smiles at the impatient customers like me. I see a hand waving at me from behind a desk at the other end of the counter. It belongs to a new teller—a young Chinese man who stands now behind the desk where new accounts are handled>>>

No madness worse than greed

Every so often people assume that somehow they can make money out of the thin air. The most famous one was the Tulip mania of 1636-1637 in Netherland and the most recent one was the “dotcom” bubble of 1995-2001 (on March 10th, 2000 the NASDAQ peaked at 5132.52). Today we are witnessing the beginning of the end of the real estate bubble. In every case, the madness begins with those who have high tolerance for financial risk. That is to say they are rich and can afford greater financial loss than others. They speculate and make money, lots of money. Soon the less wealthy see this and join the crowd and before you know it the whole country is involved>>>

Koodakaneh

...>>>

بوی بهار آورد باد

بهار، زمان نو شدن و زندگی از سر گرفتن طبیعت ، آغاز روئیدن و بیرون آمدن گل و گیاه از شکم خاک تیره و تار و رنگارنگ شدن باغ و بوستان پس از یک دورۀ سردی و بی رنگی ، همیشه یکی از مضامین مورد علاقۀ شاعران ایرانی بوده است. منتهی در هر دوره ای و در هر سبکی ، شاعران طبیعت را به صورتهای گو نه گون منطبق با شرایط زمان و مکان دیده، توصیف کرده اند. و از گرد آمدن همین گونه گونی هاست که سبکهای مختلف ادبی بوجود آمده است. سبکهای ادبی و شعری را در شعرو ادب پارسی انواعی است : خراسانی (ترکست انی) ، عراقی، هندی و شعر نو.>>>

Government of the masses

The latest election for the Eighth Iranian Majlis (Parliament) took place on Friday, March 14, 2008, and according to Iran’s Interior Ministry, 65 percent of the nation’s 43 million eligible voters cast their ballots without the slightest disturbances or mishaps that are so common in many places during elections, not to mention the debacles in Florida’s 2000 and Ohio’s 2004 elections. Iran’s turnout was 14 percent higher than in the 2004 Parliamentary elections when 51 percent of the voters participated, said Hassan Khanlou, the chief of the ministry’s election committee. >>>