Ari Siletz

Thank you!

Thank you for accepting the invitation and for your very poignant piece, Ari.

Profound description of empathy

Just read  - Empathy is the opposite of Hatred.

Nice piece Ari, it certainly reads like a children's story for the developmentally superior children.

What a poem!

Azarin, I see more dark stories on the horizon. Must be the times. Thanks for reading.

Persian Westender, Thank you for the compliment. As I re-read the story, the message becomes clearer to me as well. 

Anahid, the paradox is a difficult one. Hopefully future writings can tease out the angles. Thanks for reading.

Dear Ari

This is a very creative write up with a profound message. Thank you.  

Dark and thought provoking!

Great story dear Ari! Dark and thought provoking as I like them the best!

And such a moving poem Nazy jan! The image of this man on the rooftop will stay with me for long time, I know...   

Dear Ari

I really enjoyed your story. Thank you.

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Dear Nazy,

Thank you for relating the heartwarming story of that Basiji's fiancée - another proof that the Green Movement involves all social classes.

And another thank-you for your beautiful poem

The man on the rooftop
Remembers
Shooting his soul
And burying it
On a sunny day.

We shall overcome,

Azadeh

Dear Ari:

Thank you for the thought-provoking story.

It becomes hard to imagine perpetrators of torture, violence, and murder as "human beings" sometimes. We lose all connection to these people, seeing them as sub-human or closer to some form of animal life. It is hard for us to imagine that they, too, belong to a family, love a woman, kiss their little girls, or give a ride on their shoulders to their little boys. We wonder how could anyone who leads a normal life also be capable of inflicting pain and wounds on another? We get conflicted with feelings of hate which could become blinding, momentarily putting us at the level of the very individuals who are following orders and beliefs blindly and committing atrocities.

This past summer, I read a report by journalist Farnaz Fassihi, who had interviewed a young Basij member who had been quite active in the June crackdown on the protesters. One part of the interview has remained fresh in my memory, in which he talks about his fiance and his plans to get married. In the aftermath of what happened in June, this is what he had to say about his personal life:

"For Mr. Moradani, the biggest shock during the election turmoil came in his personal life. He had recently gotten engaged to a young woman from a devout, conservative family. A week into the protests, he says, his fiancée called him with an ultimatum. If he didn't leave the Basij and stop supporting Mr. Ahmadinejad, he recalls her saying, she wouldn't marry him.

He told her that was impossible. "I suffered a real emotional blow," he says. "She said to me, 'Go beat other people's children then,' and 'I don't want to have anything to do with you,' and hung up on me."

She returned the ring he gave her, and hasn't returned his phone calls. "The opposition has even fooled my fiancée," he says."

And in that vein, I leave you with a spontaneous poem I wrote on a blog by hamsadeh ghadimi this past summer (Face of a Killer).  Before I go, thank you again for provoking thought.

The man on the rooftop
by Nazy Kaviani
Thu Jun 18, 2009
12:54 AM PDT

He moves
He talks
He laughs
He smokes a cigarette
He peels an orange
He carries the neighbor's groceries

At night
His children rush
To welcome him home
After vozoo
After namaz
He sits down
To peer into
His dauther's eyes

Seeking solace
Seeking comfort
Seeking peace
In the familiar love
Finding none

He peers inside
Looks around
Searches frantic
Up and down
Finding hollowness
Hollow
Hollow
Hollow
Where his soul used to live

The man on the rooftop
Remembers
Shooting his soul
And burying it
On a sunny day.

Dear Ari, thanks for another excellent blog

Ari jan, Your story is sad just as the plight of victims of torture is. Sometimes one thinks that if people knew each other at less "bohrani" times and had befriended each other, then they could not be cruel to each other.  But life has taught me to grudgingly accept that people can sometimes do wrong by each other.  After all, from childhood, we were taught that life is not fair.

LalehGillani

انسان و انسانیت

در گذشته، برایم دشوار گشت قبول انسان بودن شکنجه گران بی وجدان. ولیکن، زمانی است که درک واقعیت دیگری، این معما را برایم حل کرده است :

فرق است میان انسان و انسانیت ...

Thanks folks,

MM, to reverse Shakespeare, the fault is not in ourselves but in our stars. What distinguishes an Evin torturer from his victim is accident of life history, otherwise we are of equal caliber in spirit. Or so is one liberal point of view.

Divaneh, your comment suggests an interesting plot line for a new story. What if someone could read his book in life? By the way, the finger imagery at the end of this story came from your piece in the series.

jaleho, is there an objective reality to morals? Or are we free to imagine torture as a necessary part of our private ethics? 

MPD, thanks. Goose bumps is a good indicator for me too, especially in music.

When it gives me goose bumps it means it's good

Another imaginative piece of writing.

Ari, hurry not to miss the boat!

هر یک کتابچه خویش را دریافت کرده و پا بر کشتیی که مقصد آن سرزمین واقعیت بود گذاشتند. 

Very imaginative

Dear Ari, your imagination is boundless. I wish we could see the rest of our books. That would certainly make us question many of our day to day actions.

very nice. thanks.

I am puzzled that ghosts are supposed to be our guiding lights, and you make it seem like there are bad ghosts inside us that force us to do evil!

So touching

Ari, this piece tugged at my heart. I love your imagination and your intelligence. There is a way to realise the connection between our souls in this world, it's called mindfulness.