Christmas, Khatami, Ahmad, and I

Share/Save/Bookmark

Christmas, Khatami, Ahmad, and I
by Nazy Kaviani
24-Dec-2008
 

It feels like it was only yesterday when I wrote here about Christmases past in Tehran. Today I remembered another memory of my days in Tehran.

I remember the first Christmas Mohammad Khatami had been elected President. Iran was a rainbow of joy and hope, and Tehran was hosting the Organization of Islamic Countries’ Summit in December 1997. I left a meeting in downtown Tehran, hailed an orange taxi cab, and asked the cab driver whether he could spend an hour or two, taking me around Tehran to buy some things. He agreed. He was a middle-aged man who was dressed in what we would consider “laat-e-kolah-makhmali” attire. His coat was resting on his shoulders with his hands free from the sleeves. The back of his shoes had been pushed inside, and in his hands he sported a green rosary with which he was playing as he drove his Paykan. True to form, he also had a black felt hat on. He had kind eyes and a deep Tehrani accent, complete with lingo that was reminiscent of old Iranian movie characters.

I told him I needed to pick up a Christmas tree first. He took me to the Armenian neighborhood of Tehran just below Takht-e-Tavoos Avenue and helped me carry the tree and secure it in the trunk. On our way to my next destination, he and I started talking about politics. I told him I had watched President Khatami receive his foreign counterparts at the airport that morning. I told him how impressed I had been with him. He looked at me in the mirror and asked me what about the President had impressed me. I told him I didn’t really know. Maybe it was that he seemed to be speaking to the arriving leaders easily, in English? In German? In Arabic?, and that he was acting “stately,” something I hadn’t seen before. I told him also that even in his clergy outfit he seemed lithe and somehow contemporary, belonging to today. Maybe it was because he wasn’t wearing sandals, I guess.

The cab driver kept moving his rosary in his hands and looking at me in the rearview mirror. He asked me gently: “Really? You are obviously a woman who has seen more than life in Tehran. Do you really think that a president who can chit-chat in a language other than Farsi is impressive? Or one who wears regular shoes? Does that make him a good president?” He said: “I feel so sorry for my country. Who would have thought there would come a day when knowing a second language at conversational levels or wearing shoes would be considered impressive?”

I was so embarrassed. The “laat-e-kolah-makhmali” cab driver didn’t look so laat anymore! I asked him his name and his background. He told me his name was Ahmad and that he had a master’s degree in political science from Tehran University. He had been a teacher before he had been dismissed because of his political beliefs. We talked a lot more about a lot of other things before I bid him goodbye, tree and turkey and fruits in hand. I learned a few important lessons about myself, about life, and about Iranian politics from him that day. Those lessons have only become bolder and more important with time.

Merry Christmas!

Photo by Hassan Sarbakhshian, Associated Press.

Visit: //nazykaviani.blogspot.com/

Share/Save/Bookmark

Recently by Nazy KavianiCommentsDate
Baroun
3
Nov 22, 2012
Dark & Cold
-
Sep 14, 2012
Talking Walls
3
Sep 07, 2012
more from Nazy Kaviani
 
Nazy Kaviani

All and Anonymous Mnonymous

by Nazy Kaviani on

Thank you all for taking the time to comment on my humble post!

Anonymous Mnonymous:

I hope I'm not too late in writing back and that you will come back and see this comment! I want to thank you for the best laugh I have had in ages! You are sooo funny! I was sitting here laughing like a crazy woman! You are an anonymous of multiple talents and knowledge! Reading your comment made me feel good because at my age I go around thinking how gullible I could be! You are really wonderful, did you know that? To be funny and witty and wise, too, I would give all I have to be that! Thank you for the true holiday cheer you sent me. Happy Holidays!


default

Authentic?!

by Anonymous Mnonymous (not verified) on

Authentic: having the origin supported by unquestionable evidence.
Is this what is meant by Ahmadinejad “is of authentic quality”? Can we, are we allowed to, question his origin? Is his origin supported by unquestionable evidence? And if so, why do they keep closing printed publications? Why do they keep imprisoning opponents? Why do we have one of the highest per capita executions in the world?… Why?

Authentic: verified.
Can we verify that he is the real choice of the people, or is he the hand-picked selected president for the masses to elect?

Authentic: not false or copied, genuine, real.
How many of these carbon copied “genuine and real” leaders do we have to go through to finally realize that they are all similar in kind, quality, quantity, or degree.

Authentic: entitled to acceptance or belief because of agreement with known facts or experience; reliable.
What that means is that they shove it down our throats and we have to take it. That’s what authentic means!

Try to read more satire than this serious stuff.


Maryam Hojjat

It is sad

by Maryam Hojjat on

to see in Iran a lot of educated men having a rosary in hand & playing with it as they speak. What are they pretending?


default

Why did you have to ...

by Critical Thinker (not verified) on

celebrate Christmas while in Iran? Oh, let me guess: for children's sake or was it because of your hubby? Interesting that the cabby didn't ask you if you were christian?

Anonymous Mnonymous,

Why are you surprised at the cabby holding a master of politcal science? After all you have a college degree while being a driving school instructor!!

Back to the author of the blog,

we are where we are thanks to the starry-eyed admirers of Khatami like you. Ahmadinejad may be a foot shortter than Khatami, knows no second language and is less stately like BUT he is of an authentic quality not a fake one. In the worlds politcal arena, Ahmadinejad is a head and shoulder above Khatami. He means what he says.

You still have a lot to learn.

کریسمستون مبارک


default

I'm afraid you misjudged

by Anonymous Mnonymous (not verified) on

Nazi,

I am afraid your assessment of Khatami’s RELATIVE superiority over the rest of the Mullahs were correct, and you misjudged the taxi driver.

Khatami was completely impressive:
1- A chit-chatting Mullah in a language other than Farsi is truly impressive.
2- A regular shoe wearing Mullah is far more impressive than a sandal wearing one.
3- A “stately” acting Mullah is far more impressive than, let’s say, Ahmadinejad who sees halo in the UN.
4- A lithely outfitted Mullah is far more impressive than a jacket wearing president like, who should I say, like Ahmadinejad.
5- Looking contemporary and belonging to today is far more impressive than looking like belonging to fourteen centuries ago.

The driver was completely wrong:
1- Driving while distracted with rosary is a violation of traffic code.
2- Wearing a coat without hands being in the sleeves is cause for distraction while driving
3- Loose feet in shoes with folded backs in cause for distraction while driving.
4- Wearing black felt hat inside a vehicle causes loss of peripheral vision.
5- Looking too many times in the rear view mirror while driving is not advisable.
6- Did he present to you his original Master’s Degree in Political Science? You can be so naive sometimes!


default

cab rides

by foxy (not verified) on

Tehran cab rides can be so interesting and educational sometimes. You hear about people's frank opinions, problems, and emotional expressions, making it quite revealing.


IRANdokht

isn't it sad?

by IRANdokht on

isn't it sad that our cab drivers are more educated and intellectual than our statesmen? you see a lot of that in Iran now...

Thanks for sharing your wonderful memory and Happy Holidays to you and your loved ones.

IRANdokht