A Gathering of the Exiles and the I.R. Supporters

Share/Save/Bookmark

A Gathering of the Exiles and the I.R. Supporters
by Faramarz
24-Aug-2010
 

I recently attended a dinner party at one of my relative’s home. The guests were a collection of friends and relatives, some of whom held good positions under the late Shah, and a few of their kids who have now become ardent supporters of the Islamic Republic and its foreign policies. An interesting mix, to say the least!

Like many Iranians who live in the West, I come from a family of diverse backgrounds. In our relatively large family and the larger circle of friends, there were always all kinds of people with all kinds of political views. There were those who worked for the late Shah, those who opposed the Shah and went to jail for it, and those who were happy to see those guys sent to jail!

There were garden variety leftists, Shahi, Mossadeghi, Jebheh Melli, but one thing we didn’t have was religious Islamists. There was an old and distant aunt who went to Mecca one time, and that is as close as our family ever got to a holy shrine!

The gatherings of our family and friends were always eventful and full of heated discussions. But when it came to the dinner table, everybody was well-behaved. We respected everybody’s right to have a piece of Tahdig. My mom, who was good at counting heads, used to say before serving dinner, “One sikh e kabob per person!”

کباب کوبیده، نفری یک سیخ

And everybody followed that rule. There were those who took half of their kid’s kabob. But we looked at it more like an internal family matter!

سوسی جون امروز اشتها نداره

At the party at my uncle’s home, as it is the norm in the gatherings of the older Iranians, men sat on one side and talked about sports and politics. Women sat on the other side and talked about whatever women usually talk about. What was interesting about this party was that the older men addressed each other by their titles of over thirty years ago and there was a pecking order that everyone followed; Generals spoke before the colonels and managers before the regular folks.  

Being new to the scene, they quickly wanted to figure out where I came down on certain topics. But, before I could put a few sentences together, they cut me off and started repeating their own views! So much for the First Amendment rights!

Before the party, my aunt had told me about one of the guests, a retired General under the late Shah. Apparently, he had some bladder control problems and had to wear diapers. She said that on some occasions, when he got excited talking about Iran and its politics, he unknowingly had lost control and peed in his diaper and the folks sitting near him could smell the odor. My aunt told me to be on the look out for that and to quickly let her know if I smell something bad. She would then let the General’s wife know to take him to the bathroom for a diaper change!  

Then there was his son and a few others like him; Western educated, secular and quite reasonable in every aspect until it got to I.R. and its policies. They were very much like some of the folks on Iranian.com site. I used to tease people like that by asking them if they have ever read Ghoran, set foot inside a mosque or know the difference between Osool Deen and Foro’e Deen. But I have since given up on that. Nowadays, I just remind them that going to Emam Reza in Mashad once in your life and grabbing the sweaty Zarih does not count as a deep religious experience.

The General’s son and the IR supporter was married to a good-natured, mid-westy blonde, with a few extra pounds; the kind of woman that calls her Iranian mother-in-law Maman Joon and knows how to make a decent Ghormeh Sabzi! One of my cousins who knew the couple well told me that she walks in her sleep! Now, I would pay to see that! She would wake up in the middle of the night and sleepwalk to the kitchen to eat some cereal. I could not believe that. The last time that I saw someone sleepwalking was on the old black and white comedies, like Abbott and Costello, or the Three Stooges!

My cousin then told me how a few months ago he got a frantic call from the General’s son. The General’s son said that he was in serious trouble with his wife.

“Late last night, I was on the internet checking the “Nutty Girls from Prague” when I got a pop-up and then my computer froze. Right then, my wife was sleepwalking to the kitchen. I panicked and tried to pull the plug, but I knocked the router instead and woke my wife up! Oh, she was so pissed when she saw what was on the screen!”

“Doesn’t he know about Ctrl+Alt+Del?” I asked.

“All these years she thought that he stayed up late at nights, on the computer, trying to help the Iranian people from the Western Imperial powers. Now, she found out that he was just watching porn!”

As the retired General was telling everyone how the current recession, the high unemployment, and for that matter, all the problems in the US dates back to Jimmy Carter and his policies, I smelled a foul odor and quickly excused myself. I motioned to my aunt that it was time for action!

Once the diaper change was done, it was time for dinner. As usual when the dinner table was set, the heated arguments subsided and everyone respectfully grabbed their small portion of Tahdig!

I love my aunt’s cooking!

Share/Save/Bookmark

Recently by FaramarzCommentsDate
The Women of Camp Ashraf
35
Dec 01, 2012
Negotiating with the IR Regime
7
Nov 22, 2012
Ahmadi Goes to Majlis - Gangnam Style!
3
Nov 19, 2012
more from Faramarz
 
bajenaghe naghi

Faramarz Jan

by bajenaghe naghi on

Politics, pee, and polo, and not necessarily in that order, are ingredients that make a great story. Loved your stroy. Thank you. 

 


Faramarz

Bavafa, Divaneh, Reality Bites and MPD

by Faramarz on

Cousin Mehrdad,
Really Funny!
Thanks for flying our relatives around the country. My pen is running out of ink! Please start writing about our family

دیوونه جان,
راه رفتن درخواب  و خواب رفتن در راه ، پدر ما رو در اورده!

گاز واقعی,
Let them kiss and hug that sweaty and smelly Zarih as much as they want! I am all for it

چند شخصیت قاطی پاتی,
لطف داری


Multiple Personality Disorder

Good!

by Multiple Personality Disorder on

No, better than good.  I liked it, a lot.


Reality-Bites

by

by Reality-Bites on

by Faramarz
24-Aug-2010

....Nowadays, I just remind them that going to Emam Reza in Mashad once in your life and grabbing the sweaty Zarih does not count as a deep religious experience.....

 =======================================================

Actually, to a lot of people "a deep religious experience" is exactly how it counts!


divaneh

The last time

by divaneh on

that I saw people sleep walking, was the 79 revolution. Thanks for the good read Faramarz.


Bavafa

Dear cousin Framarz,

by Bavafa on

Glad you enjoyed the tadig at my our house, hope you got your share of one seekh kabab. Usually, when jeneb mohandes takes more of his share and we are on seekh short, mom says that Mehrdad ate in the kitchen and no longer hungry

But likewise, I am just as baffled about the Amoo sarhang's kids supporting IRI so vigorously and how "religious" they have become. This is all while they spend so much time in Atlantic city gambling and hitting the nudie bars weekend after weekend. But I guess the import/export business that they have got from IRI will pay for all that extra activities, hence support for the regime.

Please keep them coming as I really enjoy reading about our quite functional Iranian family

Mehrdad


Faramarz

Michael Jackson Glove

by Faramarz on

Thanks for your comments and kind words friends.

 

JJ,

Rastaman, don’t share your good Ganja with IR supporters, Soldja Man!

Mehman,

All those TOEFL classes are finally paying off!

Sargord,

Your aunt’s ears are just fine. It is your views that bother her ears!

It is all psychosomatic!

Cyckicforward,

Sargord has a Michael Jackson glove in his closet! Please refer to Anonymouse’s comment above.

DK Jaan,

Nothing like Peter Sellers with Indian accent! Thanks for the memory. The Farsi version was really funny too (Cinema Diamond, Meydoon 25 Shahrivar, I think)

Anonymouse,

The rooster is going to be fine. The hens were too demanding last night!


Anonymouse

Some Islamic Republic supporters never got the memo!

by Anonymouse on

Some of the Islamic Republic supporters watched the street demonstrations last year and labeled it as freedom of speech and when Michael Jackson died and the news subsided it was back to business as usual.

I feel bad for the rooster pic! 

Everything is sacred


Darius Kadivar

Brilliant Faramarz Jaan Reminded me of Blake Edwards' Party 0)

by Darius Kadivar on

Reminded me of a scene in the Movie "The Party" :

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=0fICVCI6EfQ


cyclicforward

SP

by cyclicforward on

Why do you support IRI and it's monkey? Do you really ideologically believe in their nonsense or there is some other things that turn you on.


Sargord Pirouz

I have an elderly Aunt

by Sargord Pirouz on

I have an elderly Aunt that's staunchly anti-regime. She's also hard of hearing. When we discuss politics, I shout a few things her way (so she can hear), she responds, then I shout a few more things, and then I yield and allow her to get the final word in.

The system works! 


Mehman

Nice!

by Mehman on

Thank you Faramarz for this sweet writing, the way you write is really nice and friendly.

JJ, it is OK if you equally condemn the crimes of both sides but the thing with many people is that they only see one side of the story according to their political prejudices.

The other thing is that sometimes one  should realize the danger of foreign intervention and occupancy and subjugation to foreign powers together with the possibility of millions of deaths and take the side of national sovereignty, while at the same time criticizing the lack of human and civil rights.

 It is really hard to decide what to do and what to say! That is why I try not to take part in political discussions as much as possible.

 


Jahanshah Javid

:)

by Jahanshah Javid on

Enjoyed it Faramarz. I recently met an Iranian-American couple. Secular, well-off, even shared a joint with the husband. When discussion started about Ahmadinejad, I went all out and blasted his policies, thinking everyone else around the table agreed. But I was so shocked when the husband began defending Ahmadinejad and the Islamic Republic in general. I was in no mood for an angry debate and excused myself.

It's disturbing when nationalist pride makes us blind to terrible crimes. We justify atrocities to save ourselves from embarrassment -- as if an attack on Iran's leaders is an attack on our identity and existence. We whitewash crimes committed by the Islamic Republic by arguing that they are no worse than those committed by the U.S. or Israel or Saudi Arabia...

Anyway... love your stories :)