Diaspora

Happiness in slavery

We live in (here in America) what has been referred to as a fast food culture. If president Bush ordered all eateries closed tomorrow the American people would have him impeached in an hour. We don’t seem to care about our own lives, not to mention the lives of Muslims. The American people are being oppressed in the worst possible way, pacification. The same can be said about the Islamists as they are also being pacified, in their case the pacifier is Islam. In our case its comfort. What is my point? My point is this... Greed>>>

Culture shock

For those readers who are not in their 20s, back in the 1970s, the Iranian parents wanted their children to become either medical doctors or engineers (ya doctor besho, ya mohandes!!), I was sent to a university in Europe where they fully concentrated only in one subject during the 4 years of undergraduate studies. My father refused to send me to the US because he thought the freedom of choosing courses in a variety of subjects was too much of a “wishy-washy” upbringing to focus on becoming a professional Engineer or a Medical Doctor. >>>

تولدت مبارک

این چند خط را برای تو، پدر عزیزم، بهرام بیضایی و به پاس تلاشهای خستگی ناپذیرت در عرصه ی فرهنگ و هنر کشورم ایران می نویسم . می دانم که بسیار خسته ای و بسیار رنجدیده و می دانم که زخمهای بسیار بر روح و روان داری از سوی آنها که گمان می کنند آمده اند تا برای ابد بمانند، اما نمی دانند که ضدیت با جریان رونده و شونده ی فرهنگ ایران امری است گذرا و آنچه می ماند، فکر است و اندیشه و نیروی خلاقه ی انسانی که خود خالق است. نیز بسیاری در لباس دوست و دوستدار که پنهانی و از سر تنگ نظری زخم می زنند، گاه از سر بخل و گاه از سر خودشیرینی برای این و یا آن دستگاه قدرت.>>>

Nobody's enemy

In the face of hostility, recently more and more Iranians find themselves stuttering when asked a very simple question: Where are you from? A proud people whose heritage has heavily influenced the Western culture, they become stuck somewhere between the I and the P: Many Iranians, in fear of retaliation or being scorn refuse to identify themselves as Iranians unless necessary; some opt to use the alternative Persian (the Greek, historical, transitory word for Iranian,) few even go as far as introducing themselves as Italian, Greek, Armenian, or Northern Iranians who fit the profile, as Irish, or other. This is a deeply disturbing phenomenon that is very typical and indicative of their existence in the United States, and one that is a growing trend, elongating parallel to the strange animosity that is brewing against them>>>

قهرمانان

آقا این واقعاً چیز عجیبی است، از آن روزی که ما پا را توی این آمریکا گذاشتیم، از هر پنج مرد ایرانی که ملاقات کردیم، دوتاشون ادعا داشتند که در ایران قهرمان شنا بوده واز دست شاهپورغلامرضا (ع) یا فلان تیمسار مدال قهرمانی گرفته اند! قول میدهم برای شما هم یکی دوبار این اتفاق افتاده باشد. آدم از تعداد قهرمانان گمنام آن مملکت مبهوت میشود! اولین سئوالی که پیش میاید آنستکه چرا اصولاً ارتش در کار شنا و ورزش دخالت میکرد، و اگر خیلی عرضه داشت زیر کون خودش را باید بیل میزد، که تحت توجهات ملوکانه کار مملکت به اینجا نکشد؟ غلط عرض میکنم؟>>>

اسرار و احتیاجات

با شنوندۀ ارجمند بعدی گفتگویی خواهیم داشت. رادبو مرز پر گهر، بفرمایید.
الو با من هستین؟
بله خانم بفرمایید.
سلام آقای دکتر. ممنون از وقتی که به من دادین.
خواهش میکنم بفرمایید.
آقای دکتر من یه مشکلی با پسر شیش ماهم دارم.
بله بله.
بله آقای دکتر. تا یکی دو ماه اول خوب شیر میخورد. ولی بعد از اون شروع کرد بازی درآوردن.
خودتون بهش شیر میدین؟ >>>

Unconquered sun

So is it merry Christmas, happy Hanukkah or merry Kwanzaa? This year, let us celebrate it for what it really is. It was originally the Yule or Yalda festival meant to commemorate the birth of the Sun God Mithra. Perhaps it had something to do with the Ice Age, which bedeviled ancient Nature Worshippers for so long that the day following the Winter Solstice, when days start getting longer, the day when light is born again, that day, the 23rd of December, was the happiest day of the year for our freezing pagan ancestors and celebrated accordingly.>>>

Finally, baby

My nails have gone into a shock. This is the unbelievable fact that the doctors have agreed upon. There are some weird looking lines and dents on my nails due to a trauma. And guess what. That trauma was my delivery. I have such a dramatic, unique delivery experience that I finally decided to write about it. It would be hard to do a full spiel version of it for every single one of my friends over the phone. Plus I figure the story can be entertaining and may be useful for the rest of the world who don't know me!>>>

Three Kings

I watched the PBS documentary on the three kings and their travels to Bethlehem. Although well presented, it is interesting to note how much one's perspective, in this case the Christian world view, clouds the lens. Before I start, let me assure you that in no way I'm making parallels to the current situation, countries or people. These events occurred when the world was a different place altogether. That the travelers came from Persia, that they were Zoroastrian Magi following a dream interpretation, conjectured the astrological heavens and brought gifts is straightforward. But the historical setting was touched upon gently. The impression that these priests were acting on their own or at least in isolation, however, is not plausible.>>>

Wanting more out of life

The novel takes place in revolutionary times, in fact about a couple of years after the Islamic Revolution of 1979. It was the time that major aspects of the society underwent pretty drastic transformations. Attacks on basic freedoms of the people had already started and the mere audacity of the regime to go places that no other dictatorship had gone before (to borrow from Star Trek) had created a funny and ironic situation. People couldn't believe that not only were they not getting the things for which they had fought so hard, but they were losing some of the things that they had pretty much taken for granted for such a long time. That gave people sort of that deer caught in the headlights look. It was the time of major interruptions in the people's lives>>>

Me and Persian businesses

Persian culture has never ceased to surprise me. Ever since I came to Los Angeles, the number of such cases has increased exponentially!!! And so has been the fun of ever increasing shock! When I first came to Los Angeles, I learned that Iranians are an integral part of the business in the society. Any normal person would think:” Oh wonderful! I'm sure people of my land are more sympathetic, as we experience the same feelings in exile.“ Alas I was so damned wrong! I don’t want to bore you by going through the details of my unfortunate events with Iranian-based businesses, so I confine myself to the world of beautification.>>>

How time flies

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Jazireye Gilligan

Like every Iranian kid of my generation whose family could afford a TV, I grew up watching Gilligan's Island in Farsi on Iranian TV. Not only that, we grew up to know every Disney character of the era, enjoyed watching Bewitched, Payton Place, Lost in Space, Wild Wild West, Flintstones, even Get Smart, all in Farsi. We grew up seeing every worthy Hollywood production and any worthy European movie in Farsi – and sometimes getting somewhat creative in translations, even in musicals such as the Sound of Music. As a result, when about one hundred of us ended up at a university town in the northeast United States in the early 70’s, we did not feel socially foreign at all.>>>

100,000 good reasons

With countless examples of the heart and soul invested in building these nonprofits and the variety of proposals we received, you can imagine how difficult it was to decide which applications to select. This was compounded by the fact that the amount requested totaled over $1.4 million while our total grant-making budget was $100,000. PARSA CF staff reviewed all applications and divided them into two groups. To ensure broad participation and an objective evaluation process, we formed an independent Grant Advisory Committee comprised of individuals with diverse backgrounds and experiences with community building>>>

Break from tradition

The wreaths are up, the tree is decorated to perfection and the big day is a week away! Whether your main family meal is dinner on Christmas Eve or lunch on Christmas Day, it’s going to be a long one. But I’m not going to re-invent the wheel for you and tell you how to cook a turkey. If you want to know about cooking times for turkey, read my Thanksgiving article. But stay with me if you want to do something DIFFERENT and a little more original this year. I used to make turkey, every single year, in fact. Until one year I confronted the family because I grew sick and tired of slaving for 7 hours preparing a big turkey feast and begged them to perhaps consider beef instead.>>>