The Strongest Man in the World; homeless!
Weightlifting is one of those sports that I cannot understand! I mean I really don’t get why some people destroy their spinal cords under extreme amount of pressure just to lift heavier weights! And above all do this for no good use! Would someone just tell me what the point of it all is?! Anyways, the other night there was this TV program called "Hot Seat" where they invite famous people to come and then they ask them all sorts of strange questions which are not likely to be asked in a normal interview!
This particular episode they had invited the world's strongest man alive which is an Iranian. His name is Hussein Reza-zadeh and he has world record in weightlifting, a record which is not easy to break, as I've heard. He comes from the Turk part of Iran, a city called Ardabil. In Iran we have many regional stereotypes which I will talk about in the future, but let me just say that for this region and its people, the general belief is that they are all as stupid as donkeys! Yeah I know it's not nice and it's not fair but stereotypes are never nice and they are nowhere near fair!
So in this program the presenter who is a prominent figure in Iranian radio and TV, called Dariush Kardan (another Turk!), asked Hussein lots of question and baffled the poor guy. I felt sorry for him and I felt sad. He's about 140 kg, I think, and the only thing he can do in his life is lifting weight, he has no knowledge of other things. He couldn’t even recite a line from one poem for God's sake! No books, no music, nothing; eating and lifting weight, finito! He has won many medals for Iran; he holds the world's and Olympics' golden medals. I think that's enough to call him a champion, isn’t it? Well besides my personal view on the field he has chosen, he is a national hero.
How do other nationalities treat their heroes? Our powerful hero doesn’t even have a house of his own and no-one is doing anything, even our president is powerless to help him because there are no laws for supporting people who bring honor and pride for our country because of their hard-earned success. They have promised him but I doubt that they would help him build a decent life for himself. The depressing point here is that he was offered 10 million dollars to join the Turkish team and he rejected the offer saying that he is an Iranian and he's going to remain one all his life. Do you know how much 10 million dollars is in our currency?! It's about 7, 8 billion Tomans!!! You know how many houses he could have bought with that kind of money, but he refused?
And still, to this day he doesn’t have a house of his own. All of our elites, all of our geniuses, all experts and people with brain emigrate from Iran to go where their brilliance is appreciated because here, if you decide to be a hardheaded patriot and stay, there is no guarantee that you will improve in your life. I have seen so many people like him, being superb in different fields from sports to science, who became disappointed at last and left.
Isn’t that just so sad?
No work and all play, makes Shideh a dull girl!
Well it's the New Year holidays and the parties are really breathtaking! Every night we arrive at 3am and then the same routine is followed the next day! Isn't that ridiculous?! Well it doesn’t seem to be for others as they look perfectly happy with it all. I don’t like parties that much anyway so it's really starting to get on my nerves, all the noise, lots of aimless making up and preparing for just a couple of hours of lots of people talking about things that are really not interesting and then I have to tolerate until we get back home.
I know I'm not normal, what can I do? I'm just unable to mingle with the crowd, and talk about things like cooking, dresses, cosmetics, love (!), married and unmarried members of the family (!), who has gotten fat and who has lost weight with miraculous diets. I cannot put up with the sappy political comments which mainly revolve around cursing mullahs without suggesting any solutions. Just naggings, unbearable naggings of a group of people who are really having a ball, making loads of money due to the chaotic economic status and market but nag anyways just to say they are like others.
Anyhow, I'm like this frank girl who is always telling people to their faces that they are full of shit in these circumstances, which gets me into a vicious circle of useless discussions with people who don’t really want to hear what you have to say; therefore, I'd really rather they leave me alone to sip my drink and read something or look at some photos.
Oh dear! Look at me! I nag so much! I guess I should be happy that there are so many people around that I can never be alone even if I try hard! I'm just being silly; being with family is good, isn’t it? Ok enough with this!
I recommend that you read what Khodadad has written about the history of Nowruz (New Year in Iran).
Party time!
It's been snowing and raining for about 20 hours in Tehran! Well in 26 years of my life I had never seen snow this time of year! It's practically spring and all trees have blossomed, new green leaves have grown on branches and I'm worried that this snow is going to freeze them all to death! Our farmers are surely going to suffer loss of their crop due to this sudden cold. It's so cold that I'm sitting here typing with my ski socks and warm cardigan and you know what? I'm still cold, well not cold actually, I'm freezing!! I don’t know what this raining and snowing is all about but I prefer to enjoy nice and fresh spring weather now after a long winter, although I love rain and snow!
Ok now that we're past our weather report (!!) let me tell you about another one of our traditional ceremonies of this time of year. Tomorrow night is the last Tuesday night of the year, it's called Wednesday party. We always celebrate it by lighting fire and jumping over it! Don’t ask me why because I have heard so many odd and contradicting stories about it that I'm all confused! As usual I must ask Khodadad to talk about its history because it goes way back in our history, more than 2000 years ago I presume, as fire used to have holy status in our ancient history and religion.
Well anyways, we have this celebration in which boys and girls go out and have fun while jumping over fire singing songs which talk of love and health. Then boys wear a woman's clothing which covers their face and body completely (chador) and go to neighbors' doors asking for treats. They take a bowl with a spoon with themselves and make noise by hitting the spoon over the bowl to get treats into their bowls; things like sweets, candy, confetti, chocolate, etc.
Since a couple of years ago the regime of the Islamic Republic suddenly decided that this cannot be simply because people were just enjoying it too much and it had nothing whatsoever to do with Islam, it's all Iranian! Well God forbid we have just a little bit of fun especially if it means girls and boys laugh and have fun TOGETHER! God forbid!! Sacrilege!! So what they did is that they formed hardliner groups which attacked us while we were partying in the streets. They hit boys because of playing with fire and once they cut a girl's hair right in front of me!! Her sin was that she had not covered her hair completely under the scarf. I remember vividly how the bearded guy in black grabbed her hair and cut it with a blade in his hands while shouting, "now that you cannot cover yourself properly, I'll make it easy for you!!!"
Now this time of year has turned into a hidden battle between our youth and the police and militia. We all go walking and boys secretly make this extremely loud exploding stuff that they throw to the ground. We call it grenade 'cause it has a horribly loud sound! The police are usually unable to identify the person who throws it because there are so many people and it could have been thrown from any direction! Well the noise and the smoke are really difficult to bear but as I said it has turned into a battle to show our frustration with the regime! A lot of people get hurt while making this dangerous stuff but still they do it!
I never understood why they started fighting with us and now it seems they are ready to make amends! The mayor has announced that they are going to help people celebrate this night in big squares in the city. Well you see, they have tricked us so many times that I just do not believe it! There must be a scheme behind it all! Anyhow most of us do not risk facing humiliating remarks of the militia and police and throw wild parties in our houses instead! We're gonna party whether they assist or resist!
Spring, love is in the air
It is time for our new year now. I love this time of year, I love everything about it; all the customs, all the traditions (well, mmm most of them!) and the of course the weather! Our new year starts March 20 which is the beginning of spring in our country. As it is said everything becomes new when the year becomes new; even the nature, after a cold winter the nature wakes up to a new year.
There are so many traditions in Iran regarding the Norouz (New Year) some of which I am not even aware of! There are some that are commonly practised and so I have a fairly good knowledge of them too, but of course I have no idea about the historic background of many of them, so that would be a job for Khodadad to shed some light on the issue so that we all learn more about it all. We are waiting Khodadad ;)
The most important feature of this time of year is home-cleaning and I'm not talking about just a quick sweeping and washing the windows. It’s the entire house from top to bottom! We call it shaking the house and I think we mean it literally! Everything must come out of the storage or wardrobes or whatever, be washed and put back, and in the end your house must be shining bright inside out! Another thing is that people go shopping for themselves and buy new clothes and everything so that the New Year is welcomed in new clothing!
Then there is this special table that we lay for this time of year. It's called haft-sin (the seven s). We put seven things that start with the letter s in glasses or bowls (each family has its own traditional way of doing it) and put them all on an old traditional cloth called Termeh. Then at the moment that the New Year comes all the family sit around it, usually kiss and give gifts to each other.
When the year changes people call each other on the phone to congratulate, so at that time the phone lines are extremely busy. Younger members of the family call the elders and wish them a happy new year. Then the parties start! Personally, it's a bit frustrating for me. You and your family are to call on the elder relatives and acquaintances and then after a day or two they come to pay back your visit! Sounds odd, doesn’t it?! Well it does to me! So the whole New Year holidays is usually spent in each others' houses making these special social calls unless you travel! I usually ditch it all and go walking to enjoy the splendid weather :D But there are some places that my mom practically drags me to!!!
Anyhow, it's a great time of year for me and I'm enjoying every moment of anticipating it now. I hope all Iranians away from home have a happy new year :)
Men versus Women!
8 March is a day for women. I don’t see any reason why it should be so! I personally think it is not wise to keep separating men and women with any kind of excuse. In our age and time it's apparent that all human beings are entitled to the same rights and those who are still opposing it won't last so long. Well at least I hope they wouldn’t!
Looking back at the history of the struggle to redeem the humane status of women throughout the history is truly touching. The suffragettes and all those who did the same for women in their countries are considered heroes nowadays. But I don’t assume our age is in need of such radical movements, or maybe I'm wrong!
All I'm trying to say here is that we just have to go out there and do things practically and achieve as much as we can achieve and act as if it's the only normal way! Now I know there are obstacles but I think feminine intelligence is enough to tackle nearly all of them.
Many foreigners believe Iranian women are extremely oppressed and brutalized; well I've got good news for you, that's not true! I'm surely not claiming that we are one big happy gender in Iran, no we are not. There are many defects in the law or social attributes that hinder our full growth and progress but we are not prisoners in our father or husband's home! Well at least I haven’t seen any woman in my 26 years of existence that is in such condition!
Violence against women exists for sure, but it exists everywhere, who are we kidding here? We have more girls in the universities than boys! We have girls moving up in their careers and job environments and sharing the same amount of respect or even more! We have a society that pampers women by regarding them as delicate objects of affection and we have a culture that does not oblige women to change their maiden name after marriage. We all keep our own name and do not suddenly turn into part of our husband's heritage! Our language is nowhere near a sexist one. No differentiation has been made between feminine or masculine nouns, verbs or anything else! As Khodadad once put it so smartly "we don’t have to repeat this his/her thing all the time!"
The Islamic law has defects, especially regarding women rights and that is not deniable. This issue I think is one that has to be addressed academically by professional lawyers and lawmakers. By radical movements, useless showy meetings, demonstrations or separating genders more and more no positive change will come along, in my opinion.
Anyways I do hope for a free world for all, men and women included!
You say the hill's too steep to climb, climb it!
Today we had an interview with a theatre director who has recently had a successful play staged. I think he is the most educated, sophisticated person I have met in a long long time. Even the way he was talking made me think I was listening to a nicely written piece of literature!! I wish there were more people like him in our art society. He holds PhD in Art Research and he has studied and read so much in his life that I could feel knowledge and passion coming out of his entire being!
The interesting part of our talk was about the time that he was not allowed to work. You see they just rejected whatever he wrote as easily as you choose not to buy a particular shirt because you do not like the color! Well anyways it was a great day thanks to his mere existence! He may start writing for us in our e-zine which would be fantabulous!
The only problem I have nowadays is the freaking weather, it's so damn hot for this time of year, if it's going to go on this way we'll all fry in hell during the summer!
Oh by the way have you seen this? At first I thought it is so funny but after punching the guy a couple of times I understood how sick my action and the whole thing is and I was truely revolted! Maybe I'm just taking it too seriously and it is just for fun, I don't know about you but it doesn't look healthy to me!
Ideas or beliefs, that's the question!
The last week was a week of excessive religious mourning in Iran. People come to the streets and mosques and mourn the death of a person who was killed more than a thousand years ago. Some hit themselves by some chains and some do it with daggers! Of course this kind of serious mourning is not that much seen anymore but still it's being done in some parts of the country.
Right now in Tehran it has turned into this huge carnival where a group of young men dressed in black march rhythmically along the streets accompanied by huge amplifiers and synthesizers. They are all walking and hitting themselves softly with the chains. The drumbeats are the organizing signals how to walk, how to move the chain, when to stop and when to sing. You can see many young boys dressed according to the latest fashion but in black amongst them. You see mourners dressed in Levies pants, Nike T-shirt with Adidas shoes, with the Enrique's hairdo walking past you in these groups; makes you wonder how much of a religious believer there is in each of them.
It's the time for free food and drinks too. Many pray and then for some specific wish give out treats on these occasions. A lot of sheep are beheaded in front of the mourners' group and the meat is quickly taken to some house or mosque where they cook something with it and hand packs of rice and stew out to the mourners and people who were watching all the time. Some housewives impatiently await these days! They just go walking, have fun watching the carnival and then get enough food for everyone for a couple of days!!!
For some weird reason I have great problems with most of the things my people do in my own country! It must be my fault as I see others are just having fun and tagging along year in year out. It must be my fault that I cannot understand why such considerable amount of money is being spent on such ceremonies, feeding people who have food themselves while there are some who are in desperate need of every Rial they could get their hands on. Whenever I talk of my concerns on these issues I'm forced to shut up by the accusation of disrespecting others' beliefs. They say that if I am not a religious person it doesn’t mean that others cannot do these things!
Yes it is my fault. I'm an idealist idiot who thinks people who want to give away their money for a good cause should first think of those in need. I'm not talking about cutting back on personal expenses and giving to others, just the money that you put aside and want to spend on a good cause. Yes I know I am wrong. It is commonly accepted that people have beliefs and that's respectable; no-one has the right to wonder about the justifications of these actions. That's the problem, BELIEFS.
I think it was in the movie Dogma that an angel was talking to some guy and he was talking about faith, beliefs and ideas. He said something that is so close to my idea too. He said, "Beliefs are dangerous things, people kill for their beliefs, ideas are better. You can always change your idea as you progress in your life". It's so true. Everyday I'm hoping for a world full of ideas and no beliefs.
Oh by the way, don’t you want to help that lady I have put a donation box on the top for? Her name is Maryam, she is a widow with couple of orphans she has to support. Recently she has had a heart surgery and is not allowed to work anymore. So we are now trying to gather some money for her to get by until we find a solution to her problem. Any amount of help you can provide her with is highly appreciated :)