Faryad by Akhavan Sales

This is one of the greatest poems by the famous Iranian poet Mehdi Akhavan Sales. Don't we all relate to what he is saying and feel like shouting these days. Doesn't every cell in your body and every drop of your blood want to shout, cry, scream, yell and holler. Is there anyone listening out there? Faryad, faryad...

Unending Love by Tagore

My daughter Sara received a couple of wedding invitations in the mail yesterday. Two of her best friend's sisters are getting married. Wedding invitations are becoming very fancy and elaborate now a days. Inside one of the invitations there is a card with this beautiful love poem by Rabindranath Tagore, a great Bengali poet that I'd like to share with you. Hope everyone experiences a love like that. Forever.

Unending Love

I seem to have loved you in numberless forms,
numberless times...
In life after life, in age after age, forever.
My spellbound heart has made and remade the necklace of songs,
That you take as a gift,
wear round your neck in your many forms,
In life after life, in age after age, forever.

Whenever I hear old chronicles of love,
its age old pain,
It's ancient tale of being apart or together.
As I stare on and on into the past,
in the end you emerge,
Clad in the light of a pole-star,
piercing the darkness of time.
You become an image of what is remembered forever.

You and I have floated here on the stream that brings from the fount.
At the heart of time,
love of one another.
We have played along side millions of lovers,
Shared in the same shy sweetness of meeting,
the distressful tears of farewell,
Old love but in shapes that renew and renew forever.

Today it is heaped at your feet,
it has found its end in you
The love of all man's days both past and forever:
Universal joy, universal sorrow, universal life.
The memories of all loves merging with this one love of ours
And the songs of every poet past and forever.


~ Rabindranath Tagore

Secret by Fereydoon Moshiri

I love this terrific poem by Fereydoon Moshiri, one of the greatest modern Iranian poets.

Secret

From the realm of sea
with maternal love
rushed to sandy shores,
water.

Round the sand she turned
washed away the gloom
off its dusty face,
water.

Of the sand dwellers,
I am not aware,
what the sandy shore
told the tender wave
that to kill herself,
time and time again
hit her head against
rock and stone and sand,
water.


Translated by: Faranak Moshiri



* Photo Credit: Entrance to the Harbor by Georges-Pierre Seurat, MoMA, NY

Rain or Shine

The past few days have been chilly, wet and cloudy here. It was too soon to feel like winter all over again. However, today the sun is out and it feels much warmer. As my good friend Susan tells me we've got a gift of sunshine again! Wouldn't it be amazing if we could see the rays of sunlight through the dark days and feel its warmth amidst the cold and rain? Today, I'll take a handful of the sunshine for the days that I need to bundle up. I'll have my eyes on the sun, rain or shine. The sun is always there. Always. And the clouds will part, sooner or later.

Human Rights for Iran!

These are some photos we took of yesterday's demonstrations in front of the United Nations against Ahmadinejad and the Iranian government.

Feel free to share your thoughts and experiences.

Peace and blessings.

One Step at a Time

I have missed writing here, so very much. There has been so much that I would have liked to share, things that have happened, feelings and some random thoughts since my last post. However, every time I wanted to write them down, I simply couldn't type a single word. I have felt that what has been happening in my personal life is irrelevant and trivial in comparison to what has been happening in the world. Therefore I didn't feel like writing. I needed more time to wrap my head around it. I don't know if I ever will. I think I need at least two or three life times to figure out why there is so much cruelty in this world.

As you all probably know, Iran is still in turmoil and chaos. The government is feverishly after those who speak their minds and question the illegitimate government. Jails are over flowing with innocent people, cemeteries are burying the broken bodies of those who dared to be human. I hope more and more courageous men and women who have been detained in prison for the past few months come forward and speak frankly about all the atrocities and the brutal treatment, the ugly truth they have endured while in jail. So the government won't be able to deny and cover up any longer.

Keep your spirits high and remain hopeful with every breath you take until we have a free and independent country. A true republic.Till then we need to be united.




P.S.: happy birthday Sara jan. I am so proud of you. Congratulations on your new job as well as your birthday. You have passed the test of independence with flying colors this summer. Be healthy and happy, always. Have a very pleasant day.

Lots of love,
Mom

Photo: Long Island, NY

Our Day Will Come

It’s been a while since I’ve updated my blog. I have been preoccupied with the news coming from Iran, reading news articles, news blogs by Iranian bloggers, and news on twitter from Iran, not to mention listening to news and watching all those YouTube videos. The struggle continues, nothing is forgotten and will not be forgotten. The history books of the next century will write of the successful uprising by the courageous Iranian people against their savage dictatorship and how at the end the people have won the fight and succeeded to gain back their freedom. It seems very clear that it’s only downhill for the Iranian government from here on. With every arrest, every blood that they shed, they are digging their own grave. The end is near.

My heart goes out to those poor mothers who bury the wounded, broken and tortured bodies of their children these days. My heart, thoughts and prayers are with the youth of Iran.

We Shall Overcome

This is a beautiful song by the legendary singer and songwriter Joan Baez. I love the song and the message. Yes "we shall overcome someday" for we are patient and resilient. As Iranians we have endured many injustices throughout the history of our beloved country. However, at the end of each dark period, we overcame any hardships and suffocating situations by pulling together and becoming united.

Yes, indeed "ma pirooz mishim."

Love, love Iran.

A Sad Day

"I write Mousavi
they read Ahmadinejad."

A dark chapter in the history of Iran.


Photo credit:Reuters.com

It Is What It Is

My dears, I am not surprised but I am very disappointed at the outcome of Iran's presidential election. Politics is a dirty, manipulative and complex game. Winner by 62% of the votes?
Still, my hopes and dreams for my country remains the same.

Have a very peaceful weekend.

We Are All In It Together

I hope in the next day or two we will have a new president of Iran.
I hope we get a chance as a country to start fresh again.
I hope we will become more truthful and sincere.
I hope we will become more honest and forthright.
I hope we will become a nation of peace and serenity.
I hope we will become a sovereign nation.
I hope we will feed, clothe, and shelter every person.
I hope we will educate every child.
I hope we will recognize the equality between men and women.
I hope we will honor and respect every religion.
I hope there will no longer be human rights violations.
I hope and dream of a free and democratic Iran.

The road to achieve all that I and the majority of Iranians wish for is very long and seems extremely far. Asides from hopes and wishes for our country, the reality is that the actual power is in the hands of religious leaders. In addition, the three other presidential candidates are far from perfect. However, one or two of them offer a chance to bring safety, dignity, accountability and change to the current situation in Iran. And I do hope from the bottom of my heart that finally, I will be able to say: “bye bye Ahmadinejad.”

Peace

Frazzled

I was walking toward my car when I heard a commotion. There was a young woman yelling at her three children in the parking lot. As I got closer, she seemed besides herself. She told me she didn’t know what to do any more, her children were driving her crazy. "There won’t be anything left of me if they keep this up," she said. The woman was visibly shaking. We exchanged a few words to just make her calm down a little. She said, "You know the problem is that these kids have no respect for us unlike the kids in the past." I walked away, got in the car and drove off. Her pale face stands out in my mind. I've been in those children's position, making trouble for my parents, at least a couple of times that I remember! And I've been frazzled a few times as a mom myself. Now, as a passerby I tried to calm that mom. It takes a calm, cool and collected mother to manage and discipline her children. Is it that the kids are more disrespectful than ever or is it that the parents have given up on disciplining their children?

Have a great weekend!

Mount Everest, Photograph by Thomas Chudalla, National Geographic

Graduation

Yesterday, my dear daughter Sara graduated with a bachelor in Pharmacology. The day started at 9:00 in the morning with her department’s graduation ceremony and then the University’s graduation. Everything went smoothly and elegantly. It was a lovely day.

Graduation, packing, saying goodbye to life on campus, moving back home, unpacking and packing again to leave for her summer job in Europe in a matter of days, life is going way too fast. It has not hit me yet that by this time next week she’ll be miles and miles away from home. I think I’m emotionally numb right now. There’s so much to do before she leave that I just follow the “to do list” these days. I’ll probably cry a river when she boards her plane and takes off from the JFK airport. Sara has her whole life ahead of her and these are exciting and wondrous times for her. I wish her all the good things in her new and adventurous life. May all that is good for her come to fruition. However, for the next few days I am just going to look her and SEE her, for she means the world to me.

Happy Graduation Sara!

Living With Lies and Dishonesty

We had another truly beautiful and perfect spring day. The rays of the sun pulled me out to the yard, where I planted a few flowers, trimmed the shrubs and pulled the weeds out. I removed all the dandelions that I could see. They are one of the welcoming signs of the spring. It’s fun to pick them, blow on them and see the tiny flowers fly away in the wind. However, the rest of the plant, its leaves and roots are not so good for the garden. It damages the nearby new growths. So, I am told. As I uproot the dandelions, they remind me of bad relationships/marriages. At the first sighting they bring joy and some cheerfulness. But as the fuzzy ball of flower disperse; the remaining root eats away the healthy green garden.

I remember a day that I was walking with P. in some beautiful garden. We were surrounded by tall trees, colorful flowers, water fountains and children’s laughter at a distance. At some point P. stopped and looked at me, and I noticed her pale skin, trembling body, her tearful eyes and the look of despair all over her face. She told me that she has found out yet again about her husband’s recent infidelity. She told me the details of how and when she found out. This wasn’t his first time that he cheated on her and we she knew it wasn’t going to be his last time cheating on her either. She wanted me to hear her and listen to her with a promise not to tell anyone, especially her parents. She had made a decision of staying with him through his unfaithfulness, the emotional abuse and betrayal. That day, I left that heaven- like park with a heavy heart. As the famous Persian poet Akhavan-Sales says:

Dandelion (ghasedak),
day and night all the clouds in the world cry in my heart.

Shortly after, I left and did not see her since.

I’ve heard and saw bits and pieces of Elizabeth Edwards’s interview with Oprah about her husband’s indiscretions and her new book about it. My heart goes out to her for battling terminal cancer, dealing with her husband’s affair and at the same time trying to keep a home together while raising a family. It is her personal choice to stay married to an unfaithful man who might also have a child with the other woman. I have not read the book and I don’t think I’ll read it any time soon. I believe that the issues of betrayal, unfaithfulness and adultery are worthy of discussions no matter how tender or uncomfortable they might be. I find it very interesting that a woman writes about it, has it published and makes the media rounds. Is it modern day revenge? I wonder what P. would think of this whole thing. Or those women who close their eyes to their husband’s extramarital affairs, and remain married, faithful and loyal. For them, walking out on their marriage is not an option. They were raised to believe that you enter a man’s house with the white wedding gown and leave it with a white burial cloth (kafan). It is a decision a woman has to make, weighing all the options and the obstacles whether she decides to stay in the marriage or call it quits. A woman might stay with a cheating husband due to economic needs, her children, family pressure, cultural demands and perhaps some hopes that he might change this time around.

My question is that why do these women choose to stay with these unfaithful men? Do the dishonest and cheating husbands or the submissive wives ever consider the impact of their behaviors on their young children? At the end it is between a man and a woman to decide how to live their lives, but I feel terrible for all the children who grow up with the issues of betrayal, distrust, lies, dishonesty and helplessness and what that would do to their own relationships in the future. Would it be too radical or insensitive to suggest to the women to take their kids and find the tools necessary to uproot these destructive and humiliating relationships?

Deeply Missed

Today is the first mother’s day celebration without my mother. She is deeply missed and her departure left a hole in my heart. I am grateful for the time that I had with her, for her gentle soul, thoughtfulness, and love. But I have come to accept life as a game of connections and separations with all its joys and sorrows. With her body in the earth, her soul up in the heaven, her sweet memories in my mind, and her love deep in my heart, she is within and around me; therefore I can say “we are together” at all times.

Happy Mother's Day,

Love

My Daughter's Gift

This adorable and artistic creation " love to laugh" pottery is my Mariam's art project made especially for her mom (me!). There are other messages on each sides as well. They read "Solitude--Listen," "Hope," and "Family--Trust-- Unity-- Peace." Sixteen years old and so incredibly thoughtful, it's amazing! When I was her age I knew nothing, zilch, nada, nil and (heech). I am over the moon and sun crazy in love with her and not just because she is my daughter. She is a gift.


Thank you love,

Mom

What Is It All About?

As I put my arms around my dear friend of many years, hugging her and saying my condolences for the loss of her very sweet and angelic mom, many thoughts and feelings glide over me. That’s an all too familiar feeling of loss, the one that once you live long enough there’s no escaping from it and after a while it seems to have become too rampant.

When I lost my parents and my only sister, in addition to feeling terribly sad I also felt awful for their not so easy lives. I couldn’t help but think how much each and every one of them had suffered throughout their lives. Their hardships and heartaches stood out in my mind and kept coming back to wring my heart out, till there were tears no more. Realistically, there’s no one that can dodge being hurt in life, is there? However, at some point most of us come to a realization that we must pick ourselves up and move on.

While I’m thinking and reflecting about the sad departure of loved ones and the people that I’ve known, my focus turns inwards to my own mortality and the unavoidable departure at last. Many thoughts, ideas, hopes and plans come to my mind but at the end I am left with one final thought, or rather a wish, a hope.

I hope that when finally death knocks at my door, whenever that might be that I would have been able to have come up with the best answer to one of my many nagging questions that haunts me from time to time. Before I go I would like to know for myself what this life was all about. If I figure this one out then I can happily rest in peace and all would have been worth it.


Photo Credit: APOD, NASA

Got to be Patient

It all seems like such a bad dream, a never-ending nightmare. We get to wake up from a terrible and frightening dream and feel relieved. However, what is happening now is real and it is not going away with a blink of an eye. We are all experiencing very difficult times and we are all in it together. The grave news of economic down turns, high rates of joblessness, homelessness, and destitution has everyone concerned and worried. On the other hand, there are these horrible news about torture, being beaten to death or suffering in solitary confinement when it’s done for all the wrong reasons. Are there any right reasons justifying how we can almost murder a person to gain some information? What is the difference between a criminal and a law abiding citizen?

It seems that most of the world is taken over by a group of foolish leaders at the top. They rule not only with the iron fist but also with an insatiable hunger for power, money and control. They have gotten us in this big mess we are in today.

What can we do? What should be done? I say not to lose the glimmer of hope that’s left. We can not afford to become indifferent, hopeless and fall into oblivion. We owe it to the next generation and the generations to come. We have to pass on the torch, offer them the planet earth with all its fruits of goodness.

Photo Credit: David Cortner, APOD, NASA

"Yes, We Can" Too

Yes, we can, NOT vote for you again! As much as I try to keep my blog, this tiny corner of my life, peaceful, positive and serene, when I have something on my mind I can't rest till I write about it and get it off my chest. I have a dream and hope that we Iranians inside and outside of Iran collectively, consciously and courageously come together and have this President pack his things and call it quits by the end of his term in June. PLEASE. Hasn’t he done enough damage to our country, our economy and our culture to last us a life time? I don’t get those people who drink their lattes in Starbucks and defend his manipulative and self- serving politics. We can’t afford to have four more years of this disaster. He does not deserve getting even one vote in the upcoming election. It’s time to bid him Good Bye. Hopefully. We can have a "Yes, we can" moment too.

Photo: Kerman, Iran, Fars News