Norooz

Afghans, Tajiks, Uzbeks and Iranians celebrate Norooz*, once again.
Happy New Year to all of those who honor the Spring.






*Norooz is the oldest Iranian holiday. Together with Mehregan (entrance of Libra to the house of Sun), it was one of the "two" New Years of the ancient Aryans. Mehregan was the first day of the "cold" year (autumn and winter), and Norooz was the beginning of the "warm" year (spring and summer), it is said that Norooz was chosen as the official holiday by King Yama (Jamsheed), the ancient Iranian king and hero of myth who expanded the earth. According to the story, when Yama expanded the earth three times, he ordered the day of the last expansion to be called Norooz, which was to signal a "new day" for the people living in what is now Iran. The truth most likely lies somewhere in between the story and the fact that Norooz is the beginning of spring. It could be that Norooz was already a holiday for the Aryans, but when it coincided with an important event in the region of Jamsheed, it was chosen to be the "special" holiday.

The Good, The Bad and The Ugly *

I guess I should have admitted that I loved Animated Films (cartoons) before a lot of thing happened. Old fashion or computer animation, no matter when or where it is shown: on TV or in the Movie Theater I will be there to watch it. My personal taste to choose animated films over movies when we get to the cinema theater bothers my friends and family: in many particular cases my lovely husband. I think at first he thought what a lovely, innocent taste she has, it was later on that he realized that it is not going to end unless he puts an end to it**.

What could have done that: well, well, well how about a Bad Animated film. I didn’t believe a Bad Animation, I didn’t think that it can exist until last night, when we watched Shark Tale.

Here you are, animation lovers: a bunch of great stars as Voice Overs, a confused script-writer and a bad director, the result is a Bad Animation Movie.

* What Is Good? The Good is a Good animation film.
What Is Bad? The Bad is a Bad animation film.
What Is Ugly? The Ugly is the Time and Money you spend on realizing that a Bad Animation Film exists.

** He probably didn’t know that it can be done so easily, and he didn’t think that when he agreed with borrowing Shark Tale, he is beginning (a process of***) putting an end to it.

*** You know, it is a process: I still Love Animated films a lot, but I think I have changed my mind about existence of a Bad Animation Film.

" Nooshi va Joojehash" A Persian weblog !

One thing that keeps me busy these days is reading "Nooshi va Joojehash"*, a Persian weblog. Its writing style astonished me. It amazed me by its simple and easy moves from one word to another. Nooshi is its writer/creator.

The way that She, Nooshi, writs in Farsi (Persian) is astoundingly beautiful. I believe Farsi, is an abstruse language, the language of great poets like, Hafez and Rumi. The complexity of words and variety of styles are surprising in Farsi, yet Nooshi manages to bring simplicity and greatness in her words and make you feel close to the subject matter.

It is not only her style which makes her blog a page-turner one, but also the subjects of her posts are noteworthy. Nooshi is writing about her kids (Jojehash). She is separated from her husband and she wants to take the custody of children after divorce. The Islamic law, in regular cases of divorce, gives the custody of kids to the husband. She fights for her rights as a mother and as a woman and struggles with the bitter situations that divorce creates.

In her weblog she chooses to talk about her kids, Aloosha and Noosha and their every day life as they are growing. She is not using real names for kids or even for herself. Readers do not see any direct accusations against her husband but they may feel his shadow which makes you not be sympathetic to him. When you read her weblog you become a close witness to their lives: a friend who is invited on their dinner table.

"Nooshi va Jojehash" portrays the life of a single mother and her two children in today’s Iran. If by any chance you know Farsi, take a look at her weblog, you won’t regret it.

* http://nooshi.ir/

I find this picture interesting and meaningful for this post: after all "Jooje" means "Farm Chicken" and it is contributed to one’s children. I heard that here; in U.S. mothers call their children "their Monkeys" which I think has the similar concept.

Roshanak!

I am in Panera again!

Today I had a call form Iran. My cousin, Roshanak*, called me . She is one of the kindest, loveliest girls I 've ever seen.
She talked about snow in Tehran and Rasht. 2 meters snow came in the last 2 weeks. It was and is a disaster especially near to Norooz, Persian celebration for New Year, the same day as beginig of Spring.

I miss the sweets, cakes and all the shoppings for the Norooz.

* http://www.harimeman.persianblog.com

Kite Runner

A friend of mine, A.F., suggested that I should read "Kite Runner" 2 mounts ago. I took a look at the cover, I saw the author’s name "Khaled Hosseini"* and I somehow became sad.

I don't know why, but recently I hate it when someone who knows you are form Middle East or somewhere other than U.S. wants to point it out to you that: "Hay this is about you guys, is this true?, see how much we care!, we study your culture, or oh so sad that this thing happened in your countries..." (as if I come from more than one country)
Another thing is that I miss my family, my country, my home so much that everything form there: a movie or a book or any news make me so upset that I want to lie down on bed for a whole day. I become so sad with these things that I don't want to tell anybody where I am coming from.

She/He* suggested it to me again and again and finally she/he lent me her/his own copy of the book. I asked her/him if the book had a sad story because I couldn't bear it. She/He said it had sad parts and happy parts: Just Read It. I thought, I had to read this one. Thanks to her/him, I started to read it. I am going to finish it soon.

It is Hilarious. It makes you want to have Pomegranate right away. It makes you wish if it was Yalda every night. It makes you hate war. It changes the meaning of honesty and honor.

Please Read It.


* Khaled Hosseini was born in Kabul, Afghanistan, in 1965. The son of a diplomat, his family received political asylum in the United States in 1980. He currently lives in California where he is a physician. The Kite Runner is his first novel.

* I think, I should put "He" first as a grammatical- correctness-point. But, by all due respect, I prefer "She" to be first. After all "Ladies First".