Life – and Art – Go on in Tehran
Nov 30th, 2009 by pedestrian
Yes, we are increasingly under the rule of a military industrial-complex. Yes, dissidents are killed, tortured, imprisoned, silenced. Yes, the traffic is horrible. The pollution worse.
But sometimes, I think people forget that we are living too. We are getting married, divorcing, having children, laughing, eating, creating art, science, literature … Life goes on and we have become experts at continuing it under the most harrowing of conditions.
The same kids who go to protests and suffer authoritarian rule in almost every aspect of their young lives gather around with their friends at cafes (which are also being closed down as fast as the newspapers), in their homes, at school. They laugh and date and break up. They study and stress over their pimples.
Sometimes, it almost seems disrespectful to talk about fashion or jokes or young love when so much suffering exists in that city.
But a hallmark of that land has become all those things existing together, and at the same time and in the most extreme of circumstances. A collage of everything and anything beautiful and grotesque dancing and moving and floating in unfamiliar harmony.
Here Iranian stage actor Reza Babak (far right in first photo) prepares his “The Little Prince’s Hamlet in Denmark” play in Tehran’s Iranshahr theater.
Iran is the world’s most promising , and important location for a democratic breakthru because of the strength of its civil society.
which, like the abused Timex watch, ” takes a licking, but keeps on ticking”.
BTL, thank you for the vote of confidence. I would hope that now that maybe a few more Americans know about our plight, you would do your best to keep your men, be it in an Obama suit or a Bush suit or Versace, to keep from “helping” us in anyway. The sanctions are also really hurting us, though I realize you may not be able to send any direct memos to anyone to do anything about it.
Dear Pedestrian.
, If President Obama calls me, I’d have to admit to him that I have no idea what to do about US/Iran relations . In Iraq the US is now sipping tea with the Quds, and our indirect war continues as surrogates & special operations from gray to murderous black.
Fifty years of US economic sanctions haven’t changed Fidel Castro,and Iran’s government also thrives on this confrontation.
Oops ! Gotta go, Mexico’s President needs some help with the drug war, and US/Iran relations are beyond my help.
BTL, if they are beyond you and you are already busy with Mexico, I guess there’s no point in asking, but I wasn’t talking about the government. The sanctions are hurting me, my family, Iranians from all walks of life. And they’ve only HELPED the government so far. So if you ever take a breather from Mexico, please send my note to Obama.
I pity this remarkably friendly, humorous, nice and witty American reader and correspondent, Mr. BTL.
All the attention of all the readers of Pedestrian’s blog are focussed upon him, Mr. BTL, with the deep, heartfelt and sincere hope that he, Mr. BTL a.k.a. Superman a.k.a. Batman, might finally change for the better and improve decisively US-American foreign politics/policies.