Story of Iran

Rose a hand slim and green
Seeking peace to cool the burning flesh
Rose a gun quick and clean
Painted in red her shivering hand

The Story of Iran

And so goes the story of Iran, a fabled culture, a muddled country with people lost not knowing which way to turn. Perhaps it is its location right in between the lines that stop being east or west on the face of the earth. Iran doesn’t know where its loyalties lie, to the west from where its significance arose or tot he east whose treasures open at its gate. The story of Iran leaves us befuddled thus and it is yet to unfold completely.

Though Iran wasn’t always the piece of mess that it now seems to have made itself. The juxtaposition of two varied cultures has had a hue impact on Iran’s own culture and reflects variedly in its various art forms. From the beautiful scripts of Persian, to its music and fine arts to most importantly its architecture.

Iran before the revolt

And if in this political gimmickry that surrounds the nation from both within and outside of it one thing that must be saved is this Iranian art and the culture it portrayed.  And if anything can bring back democracy at least one that the world can trust is right it is the art and culture of the country.

Not that the revolution was wrong or right, I am not in a position to debate that. However, the Iran that the world knew had a vibrance and identity unique to its own. It had poise and it had confidence, and in world caught up on differences Iran gave a peek in to a world that would have been sans these nags. I had seen some pictures of the era before hijab and the beard and it seems an alien nation something vastly different from what we see today. And it looked like the two ladies sitting beside us.

The World Needs Iran

The beauty of Iran is in its people. It has always welcomed yet stayed stable all through these years. It is in fact one of the earliest civilizations and has in its fold the roots of various sub cultures now spread across the Indus and Roman civilizations. There is therefore a connect that Iran extends that a few countries can claim to the world.

Iran with its murals, its Ayatollahs, its poets, its pristine walls, its revolts and its resistance is an enigma that has to survive.  And to conclude this somewhat abstract short story on Iran, here’s wishing you a happy 2010 Iranian style!

And like Rumi once said, and Sullivan once blogged

about to let go. There’s no avoiding pain,
or feeling exiled, or the taste of dust.

But also we have a green-winged longing
for the sweetness of the Friend.