Short Stories |
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Voice of a Citizen
Thank god I am not alone in what I think of war in Afghanistan. I feel increasingly confident, as a non- military person, to assert my opinion after the resignation of Mathew Hoh, a former marin MORE >> |
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California Dreaming
It was January 20th of 2009. This was a day for a new beginning and a day of so much celebration. She was happy that Bush years were over but there was something missing amongst all the celebra MORE >> |
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My First Rotation
This is a ramble about the period of time in August and September
that I spent doing my Internal Medicine rotation—my first rotation—in my third
year of medical school.
Life can change fast. MORE >> |
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Online dating tips
Online dating tips.
I used to respond to newspaper personal ads back in the early 90s before online dating became popular. I am no longer in the market – did not find my wife online – but ca MORE >> |
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Killing the cat at the honeymoon!
Last weekend I was at a party and the discussion was about as we say in Farsi; how to kill a cat before the honeymoon, which means setting rules for the married life to come.
This guy was act MORE >> |
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401K - Another whatever
I’ve been putting away money in my company’s 401K account for the past 9 years and it was starting to look good and making me feel maybe I can afford to retire in the next 15 years or so or at le MORE >> |
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Feel good business cards
Last night I was listening to Bush speak about the $700 billion he wants us to pay and it reminded me of some Iranians I see around in parties.
Bush started by explaining to us how we go MORE >> |
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Naturalized Arrogant Citizens
Arrogance is not a US naturalization requirement. I know after you become a US citizen some of your American friends and coworkers say that they expect to see more arrogance and attitude fr MORE >> |
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The Greatest!
I was in 8th or 9th grade when they changed the educational programs, so I was in 1st or 2nd rahnamy-ee. Lunch boxes were in fashion and kids had different kinds. There were 1 level, 2 leve MORE >> |
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Tehran Nights Part V
Ross opened a set of double-doors. The doors were arched. The arches hinted at a theme in the house. The design was replicated in the frame of the burgundy-velvet draped windows placed MORE >> |
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Prayer For This New Year
it is upon us..the birthing of a New Year....the awakening of many of our hopes, dreams and aspirations....and as we are close to the final days of 2007 we all can not help but reflect on t MORE >> |
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First Iranian Woman With Non-Political Seat In British House of Lords
The British House of Lords (BHL) is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom and is also commonly referred to as 'the Lords'. The Sovereign, the House of Commons (which is MORE >> |
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First Iranian Born Winner of Nobel Prize in Literature
On October 11, 2007 Iranian born British writer Doris Lessing (DL) won the 2007 Nobel Prize in literature, with the Swedish academy citing her as a person who with skepticism, fire and visionary MORE >> |
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Ali Mahin Torabi: The Story of An Execution
Last month I wrote about Sina, an 18-year-old boy in Iran who was going to be executed. Sina’s story had a happy ending. His last wish was to play his beloved instrument, Nay, for the last time. MORE >> |
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2 Iranians with Hand Grenades
Sorry for the attention getting title, but it is an honest to god true one, and I thought it might be fun to wreak a bit of havoc with all those known (and unknown!) internet search engines for a MORE >> |
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Tuba's Pirouette Part 2
That was the long journey that all the house residents had gone through before becoming one with the sisterhood. The sisterhood was a serious business. Belonging to such a sisterhood could change MORE >> |
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Tuba's Pirouette - Part I
After all that has happened, I needed to straighten out everything for myself, put things into writing. This way I can read everything over and over again to see if I can make con MORE >> |
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Tehran Nights Part II
As we approached the security-guard filled nook nestled in the middle of the mile-long driveway to my dad's parents' home, the driver stopped. I took advantage of the guard's order to MORE >> |
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Tehran Nights
'Ding!' Said the noise dispenser above my head, as it woke me from my dream and threw me forward.
'Passengers get ready for landing. Please be seated and fasten your seat belts. On behalf of Wo MORE >> |
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Two Days In Tehran In 1979
Day One - As I recall in mid morning on January 16th, 1979, my new driver Hossein, who the company had hired for me, with his orange taxi with a fringe of dingo balls around the tops of the windo MORE >> |
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Tehran Nights Part 4
'If I was able to identify the scent of this smooth-operating-uber-trendy-brand-junky-Persian-male, I knew that Roya was already in love.'
It was a Thursday night, which is the equivalen MORE >> |
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Growing Up Gracefully!
No one likes to grow old or die, yet we all know that no one gets out of this world alive! This is just another interesting part of being human. The reality is that death is inevitable whet MORE >> |
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How to Build a Community
Every year around the end of NoRooz, the Diaspora Iranian community, energized and exhausted by 2 weeks of new year revelry starting with the trial by fire of Chahar-Shanbeh-Soori, and ending in MORE >> |
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A Meaningful Journey
Once upon a time there was a girl who lived in Tehran, Iran. She had a pretty good life. She was surrounded by family and friends, had a cat she adored and was a good student. Then one day everyt MORE >> |
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To The Memory of Ostad Haj Hossein Farajian
It was couple of years ago when I last met Mr. Haj Hossein Farajian in his shop in Zanjan. I still remember that it was a hot afternoon. The sun was shining, and we drove all the way MORE >> |
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Kin Hubbard's Quotations
This is a short note on the famous American journalist Frank McKinney Hubbard, aka Kin Hubbard (1868-1930), who was contemporary to the prominent Iranian scholar Ali Akbar Dehkhoda (1879-1959).
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Meeting a Cultural Institution Dr. Fereydun Joneydi
I was in Germany when Ms. Mithra Etezadi informed me that Dr. Fereydun Joneydi would be the speaker before me in the upcoming conference entitled “Acquaintance with Nanotechnology during the Safa MORE >> |
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Now Even Is Not Even
In 1972, on November twentieth I was born on the third floor of Tehran's Hashtroudian Maternity Hospital. On its east wing faces were expressive to my heartbeat, and I cried: I am here. How s MORE >> |
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Incident On The PATH Train
I went out with my girlfriend a few nights ago to have a long a leisurely dinner with two of our friends in the Village. We met up with them a little late, but there were no hard feelings; MORE >> |
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The Greatest Day of My Life
I got up early in the morning, waking up to the noise being made by sparrows outside my parents' house. I looked at the ceiling, and then turned and grabbed a glass of water, which was on the MORE >> |
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Imams and Qanats Part 5
A Chicken for my Cousin
We arrived at the hotel around 7pm and ate a hearty dinner on the patio. The hotel owner introduced himself and invited us to a private meeting in his office MORE >> |
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Hello Out There
I don’t think that I’ve ever done anything this retarded before, wide awake at 5:14 am and with a huge exam to take in 5 hours and 16 minutes. But I can’t sleep. I already knocked mys MORE >> |
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Some days in Tehran: An Intangible Cultural Asset
I had already developed a routine when I started to work on my next project. Ms. Mithra Etezadi, the chief conservator and expert of the Cultural Institutions of Bonyad, was very kind to or MORE >> |
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The Seeds Are Still In The Soil
I arrived in this country thirty-six years ago as a young bride, raised a family and have no regrets. However, over the years, I have had one nagging concern: since my children were born and rais MORE >> |
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Imams and Qanats Part 4
The House of Opium
On the way to Isfahan, we stopped at Nain, hoping to find a rug similar to the one I left behind. At the town square, Saheed received information about a g MORE >> |
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Shame on You! You are a Girl!
“Pari! Shame on you! You are still playing outside! I will finally complain to your father tonight, you are such an idiot girl. Why don’t you understand that you are a girl and girls don’t play o MORE >> |
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A Night Out On The Town
These days walking along the streets of Mashhad, a strong feeling of religious zeal takes over you. Well, stronger than usual. Every major street is lined with red and black flags. There are huge MORE >> |
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Imams and Qanats Part 3
Iranian Farm Stay
I admired the farms that were tucked into valleys near the foothills of the Zagroes Mountains. I asked if we could get a closer look at a farm and maybe stay overnight. MORE >> |
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The Supermarket In Iran
Used to be a time when I would run down to the cornerstore Baghaali and get some gum and pofak namaki from Ali Agha with less than 1 toman. Maybe the equivalent of 10 cents or so those days.
Not MORE >> |
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Imams and Qanats Part 2
My first good view of Tehran from our eighth floor hotel room was a disappointment. The view was almost like looking through a glass of milk. The air pollution was awful. After breakfast MORE >> |
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Imams and Qanats
Introduction
My friend, George, and I inaugurated the Millennium with a plan for an adventure. Our quest for excitement came down to two options: a mountain bike trip in Tibet or a tour MORE >> |
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When We Met the Real Hero
When we were hosting the 2nd Annual Persian Golden Lioness Awards® in Budapest in October 2006 we were all eager to meet with the Award Winner Bruce Bahmani. The real hero who turned Rostam of Sh MORE >> |
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3 P.M. Dreams
Did you ever have a powerfully real dream that was a 50/50 combination of the fantastic and the mundane? The following dream actually did happen, although I added a sentence at the end to t MORE >> |
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The Mystery of Making Composite Bows
The powerful composite bows that were used to the maximum effect and efficiency in the Middle East and Asia have been the source of fascination for many researchers and archers over a long peri MORE >> |
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The Waves of the Caspian Sea
When I arrived in Bandar Anzali and found the hotel, I checked in, and immediately rushed to the beach, the beach of the Caspian Sea. It has been a long time since I last touched its sand.
It w MORE >> |
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Following the Footsteps of Their Ancestors
For years, I had been looking for traces of sword making in Iran, and everyone was telling me in Europe and the USA that the art of making edged weapons was dead in Iran. Back then, I could MORE >> |
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Reviving the Ancient Art of Bulat Steel
A couple of weeks ago, I was informed by Professor Chikindas that a very skilled Russian smith named Mr. Ivan Kirpichev makes Pulad-e Johardar (watered steel), which resembles exactly the same pa MORE >> |
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Taarofing - The Persian Way of Life
One of the most complicated aspects of Persian culture and language is the untranslatable ta'arof. Depending on the circumstance, it can mean any number of things: To offer, to compliment and MORE >> |
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Mindful Medicine
At age thirty-one, my cousin, Ali, has two boys ages six and nine, a wife he loves dearly, and breast cancer. Although cancer is growing increasingly common in Iran, he is the first perso MORE >> |
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A Night in Brooklyn - Part II
The party had broken free of its polite shackles and come completely to life. In the darkness of the living room, keyboard synthesizers boldly announced the Los Angeles Iranian music that MORE >> |
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A Night in Brooklyn - Part I
When he began his PhD program, Behrang briefly considered then forgot about starting a student group focusing on Middle Eastern social and political issues. This adventure began and ended w MORE >> |
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This Doctor Shit is Still Hard
I should be studying right now. But it’s been a long week and I’m tired, so I’m sprawled out in a room with a blasting AC unit and no furniture--my room-- and decompressing. Steely Da MORE >> |
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The Perils and Merits of Being an Iranian Artist
Just recently I was at an audition for a Canadian national commercial and as I walked in, the Casting Director asked me to tell him a little about myself as they often do. Of course I star MORE >> |
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Faal Foroosh
'Please agha, please buy a Faal' it just 200 tomans!' As we walked in former Pahlavi Avenue it was the fifth 'faal foroosh' that confronted me. It hurt me as people walked by MORE >> |
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immigration: my parents jfk landing
I am sure we have all been interrogated once or twice in our travels, and asked the usual questions about the purpose of our visit a MORE >> |
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