From: aref@Tehran.Stanford.EDU (Modda'iyeh har hAzer va Vakileh har ghAyeb)
Subject: RAPPING with Asghar AghA (PART 3)
Organization: GhessehAyeh Khoob barAyeh bachehAyeh khoob 
Date: Tue, 14 Apr 1992 19:22:01 GMT


(C) Copyright, 1992.

Shamsy KhAnoom used to be a school teacher back home. Since childhood,
she had always wanted to be a teacher. When she graduated from high school
back in 1343, she entered Tehran University, where she received her
"licAns" in "zabAn va adabiyyAteh En-gelisi". She taught in Hadaf
and Azar women's high schools in Tehran. Shamsy KhAnoom's father,
Khosrow KhAn, was a highly respected civil servant, and for years,
had worked for "sherkat naft". They had lived in AbAdAn for years
and had moved to TehrAn, when Shamsy was still in high school. Shamsy had 
started learning English from an early age. You see, in AbAdAn, there
was a widespread knowledge of English, because of all the foreign
workers of the oil industry. The British, before they were replaced
by the various nationalities of the "consor-cium" (consortium), had
greatly influenced the culture and all the Iranian workers of
Sherkat Naft or NIOC (National Iranian Oil Company). Around NIOC's
facilities and among the "kArmandAn", here and there, you
could see people, wearing wool socks in the summer time, just like
the British did. Khosrow KhAn admired the British for their wisdom and
diplomatic methods. He always used to say "In IngilisA kheili Aghelan".

Asghar AghA had arrived in Tehran, in the summer of 1330. Those were
the days of hot and heavy politics, where Dr. Mohammadeh Mosadegh was
pushing for the nationalization of the oil industry. The government 
and the ShAh were in turmoil. On one hand, there was the "darbAr"'s
internal problems between Ashraf and Shams (Pahlavi) and the fact
that SorayA was unable to get pregnant. The members of the "hezbeh
toodeh" held daily demonstrations in Tehran, and the clergy, led
by Ayatollah Kashani were pursuing their own proposals. The 
economy was not in a good shape, "dowlat" did not have much money
and there was talk of possible international altercations, if the
British were to get kicked out of Iran. The "siA-sat-madArAneh"
rooz were GhavAmo-saltaneh, Mossadegh, Ayatollah Kashani, and
the ShAh's loyal military folk such as Sepahbod FazlollAh ZAhedi and Sarhang
Nemato'llAh Nassiri. On those days, demonstrations by the "toode-ii"s
were disrupted by water trucks rather than submachine guns.

This was all so exciting for the young 18 year old Asghar. He had never
been to a big city except for a short trip to Esfehan several years
earlier. Even Esfehan was no match for Tehran; its size, problems, 
crowds, activity and the rather infamous cafe's and joints of khiAbooneh 
LAlehzAr. Asghar was temporarily staying with a merchant from the bAzAr, who
was also from "GolpAygAn" and who knew Asghar's father from years ago.
The "sahAb khooneh"'s wife had warned him about Tehran and its not
so good aspects and had warned him to stay away from the political types
and "siA-sat". Those days, everyone was political. Hezbeh Toodeh was
growing rather rapidly and a lot of the intellectuals were members. They
had even infiltrated the army and had formed the "SAzmAneh AfsarAneh 
Hezbeh Toodeh". All of this was new for Asghar. He had never seen a 
communist political rally, especially one where all the audience was
dispersed by water trucks. Part of the fun was considered to be getting
wet on the hot days of "MordAd" in Tehran. This was Asghar's first 
brush with politics, where at the encouragement of a newly found friend,
he attended a rally and for the first time "sho'Ar dAd". He was very 
excited about all of this and his daily discoveries in Tehran. From the
"bad" girls who had "cheshmaked" to him on the streets to the weird tasting 
alcoholic drinks offered to him in cAfe's of lAlehzAr. Even more, he was
excited about the University and his education. Although, every other 
day there would be demonstrations, the windows would be broken and 
class would be cancelled. He did however manage to stay out of trouble
and found a circle of friends, who would talk about anything from politics
and hezbeh toodeh and SorayA (ShAh's wife) to "aragh sagi" and girls of
the streets. He had found a new confidence in himself, one that drove
him to "sho'Ar" with his buddies in political rallies and his sense of
self expression. He was enjoying his new life, and was more than ever 
determined to make it in Tehran, getting a job with the government, and 
someday bringing his parents to Tehran to live with him.   

TO BE CONTINUED ....


NEXT EPISODE: The Romances of Asghar AghA (Real juicy!)



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