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cars and band-aids ...
bargeboo: the text bellow is written by a mother of two girls, who writes really quite well. her weblog is called “one song, one life, one dance”. she apparently has always wanted to be a writer and boy, does she write well! the simplicity of her words in contrast to the complexity of the issues she tackles every day is very charming.
what makes her posts interesting to me in particular is her eye on the everyday living in iran, as a mother of two girls, as a wife deeply in love with her husband and also as a woman living in a society so unfriendly to her as a female. she seems to have a strong religious background and her sadness in present situation is always the undertone of her posts. her approach is not however laced with anger, reform ideas or political aspirations. her biggest concerns are with the future of her daughters, the vast difference in the standard of living for all the children living in poverty in the streets, or the precious loving unit she calls family. every one of her posts, no matter how sad or general, is always perfumed beautifully by her intense love and devotion to her children and husband ... and her love for her god.
she to me represents a typical iranian mother, so much like my own, devoted, sensitive and fiercely intelligent.. and most surprisingly not so different from a lot of western mothers, I hope you enjoy this post.
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<< Source: 12345678.persianblog.com/ >>
by: giti alizadeh, august 21st, 2003
today I went to my girls school to sign her up for her new year … after the paper work, a lady there said please go into the other room to measure for the school uniform (mantou)*. there were several uniforms there with different sizes which students would wear to find their sizes, we would note this size down and order one made for us … when I put the mantou on my girl … I felt like crying … poor little thing, she clamped up too … one big bag, ugly yellow and long, to the ankles … they had to wear from the top, along with a wide pair of pants … quite horrifying … they had to wear this for 9 months.
so i complained to the woman, this is too long! cant you make it a little shorter? this will be cought up between their legs … too dangerous … they will trip and fall. she said: no, who says its too long? if you make it shorter they might have a growth spurt in the middle of the year, then it becomes too short and you will have to buy them a new one. it should not be any shorter than this, under any circumstances ...
it was no use to argue … it wasn’t their fault either … the same rules applies in all junior high and high schools …
so what wrong have these kids done?! hair, prisoner to these thick head scarves … thick cotton uniforms on their bodies with pants … with faces sad and shell-shocked, the teachers who even while teaching can not forget the troubles of their lives …
truly these children have to overcome so much so they can study … don’t get me started on the school itself … like those old photographs … in sepia colour … black and white … i couldn’t see any colour anywhere … this is a small sample of our small life in this big world … our children hostages to the grown-ups’ miseries and depressions.
one more month and then the school will be opened again … cost of signing up for school … cost of buying school uniforms … school supplies and hundred other things … they all get added to life expenses … its makes my head spin … again so many kids will be envious of other kids ... so many sad eyes on everybody else’s note book and stationary and school bags … shortage will be felt … the new, shiny cars that drop off kids infront of schools and kids that behinds the doors of the same schools sell gum and band-aid for a living …
*mantou, the official islamic republic’s uniform for women and girls over 9, a one piece coat worn over all clothing, usually at least knee length and figure-hiding, in the recent years however, the hem lines have gone up more and more, colours have become lighter, fabrics more see-through… result of iranian women relentlessly challenging the rules and regulations for a “proper cover-up”.