Srinagar, India, May 12, IRNA -- A Kashmir University Professor, who attended this year’s Nowroz festivities in Iran, said that President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was the embodiment of simplicity and that women were enjoying freedom and safety in Iran.
Prof Ayaz Rasool Nazki in his impressions which appeared in the Greater Kashmir newspaper wrote: “Some talk of Iranian women being confined to their homes or wrapped in a cloak is a big lie. While in a bookshop or in a bazaar, one can not but make a note of the fact that Iranian women, elegantly dressed, are seen everywhere. We saw young girls working wherever we went. We saw them in restaurants, hotels and shopping malls. We saw them in the public parks. We saw them moving on Tehran roads even during night hours. We saw Tehran as perhaps the only city safe for everyone without any visible security presence.”
Impressed by the simplicity of the Iranian head of the state, Prof Nazki wrote, “28th of March was designated as the day of cultural and academic exchange between the participating delegations. We arrived at the Roudaki foundation and took our seats in the auditorium. It was to be a routine affair and no VIPs were expected to grace the occasion. Sitting in the front row myself, Professor Aftab from Lahore, Professor Kuhnjali from Kerala and others waited for the programme to start. Looking towards my left I was perhaps the first to realize that the person coming towards us accompanied by only one person was President of Iran, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.”
This is unlike anywhere in the world where the arrival of Presidents and Prime Ministers to public events precede lot of pomp and show, he said.
“We immediately sprang to our feet and introduced ourselves to him. He (President) shook hands, smiled and said ‘Shuma Dar Qalbe Ma Hastin’ (you are in our heart),” Kashmiri professor wrote.
“President Ahmadinejad is a fine orator and can speak for hours quoting verbatim passages from great masters of Persian poetry,” he went on adding that Iranians in general are extremely articulate and the language is so sweet that one wishes to continue listening and when the speaker is someone like Ahmadinejad, the show can go on and on, but the president was brief and to the point. He talked about Nowroz and the unity and solidarity of people of the world.”
President was like a poet statesman rising above politics and talking about human values and aesthetics.
“After the President, the next speaker began his speech but our attention was towards the person sitting among us. That was the President of Iran, simplicity personified. Wish there were many like him around us. It is very well known about the Iranian President that he leads a very simple life, does his own chores,” the professor wrote.
The programme went on till evening and there were mesmerizing performances. Music from the entire region soothed our ears. Listening to course after course, one could discern the underlying evolutionary thread. It was very easy to identify similarities between Tajik music and Kashmiri Chhakri, the nuances of Baande Jashn could be recognized in Mazandaran and so on and even beyond music, languages were similar and many of our academics from these countries were able to understand the themes being presented without the benefit of translations.
Lamenting the decline of Persian culture and language in Kashmir, Professor Nazki wrote, “In our case the picture was blurred because we have unfortunately divorced our relationship with Persia. What ties all these cultures across countries retain the Persian language which is widely understood.”
Writing about the life in Tehran, he wrote, “The cursory look on prices of essential commodities in Tehran convinced me that on an average the prices were lower by around 25 per cent – 30 per cent for most of the things as compared to prices in India. Tehran appeared to be an affluent city and lots of construction activities could be seen in and around the city.”
“We also took a round of a bazaar nearby Tehran University where we saw many book shops and thankfully many of those were open despite Nowruz holiday. It was a real treat. Iranians know how to print books beautifully.'
They do not compromise on the quality of printing, paper and production. As a result, every book on a book store shelf appears to be a collector’s item.
This was really something we are not used to seeing.
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