Shahrokh Ahkami
Persian Heritage, #101, Summer 2021
For the past 25 years Persian Heritage has continuously published this magazine, because of the support and cooperation of all our dear colleagues, who love their Persian heritage and culture. On this long journey we have been successful in maintaining this rich culture in our new home countries, for our children, grandchildren, and future generations, who may not have the privilege to know about their ancestors. This twenty-five year continuous journey was interrupted last summer because of the Covid-19 virus. This virus put the country and the world at a standstill.
I remember the days of late winter 2020. Persian New Year was around corner. I was on my usual route, all excited and full of joy coming back by subway and bus from New York City to New Jersey (I usually took this route on Saturdays to visit my patients and then return by bus or train to New York for a weekend stay.) Two days later, on the following Monday, a public announcement was made that travel by subway, train and bus was no longer advised due to the rapid growth and the contagiousoness of the virus. Those days were just the beginning of an experience like no other. The world was still not fully aware of the danger this virus proposed to society. People were still not fully taking refuge in their homes to avoid one who was infected. The following weekend, again on my usual route from New York to New Jersey to make hospital rounds and see patients at the office, I was informed that one of my office workers, who usually accompanied me on rounds at the office, had been diagnosed with the virus and had fallen ill. This sparked a fear in me and within that week many governors ordered major shutdowns. We like most businesses closed our medical office. Employees were urged to stay at home. (Little did we know it would last for the next fourteen months. If one recalls it was believed that the virus was to be the worst for those two weeks. We closed for one month and then our office staff committed to continue to serve our patients in need. I thank them for their dedication and professionalism. My daily visits to the hospital were reduced only to emergencies and deliveries.)
The summer issue of the magazine was in preparation, but due to financial burdens, paper supplies and other factors that accompanied Covid-19, we made the decision to halt the publication of the summer 2020 issue. This decision seemed like a failure for me and my colleagues at the magazine. It felt like our child was ill and there was nothing we could do about it. This debilitating feeling was not just among our colleagues at the magazine; it was felt by loved ones around me. Families, the elderly, and friends kept their distance to avoid getting each other sick. Keeping our distance from one another became the new norm. After a couple of months passed and the summer issue was not published, I came to my senses. I decided to overcome the fear of the unknown and take charge of my life and live my life as safely and to the fullest possible. Even though the future seemed dark and grim I knew I had to find the courage to overcome this darkness and step forward. I needed to live with hope, not fear. I believed the only way out of all this was to move forward, keep optimism alive and support friends, family, other loved ones and even strangers in this time of need. It was this determination that gave me the courage to move forward and continue with the publication of the fall 2020 issue of Persian Heritage.
We are fortunate here in America. With the accessibility to the vaccine and its benefits we have been able to bring our lives back to some normalcy. We see the revival of life and hope coming back to our daily lives. Our colleagues at Persian Heritage have also had the privilege of being vaccinated and thus Persian Heritage’s journey, one that started twenty-five years ago continues.
When I look back at the past fourteen months and the loss of life of loved ones in the United States, Iran and across the world, I am heartbroken. I am saddened by this loss of life. I, however, am not one to live my life in the past. I try to live in the moment in my professional and personal life. I constantly try to learn my lessons from my past mistakes. I am proud, gratified and grateful of my achievements. I try never to worry. I have never planned a detailed future for myself. I have tried to live my life day by day for as long as l remember. But I must admit that these past fourteen months, like for so many others, have been exceedingly difficult for me. I have felt a heavy burden on my shoulders. The everyday reports on the numbers of lives lost and destroyed here, in Iran and all over the world became part of my psyche.
In the country of my birth only two to three million citizens have been vaccinated, out of a population of over 80 million. THIS SADDENS ME! WHY, I ASK? Is it because of the corruption of the government that they are unable to provide for their innocent and vulnerable people? It may take up to one to two years before Iran’s citizens have access to this vaccine. How could millions of vaccines be destroyed due to a lack of electricity in Iran? How can the purchase of vaccines be held back by the Ministry of Health because of “so called” lack of funds? How fair is it to only give access to those who can privately purchase the vaccine from private vendors? Over 30% of the citizens, living below the poverty line, have fallen as victims to this virus, I ask you is it fair to allow people to die because of their socio-economic status? How could the mullahs be so unethical, calling crowds of people to the mosques for prayer sessions when they knew about the dangers of exposure to this virus? The real numbers of lives lost may have been censored. For what reason? India has publically acknowledged the numbers of losses!!! These days the world focus is on the high number of people encountering the virus and dying in India. If, however, you compare the population of India (over one billion) to the population of Iran (eighty million), Iranians have a higher rate of mortality.
Last month we lost a famous Persian poet who fell ill to the virus. He walked into the hospital on his own two legs but was discharged, perhaps due to a lack of unprofessional health professionals. He later died on a street corner with a bottle of water in his hands dressed in the hospital gown from the hospital. How can this be happening in Iran when the neighboring country of Turkey has already vaccinated over thirty million of its citizens?
I read a friend’s post on WhatsApp and would like to share it with you: “When I was in the United States, I went to the market to buy some watermelons. When I came to the bin of watermelons, due to old Persian habits I would pick up the watermelons and tap them to choose the best ones. An American woman came up to me and asked me why I kept tapping the melons. I responded by telling her it is because that is how we pick the best ones. She asked if I could choose one for her. Then she asked me about my ethnicity. I told her that I was born in Iran. She responded with the following comment, “Interesting, I wish that you would choose your leaders as carefully, with all this tapping, before the elections. Why don’t you apply the same detailed measures you use to pick a watermelon, when you pick your leaders?”
It is true in many aspects we think we are experts and know it all. In conversations we have no respect for other opinions but our own. We cut off people when we don’t like what we hear. Many of us even after forty years want to go back to life in Iran as it was. This is wishful thinking. According to my friend even with our watermelon picks we take our time and apply detailed measures to find the sweetest and the tastiest. AND if the watermelon we pick is a bad choice we do not take responsibility. We blame the market owner or accuse him of changing the watermelon we picked for another, while we were not looking. The woman who made the sarcastic comments to my friend and clearly pointed out the faulty choices we have made in choosing our leaders and social networks perhaps is correct. Perhaps we don’t have the capability and/or the wisdom to make the right choices and acknowledge our faults. This should be a lesson for all of us. We have to make choices that may not be best individually, BUT are the best choices to allow the country, its people and children to have a solid and positive future. It takes courage, knowledge and years of planning and research to create a plan for the future. We have to show the leadership that we are capable of making positive changes. Fairness and equality for all its citizens (men, woman, old, young, rich poor) must be achieved, in speech, the practicing of religion, human rights, and in voting. There must be a separation of church and state. It is time to let the mullahs know that they need to go back to their mosques and leave politics to those who are capable and wise, professionals who are deserving and ethical. This kind of leadership is what is needed to lead the country towards growth.
As stated by a world leader “Iranians are among the most intelligent, successful and deserving people in the world and yet the only place they are not allowed to use their intelligence and expertise is in their own country, Iran.” The reason behind this sad fact is suppression, oppression and the destruction of the most talented and capable, among them the youth.
I continue to hope for better days ahead. I continue to wish that soon all Iranians and the people of the world (especially those from the 3rd world countries and the innocent) will have access to this vaccine. I wish this so the world can return to the living. I also wish and hope, the world we all return to is kinder, more loving and more responsible.