Her name is Professor Minoo Derayeh, currently of York University of Toronto, and formerly of McGill University. She is an author and a scholar, frequently traveling all over the world, delivering speeches and papers, as scholars do. She is famous and prominent, just as I had expected her to be, and she has gone far and wide, and I would have expected no less of her. After decades, that night in May, I finally found the courage with which to address her, this Professor Derayeh that she had become. She wrote back soon, saying: “Thank you for the email. You cannot imagine how much you touched me. Hearing a voice from the most beautiful part of my past took me back to mydream land--Iran. I miss her a lot. You also made me laugh. I never knew I had a fan…” She is married to another scholar, and they have two beautiful grown children. Apart from her obvious credentials and renowned professional achievements, she sounds sweet and kind and warm. You can read and listen to that interview here, and learn about her book here. When you go to look at her book description, you can also see what other scholars have had to say about her research and her book. It is impressive. I am immediately setting out to get to know this remarkable Iranian, now for more reasons than the respect I had for her as a child. I end my true story with some advice for you. Since life changed for so many of us after the Iranian Revolution, moving us around and about to other parts of the world, creating one of the most educated and decent immigrant communities in the world, we have lost many friends and acquaintances, people who may have somehow been important to our identity, or who may have touched our lives and hearts somehow. Do go looking for them in whatever way you can, using the internet and any possible means you can employ. If and when you find even one of them, as I did, there might be a delightful and valuable find waiting for you. In the newly-found Minoo Derayeh I found an Iranian woman who aside from her meaning to me, she would have made me proud to know about, even if I had never known her as “the girl with the moves.” THE END P.S. These series were published as a story in Iranian.com on July 2, 2007.
6 comments:
Finally, She is outstanding.
Thank you for your beautiful installments. It was a masterpiece.
Thank you, Serendip for following the story, as I think some people gave up on me! She is a remarkable woman and I am honored to have been one of the first ones to know that she would be!
I’m going to cry,,,. Your story really touched me. I think I haven’t realized how homesick I was until I read your story.
Nazzy Jan. Thank you for coming and thank you for your heartfelt comment. Don't cry! My story, much like my other stories, is about hope! We are all displaced, but lucky to have access to opportunities--there for us just for looking and seeking! Be good my friend and come back. I'll come visit your blog soon.
I did not give up on you!! I did give up on paying the internet bill this month *accidentally.
I really admire how you go after things that are important to you and seek them out, and are not afraid of just contacting someone and telling them you admired them when you were both children.
I hope one day I am as courageous as you!
Sweet Assal, I have been having internet problems, too! My Comcast modem has all but given up ghost and I need to tinker with it for an hour before I can get it going if I'm lucky! This will have to go on, unfortunately, until next Tuesday. You are entirely too kind to me. I have lost friends because I wasn't careful to keep in touch. I learnt the hard way how important it is to keep track of people who are important and occasionally pivotal to our lives. Fear of repeated loss keeps me going my young friend. When you are my age (and we won't say what that is), you will do a lot better than I am doing today! Be good azize delam.
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