Exile is painful. Always. But the Iranian emotion is special, because there’s a warmth and a feeling of community that is like none other. Exiles all around the world feel it and their ‘ballad’ you might say is this song, a very popular Persian singer of long standing made about that feeling: A heart rending longing and yearning for that singular and most special countryside, landscape and the people who live there.
I am not Persian myself but I was married to one for over ten years. I spent over 20 years in close contact to friends and family. I fell in love with the language when I first heard it. Soft and melodic intonations and a flow of words and sentence melody that can be like a caress.
I learned the language and studied history and culture too, at university. I talked to Persians and learned about the music, the popular and the classic.
About lyrics and poetry.
Most of all: I learned to love that humour that thousands of years of sad and tragic wars, and attempted conquests, as well as strict rules, imposed by shahs and regional kings, made flower into a fine art.
The warmth and sense of community and the hospitality even towards strangers as well as that wonderful ability to celebrate smaller or larger holidays and festivals.
The sense of helpfulness and community.
The sense of reality at the same time: To know that weaknesses and shrewdness are part of human life. And that for all hospitality you are better off being careful when meeting someone for the first time.
The sense of politeness that is also a fine art you need to learn and after a while works like a charm, a warm shield against vulnerability:
Because the ‘taarof’, scorned by some as being outdated and insincere to my mind is a wonderful method to communicate with a sense of tact and the possibility that people feel hurt easily.
Which is part too, of that sense of passionate emotions being, mostly, an accepted part of human life. And need to be taken care of, not suppressed. In general.
Iran is a country with humans, but that sense also is there, that dignity and respect even when we make mistakes, are due, in general and everyday cases.
‘Vatanam’, this song is to many the epitome to that home and that society, that community that makes you feel at home and welcome even as a stranger.