Young Ideas

This article was first published on Unicef Nepal’s website Voices of Youth.

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April 2006, Kathmandu
The mass of people cried out loud, chanting slogans calling for freedom and democracy; they slowly marched towards the Royal Palace. With excitement, I watched the crowd passing in front of me, I simply couldn’t stop myself as I too chanted along with them.

The April uprising heralded a sense of change among Nepalis. We all dreamed of democracy, prosperity and equality. At last, the King succumbed and a new era began. There was celebration through out the country. We had finally won.

June 2009, Tehran
Three years later; A similar scene was witnessed, they too were chanting for the same cause; freedom and democracy. Pictures of demonstrations were flickering on my television set. Suddenly a tensed expression gripped the news anchor as he announced that the police were using batons at the protestors and even gunshots could be heard. Of course the causality created uproar as many protestors were dead and thousands injured. Authority took a stand and voices were quelled.

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“What goes behind the curtain, no one knows. Not even the windowpane”

Seriously, when it comes to Islamic Republic of Iran, I don’t know anything. The only thing that we seem to know is veiled woman, stringent rules and the Big Bother policy. How a common Iranian feels about his/her country, the revolution, dreams and future; no one knows, not even another Iranian. Let alone Uncle Sam.

Najir Afisi’s Reading Lolita in Tehran is a window-crack glimpse at Iran and Iranian’s thoughts. This Memoir tells the story of struggle for freedom, happiness, equality and above all being oneself.

After the 1979 Islamic revolution, everything changed drastically with a whim of wind; two different generations of different time-span evolved. One generation lured by the past wanted to restore the past glory with a determination to pay any price for the cause. The other generation wants to continue to live in a dream; a dream to live for the future with no past to dictate their dreams. The struggle of these two contradictory worlds is a story of Reading Lolita in Tehran.

The conflict is so deep yet silent, like a sleeping volcano waiting to erupt but displayed  in different ways. Gatsby, the fictional character, is put on trial to decide whether he’s immoral and a lusty sinner as he is blamed of threatening the society by destroying the decency and morality of Iranian society. However, there is one generation who are fighting to save Gatsby as he stands as their hope to destroy the infidels of the past.

Nafisi reveals how with the revolution, everything that was ascribed from the west was seized accusing and branding them of being anti-Islam, indecent and impure and then destroyed. Even the wonderful imagination of literature became a victim of the draconian policies. Everything was scrutinized in behest of morality, purity and decency. Suddenly quest for love became a sin, imagination became Satan and expression became a distant dream: at least for the women. Woman lost her voices, identity and moreover her independence as it was declared that she needed someone to protect her. Veil was made mandatory and no one could ever imagine how one piece of cover could widen the distance as such. However, those very women are colorful, vibrant and different and despite the harsh condition they do not stop dreaming for freedom and are determined to prove that Happiness is not western, joy is not western, and love is not western. The writer portrays the quiet resistance by the women against oppression.

Through fictional characters like “Gatsby” of The Great Gatsby and “Lolita” of Lolita and writers Henry James and Jane Austen, Nafisi portrays the state of Iranian society after the revolution and beyond it. The book evolves around 18 years and is divided into 4 sections: Lolita, Gatsby, James and Austen. The book opens with “Lolita”, 11 years after “Gatsby”. Nafisi, after resigning from university decides to start private literature class with some of her best girl students to read forbidden works of Western literature. Through Lolita she describes about oppression and how the establishment imposes their dreams upon reality turning people into figment of imaginations. “Gatsby” is set just as the revolution starts. She compares Iranian dreams with American dreams of The Great Gatsby and concludes how like American dreams, Iranian dreams too were corrupted and destroyed in the valley of ashes. “James” follows right after “Gatsby” and describes the state of Iran during Iran-Iraq war. She tells how establishment could use fear to deceive and trap common man leading to believe in hoax. But amidst this chaos also, like Henry James’s character Daisy Miller, she discovers Iranians too want to dream of living their life without judgment and compromises. “Austen” succeeds “Lolita “telling about increasing oppression and clashes of two generations and how later could never get rid of imposed-imaginations despite herculean efforts but still doesn’t stop trying.

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The Culture and circumstances of Islamic revolution and our revolution could be different, but while reading Reading Lolita in Tehran, one cannot help but wonder about more similarities than differences. Like Iranians, we Nepalis too dreamed of a utopian world that seemed to be in near distance but as the April uprising succeeded, the dreams we uphold have slowly started to fade away. Our shared dream of prosperity, equality, peace, freedom, tranquility is lost somewhere in-between and replaced by corruption and oppression. Now we too are left with our past to curse and future to doubt.