Politics, say one of the many people interviewed and featured by journalist Tara Kangarlou in The Heartbeat of Iran, separate the world from love. I may add that when used abusively together with politics, religion can do the same.
Heartbeat of Iran is a collection of interviews with people from Iran. Doctors, artists, musicians, painters, burger joint owner, saffron lover, the ayatollah (black turban) watching Western movies like Me Before You and sharing his thoughts on Instagram (as for now, the only social media channel not officially blocked in Iran) ...There are so many faces of the everyday human of a country with over 80 million people.
Iranian-born Tara Kangarlou is an award winning journalist working for NBC, CNN, Al Jazeera ald Al Monitor, among others. In 2015 she reported from Iran for Al Jazeera during the nuclear negotiations, but also about the ethnic cleansing of Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar and the refugees from war-torn Syria.
The collection of interview is aimed at a certain extent to feature the people who are not usually getting a voice in the Western media. The everyday citizen of the Islamic Republic who may not necessarily have a political opinion, but it´s directly affected by the politics of his or her country. There are people who despite their financial and professional possibilities, they decided to stay and live their life in their country.
Some of them represent minorities living in Iran, as the Jews - including the ambitious young chief rabbi of the Iranian Jewish community, Yehuda Gerami whose position need to be understood in the complex political context of his country -, Armenians, Zoroastrians and Baluchis. There are women with outstanding careers and ambitions, such as Nikoo Cheheltani, one of the few female divers in Iran, or the blind Sima Raisi who succeeded to get a PhD or Laleh Seddigh, the only Muslim female race car champion in the world. Noteworthy is to mention that the majority of the people featured are not only given a voice, but also a face, as the interviews are illustrated with insightful photos of the protagonists.
Many of them belong to the so-called #ZheneKhoob - the Good Genes - an expression reserved for children belonging to influential - religiously, financialy, politically, or all the three at once - families that helped them to get a job or start a business. In a way, children are not guilty for the sins of their fathers and some of them may use their social and finacial capital to make a chance, although there is no guarantee.
My favorite story that may be a subject for a novel in itself is of Pedram Safarzadeh, about the sad wandering childhood accompanying an opium addict father that ended up being an addict and homeless himself. But in the end he was stronger than his demons and right now is just living a normal life, as everyday average people do. The story impresses by its strength and dramatism. The social and political context are relevant but it is the very human struggle which in the end matters. And this is more or less what happens at the end of each and every one of the stories featured in this book.
Book like The Heartbeat of Iran may or may not explain what happens right now in Iran. But at least it gives voices to some of his humans. Humans that based on the rich history and culture of thousands of years may deserve much better rulers than what destiny brought them in the last century or so.
Rating: 4 stars
Disclaimer: Book offered by the publisher in exchange for an honest review
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