Maryam Namazie is a political activist, campaigner and blogger
Just returned from a debate on Islam, Multiculturalism, and Free Expression with DV8 Physical Theatre’s Director Lloyd Newson and ‘Muslims for UK’ Inayat Bunglawala on issues raised by the brilliant DV8 production ‘Can we talk about This?’ at the National Theatre. I’ll blog about it soon.
For now I want to wish all of you a happy Nowrooz or Iranian New Year, which marks the beginning of Spring.
Have a good one!
I’ve alway found that starting the New Year in winter made no sense. It is so much better to make it start when life regains its strength and beauty.
In my country (Chile) the new year starts in summer. Heat, tourists, flies and unmanageable traffic make this the low point of the year. Our new year should start in September.
And happy Nowrooz to you too! 🙂
Happy Nowrooz Maryam!
I too have never heard of this before, but now I have, I shall celebrate the beginning of Spring with a big bar of Dairy Milk and a cup of coffee!
Thanks 😀
Happy Nawruz, Maryam! I used to celebrate this festival many years ago when I was, briefly, a bahaí. There was some kind of fast before the festival but I just couldnt bring myself to either fast or do the obligatory daily prayer.
Still, you may be pleased to know that, thanks to the Bahai’s, several thousand people in Singapore and Malaysia will be celebrating NawRuz.
Thank you Marayam.
Until just now I had never even heard of Nowrooz before, so I Googled it.
What I found out is something that I was already subliminally aware of, and that being Iran has such tremendously deep and beautifully rich cultural traditions.
Then I became so incredibly sad because sectarian interests and their attendant expression in a hideously totalitarian regime are clearly ruining Iran’s gifts to humanity by alienating the majority of the Iranian people – along with most of the world. In short, I see Iranian culture being utterly throttled by religion!
What you do is so vitally important. Keep up the good work!
Oops! Sorry for misspelling your name Maryam – I suffer from over-eager typing fingers all too often.
Happy Nowrooz to you too!
Hey, Maryam! Don’t you know that Nowrooz is bidah (un-Islamic innovation)?!
But seriously, have a happy Nowrooz. I hope you get together with your family and eat enough good food and sweets to make yourself sick. That’s what I do on my family’s festivals! (Also I get presents. Usually it’s boring new clothes. But that’s OK because I look even more sexy in a kurta.)
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