Here, Rover!

(Continuing with the developments in Iran since their revolution)

Hooman Majd is an expatriate Iranian.  His father was serving as a diplomat under the late Shah.  When the Shah’s regime was toppled, Majd’s family found itself stranded in the West.  Majd, himself, became a journalist/author who is willing to analyze Iranian politics from an insider as well as outsider viewpoint.  Once in a while, he risks returning to his homeland temporarily so that he can write about it. This does not endear him to their current regime, hence the tongue in cheek title of his book:  The Ministry of Guidance Invites You to Not Stay.

What Majd documents are the multiple versions of reality and denial that describe Iran.  Like Nafisi in Reading Lolita in Tehran, he questions whether the current situation promotes the expression of Islamic ideals or, conversely, invalidates Islamic expression because of coercion.  Was the time of the Shah the good old days or the bad old days?

Obviously, Iranians don’t control the market on multiple realities and denial.  We see it on a smaller scale in the “age in place” versus “retirement community” mindsets.  People have their preferences, but rigid thinking can lead to problems.  It can be nice to be in a safe environment surrounded by peers you can socialize with – until you notice how regularly they tend to die off and be replaced.  It can be comforting to stay in familiar surroundings, forget safety – until you find yourself trapped there alone.  Or maybe you’re the kind who doesn’t even notice these things when they happen.  That’s a problem in itself.

We can’t really solve this dilemma for our seniors, just as Majd can’t solve the Iranian dilemma.  Still, activity professionals are in the position to mitigate some of the negative aspects of senior community/institutional settings.  We can make things better in the places where we work.

p.s.  Majd proudly described the colorful Yazidi cultural group, as well as the increasing popularity of pet dogs in Iran.  Since I began reading his book, however, ISIS reportedly targeted the Yazidis for genocide.  And Iran’s Revolutionary Guard pushed through a new law allowing them to give 74 lashes to anyone they catch with a pet dog.

© Donna Stuart, ADPC    March 24, 2015

Majd, Hooman. The Ministry Of Guidance Invites You To Not Stay. New York: Doubleday, 2013.

Nafisi, Azar. Reading Lolita in Tehran: A Memoir in Books. New York: Random House Trade Paperbacks, 2003.