To our darling mother & grandmother
Saying goodbye to you has not been easy. You were such a huge part of our lives, and your passing has left an immense void. The last picture we took of the sitting room of your flat captured how the light had truly gone out of our lives.
You were unique: in your younger days glamorous, stylish, full of life, and with a mischievous sense of humour. That sense of humour never deserted you even in your later days, when ill health confined you first to a chair and then to your bed. You continued to write tirelessly and almost compulsively even while battling the deadly disease.
We are incredibly fortunate to have so much of your writing - reminiscences, stories, poetry and political reflections - a selection of which which we will publish in months to come as a tribute to your larger-than-life personality. Your words will not only honour your memory but also serve as a testament to your nation’s tumultuous recent history.
Your life was not easy - neither at the beginning nor at the end. Even the ‘good years’ were tinged with heartache, melancholy, and the vicissitudes of life in a golden cage, surrounded by fair-weather friends. (This is something you referred to time and again in these pages).
Yet through it all, you were able to find moments of joy. Your passion for music and poetry, and the delight you took in looking after the plants and flowers in your little garden revealed a beautiful soul bound to the physical realm.
But you came to this world for a reason. Even though you would often curse your misfortune at being an only child, you were here to show love, warmth and kindness, even when they seemed absent elsewhere. You were here to point the way to beauty.
Things were not always smooth or straightforward - they seldom are. Yours was an indomitable spirit which often clashed with those who could neither match your emotional intelligence nor grasp your convictions - those people tended to scurry away in a huff. But those who truly loved you understood and stood by you.
To some, you may have seemed unconventional, a defiant flame in the stifling air of prudery and zealous piety - even before the black curtain of institutional fanaticism shrouded the land. Yet, beneath that defiance lay an unerring moral compass, a force that guided you through the labyrinth of an eventful life.
Your sense of right and wrong did not spring from religion, for you were never bound by it, but from something purer, something drawn from a source far higher than the brittle creeds to which so many cling out of fear or blind obedience.
You once remarked that, aside from family, there were three kinds of people in your life: friends, acquaintances, and what you wryly termed 'The Press - those whose sole purpose in life seemed to be to report on one group of people to another group, often adding their own spin and embellishments into the fabric of truth. And of the latter, you encountered more than your fair share.
We salute the single-mindedness and the unwavering resolve you showed towards the end. You died as you had lived - on your own terms. You died as you wished, in your home and in your own bed, rather than in a hospital or an indifferent care home.
You used to light a candle to the memory of those kind souls who had touched your life but had since passed on. Now we are lighting candles for you. We were so lucky to have you in our lives and we will miss you dearly. But you will always live on in our hearts for as long as we have breath.
Have a safe journey, darling Mamai. Be at peace.
Soraya Iranmanesh
17 Aug 1937 - 20 Jan 2025
