A Familiar Breeze from Esfahan

(the title and photo are hyperlinks)

I had to read all the content of a small website for one of my assignment this term. The website was on Carnegie Libraries of Scotland. It was a brief description about Andrew Carnegie and his legacy. Andrew Carnegie made so many contributions and benevolence toward establishing many public libraries across Scotland and US. The main focus of the website was on the architecture styles of those buildings.

Since I had to index this website, I needed to read its entire content for a couple of times. Though indexing can be time consuming and tedious, I enjoyed doing this assignment because of its interesting content. The website included one of the Carnegie’s letters to Lord Provost of Glasgow . A part of one of the letters reads:

"It will give me pleasure to provide the needed one hundred thousand pounds for Branch Libraries, which are sure to provide a great advantage to the masses of the people. It is just fifty-two years since my parents, with their two little boys, sailed from the Broomielaw* for New York an the barque Wiscassett, 800 tons, and it is delightful to be able to commemorate the event upon my visit to you.

Glasgow has done so much in municipal affairs to educate other cities and to help herself that it is a privilege to help her.

"Let Glasgow flourish!", so say we all of us Scotsmen throughout the world".

What amazed me was the fact that after 52 years, Carnegie had a sentimental attachment to this city. This is something that all immigrants can relate to. No matter how long you have been living in one place and how great you feel about your new adopted home, your root will stay part of you forever.

I was raised in Tehran but my parents are from the City of Esfahan. Every summer we've spent at least one week traveling to Esfahan to visit my mom side of the family. It was a true family reunion and I spent the entire time there “be mehmani” partying. So I didn't have the chance to travel there as a tourist. I haven't visited all the historical sites. I may not know the name of the street in Esfahan and need to ask for direction but I know what "Beryooni" or “Ghara”** is, or what a good “Fereni Starch Pudding” tastes like. Or I can distinguish a sweet original Esfahani accent from a fake one.

It's very amusing to see how far some people go to show their loyalty to their homeland. One of my friends who has impeccable sense of humor once made a funny remark. He claimed that, Adam and Eve were sent to the Naghsh-e Jahan Square after they expelled from the Garden of Eden . I suppose this is a good thing and it adds to the uniqueness of the city. Nonetheless, I adore the city of Esfahan because it's an oasis located in the middle of desert. It's the center of cultural and historical sites in Iran. I love that city because my loved ones live there,,,. I haven't thought about Esfahan for a long time or even felt about it this way. I guess when you are on the other side of the ocean the only thing that matters is that you are Iranian until someone reminds you that Esfahan is a substitution for the Garden of Eden.

*According to the author of the website, the reference in the letter to the "Broomielaw" is referring to the docks in Glasgow. "Let Glasgow Flourish" is the city's motto.
**"Ghara" is synonym for Gharghorot.
Photo: Khajo Bridge- Iran Esfahan, originally uploaded by youngrobv.