![\"Mehmooni\"](\"http:\/\/www.chezarts.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/Mehmooni.jpg\" "\\"Mehmooni\\"")
<\/a>Mehmooni<\/p><\/div>
\nA class at Stanford brought up many memories from the distant past. Memory is selective. I have rejected much that I did not care to remember and I have romanticized what I wanted to remember.<\/p>\n
Professor Khalessi has a passion for his material. His hands move like a conductor when he reads a verse and the light in his eyes reflects his joy. We are studying Sohrab Sepehri<\/a>, the Iranian poet and painter. I have just joined the class and have far to go to master these profound works. <\/p>\n Sepehri brings me back to my childhood. My dad used to communicate to me in poetry. When he wanted to convey an important idea, I had to get it through a poem. He wrote in the calligraphic style called khatte shekasteh.<\/em> I had to read the letters many times just to unravel the words. Compared to that, this class seems easy because Professor Khalessi is there to help. <\/p>\n The poetry makes me reflect on my roots and how I have changed. Sepehri writes about freeing oneself from the distractions of the world to develop the human spirit. He emphasizes an appreciation of nature and a serene view of life. His words lead me on an introspection into my own identity, and help me to separate what is important from what is not. The simplicity, the humanity, the tenderness and wisdom in these poems embraces me and warms me to the point that I am overwhelmed. <\/p>\n Shafinury and Tehranosaurus<\/p><\/div>\n A performance Friday night at Stanford’s Cubberley Auditorium was a perfect complement to reading Sepehri’s poetry. Shafinury talked to the audience about the feelings underlying his song \u201cBani Adam\u201d which is based on a poem by Saadi<\/a> from his Gulistan<\/a>. Human beings are members of a whole, Four hundred years after Saadi, John Donne<\/a> expressed a remarkably similar sentiment in his famous Meditation XVII:<\/a><\/p>\n \nNo man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main. If a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less, as well as if a promontory were, as well as if a manor of thy friend’s or of thine own were: any man’s death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind, and therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n These ideas remain just as relevant today amid the world’s many conflicts.<\/p>\n<\/a>
\nFared Shafinury<\/a>, the Iranian-American musician, performed with his band Tehranosaurus.<\/em> The room was packed. Shafinury\u2019s work blends the traditional Iranian musical system called radiff<\/a> with contemporary Western forms. He plays the delicate ancient instrument, the setar<\/a>, with virtuosity. His singing style is romantic, with unexpected pushes of energy from the percussive rhythm of the tombak and dohol . The fusion between the classical Iranian compositions and indie rock brings new urgency to the ancient forms.<\/p>\n
\nThis well-known verse is displayed at the entrance of the United Nations Hall of Nations:<\/p>\n
\nIn creation of one essence and soul.
\nIf one member is afflicted with pain,
\nOther members uneasy will remain.
\nIf you have no sympathy for human pain,
\nThe name of human you cannot retain.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n