Iranians in Buffalo and Eid
Recently there was an article in Iranian.com about “Iranians in Buffalo”, it is a very interesting and basically is saying what you hear from many Iranians here, but IN PRIVATE! Most of them have someone in their mind like the character of Khanoom Reise, Agha Fesgheli, or other characters.
I don’t know if it is the cold weather or what! But why so much of this seems to be going on here, there are all kind of characters and personalities everywhere, some good, some bad, and some evil. But it seems in the relatively small Iranian community here there is too much back-stabbing, dishonesty, dasteh-bandi and other signs of improper and immature behavior that is harmful to the community and an obstacle to unity and solidarity. Unity and Solidarity that, at least in words, you hear from the wise, educated, and respectable “elders” of this community.
I am not against what people want to do or who they want to associate with, but occasion like Nowruz is not a time, celebration, or festivity that belong to a particular group with Iranian heritage, or University Students, Desperate Iranian Housewives in Buffalo or suburbs, Good Iranian, or Bad Iranian! Nowruz is Jamshid’s festivity and celebration, it equally belongs to any and every Iranian regardless of their cloths and labels they want to have.
Most Iranian communities, large or small, over the years through trial and error, and use of common sense have learned the basic lessons of success in this competitive and highly diverse culture. There is much to be learned in the art and science of community building and organizing. One important lesson to be learned from other successful Iranian communities in US and Canada is that rotten apples or venomous snakes must be confronted and quickly thrown out for the interest of the larger community. As the Iranian.com article implied, Lakateh-Haa and Lajareh-Haa do not run the show! You can’t even organize and manage a two person Ping-Pong team with this type of people around! Just my two cents and respect for all.