art ~ spirit ~ transformation
e*lix*ir

e*lix*ir   #9, Special Bicentenary Issue
autumn 2019
 

TABLE OF CONTENTS


Editorial

  • This Holy Land of Persia by Sandra Lynn Hutchison

  • Personal Reflection Piece

  • The Gate to Eternal Life by Roxana Karamzadeh

  • Sweet Fruit

  • A Small Window on the Big Blue Sky by Mahtab Rezvani
  • Planting Seeds by Shadi Saadat
  • Broken Dreams by Roxana Karamzadeh
  • * Reading Anne Frank in Isfahan by Sahba
  • * Sweet Fruit by Anisa Bahamin

  • In the Land of Persia

  • An Alley Called Golestan by Nabil Zarei
  • Culinary Sisters-in-Law by Neda Akhavan
  • My Grandfather’s Library by Siavash Haghighat
  • * A Small Piece of Heaven on Earth by Saba Shadabi
  • * Riding a Purple Bicycle in the City of Isfahan by Sahba

  • Holy Places and People

  • Maku and the Muslim Man by Shadi Saadat
  • Fort Tabarsi and The Courage of the Brave Bábís by Negin Rezghi
  • The Cloak by Shadi Sadaat
  • The Mysterious Box by Sara Shakeri
  • Haji Assad, the Great Teacher of Seysan by Shadi Saadat
  • * A Glimpse of the Glorious Landscape by Rojin Ghavami

  • Through a Child’s Eyes

  • The Grief of War by Tanin Azadi
  • An Earthen House by Nava Habibi
  • A Cherished Dream by Elmira G.
  • The Golden Crown by Shaghayegh Rashedi
  • A Dream of Childhood by Basir Samimi
  • * The Love Bird by Zarrin Kasiri

  • Comic

  • Ruhi & Riaz
    by Eira

  • From Yazd to New Delhi

  • A Weekend in a One Hundred Star Hotel by Saba Shadabi
  • The Long Journey from Yazd to Tihran by Ali F.
  • The Road at the End of the World by Tanin Azadi
  • My Soul Dances in New Delhi by Roxana Karamzadeh
  • The Turkish Girl by Nava Habibi

  • The Left Hand of an Artist

  • The Left Hand of an Artist by Sara Shakeri
  • To Sing or not to Sing by Ellie
  • A Sympathetic Friend by Farina Shafei
  • Taraneh Alidoosti, My Hero by Nava Habibi

  • * asterisked works appeared in previous issues of e*lix*ir.

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    The Turkish Girl

    by NAVA HABIBI

    Three years ago, after I took the entrance exam, I traveled to Turkey with my family to visit my aunt, who was about to immigrate to Australia. In the end, the trip was enjoyable for me because I visited so many historic places there and I could communicate with so many Turkish people. But when I first arrived in Turkey, I had mixed feelings. I was happy to see my aunt, but sad that my father had to work and could not join us. It was not until I met the Turkish girl that I forgot about my sadness.

    When we arrived in Turkey, we immediately went to my aunt’s house, which was so cramped and cluttered up with books that there was no room for either a television or a sofa. During the day, we talked incessantly. And every evening, we went to the bazaar to shop for souvenirs for our relatives and friends who lived in Iran.

    One day I saw a Turkish girl in a store and I decided to speak to her. I asked her whether or not Turkish people were superstitious, and she told me they were. Then she asked me some questions. She wanted to know whether or not Iranians had freedom of speech, and I replied that we did not. Next, she asked me whether or not I believed in the equality of women and men. I answered that as a Bahá’í, I do believe in the equality of women and men. The last thing I asked her was whether or not Turkish people wanted peace. She told me that most of the Turkish people did not think there should be war between people with different religions and cultures. Turkish people were used to living with different people, she said, and such differences did not bother them at all. We talked for more than an hour, but then I had to return home, so I said goodbye.

    My understanding of what peace means changed dramatically after I met the Turkish girl. After my trip to Turkey, I realized that is possible for people of different religions and from different countries and cultures to communicate respectfully with one another. These days, I am thinking that if I had not traveled to Turkey, I would not have understood how peace is built, conversation by conversation. I truly believe that I would not be who I am today if I had not met the Turkish girl.