Deva Vilas - Divine Play. Take life as fun, a beautiful joke.
Let your laughter become your prayer because each moment only becomes luminous, glorious. It is the small things that count which allow splendour enter your life.
I have indeed made this my rule of life. Every morning I wake up, and that is each and every day, I open the curtains of my bedroom, looking onto the gardens below, that lush green which only nature can provide, the blossoms facing my window in April, the branches standing strong in winter, the magnificent colours of the leaves in autumn and summer with its full warmth and glory. Then, I bow to my Dear Lord, always with a smile. I take a moment to reflect on my incredible, surreal life, and I tell him:
"God, thank you. I fucking love you."
Even swear words, as we know them, have a way of bringing humour into a prayer. It is not God who punishes us; he has shown us his ways, and we do a great job of that onto ourselves alone.
Why is such a philosophy coming to me early in the morning?
There is talk of the world ending on Friday, 21 December 2012. My absence from my blog here was due to another trip back home for two weeks. In one way, home is where I lay my head. London is where I have felt comfortable for almost 40 years now. Still, the city I was born in is Tehran, where my family moved back to and where I needed to be before returning to London to spend Christmas with my kids and the friends who have become such a significant part of my life here.
Since arriving after my trip to Tehran, parties have been every night. Mind you, there were plenty of parties back there, too, as there is no drinking outside in restaurants and no bars or clubs to go to; people keep their fun homebound. Apart from dining at some great restaurants such as 'Terrace', 'Monsoon Lounge' and 'Nayeb'; the much-favoured chello kebab (which is the Persian traditional plate of rice and kebab, especially when you dine in a restaurant), a friend, Ardi, offered to drive Hala and I with my Girl, to the skiing slopes which had only just opened for the season, only two hours outside the capital. Ardi, a great family friend, is one of the most gentlemanly guys imaginable. He picked us up at our home, and we made our way to Dizin, situated in the Alborz mountain range. We stopped for breakfast, including fried eggs, Iranian flatbread (lavash), feta cheese and honey, with a pot of brewed tea, sitting on carpeted wooden beds with a view of the magnificent mountains ahead. A great start.
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| Zoor Abad (favela concept) - Nex to Karaj |
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| Karaj Dam on the way to Dizin |
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| The road close to Dizin |
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| Dizin ski slope |
Dizin ski slopes are nick-named 'autobahn', which means motorway, as it is a long run starting from the 3,600m peak above sea level.
There is a hotel and chalet complex for visitors.
On the other side of the mountains, Shemshak's ski slopes are more bumpy and, hence, challenging for skiers.
On the left is the chalet, where the restaurant is located upstairs, with a terrace for keen sunbathers.
The sign for the Raees Coffee resembles Starbucks to the last detail!
The music played in the restaurant with a burning fireplace was a chill house of the latest numbers heard abroad.
A great day ended fast as I chatted with a charming family of a father, daughter, and husband who joined me at the empty table. I sat to watch the trendy girls, all made-up and the good-looking boys at the tables around. The family used to live in the UK and had now all moved back home to Iran.
As the father mentioned, they were pleased about their move.
Before the night had fully drawn, we returned home for a restful evening of joining my mum, brother Soltan and Tuba. We watched the latest Turkish series, which followed one after the other and occupied many families' lives at night. Even my Girl and I got involved in them in no time. Dallas, eat your heart out; stories of family feuds, insest and money matters at its best, or should I say at its worst?
A few days were spent at the bazaar in the north of Tehran; it was not quite as vast as the main one in the south but still relatively busy, with narrow roads taking one to different sections, from fruit stalls to a whole floor devoted to gold and jewellery, another for Persian embroideries with mainly paisley designs and hardware stores, a kind of department store, divided into shops, all in one mostly covered area. Or one could call it an old-style mall!
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| Entrance to Tajrish Bazaar |
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| Persian nuts are delicious! |
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| A typical grocer's |
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| Fruit Galore |
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| Sabzi to accompany most meals. |
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| Paisley and another textile shop |
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| The Imam Saleh Mosque |
As Sis Hala said, Tehran is full of surprises. One of my dear friends there, Goly and her two sisters took us to a great pizza and pasta restaurant on a backstreet in Gheitarieh called .... Surprise, surprise ... Dolce Vita! The most minor attire for going anywhere outside the homes for ladies is a scarf (barely covering the hair these days) and showing no bare body skin. But in certain areas, uptown, so many ladies were walking without any attention to their fallen scarves!
On a Friday, at Hala's suggestion, it was a family affair of ours and Ardi's, visiting the park set amid Tehran called 'Ab-o-Atash', which means 'water and fire'. I had to take pictures as the area occupied was immense and bang in the centre of town, still under construction in some parts. Letting you be the judge.
On a Friday, at Hala's suggestion, it was a family affair of ours and Ardi's, visiting the park set amid Tehran called 'Ab-o-Atash', which means 'water and fire'. I had to take pictures as the area occupied was immense and bang in the centre of town, still under construction in some parts. Letting you be the judge.
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| An art gallery still under construction |
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| The Dome-like building with a covered nursery selling plants |
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| Another bridge is being built, connecting the park to a hilly forest. |
Tehran is full of wonders. Visiting family and friends is always heart-warming; the Persian sense of humour is outrageous. As someone pointed out, throughout history, poets and writers have used humour (tanz - in Farsi) as a weapon to ridicule. The hospitality everywhere we went was next to none: lavish and warm. Leaving my home town always leaves me with a sense of emptiness, which gets filled through my love for my countrymen and women. But like everywhere else in the world, there are ups, and there are downs. My visits are short, and I see the beauty of the country and people because that is what I choose to see.
I do miss my calm mama and her hug.
Back in my other home, London, the first night I got back was dinner with two old friends, the wonderful sisters and their Girls. What fun to catch up with them all after so long. At these moments, it is like time never got in between us.
Who was in town on Monday, but my soulmate and great buddy, Jade. I joined her and her young nephews at Maroush in Beauchamp Place for a bite of Lebanese. That first morning back here, Ernest had called to invite me to the Box, a club I had heard so much of, with live acts, some naughty and others artistic, on a special MTV evening in aid of an Aids Charity. His strict orders were:
"It's tomorrow night, and Kelly is joining with Daniel and Jonathan. I want us all to look fab and sexy!"
After lunch, Jade agreed to accompany me to my favourite designer, Jean Paul Gautier's flagship store in Chelsea. Boy, did I go wild there before hitting the Box the following evening!
We then left the large shopping bag in the boot of my car and drove to see Jade's close friend Darya at her new apartment before heading to the newly decorated Electric restaurant called Diner in Notting Hill, joined by Yasmeen and her new man. At dinner, I entertained them with my stories of Tehran and ... My new man! Ah. There has been no mention of him since my stories on Senegal have died to an end. To be continued in the next chapter of my life.
Tuesday night's MTV Aids Charity was a big success, with Graham Norton presenting the acts and hosting the show. It was so much fun spending a fantabulous time with my chums, dancing the night away before I found a cab back home at 3:00am.
When I first saw Kelly and Ernest that evening at Gracy's exhibition, I mentioned my supermarket shopping that afternoon in case some cosmic changes were forced upon us, depriving us of food.
"Really, Haldita," They asked in surprise. "Like, what did you get?"
"Oh!" I replied. "Four cans of tuna and two cans of corn."
Most extravagant if hunger was to strike for days! Haha. One certainly wouldn't be able to feed on Jean Paul Gautier's creations. Eating cake won't do either, as Marie Antoinette put it.
Sadly, could not find the energy the following evening to attend Lola's Christmas party as I crashed in bed before 9:30pm!
Now, I want to end this chapter with a note to all the rumours of the world ending tomorrow (as some believe) due to planetary alignment; I tuned into the LBC radio by chance in my car tonight. Some believe 'materialism will give way to spiritualism', others... 'A new rhythm moves in as away goes chaos and in comes a beam of light poured onto the world'. Some assume we may experience darkness due to an eclipse. The question being posed on the radio was:
"What would you do if you knew this was your last day?"
My response to myself was immediate. A smile covered my face when I thought:
"I wouldn't change a thing in my life. In fact, I've been living my daily life since my separation as though it truly is my last day on earth. And thank God for that."
Keep positive and happy. It will all work out beautifully at the end. If it hasn't worked out, it's not the end. (I love that quote)
The tales of Senegal still need to be finished... But to come.
I do miss my calm mama and her hug.
Back in my other home, London, the first night I got back was dinner with two old friends, the wonderful sisters and their Girls. What fun to catch up with them all after so long. At these moments, it is like time never got in between us.
Who was in town on Monday, but my soulmate and great buddy, Jade. I joined her and her young nephews at Maroush in Beauchamp Place for a bite of Lebanese. That first morning back here, Ernest had called to invite me to the Box, a club I had heard so much of, with live acts, some naughty and others artistic, on a special MTV evening in aid of an Aids Charity. His strict orders were:
"It's tomorrow night, and Kelly is joining with Daniel and Jonathan. I want us all to look fab and sexy!"
After lunch, Jade agreed to accompany me to my favourite designer, Jean Paul Gautier's flagship store in Chelsea. Boy, did I go wild there before hitting the Box the following evening!
We then left the large shopping bag in the boot of my car and drove to see Jade's close friend Darya at her new apartment before heading to the newly decorated Electric restaurant called Diner in Notting Hill, joined by Yasmeen and her new man. At dinner, I entertained them with my stories of Tehran and ... My new man! Ah. There has been no mention of him since my stories on Senegal have died to an end. To be continued in the next chapter of my life.
Tuesday night's MTV Aids Charity was a big success, with Graham Norton presenting the acts and hosting the show. It was so much fun spending a fantabulous time with my chums, dancing the night away before I found a cab back home at 3:00am.
When I first saw Kelly and Ernest that evening at Gracy's exhibition, I mentioned my supermarket shopping that afternoon in case some cosmic changes were forced upon us, depriving us of food.
"Really, Haldita," They asked in surprise. "Like, what did you get?"
"Oh!" I replied. "Four cans of tuna and two cans of corn."
Most extravagant if hunger was to strike for days! Haha. One certainly wouldn't be able to feed on Jean Paul Gautier's creations. Eating cake won't do either, as Marie Antoinette put it.
Sadly, could not find the energy the following evening to attend Lola's Christmas party as I crashed in bed before 9:30pm!
Now, I want to end this chapter with a note to all the rumours of the world ending tomorrow (as some believe) due to planetary alignment; I tuned into the LBC radio by chance in my car tonight. Some believe 'materialism will give way to spiritualism', others... 'A new rhythm moves in as away goes chaos and in comes a beam of light poured onto the world'. Some assume we may experience darkness due to an eclipse. The question being posed on the radio was:
"What would you do if you knew this was your last day?"
My response to myself was immediate. A smile covered my face when I thought:
"I wouldn't change a thing in my life. In fact, I've been living my daily life since my separation as though it truly is my last day on earth. And thank God for that."
Keep positive and happy. It will all work out beautifully at the end. If it hasn't worked out, it's not the end. (I love that quote)
The tales of Senegal still need to be finished... But to come.
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