Those Who Are Better Than Us

One day, while I was playing in the courtyard, I remembered one of Khanom Bozorg’s favorite expressions. She’d say a certain thing was “for those who are better than us,” or that only “those who are better than us” were allowed into a certain place. I’d never seen these people who were supposedly better than us. I couldn’t even imagine them. I went to Agha Bozorg, who was reading a book. “Do you remember how Khanom Bozorg used to say that? Who are these people who are better than us?” He looked at me and smiled. “Sit down and I’ll tell you.” “When I was younger, we lived in a town in Khuzestan, happy with our lives and the work we did. Our eldest uncle owned several sugarcane fields and an orange orchard. Everything was good until one of my father’s friends, a well-known merchant, came and asked to take two of his sons into his business. “A few days later, we set off with Agha Nader, my father’s friend, for Ahvaz and then Tehran. On the way I asked him, ‘Where are we going? What’s it like there?’ “‘It’s a place where the people who are better than us live.’ “‘What do they look like?’ “‘Like everyone else. They just live better.’ “‘How do you become one of them?’ “‘You have to want it. Through your own efforts, you can become one of those people, because you decided to be better than you are today.’ “The idea that someone else lives better than you can help or hurt you. If you only feel sorry for yourself, they will always be ‘the people better than us,’ and you’ll stay just as you are. But if you want something and work for it, everything can be yours. Nothing has to remain a wish.” When I think about Agha Bozorg’s story today, I see how right he was. Years ago, when I still lived in Iran, I was happy and had a fairly good job and life. Then I was forced to emigrate, and far from home I came to know the free world. For years I had called it the world of “those who are better than us,” the lucky people born in Europe, America, and Australia. Now I understand that Iran, too, once had everything they have today under the monarchy. Today I know what freedom and peace mean. I know what the law and protection of rights mean. And I know that, if we want to, and we do, we can be among “those who are better than us” once we rid ourselves of the Islamic Republic and its agents. Under the monarchy, we can rebuild our land so that the generation after us will be better than us and live in freedom, dignity, and peace. Together, we can be better. Long live Iran. Long live the Shah. Iran is our temple.