There is a Persian saying that ‘only kindness remains’. This had never been more true. I hope that I can stay true to this sentiment, and to Saadi’s vision of humanity, for the rest of my life.
~
Rubber gloves, a sink full of suds, a pile of dirty dishes.
Once again I stare at my reflection in the kitchen window. The room behind me is quiet now. My parents have left this life. My children have their own lives. I am even a grandmother! My siblings visit from time to time but they are also busy. I bring some of that old atmosphere back to the house when I entertain, spending days in preparation and days cleaning up afterwards.
But not tonight. Tonight there is just calm.
As I turn my attention back to the dishes, I feel a warmth behind me. Two gentle hands reach around my waist and pull me close. I feel James’s cheek next to mine, his chin on my shoulder. I look up to the reflection in front of me again and there is his face with its gentle smile.
My reflection smiles back.
Acknowledgements
The publication of this book is a dream come true – a dream I have entertained for over thirty years. For the fact that it has finally come to fruition, I must thank those who have made it possible, including David Brewster, literary agent Jacinta di Mase, and Roberta Ivers, Larissa Edwards and Carol Warwick at Simon & Schuster Australia.
So many others have encouraged and supported me at different times and I am thankful to them all, but particularly I would like to thank my siblings and extended family, my partner and my children for their kindness, love and support over many years. Thanks, too, to Yuri Rapoport who gave me the chance I needed, and to the Persian community in Australia.
At the heart of this story is the Persian culture, a culture so strong and yet so often misunderstood in the constantly shifting upheaval across the Middle East. It is the Persian culture that provided my grandmother and mother, and then myself, with the strength to go on, no matter what. For this I have to thank Ostad Bahram Moshiri, for showing us the path to freedom and democracy and, more importantly, how to safeguard them via the due process of law. Before him came Ferdosi, the Father of Iran, who helped us retain our identity, language and culture as Persians, and Cyrus the Great, the Persian king whose wisdom, generosity, kindness and humanity laid the foundations of our heritage.
Sohila Zanjani
First and foremost I have to thank Sohila for bringing this story to me and for trusting me to help her bring it to life. It has been a wonderful ride. My family, and especially my wife, have been endlessly supportive during the long writing process, and a lot of early impetus was provided by the staff and my classmates at RMIT’s School of Media and Communications. Thanks also to Jacinta di Mase and to Larissa Edwards and Roberta Ivers for seeing the potential in this story.
David Brewster
Photo: © David Brewster
Book club questions
1. Scattered Pearls opens with a quote from the famous Persian poet Saadi. Discuss the meaning of this quote. How does it relate to the stories of Sohila, Shahin and Laya?
2. Laya, Shahin and Asghar all had very limited formal educations. What were the consequences of this (for example, Shahin’s 14 pregnancies would arguably be one)? To what extent has Sohila’s life been shaped by the relationships around her, as opposed to her formal education? To what extent does the relationship between our parents, or other adults close to us, influence our own approach to forming and maintaining relationships?
3. With Iran being in the news so often over the last few decades since the revolution, many of us have preconceptions about what it must be like there. Were you surprised at all by the descriptions of pre-revolutionary Iran? In what ways might you see ordinary Iranians differently in the future?
4. Along similar lines, what do you understand differently about Persian culture, in contrast to Arabic culture, as a result of reading Scattered Pearls?
5. There is a critical point early in Shahin’s life when her parents leave her wealthy grandfather behind, preferring independence and pride over security. What similar turning points are there in Scattered Pearls? How might the lives of the three central women have been different if different decisions had been made?
6. Sohila found very different worlds when staying with her rich cousin Melahat and attending her friend Shahnaz’s birthday. What do you remember of the fascination of sleeping over at someone else’s house? Discuss the things you remember being different about your friends’ families compared with your own.
7. Becoming idealistic, socially aware and politically involved, as Sohila did in 1979, is not uncommon in young adults. Discuss your own experiences of a heightened political and/or social awareness during your life. How involved did you become and in what ways? If that involvement has diminished over time, when and why was that the case?
8. What were your thoughts when Sohila first met Reza? Did you feel any concerns as she describes the early part of their relationship? Do you think she should have seen the writing on the wall and avoided marrying Reza (even if that meant she would not be able to emigrate)?
9. In hindsight, Sohila puts much of her suffering at the hands of Reza down to social isolation. She simply had no idea that she could have sought help, and no one noticed that she needed it. If you met someone in Sohila’s situation, do you think you would pick up the signs? Where would you send her for help?
10. Sohila describes several situations in which her status as a single, foreign mother of young children caused her to be abused or looked down upon. Most of these happened in the 1980s. In the 1990s, when she was a well-dressed businesswoman, she was treated very differently. Do you think things would be any different today?
11. By the end of her father’s life, Sohila had largely forgiven him for much of the ill treatment he meted out to her mother, her siblings and herself during her childhood, understanding that much of it originated from mistreatment he had received himself, particularly as a teenager. Did you find yourself sharing that forgiveness? Would you be able to forgive your own parent for similar failings?
12. Sohila’s challenges with her ageing parents, and particularly the dilemma of whether or not to place them in care, are increasingly common. How did you relate to them, and what questions do they throw up for you?
SCATTERED PEARLS
First published in Australia in 2016 by
Simon & Schuster (Australia) Pty Limited
Suite 19A, Level 1, 450 Miller Street, Cammeray, NSW 2062
A CBS Company
Sydney New York London Toronto New Delhi
Visit our website at www.simonandschuster.com.au
© Sohila Zanjani and David Brewster 2016
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior permission of the publisher.
National Library of Australia Cataloguing-in-Publication entry
Creator:
Zanjani, Sohila, author.
Title:
Scattered pearls/Sohila Zanjani and David Brewster.
ISBN:
9781925030969 (paperback)
9781925030976 (ebook)
Subjects:
Zanjani, Sohila.
Zanjani, Sohila – Family.
Women – Iran – Biography.
Women immigrants – Australia – biography.
Self-realisation in women – Australia.
Iran – Politics and government – 1979-1997.
Iran – History – 20th century.
Other Creators/Contributors:
Brewster, David, author.
Dewey Number:
955.0542092
Cover design: Christabella Designs
Cover photograph © Sohila Zanjani
Cover illustration © Marta Jonina/Shutterstock
Typeset by Midland Typesetters, Australia
Sohila Zanjani, Scattered Pearls
Scattered Pearls Page 28