Daddy, I got a job!

(The previous generation believes we are lazy. That’s not true, I think. Here is why.)

As a kid, I used to hear my parents wishing me a happy life. They hoped to see me grown up, educated, living a decent life, and employed. To them, a good job would be an indispensable part of the bright future one might desire to achieve. They were right, indeed.

I managed to grow up, get higher education in prestigious universities, live a life conforming to principles I find reasonable, and find a job. I’m a freelance translator and media professional, doing business with many individuals, groups and companies. This is a lovely job with a good payment.

After a while of working, I’ve got a circle of friends whose occupations and preoccupations are somehow similar to those of mine. To keep ourselves up to minute and offer best services we can deliver, we practice many things, including surfing the web, reading news here and there, spending a good time on weblogs and social networks, attending conferences and meetings, etc. Even we have our hobbies related to the job we do. Watching movies, reading novels, participating in social events which have something to do with culture and media and taking photos are some of our leisure time activities. In sum, people who belong to this circle have a lot in common in terms of what they do.

My friends and I share a similar background, as well. We are from middle class, somehow traditional families. Our fathers, now retired, had been employed in state-run companies and organizations, working a certain number of hours a month to get a somehow fixed compensation. This latter issue plays a significant role in their definition of work and their perception of proper job.

Let’s recall their jobs. Their working hours were fixed, 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the case of my father who worked for Iranian Telecommunication Company. They had to carry out some predefined tasks which were determined by the boss. In other words, they were paid for doing what they were ordered to do. They never had the chance to run a business, to get to know the dynamics and forces of the market, to take risks.

And they had a permanent and almost fixed source of income which was risk-free and payable in the end of each and every month. In fact, the state-run economy of Iran in last decades made many people swear by almost risk-free status of employment in public companies. To them, the sense of security brought about by this type of working was very desirable, very true.

And they used to separate work from hobbies, job from the life. To them, whatever tasks which could directly lead to an income would be considered job, and other things were nothing but hobbies and leisure time activities. In that model of public economy, when the employee needed to learn a new method or technology, he/she was paid by the boss to do so. Hence, “taking time and even paying some money to learn something new which might probably lead to an income” could be just a secondary occupation, not the primary one.

However, above characteristics may not apply to doing business in free market. And in the case of what my friends and I do, none of them actually applies to our career.

Such differences are not problematic per se. The problem arises when the past generation judges us upon his preferred standards. Our fathers never try to understand that to work doesn’t necessarily mean going to office every morning. (In fact, I can stay in my own room and work and make a nice income.) To our fathers, taking working time to surf the web or participating in social events is a waste of time, while to us, i.e. idea-sellers of the information age, this is an investment and real work. To them, watching movies is a leisure time work, while we consider it a work-related practice.

Given above differences, my father believes that I’m not doing my best, that I’m lazy, that I’ve not yet found a real job. Sometimes I wanna yell, “Daddy, I got a job, believe me!”

Art of Simplicity

Back from a 2 day conference on Media & Communication in Tehran (below photo), on our way to train station, I and some of my friends were speaking about the topics of conference. The discussion led to a debate on different philosophies of communication. Right at this point, hearing the terms 'philosophy' and 'media', taxi driver asked us: "so, from your view, what is the philosophy of Nancy Ajram?" He was apparently a fan of the Arab singer.

This interruption, though seemingly naïve in the first glance, was deep enough to make me think about it for a while. All the professors we meet in such conferences, with all the tribunes they have, can hardly communicate their message(s) to public audience as effectively as Nancy Ajram does. More surprising is that Nancy speaks a different language, and her success in Iran is mostly due to her well-directed, story-telling video clips.

What is the secret to effectively speaking to public audience? I recall Hanibal Lecter in 'the Silence of the Lambs', saying: "first principle is, Claris, simplicity." Be simple and easily understandable, and people will follow you and sympathize with you as a real element; be complicated, and you will become the make-believe part of the story.

One may claim that 'simplicity' is the exclusive profession of Art. I, however, think that Simplicity is itself an Art; an art that many enlightened figures and thinkers unfortunately lack. People's day-to-day problems are simple, and they expect simple answers for their problems. But enlightened thinkers, who may know the solution much better than others, use complicated words to communicate an even more complicated thought. Here appears a gap between people's demand and thinkers' supply. And in Iran, Ahmadinejad is an example of those who take advantage of this gap. He speaks in a simple manner, and is easily understandable. He offers simple solutions (though his solutions may practically turn into nightmares). And in this sense, Ahmadinejad is an artist. This is why that taxi driver, that fan of Nancy Ajram, had hung a picture of Ahmadinejad in his car.

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Conference, under the auspices of Youth National Organization

Ayatollah Haj-Ali Akbari, Head of Youth National Organization

What Young Iranians do in their free time?

Introduction:
Few days ago, a young Swiss boy asked me several questions about young Iranians, including how they spend their free time, how girls might get in touch with boys in Iran, etc. Here is my foreword and answer to his first question: how do young people spend their free time in Iran?

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Foreword:
Residents of various parts of Iran will probably answer such questions in many very different ways. Though some common elements are likely to be found in all of their answers, some factors, including local traditions, geographical specifications and financial status, affect the answers.
With regards to traditions, I should mention that for example in metropolitan areas, most notably in Tehran, it's generally easier for the young to find a friend of the opposite sex, especially if they happen to be university students. Universities in my country bridge the gap between traditional society in which the parents live and modern one in which the children aspire to live. Finding a friend of the opposite sex is only one example of a series of freedoms offered by universities to the young.
With regards to geographical specifications, for example, my city, Isfahan, enjoys a beautiful river with many parks around it, which make it possible for the youth to spend their time in them. In some other areas, for example in northern west of Iran, the weather is so cold during the winter that people can hardly spend their free time during the cold season (which sometimes extends to half of the year) outside. Therefore, they are likely to invest in some suitable options such as cinema or café-net (I will explain this phenomenon in later parts).
And finally with regards to financial status, this factor affects the hobbies the young choose in 2 ways: first, well-to-do families are usually more liberal, offering their children a higher degree of freedom. Second, having enough money, the people might afford more expensive options for their free time.
The question "how young Iranians spend their free time" seems to be the an important one whose answer would cover other questions to an extent, thus I would try to provide a comprehensive answer for it, and then briefly answer other questions.

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How do young people spend their free time in Iran?
A: National TV
Iranians are obsessed with TV. Official statistics reveal that some serials, including drama and especially comedy serials (which are usually planned for 90 episodes and broadcast every night during a full season), attract 60% of the population. Iran's National TV broadcasts 6 channels in the national level, a recently launched English News Satellite Channel (called PressTV), in addition to some provinces broadcasting provincial channels.
6 national channels are called: Channel One (general), Channel Two (general), Channel Three (mainly focusing on Youth and Sports), Channel Four (with a scientific-cultural focus, sometimes broadcasts original English documentaries of BBC and other famous channels), News Channel (24/7 news channel), and Quran Channel. Channel Three is perhaps the most interesting one to the youth.
B: Satellite Channels
In spite of satellite receivers being legally banned, the regime seems reluctant to crack down those who exploit satellite receivers. Some non-official reports indicate that in metropolitan areas, up to 40% of households have access to satellite channels. 10 years ago, 'satellite receiver' was supposed 'evil' by most of Iranians, but today people are somehow used to it.
Let's classify satellite channels in two classes: Persian channels, and non-Persian channels.
With regards to Persian satellite channels, most of them are Political ones launched to oppose Iran's regime, but they can not compete with National TV, thus fail to attract a fair amount of viewers. In addition to political ones, there are some other channels such as PMC (Persian Music Channel) which are dedicated to broadcasting music clips. Since such clips are banned in National TV, PMC has turned into one of the most favorite channels of Iranians.
With regards to the other class, in Iran, English is ranked above other foreign languages in terms of the number of people who try any second language. In addition, English is a compulsory part of schools curriculum since 7th grade. An average Iranian, however, is not familiar with English enough to take advantage of English satellite channels. Then, the only foreign satellite channels interesting to Iranians are porno, fashion and wild life ones.
C: Internet
The youth are eager to break the mold and cross the boundaries set by either the traditional society or the regime. The public atmosphere, however, is not ready to cope with the youth who might allegedly betray the very values of the nation. Therefore, the youth resort to private atmosphere so as to satisfy their needs.
Internet is a good example of such private worlds. One might easily find out that the cyber Iran is far different from, and probably not comparable with the real Iran. In a western country, web is generally supposed to facilitate the real life. But to the young Iranians, web brings a far different meaning: it is supposed to help the youth get rid off the real life and its limitations.
What do I mean by 'limitations of real life'? Dress code, boys-girls relations, porn, fashion, etc. are some examples of these limitations, but the real limitation is far more general than these examples. Some sociologists believe that there is a wide gap between first generations of post-revolution Iran and today generation, i.e. Iran has experienced a kind of rapid cultural shift, and the new generation finds it difficult to express itself in the real world dominated and ruled over by old generations. Therefore, it seeks to express itself in the cyber world. Between all various web features, 'chat' and 'weblog' are the most interesting ones to young Iranians. Due to these reasons, café-nets (originally cafés providing internet services along with coffee and tea, but today only internet providers) have mushroomed in big cities.
D: Cafés
There are two kinds of cafés in Iran: traditional and modern. Modern cafés are almost similar to European cafés, serving various kinds of non-alcoholic drinks (coffee, tea, soft drinks, lemonade), foods (pizza, vegetarian dish, snack), cakes (fruit, caramel, chocolate cakes), etc. On the other hand, traditional cafés serve just tea, Qalyan (water pipe: a kind of traditional Iranian smoke) and few traditional foods. Generally speaking, traditional cafés are cheaper and attract more young Iranians.
E: Parks, Mountain Parks
Parks are also a well-known destination for the youth. In addition, some nearby mountains are equipped to serve as a park: camps, rest rooms, barbecues, play grounds, etc.
In addition, in almost all of the big cities, some parks are dedicated to women so that they can freely spend their time while not being forced to wear Hijab (Islamic dress code). In these parks they are allowed to practice some activities which would be considered indecent otherwise, such as sun bathing.
F: Parties
Young people frequently arrange parties, but the scale and type of the party depends on several factors. Single-sex parties, including just boys or girls, often for birthdays, may be held very easily and families get along with them. But if some are to invite both girls and boys, or include alcoholic drinks, they have to accomplish some problems. Most important of all, police forces crack down such parties if they happen to include drugs or sex, or if the neighbors complain about.
G: Educational Programs
Several institutes offer educational programs, including language, computer, art and occupational courses. Young people, especially girls, express a lot of interest to these programs and choose them for their own free time.
H: Trips
Trips are possible from 1-day journeys to 1-week or even more ones. For religious people, some holy mosques or the graves of saints constitute a suitable option. Wealthy families usually own gardens out of the city, or villas in the coast of the sea, and spending a day or night in them is a common choice.
It should be noted that some certain areas in the coast are dedicated to women so that they have fun freely.
I: Sport
In addition to specialized clubs, many areas and parks have chess tables, skate grounds, ping pong tables, etc. Billiard clubs are also a luxury option. Swimming pools are available with some hours booked for women.
Virtually, almost all kinds of sports are available to young Iranians. But it should be noted that as expected, girls are supposed to submit to dress/moral code. This code, however, is not a definite one throughout the nation. For example, though people in bigger cities are getting used to girls biking for fun or transportation, smaller cities are less likely to observe the girls doing the same stuff.
J: Hanging Out
Just do it!