Parcham-e Iran on Mount Kilimanjaro

By Amir Khosrow Sheibany
May 18, 2001
Written for Iranian.com continued from Part Three

Part Four

 

So, I can hear you ask, what is it that you all chose to do out of the 3 options presented in Part 1, and are you the first Irooni with an Iranian flag on Kilimanjaro? Well as for being the first Iranian to reach the top, I don't know. If anyone knows of any Iranian who reached Uhuru peak before 1994, please e-mail me.

After trip, photo for ID of first big
contract for our new company in Switzerland.

Most of us went for one of the three options: a Lebanese friend of mine, who was the very last expedition member to give up, chose to marry his Iranian girlfriend.  Two friends applied for MBA?s. Both got into Harvard, one without an interview. And as for me, the nevisandeh, I left permanent employment and started my own consultancy company, with another friend. At its peak we had 15 consultants working on client sites.

Safari after trip, near Serengeti National Park.

It was interesting, four years later, when all but one of the seven met up again. (One friend was killed in a plane crash on another adventure). No one regretted what we had each chosen to do. Even though there had been many ups and downs on the way. We had all set our sights on new goals and it was clear to us that there is no single destination that makes one truly happy and fulfilled. In fact as I had heard many times before, ?it?s the journey and not the destination that matters?, or at least the journey should be as pleasant as the destination. I hope those of our compatriots who have spent the last 22 years building a perfect Islamic society and the current popular experimentation with the idea of theocracy are finding life as enjoyable as I am. It appears, however, a series of haphazard and contradictory statements from the Islamic Republicans, forced on to people through terror of thinking and talismans of fear of death and after life, are in fact negating this life for Iranians of all view points.

Last look at the Mountain before leaving Tanzania

This trip made me think for the first time about the significance of a national flag. It made me wonder why it created such a reaction in people of different cultures. How fundamental is a flag to national identity and unity? Very much so would be my guess. The flag is a symbol of a national ideology. Every item and colour on the flag symbolically represents one part of that ideology. For example, from what I know of the Shir-o-Khorshid flag that I took with me, the sun is the symbol of light and warmth for everybody, the red-white-green symbolizes willingness to shed blood in defense of country- desire for peace and Islam as predominant religion/nature, the crown is a symbolic representation of hereditary kingship aimed at stability of the culture presented by characteristics the king is symbolized with. Zardosht who wrote about "light" (the khorshid behind the shir), believed that Ahura Mazda bestowed health and happiness to human beings. Sadness and mourning being created by Ahriman (Satan). The message was that one should lead his life based on truth and justice. Through an amicable relationship with other peoples and dialogue between cultures, one should increase one's knowledge and raise one's moral standard with the aim of gradually turning this world into paradise. Maybe that's why I am so interested in the cultures of the world.

 !!!And what a paradise we now have!!! Since the day the Iranian flag was changed from Iranian symbolism to the current Arabic scripture, the La Ellaho Ell Allah in the shape of a tulip (that I am told was used first by Muslim freemasons in British India of a 100+ years ago) we have had misery, disorientation, cynicism, and resentment. Where did the hope, resilience, visions and dreams of the Founding Fathers of the classical Iranian nation state go I wonder?

These are the touchstone years to think about national identity and personal values. This adventure with the flag was just one milestone for me. All of today's street talk is about the wish for freedom, tolerance and justice, as embodied in western democratic systems. And yet I don?t hear much about the national identity of the various political factions and religions pursuing freedom, democracy, communist state, Godly state etc.. Are the students on the street Iranian or Arab? Are the Mullahs Iranian or Arab? Not an easy, or so obvious, question when nearly half of the Iranian vocabulary is Arabic, when the Calendar is based on Arab history and up until recently their calculations (355 days in a year). And yet the Iranian Norouz is based on Iranian history and beliefs (365 ? days in a year). Our nationalism is based on Iranian identity. Even our colourful tribal costumes and music are at odds with the bland and gray Islamic attire and chants of the Islamic Republic's leadership and the black chadors and commiteh / Basij uniforms.

We have been wading in a sophisticated atmosphere created by the collision of Iranian (Arian) culture and Semitic culture. Not able to fully express our own culture, because it was presented in a secret/subtle language and works of art (to avoid persecution from our Arab invaders) and not knowing the Semitic culture because we did not know Arabic.

Question: Should Sa-at-e Tahvil (Norouz) and Ashura fall on exactly the same instance, would you weep and wail, or celebrate your existence? That, I believe, would be the essence of who you are.

"It is the sacred duty of statesmen to steer the world away from the tormenting hell it can become if the darker side of humanity is given free reign." This was the belief of one of our Prime Ministers. Needless to say he was beaten and shot to death in a manner characteristic of his opponents' virtues. As much as the current flag has dislocated our society, the Shir-o-Khorshid has, and would, unite us. We could definitely do with such unity in a society so strongly segregated on class and ideological lines. After my trip to Africa, away from all my daily worries and challenges, I was not only inspired and emboldened to go for my dream and ambition and start my own company, but the fresh air also cleared my mind of the topics of Iranian political discussion and disunity.

I now believe that one must FIRST pick one's identity (flag), SECOND cultural / ethical / religious beliefs, and FINALLY political beliefs on who is to implement such ideals, and NOT the other way round. In order for a multicultural society to survive, there is really no other choice anyway. A Reaffirming of our national identity is the first step in unifying our people who are pursuing the natural motives of all human beings: freedom, security, health, and justice.

Interested in more info on Kilimanjaro - The Crown of Africa?
Visit these sites
http://www.altrec.com/features/crownofafrica/

http://www.kilimanjaro.org.uk/

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