Love for Literature, Freedom, and Secularism at Ismail Noori-Ala's Gathering

Host: Ismail Noori-Ala Guests: Ismail Khan Ala, Mohammad Mirzadeh, Bahram Beyzai, Khalil Maleki, and Nader Naderpour. Music: "Khalagha" sung by Manoochehr Sekhayi Dinner Menu: Rice and Eggplant Stew. This week's host is Ismail Noori-Ala, a well-known poet and writer in Iran, who has been more active in recent years in political opposition against the Iranian government. In the 1960s, he was one of the founders of a new poetic movement in Iran known as the New Wave poetry. Mr. Noori-Ala has written numerous books on literary criticism and initiated many literary debates. He was one of the first members of the Iranian Writers Association under the previous regime, fighting for freedom of expression. After the revolution, he worked for a few months in the Islamic Republic's television but later emigrated abroad. In recent years, Mr. Noori-Ala has been active in a movement aimed at creating a secular democratic alternative to the Islamic Republic of Iran. He currently lives in Denver, USA, and I spoke with him over the phone. Welcome to the program, Mr. Noori-Ala. Please tell me who your guests are? I have chosen five people. The first is Ismail Khan Ala, the second is Mohammad Mirzadeh, the third is Bahram Beyzai, the fourth is Khalil Maleki, and the fifth is Nader Naderpour. Very good. Ismail Ala must be one of your relatives, right? He is my grandfather. Your grandfather... I will ask you more about the guests later, but first I wanted to know what music you would like to choose for the dinner and the guests you invited, Mr. Noori-Ala. If I were asked what song always repeats in my mind, I have always loved "Khalagha" by Manoochehr Sekhayi and hum it to myself. How did you become interested in this music? Did you listen to it since your teenage years, or is there a specific reason? Why are you interested in "Khalagha"? I don't know, one night I was at home, and this Mr. Alireza Noori-Zadeh, who was my assistant at that time in a film I was making, called me and asked if he could come over. I said come, and let's sit and talk. He said he wanted to bring a record with him, and he brought a record of Nozar Parang's poem that I really liked, and the music was composed by Parviz Maqsoudi, another musician I liked. I didn't have much habit of listening to Manoochehr's voice, but the combination of these three really captivated me and stayed in my mind. So much so that during that night, perhaps in the two hours we talked, we listened to it four or five times. Now let's return to your guests. You mentioned Ismail Ala. Who is Ismail Ala, Mr. Noori-Ala? Ismail Ala: My paternal grandfather, whom I never met, but mysteriously lived in me, and when I was six or seven years old, I found out that he was a poet, and I felt that if he was a poet, I should also become a poet. (Shows a picture of Mr. Noori-Ala with his father) Ismail Ala was my paternal grandfather. Our family was from Noor, Mazandaran, and later my father added the word Noori to our family name, so I became Ismail Noori-Ala, but my grandfather was Ismail Ala. I never met him because he passed away three years before I was born. But when my father decided to name me after his father, he named me after him, and during my childhood, he constantly suggested to me that my grandfather's spirit had come into your body, and you are the same Ismail Ala. Therefore, this person mysteriously lived in me, and when I was six or seven years old, I found out that he was a poet, and there was a lot of his poetry in a box in our house, and I felt that if I was him, I should also become a poet. So that's how you became a poet... I was unconsciously drawn to poetry and all of that... But I can say that for this gathering... Guests can be invited for various reasons. But these few people I invited are those who shaped the me that I am speaking to you and paved a path for me that I followed, and the first was becoming a poet. Your second guest is Mohammad Mirzadeh. Please tell me more about him. Mohammad Mirzadeh: My elementary school teacher. Reason for invitation: He was a very eloquent person and a top-notch teacher, and I can say that he has never left my mind. He taught me how a person's life can intertwine with society. I lived in the southern part of Tehran in a very impoverished and backward environment. However, in our school, this Mr. Mohammad Mirzadeh was a medical student who taught the fourth and fifth grades. He was a very eloquent person and a top-notch teacher, and I can say that he has never left my mind. For example, I became the top student in the fifth grade, and he gave me a collection of Saadi's poems as a prize, writing on it, 'In hopes of the day you become a famous writer.' Throughout my life, whenever I wrote something, I thought about what Mr. Mirzadeh would think if he read it. After the revolution, I learned that in those years, during the 28 Mordad events, he was also arrested and executed. Suddenly, a person who had always been in my life, especially during the revolution, I thought about where Mr. Mirzadeh was shouting slogans in the streets, suddenly I realized that he had left the world in those years. So his actions had a profound effect on you, and you want to invite him. Yes, he taught me how a person's life can intertwine with society. The kindness and affection he had for the poor children of the school. Our life was not bad, and for trivial reasons, we had gone to the southern part of Tehran. But it was a very impoverished and difficult environment, and this Mr. Mirzadeh - who I later learned had leftist ideas - taught us how to think about society, not just about oneself, and so on. He was also a disciplined and precise person. I always loved teaching, but I wanted to teach in the style of Mr. Mirzadeh, the way he held the chalk and drew on the board, for example, wanting to dissect the members and organs of the body. For us, the children of the lower city, it was fascinating... He would bring colored chalks and draw the human body, brought frogs to class, dissected them to show how the heartbeat works. He was an extraordinary person and has always lived in me. Your third guest is Bahram Beyzai, a filmmaker, playwright, and great writer of our country. Bahram Beyzai (1938): Renowned Iranian playwright and director. Works: "Bashu, the Little Stranger," "Maybe Another Time," "Travelers," "Dog Killing," "Death of Yazdgerd," and dozens of other works. Reason for invitation: He was my closest friend and the most influential person on the literary and cinematic path I wanted to pursue. In fact, he was the one who introduced me to the intellectual environment of Iran in terms of both poetry and cinema. I met Bahram Beyzai when I was in the tenth grade at Aboumoslem High School, and he was also studying at that school, three years older than me. He was the one who introduced me to the intellectual environment of Iran in terms of both poetry and cinema. His mastery over intellectual movements and creative literary and cinematic currents encouraged me to continue my life in this path. Later, we were classmates in the Faculty of Literature for several years, albeit with differences in academic years, and then we became close friends. So it can be said that from the age of fifteen or sixteen until the revolution, which separated us, and we saw each other less, he was my closest friend and the most influential person on the literary and cinematic path I wanted to pursue. Did Bahram Beyzai have this cinematic and literary knowledge from those high school years or later? You see, filmmaking and directing theater required facilities that came to him later and very late. But his love for cinema, theater, and literature was very evident during that time and influenced everyone who had friendship and camaraderie with him. He was a person who had a lot of knowledge about Eastern theater and read books continuously. For example, he could talk for a long time about Shakespeare's works. Then, for example, when we went to the cinema and returned, he could narrate the entire film scene by scene for us, explaining how the music was, and so on. In my opinion, he was a genius. Now, in our culture, he was not given the opportunity to grow as he should have. I think he was a strange figure of our generation. Your fourth guest is Khalil Maleki, who was one of the leaders of the Tudeh Party and later separated. Khalil Maleki (1901-1969): Iranian politician. Fame: Member of the group known as the 53, leader of the Third Force Party. Reason for invitation: I can say that my interest in politics and political issues began in Khalil Maleki's class. Interestingly, my introduction to Khalil Maleki was also through Bahram Beyzai. When we were in the fifth grade of high school, he told me that Khalil Maleki rented a place above Saadi Cinema once a week for his magazine's office, and at the same time, kids gather to listen to him and so on. One day we went there together and became permanent attendees. Khalil Maleki held classes every week and spoke about current political issues. In any case, I can say that the key to my interest in politics and political issues started in Khalil Maleki's class. In the late 1930s, he considered himself just a journalist and published a magazine. He liked to gather young people around him. For example, that apartment above Saadi Cinema had three rooms, and one part was turned into a kitchen where they served tea, coffee, and beans. He had set up some chessboards there, and we would go there on other days to play chess. One night a week, he allowed Bahram Beyzai to go to various embassies to get films from those countries, and the Iran-America Cultural Association rented a projector. We would go get these films and show them in that small hall he had. He would also sit down and we would discuss the analysis of these films, etc. It was a cultural class outside the university that was more effective in educating people than the university. Dariush Ashouri was there, Katouzian was there, and there were people who later succeeded in their work. Did Khalil Maleki also influence you politically, Mr. Noori-Ala? Absolutely. Khalil Maleki taught me what dangers ideologies pose and what obstacles they create in life. He taught me that there is a historical contradiction in human life regarding whether the individual or society should take precedence. He said that he liked to say that man is a social animal, so society must exist for man to survive, and politics should be in the direction of preserving society against individual encroachments. In other words, he defined left and right for us in this way and planted it like a seed in us. At the same time, he did not limit ideology only to earthly issues and even believed that religions and so on are also a type of ideology. In fact, it can be said that without him explicitly teaching us the word, he made us people who believe in secularism, democratic secularism, in fact. This democratic secularism that you are currently pursuing and promoting has its roots to some extent in Khalil Maleki? Absolutely. I have always said that he has been my teacher and my friends in this regard. Now we come to your last guest, Nader Naderpour. Nader Naderpour (1928-1999): Poet, writer, and social-political activist in Iran. Works: "Plant and Stone, Not Fire," "Daughter of the Cup," "The Eye of the Sun," and other works. Reason for invitation: Nader Naderpour was a great poet, although his poetic style and the style I like were contradictory. But my relationship with Naderpour was not a poetic or literary relationship. Rather, my close acquaintance with Naderpour occurred during the establishment of the Iranian Writers Association. We were nine people who decided to create this association. From the very beginning, this association was divided into three groups. One group was the Tudeh members, who were represented by Be-Azin, Kasraei, and Sayeh. One was the group of Al-Ahmad, and...