School years

Rouhi Rafiee near the school bell.

School friends, Bam

Rouhi Rafiee, a photo she took in a studio.

High school, Bam

Rouhi Rafiee & I on the stair to the upper floor of school.

Bam, school years

Distinguished guests after a school event. My aunt who was a primary school principal is invited as well. From left standing is my aunt. Sitting is Nosrat khanum Razavi, our very trendy principal. The Razavis, Nosrat & Akhtar were two sisters who were married to two brothers. Both sisters were famous for their strong personality and character.

Parvin High school, Bam, 1957

I am coming down the stairs wearing a white apron. Every once in a while we had home economy classes where we would make cakes and sweets. Our school sometimes turned it into an event and invited distinguished parents and education authorities for an afternoon of speeches and food tasting.

Ladies in their best outfit and Sahba Ansari, the daughter of one of the famous Bami aristocrats is reading something.

High school years, Bam

The entire class with our PE teacher after a game of vollyball.

Below: a group photo with Soheila at the front, 1957.

High school years, Bam

A group of us in Parvin High, late 1958.

High school years, Bam, 1957

Some time, somewhere which I don't remember, this picture was taken in 1957. Parvin High School didn't have trees or shrubs as it shows in this picture and I wonder where it was that Rouhi Rafiee(on the right), I, Jaleh Amanpour and the other girl whom I have forgotten her name) have gathered to pose for the photo. Rouhi was cousin to Dariush Rafiee, a famous Singer at the time. Bam had a number of aristocratic families. Rafiees were one of them, though they lived elsewhere, mainly in Tehran. Rouhi herself was in Bam temporarily. shortly after hight school finished I lost touch and never heard of her again.

High school photos, Bam, 1956

Parvin High. From left: Pouran in girlscott dress, Soheila and Golrokh.



Pouran, Soheila & I.

High school photos, 1956

Parvin high. From left: Hakimeh, I and Zarintaj Foroumand.

From left: Hakimeh, Zahra Asadpour and I

High school phtos, Bam

Jaleh Amanpour & I, 1957. In memory of the wonderful academic years, we have written!

High school photos

A bunch of us high school girls in the school yard. From left standing: Jaleh Amanpour, Zahra Asadpour. Sitting: Kahimek, me and the two girls I have forgotten their names.

High school years

Turan Asadzadeh & I, 1956. Rooftop of Parvin High school. Me & Turan were very close for a while, then our attention shifted to other friendships and we soon fell apart.

Migration to Bam

I was sent to Bam in 1954 to continue my education. In Jiroft, there were no high schools for girls. So, it was either I stayed and was married off to a local landowner's boy soon, or leave my family to continue my studies. It was a bold and hard decision for my parents, especially my mother. I was the eldest child and very close to her but she knew that by keeping me in Jiroft she will ruin my chances of getting a proper education. On the other hand, it was generous of my aunt and her husband to have me there as it was a big responsibility. But I was happy to leave Jiroft and be with my grandma and study in a place which had more opportunities than Jiroft. I started school in an automn day. Initially I felt lonely but soon I found a friend who accompanied me to school ever day of the nine months of year for 6 years. Akhtar Bahri's who was some years my senior and their house was close to my aunt's house. Every morning, she knocked at the door and we walked in slow paces, passing by a boys' high school and evaluating the boys from the corner of our eyes and deciding which one we preferred! Akhtar was keen on the boys socks while I preferred their hair style! We had our admirers as well but we wouldn't dare to go beyond the occasional peeping. It was a scandal in those days to talk to the boys on the street. The only person who dared to do that and no one blamed her was a Tehrani girls, Soheila Shokuri who had come to Bam temporarily with his brother, who had got a posting in one of the government offices. Soheila joined us in our fourth year. Being familiar with the business of getting boyfriends, she soon involved all of us in her advanturous plots where we were mere onlookers. Me memory of the 6 years in Bam are full of happiness, teenage friendships, competitions and rivareries. I rarely missed home since my grandma was all I wanted and she was there for me. My whole universe was there. I moved to Tehran in the early 1960s to attend the university.

New year in Bam

A photo to remember. New Year 1959. From left: my brother, Mehdi who was very mischievous, aunt Iran, Zarin & Simin(back), mum, Fati, me and Soraya Irani. That new year remained in our memory as one of the happiest ever. We played and enjoyed our reunion and my memory of those gone two weeks is full of total happiness as I had my whole family with me.

New Year in Bam

New Year 1959, Bam, my aunts house. From left: my mother in a velvet dress, aunt Iran and Soraya Irani.

A photo to remember, 1957

This photo was taken in Showkat khanum's house. She was my aunt's sister-in-law. From left standing: Showkat, aunt, me in school uniform and grandma. Sitting: my three cousins. Showkat khanum lived in the extended household with her parents where my aunt joined after she got married and moved to Bam. She and my aunt did not have good relations at first. But after she was married off to a man much older that her they stayed in good terms. Although they didn't have any children, they lived a happy life. Showkat khanum who was a very modern, well-dressed woman turned religious after the revolution and gave away all her wealth to religious charities. She still lives in Tehran but suffers from dimentia.

New Year, 1959

New Year 1959 in Bam. Being very special to my grandma, she urged Mr Sadjadi to take this photo of me. We have just got up from around the Sofreh which we used to derocrate for the hour the year changed from old to new and grandma took the green from the sofreh and put it on the table for me to pose. Radio Andria can be seen in the background. The dress I am wearing was lemon with black flowers. Grandma used to give me her pearl necklace to hold in my hand during the year turning time for good omen. By this ritual, she believed I would be rich some day!

Aunt Iran's family

Aunt Iran's family: Mehdi, Mr Sadjadi, Aunti, Fati and Zarin.

Bam & New year 1959

Narmashir palm groves and we posing for the photo.

Another family outing

The 1959 new year was very special. It was my family's turn to come to Bam. Apart from them, one of Mr Sadjadi's relatives, Soraya Irani was there as well. From left: cousin Mehdi, Zarin, Soraya, my sister Simin, little Fati, aunt Iran and I. We had gone to Narmashir, a village outside Bam which grew palm trees and its dates were famous round the world.

Zarin & I

This again is Zarin and I outside Jiroft in 1959.

On the way from Jiroft

This photo was taken in spring after we were returning from Jiroft. We used to spend the new years together, my mother and aunt Iran and grandma and obviously the whole lot of us. I was living with my aunt and studying in Bam so after we enjoyed the new year with my family we are on our way back. The photo was taken in 1957. It was in the outsirkts of Jiroft, Fati on my left and Zarin on my right. Then we were a very close knit family and I loved my cousins like my own siblings.

A family picnic in the outskirts of Bam.

Part of my family in the outskirts of Bam. From left: Mr Sadjadi, aunt Iran, my mother, grandma and Badri khanum, my mother's youngset uncle's wife. The baby is my cousin Mehdi who is 60 now. The photo was taken about 59 years ago!

While in Bam, we used to go picnicing a lot. Mr Sadjadi had bought a jeep and often took the whole family and guests out of town. Being very skinny, I was squeezed at the driver's side to save space for many who themselves would squeeze for space. Mr Sadjadi would sometimes go deer hunting with his male relatives at night and bring a number of hunt back which my aunt and grandma would supervise their distribution among relatives and neighbours.

Spring 1958, Jiroft

This photo was taken in the spring of 1958 in Jiroft. My mother holding my dad's rifle, my aunt Iran and I in the outskirts of town. Now I was old enough to be included in the adults circle. It must have been a moment of total closeness and delight. The way mum has leaned on her sister and I look happy. Where are the rest of the clan? Nowhere to be seen. Wish my gandma was in the photo then our union of three generations would have been complete.

My aunt's house in Bam

This is the most interesting photos of all. Taken in Bam in the courtyard of my aunt's house, from left standing: aunt Iran, her younger sister-in-law Eshrat and the older sister-in-law Showkat.

Sitting: left my grandmother Bibi Atieh and my aunt's mother-in-law Bibi Sadjadi. all seem to have dressed for an occasion. As long as I remember, Bibi Sadjadi used to shave her eyebrows and use eyebrow pencil instead. She had thin, dark lips because of addiction to opium. This picture was taken in the early 1950s. Behind them is an orange tree which I remember vividely and the big pond in the middle of the courtyard. The many rooms where my aunt, grandma and her mother-in-law lived are set around the courtyard. The corridor behind Showkat led to the back of the house which was an orange and palm grove in the middle of which ran a brook whose origins were the subterranian waters in the deserts surrounding Bam. The 2 photos below: Left: my aunt Iran's mother -in-law and Showkat khanum her daughter. Right: Mr Sadjadi and two sisters: Showkat and Eshrat khanums.

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My parents & aunt Iran and her husband

A photo taken a short while after my aunt's marriage. My father on the left has tried to look like city boys but comparing with my aunt's husband?............
The photo has be taken in mid-1940s.

My mother

My mother in her early thirties.

In Bam with cousins

In the orange and palm groves of Bam. Me & my cousins, Zarin about 10
years and Fati 6 or 7 years old.









Various outings in Bam: New Year 1954.

Now Rooz in Jiroft

Two photos taken in Jiroft. It is during the Nowrooz time(our New Year).On the right, Manuchehr & I in the wheat farms outside town. He must have been about 14 years of age. The photo on the left shows Manuchehr (about 10), me, aunt Iran and Fati who is about 7 at the time. Photo was taken about 50 years ago. As my little family split between Bam & Jiroft, they decided to come together each new year. One year in Jiroft and the next in Bam. We children were looking forward to these re-union of my mother and aunt and above all my dearest grandma who for most of the time lived with my aunt. My mother missed her dearly and cherished every moment they were together. I remember the first thing they did when the bus would sto and they disembark was the gush of tears and the crying of all three in each other's arms. We were left alone to roam the gardens and play as much as we want while my aunt & mum and grandma would sit and chat and tried to catch up the lost times.
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نوروز در جیرفت

عکس اول من و برادر ناکامم منوچهر در گند مزارهای اطراف جیرفت. عکس دوم بترتیب از چپ منوچهر با اداهای بچگانه، من و خاله ایران و فاطی که باید حدود 7 سالش باشد. نفر بعدی را بخاطر نمیاورم. از انجائی که خانواده کوچک مادرم با ازدواج مادر و خاله از هم جدا شدند قرار گذاردند که هر نوروز بنوبت دور هم جمع شوند. یکسال در بم و یکسال در جیرفت. جدائی برای مادرم بسیار سخت بود چونکه نه تنها خواهر را از دست داده بود بلکه مادر بزرگ نیز با خاله زندگی میکرد و مادرم از دوری او بسیار رنج میبرد. هر بهار هنگامی که اتوبوس می ایستاد و انها پیاده میشدند مدتی در اغوش هم زار میگریستند و ما بچه ها نیز این رسم را در سالهای بعد تکرار میکردیم. زمانی که من از خانه دور بودم و برای تعطیل باز میگشتم بیاد دارم که منوچهر را بغل میکردم و زار میزدم. او همیشه میگفت چه شده که گریه میکنی.

Aunt Iran & her husband

Aunt Iran in their house in Bam.

This photo must have been taken shortly after my aunt's marriage.

Aunt Iran in her prime

Aunt Iran, few years after marriage. She was beautiful and very modern.

Mr Sadjadi, Zarin & Mehdi

زنده یاد اقای سجادی و زرین و مهدی دختر خاله و پسر خاله. اقای سجادی همیشه شیک پوش بود و از جوانان مدرن دوره خود بحساب میامد

Mr Sadjadi, Zarun and Mehdi, my cousins. The photo must have been taken some 60 years ago. Little Zarin is three and Mehdi a few months old. As our family split after my mother and aunt Iran's marriage, we moved to Jiroft and they moved to Bam.

In Jiroft where we lived for some years

A family photo outside the house in Jiroft. My mother, I (8 years old), Simin (4 years old) and Manuchehr ( about 18 months).

Photo taken around 60 years ago.

عکس در جیرفت حدود 60 سال پیش. مادرم با من که حدود 8 سال داشتم، خواهرم سیمین، 4 ساله و منوچهر یکسال نیمه یا دو ساله.

We moved to Jiroft when I was in my third year of primary school. First it seemed like a nomadic life as Jiroft was no more than a big village with no proper houses or streets and so on. Every body lived in a plot of land in wooden huts. When we obtained our plot, my mother made my father to build a proper house. the land was big about 10,000 square meters and we build the house right in the middle. Four rooms, two at each side of a long hall which in later years turned into a reception room. A toilet in the far end of the garden and no baths. We had to go to the public bath which was close by. My mother designed the plot and turned it into a beautiful orange grove. A lane led to the gate at the far end, along which she planted daffodiles and tuberoses and just near the gate two weeping willows. This photo is taken in happy days. I remember the colour patterns on my mother's dress; violet, a passionate violet colour. I loved it when she had that dress on. With those two braids and the nice dress I look nice for an 8 year. Little Manuchehr is very serious then. And Simin looks good. Good old days!

On the photo above I am with the same floral dress as my mum. She used to change dresses to fit us when she was tired of them, or minw to fit my sister!

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زمانی که من کلاس سوم ابتدائی بودم خانواده ما به جیرفت نقل مکان کرد. در ان زمان جیرفت ده یزررگی بود که فاقد خیابان و کوچه و خانه های مدرن بود. هرکس که قطعه زمینی داشت در ان الاچیق و کلبه درست میکرد و زندگی بسییار ابتدائی بود. پس از انکه پدرم قطعه زمینی در شهر جیرفت که سبزوارانش مینامیدند بدست اورد، باصرار مادرم خانه ای در ان بنا کرد با خشت وا جر این ساختمان در وسط زمین قرار داشت: چهار اطاق در دو طرف یک سالن بزرگ که بعدها انرا در گذاشتند و به اطاق پذیرائی مبدل شد. مادرم با تلاش فراوان ان قطعه زمین ده هزار متری را به باغ پر از پرتقال و مرکبات تبدیل کرد. باغی با خیابانی منتهی به درب خانه در اخر زمین که در اطراف ان گلهای نرگس و مریم در بهار فضا را عطراگین میکردند و دو بید مجنون نزدیک به درب که با قد برافراشته و زیبا ما را از دید مستقبم افراد پنهان میکردند. عکس بالا زمانی گرفته شده است که مادرم لباس جدید خود را در بر کرده است و ما هم مرتب و تمیز هستیم