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.