THG Recom. 10: For the freedom to live an ordinary life
The anthem of Iranian protests, four films from September Festival and more
Welcome back to THG Recommendations after Dashain break. Now is the time to get to work. Please start it by supporting the brave Iranian girls, women and men who are risking their lives for freedom from the religious straitjacket. If you are away from Iran, you can feel the revolutionary vibes from the country in this beautiful song by Shervin Hajiaghapour:
If you want to sing this beautiful song, here is the lyrics in romanized English:
Barāye tūye kūche raqsidan
Barāye tarsidan be vaqt-e būsidan
Barāye khāharam khāharet khāharāmūn
Barāye taghyir-e maghz-hā ke pūsidan
Barāye sharmandegi, Barāye bi-pūli
Barāye hasrat-e yek zendegi-ye ma'mūli
Barāye kūdak-e zobālegard o ārezūhāsh
Barāye in eqtesād-e dastūri
Barāye in havā-ye ālūde
Barāye Vali-'asr o derakht-hāye farsūde
Barāye Pirūz o ehtemāl-e enqerāzesh
Barāye sag-hāye bi-gonāh-e mamnū'e
Barāye gerye-hāye bi-vaqfe
Barāye tasvir-e tekrār-e in lahze
Barāye chehre-'i ke mikhande
Barāye dānesh-āmūz-hā, Barāye āyande
Barāye in behesht-e ejbāri
Barāye nokhbe-hāye zendāni
Barāye kūdakān-e Afghāni
Barāye in hame "barāye" gheire tekrāri
Barāye in hame sho'ār-hāye tū-khāli
Barāye āvār-e khāne-hāye pūshāli
Barāye ehsās-e ārāmesh
Barāye khorshid pas az shab-hāye tūlāni
Barāye qors-hāye a'sāb o bi-khābi
Barāye mard, mihan, ābādi
Barāye dokhtari ke ārezū dāsht pesar būd
Barāye zan, zendegi, āzādi
Barāye āzādi
Barāye āzādi
Barāye āzādi
You can also find the translation with notes on context of different expressions in the song at:https://lyricstranslate.com/en/baraye.html
On cinema, only a week is now left of the screening time for films from Fêtes de septembre 2022 or the 2022 edition of September Festival of French-language Belgian cinema. These films are freely available worldwide until October 17. Here are some of the finest ones with English subtitles that I have watched so far:
UNE SŒUR: https://www.festivalscope.com/film/une-soeur/
MATRIOCHKAS: https://www.festivalscope.com/film/matriochkas/
D’UN CHATEAU L’AUTRE: https://www.festivalscope.com/film/dun-chateau-lautre/
JUILLET 96: https://www.festivalscope.com/film/juillet-96/
There must be a lot of other great films in the festival I am yet to discover. So please go to festivalscope.com and explore for yourself.
On Podcast: This issue of The Daily from New York Times about the ever real threat of nuclear conflagration is highly relevant at this point of time:
What Are Tactical Nuclear Weapons, and What if Russia Uses Them?
In Nepali, last week I excoriated the global fandom of Vladimir Putin—many of them from Nepal—by elaborating how he is decimating the future of an entire generation of Russian youth: रुसलाई यसरी बर्बाद पारे पुटिनले
Finally, there is one very strong book recommendation for Nepali speakers: please do not miss माधवी ओ माधवी, a collection of eclectic essays by Keshab Dahal this festive season.
On Substack, please enjoy this brilliantly curated collection of resources from my friend Kumar Shrestha at Life and Beyond:
Immigrants embark on an adventure to create different stories and suffer different woes. Here is a story of yet-to-be-legal aliens torn between the age to get married and the inability to get Permanent Resident status.
At the same time, Nepalis living abroad would desperately like to return to the home country. They too are torn between their love for home and the promises of their newfound lands.