Sunday, September 25, 2005

Warning: This post contains materials of both the soppy and the cheesy (literary) variety.

This is mummy. And me and Biba who the photographer guy apparently tried to take away from me but I refused to let go of until he gave up (hence the suspicious look on my face there). My mum once said that the age I am in this photograph is her favourite age of me because she didn’t need to change me anymore (nappy-wise I mean, not that before this time she had been thinking about returning me to wherever I came from or anything. At least this is what I’m hoping she meant), I could talk so she could have a conversation with me and I would not argue with her when she sat me down and made my hair into pigtails or dressed me in the way she wanted. This was a very short period in both of our lives of course which she cherishes to this day.
Knowing how much she enjoyed that period, these days in my yearly visits to Iran I sometimes give her the freedom to do as she pleases with me, for example last year I let her put Henna in my hair (which was one of the most unpleasant experiences of my life but it was ok because I knew it was making her happy. She is big on putting things in people’s hair, namely me. When I was little her favourites were egg yokes and bone marrow.) or this year I did not interfere when she suddenly decided to have a little play with my right nipple. She only sees me once a year ok? She needs to get a feel of things.
I know that everyone always thinks that their mum is the best mum in the world but I’m afraid you are all wrong because it is actually my mum who is the best mum in the world. I first realised this as a child when I had some sort of weird disease which meant I had to stay in my room for like a week and she would come in and play with me everyday, all day long.

Yesterday mummy made me very happy. She called me up and said, ‘I’ve been reading your blog.’ I usually don’t like it when people do this and a lot of people do this to me as well now days. ‘So I’ve been reading your blog.’ They say and then go quite. I’m not sure what my reply to this should be. The way I see it this is a weird sentence to say to someone and then nothing. But then again I’m very new to this blog business and I don’t know if for example I’m supposed to write the names of all the readers down somewhere and then at the end of the year handout an award to the best reader or what?
But anyway when my mum said this it was different, I could tell she had enjoyed it plus she didn’t go quite after her sentence (she rarely does during our phone conversations) she said about the parts she had liked and what she had liked about them. She even said that she had tried to leave a comment but wasn’t sure how to. So I got very excited and explained to her how she does this (something I later regretted when she told me that the comment she had wanted to leave was about her breastfeeding me)
Then her phone-card finished and she got cut off. Then I phoned her and we had that echo-y thing going on where every time you say something your voice is repeated three times. So we couldn’t carry on with our conversation.
I just wanted to say, thanks mum, you made my day and for the Nth time in my life you made me realise no matter how I’m feeling or what I’m doing, it’s only when I think I have made you and Baba (and now Kamyar as well) pleased, that I feel like I have achieved something.

Umm, now that I’ve said all these nice things about you, do you think it might be a good time to tell you something that is a little bit upsetting?
Here it goes. The cheese you sent me did not travel too well. I’m sorry. We did all that we could for it but it just insisted on going straight from the parcel into the bin.
On the plus side I have been nominated for the Smelliest Parcels Awards by our postman, Derek. It’s me against an Italian guy in Manchester who receives parcels containing freshly made salamis from his village in Italy and an Indian girl in London whose mother sends her Chicken Tikka Masala warps from Calcutta.
I’m really not that hopeful but Derek thinks I’m in with a good chance. Fingers crossed.

10 comments:

Azad said...

I had a good feeling too when I found out that my mom reads my blog :-)

GazanKhan said...

Is that your picture really? How beautiful you two are, but I guess you are even more beautiful now, regarding your [pady post!].Am I right or what?
By the way if you want to win, You can put some of that cheese between the foot fingers of the post man and tell him to sleep with his boots on for a week, then brings the processed cheese back to you. Believe me baby, you'll win the contest.

Anonymous said...

Oh, good morning, it's 06:10 in the land of dark and I've woken up to go to work. But when I saw the photo, I felt obliged to write something, cuz I know for the past I think thirty years, that has been one of my most favorit photos. That and your single one you know?! Oh and my brother's photos of the same era. I always liked to keep you two like that for myself. And then it's your Mum! She is the best Mum you know, I mean I love my Mum, but yours, if they gave awards, she would have won. I don't know how to explain it but I love this photo. P.s. do you think the names Shadi and Shadgol have confused people, or just myself?

Shirin said...

Thanks for saying that Azad, it made me feel like I wasn’t alone in my soppiness towards this matter :-)

Iran Azadi, How come you don’t have any pictures? Did you have to escape Iran or something?

Gzankhan, Yes you guessed it right; I am a lot more beautiful now ;-) paddy or no paddy!
About putting the cheese around Derek’s toes, well thanks for the tip. But as you know I am a very honest person and so if I win, I would like to win fair and square and without cheating and using smell enhancers like the postman’s foot and all that. Let the best man (or woman) win, that’s what I say.

Hi Shadi, and thanks for the comment! It’s your first one after the one on that post that I deleted, isn’t it ;-) Being busy at work?
Yes I think you have confused people a little. On my blog the problem with your name started even before you came to visit it for the first time. As you might know, you and my good friend of Upper Echelon of Happiness have the same name and so every time she left a message people thought it was you! Apparently there can only be one Shadi in the world! (She spells it Shady actually) To minimize all this confusion I suggest from now on you stick to Shadgol. What do you think? It’s pretty unique I think :-)

nyx said...

Hi shirins mum (I hope she reads the comments too). Just want to tell you that you have a beautiful daughter - inside out. she's a wonderful writer, and you've made a great job raising her (or else, how could she have been such a loveable person?)
Lots of love to all you mothers!

Shirin said...

Wow thanks nyxy :-)

Anonymous said...

Hi Shirin's mom, can you please send the cheese to us instead of Shirin from now on? she doesn't seem to be appreciating it like she should! I would have eaten the cheese regardless of its state of decay! afterall isn't cheese supposed to be old and stinky in order for it to be considered classy?!

nyx said...

*hihih* Negar is absolutely right. Especially hard cheese from Denmark. Smells like, you wouldn't believe it....

Shirin said...

Don’t be fooled by Negar Nyx and Mum. She only wants to use the cheese as an alternative to bananas to fight off the next hurricane with.
Yes people of Texas have some very strange habits.

s said...

BTW, great photo!