It was 2008 when I first met Hasseli. He was the lead engineer of the project that I was managing for my then company.

 It was the kickoff meeting for the project we were executing in Iran. I was immediately taken aback by the presence of this 6 feet+, lanky, trim person in his early forties with pepper salt hair and stubby beard who had an aura of assurance and calmness around him. He was reserved and did not believe in silly jokes which could release the pressure in the meeting room.

Like most of the mallus, I was immediately intrigued. In the coming days, we started talking about Iran. At that point in time Iran was going through an UN (please read as US) embargo. When he started talking about politics, he was very confident about what he was talking about. And one of the things that he emphasised was that Iran (to be read as Persian empire) is a country which never attacked another country from time immemorial. All attempts of invasion from the west where actually blocked by Iran (Persia), so that almost none of them could reach to India further east, that I learned it years later through one of the talks which I was listening to.

 In the coming days, we started talking about the cultures and art. This was when he came up with some Anaglyphic images of Persepolis. That was news to me. The 3D images and a bit of reading changed my distorted outlook of Iran (Persia). We talked at length about the art and culture and even the language. That’s when I learned “Kursi” and “Hawa” in Parsi have the same meanings as in Hindi as does many other words.

 On the way back from one of our luncheons Pundit Shiv Kumar Sharma’s Santoor was playing in my car audio and he suddenly claimed that Santoor was an Iranian musical instrument. I remember that I was astounded by that and argued about it. The next day, he came to the office with a CD of Faramarz Payvar who is considered as one of the greatest Santur (Iranian spelling) of all time. Incidentally, I had carried a copy of the album from Pundit Shiv Kumar Sharma on the same day. And what he said when we exchanged the CDs reverberates in my mind even on this day, “this is the true cultural exchange”.

  It was our turn to visit Iran next. It was the beginning of winter, but Shiraz already had some snow to offer. The first surprise at his office was that his superior, who was a lady, even more composed and collected than himself. This was a surprise after my exposure to the Islamic world till then. It was Ramadan and when the lunch time came, he sat down with us for lunch declaring that “I am not that religious”.

 During the weekend we made our trip to Persepolis. And the grandeur of the place literally took my breath away. The legend says that the Persepolis which was the capital of the Pars kingdom was burned down by Alexander the great after the conquest of Persiain in 330 BCE. It says that he (Alexander), under the influence of alcohol started the fire. It lay in peace for centuries, till in the 1970s it became a UNESCO cultural site. You can find reconstructed videos of Persepolis in the “YouTube”, please check those out. I have a couple of pics from Persepolis in the post. The headless creature you see is actually a bull. I don’t have to tell you how to draw the parallels between the present-day cow (“go” in Hindi and “gov” in Persian) of the north India and the Iranian pastorals.

One of the things that lasted in my mind after all this was the passion that the Iranians carry in their hearts for their homeland. In spite of all the shortcomings that they have, they are sure and proud of their identity as Persian, their self-respect, their unflinching love for the nation and the resolve to bring it back to its past glory. On the way back from Iran, we were flying by an outdated Boeing 707 which possibly was the smoothest landing that I ever experienced in Dubai. On the way out of the flight, the young lady flight attendant, asked me “Indian?”. And when I said “yes”, I could see her eyes lit up in respect and affection for/of the country which they have immense camaraderie.

 Well, that was 2008/2009.  Don’t know whether the same feelings are there now with the Iranian people (most probably not).

 But today, I wish my friend Hasseli could tide over these difficult times and some day we can once again sit for a chit chat about history, Santoor and many other things which we used to have.

Good luck my friend.