"Rostam va Sohrab" from "Shahnameh"
BA Sallam,
This month's speaker is Mr. Behzad Dowlatshahi. He will be talking about the story of "Rostam va Sohrab" from "Shahnameh". "Shahnameh" or "The book of the Kings" is one of the most influential literary works in the Iranian culture. It has been the subject of numerous studies by renowned scholars.
Behzad Dowlatshahi is a bay area artist, writer and poet. He has had several exhibitions of his paintings in New York area as well as the Bay Area. You heard one of his beautiful poems in last doreh.
Thanks,
Foroozan
Salam Bar Hameh,
Following is a brief overview of what occured last night at the Doreh's monthly gathering. We all gathered between 7:00 and 8:30!! at Kourosh's house. He was the perfect host and greeted us with a nice smile and wide variety of munchies and food. I know I am getting spoiled with this "Mehman Navazee Ye Doostan". Thank you Kourosh. Everything was very good.
The guest speaker was Mr. Behzad Dowlatshahi, who spoke about "Shahnameh", "Ferdousi", and specifically the story about "Rostam va Sohrab". (Somehow Sohrab's name is so easy and familiar for me to write :)
Behzad started with explaining about various stories and fictions surrounding Shahnameh and how it was conceived. Some believe that Soltan Mahmoud Ghaznavi appointed Ferdousi to write Shahnameh as an outcome of a competition he held amongst four other poets. Some say he promised Ferdousi money for each line of poetry he wrote, which later he retracted on his promise. But none has been confirmed.
Then, Behzad gave a background about Ferdousi himself, and that he was born in 323 Hejri Shamsee in a "Dehghan" family which was considered an elite class at the time.
Behzad proceeded with explaining the structure of Shahnameh and then with the actual story about "Rostam and Sohrabi", which was a very moving and sad story. He explained that some believe he patterned the story after his own life and his son who died early on.
He concluded his talk with playing a tape about a piece of a play he wrote where he read a piece about the time Rostam killed Sohrab and the interaction between the father and the son.
During the break everyone enjoyed wide variety of sweets, (Zoolbia and Bamieh) my favorites, and mingled.
The talk was informative for those who wanted to get a good overview about Shahnameh and Ferdousi. Thank you Behzad for your efforts to put the presentation together.
Foroozan discussed the questionnaire she sent earlier yesterday and encouraged everyone to respond and take more part in the upcoming Doreh's activities. We also discussed "Sizdah Bedar", which by now you must have received the announcements sent by Mina and Foroozan.
The next Doreh's meeting is April 18th.
Don't forget about Sizdah Bedar and let Mina know if you plan to attend.
Rooz Bekhair
Yasaman
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