Live To Win

While travelling across India and Iran I have been trying to observe the life, history and politics of both countries from the perspective of locals, partly from a desire to understand their cultures as they relate to long stories of struggle and national identity, and partly to give myself a better perspective on the life experience of being born in Australia – a new nation, yet one with opportunity to develop in many exciting directions. So far while learning, meeting people and asking questions, the dominant theme of my thoughts has been the tension within Iran and India between traditional cultures and the pull of globally accessible information about modernity and consumerism in the West. This is particularly felt by Iranian young people living in cramped, repressive situations, but it also expresses itself in the rise of the ambitious and modern Indian middle class, something which seems incongruous or unfair in a country where traditions and also poverty are so vividly visi

There is a cold wind blowing along the long boulevard, as i disembark from the bus which has brought me to the far western suburbs of Mashhad, one of Shia' Islam's holiest cities. The streets are wide, with scattered shops and barred windows. It is a friday, the holy day in Islamic countries, and naturally nost businesses are closed. I stand on the corner and zip my leather jacket closed to the collar, waiting for my friend made from a tenous internet connection to arrive as promised. He soon appears, leading his little brother by the hand. He has invited me for lunch at his parents house, and we make out way through streets populated by undecorated yellow brick buildings, sparse winter trees, and grey skies. I feel that i have somehow entered a different Iran from the bustling city centre of Mashhad, or maybe this is in fact the true face of the city, just as the outer suburbs of Melbourne can give you more perspective on the demographics of a place than it's urban heart.