Interesting views on iran from a schoolmate of mine stationed there

May 20, 2005

-"A. Balakrishnan" Fri, 20 May 2005 07:32:05 +0100 (BST)Hi Balayogi,You have been keeping this forum quite busy!!How is DPB doing :)I guess she must be keeping you on your toes! By the way, Australia is great - have been working with a Banking Software Company for over a year now and have been traveling quite a bit eversince. Since our clients are mainly tier 2 and tier 3 banks – the places are also exotic! Right now I am doing my bitfor a project in Iran for a Bank called Bank Keshavarzi in Tehran. Well, if you knew what my first reaction was when I was assigned to a project in "IRAN" of all the places in the world! To tell you the truth - its one of the most beautiful places and the people are amazingly warm, friendly and respectful. Its been 5 weeks since I came here fromSydney and I am still getting over the shock of how could the rest of the world think this is a "Terrorist" state etc. Its probably the 'CNN' view that we are accustomed to. Having the second largest reserve of Oil no wonder this place has quite a good infrastructure and its economy is pretty vibrant inspite of sanctions placedon it. It has a fine balance of the modernization of the Western world and the cultural beliefs of the East. Well if you thought Iranians were Hardliners and conservative - on the contrary - they are very very secular. Kissing thrice on the cheek (same sex only Balayogi!) is the traditional way of greeting but wherever I have been I have received a solid handshake. Amazingstatistics is that 70% of the population in Iran is below 30. And petrol is 9 US cents to a litre! It is fair to say that just like they have Australia Vs. Rest of the World cricket matches, Iran Vs. Rest of the World Beauty Pageants should be considered – They are undoubtedly the Prettiest green eyed chicks!The society is pretty much flat – no hyped hierarchy and a great sense of the dignity in labour. I guess the reason is that the Politics is clean and so the people have a better standard of living – not a ruthless existence as in India, where the masses subexist on the fringes of the society and not co-exist. We are a superpower in almost every field of Technology, among the 5/6 nations that are capable of sending rockets into the orbit (space technology) and are among the bottom 10 nations in food security!It beats me and hurts too. Well, somewhere in the near future we will be there –India as a “Real” Superpower and where we feel a sense of pride with it!

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May 26, 2005

Namastey dear Ananda , and thank you so much for sharing the experiences of your friend in Iran..very interesting .. listening to the media we would have no real idea of how the people are... we are constantly being manipulated by those in power and the media whose job appears to incite..rather than give a balanced view.. very Kali Yuga..we must stay vigilant. Love to all sonia-

Dr.Ananda Balayogi Bhavanani

Friday, May 20, 2005 7:16 PM

Interesting views on iran from a schoolmate of mine stationed there

-"A. Balakrishnan" Fri, 20 May 2005 07:32:05 +0100 (BST)Hi Balayogi,You have been keeping this forum quite busy!!How is DPB doing :)I guess she must be keeping you on your toes! By the way, Australia is great - have been working with a Banking Software Company for over a year now and have been traveling quite a bit eversince. Since our clients are mainly tier 2 and tier 3 banks – the places are also exotic! Right now I am doing my bitfor a project in Iran for a Bank called Bank Keshavarzi in Tehran. Well, if you knew what my first reaction was when I was assigned to a project in "IRAN" of all the places in the world! To tell you the truth - its one of the most beautiful places and the people are amazingly warm, friendly and respectful. Its been 5 weeks since I came here fromSydney and I am still getting over the shock of how could the rest of the world think this is a "Terrorist" state etc. Its probably the 'CNN' view that we are accustomed to. Having the second largest reserve of Oil no wonder this place has quite a good infrastructure and its economy is pretty vibrant inspite of sanctions placedon it. It has a fine balance of the modernization of the Western world and the cultural beliefs of the East. Well if you thought Iranians were Hardliners and conservative - on the contrary - they are very very secular. Kissing thrice on the cheek (same sex only Balayogi!) is the traditional way of greeting but wherever I have been I have received a solid handshake. Amazingstatistics is that 70% of the population in Iran is below 30. And petrol is 9 US cents to a litre! It is fair to say that just like they have Australia Vs. Rest of the World cricket matches, Iran Vs. Rest of the World Beauty Pageants should be considered – They are undoubtedly the Prettiest green eyed chicks!The society is pretty much flat – no hyped hierarchy and a great sense of the dignity in labour. I guess the reason is that the Politics is clean and so the people have a better standard of living – not a ruthless existence as in India, where the masses subexist on the fringes of the society and not co-exist. We are a superpower in almost every field of Technology, among the 5/6 nations that are capable of sending rockets into the orbit (space technology) and are among the bottom 10 nations in food security!It beats me and hurts too. Well, somewhere in the near future we will be there –India as a “Real” Superpower and where we feel a sense of pride with it! -- _________Sign-up for Ads Free at Mail.comhttp://www.mail.com/?sr=signup"Health and Happiness are your birthright, claim them through Rishiculture Ashtanga Yoga" -Yogamaharishi Dr Swami Gitananda Giri