We were planning to distribute posters to people taking part in our work seminar and we used green tape to hang them up. I guessed that our boss might worry that this would raise a few eyebrows higher up, so I felt I should let him see what we had prepared. On seeing the first poster, he immediately ordered a different colour tape. As I was leaving the room, he added: "And take your green pen from your shirt pocket". I have been putting a green pen or comb in my pocket since the start of Green Movement. I said nothing at the time, but the next day, when he passed by my office I asked if he had time for a short story; a memory of mine from the years before the 1979 revolution.
I was in high school. Summer vacation was on the way. Our class was given activity lists to fill out. I chose basketball for my summer free time. What a waste of time! Our forms turned out to be our membership registration for the Shah's new "Resurrection party"! The monarch had announced that all Iranians must join his new political movement, or to leave the country. So on a summer day, we were asked to give a hand at the launch ceremony held in a park close to our house. I was about 14 and such a gathering was an unusual event for a boy of my age. For the first time I saw top officials like the Minister for Education (She was later executed in the early days of revolution). I also saw a close relative. "Uncle" as we called him, was acting like the host of the event. Up close he whispered to me that it was the time for me to show off my involvement. He asked me to be active and gave me some jobs like distributing and filling out forms.
30 years passed. Iran underwent its biggest historical transformation and we all know the story. Suddenly there was no Shah and no Resurrection Party. We were living in an Islamic Republic. I was a government employee and a novice publisher. "Uncle" was a retired government employee, and a fanatical hard liner, a member of the Islamic faction that claims ownership of the Islamic revolution and boasts the biggest contribution to overthrowing the Shah's throne. At a family gathering he confided that he wanted to write a book, and since I was now in the publishing business, he expected me to help. I welcomed his plan and we chatted, but then he announced: "I want to write of my record in fighting the Shah's regime". I was shocked. I couldn't believe he was saying this to my face. As far as I knew he was a pro-Shah to the end of Monarchy, and now he was telling me, he wants to publish his memories of his resistance to Shah's tyranny.
Back in the office, I reminded my boss that in an unknown future when he is showing off the sacrifices he made for freedom and democracy - I might be around. "Ok! Put back your green pen", he said.
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