Reality

“There came wise men from the East
And offered unto him gifts
Gold and Frankincense and myrrh”
(St Mathew 2:1)

I suddenly scared when I received the final letter of granting permanent residency of Australia. Until that time, it was just a game for me. When you have nothing to do you have to do something! I think that is why many Iranian youths get married soon. Most of them do not know how effectively enjoy their life when they reach to the age of 27 or 28. Waking up at 11 AM as a result of mother’s grumbling; then have a bitter tea for the sake of have a bitterer smoke. Usually they puff the cigarette not around their house, because the region is under the natural surveillance cameras owned by dear neighbors. I think Iranians are among the first settlers on earth who explored and made the best use of CCTVs, but the God given version i.e. eyes and ears. Any movements around your home is recorded and simultaneously dispatched by dear neighbors to the relevant officials i.e. your mother and father. You can not imagine how quickly the information is transmitted to your parents. So no mint chewing gum can help removing the smell of cigar from your mouth, even no perfumes made by France , because your mom already knew the story. I recall a friend who used to have the leaves of trees instead of mint before entering home. But it did not help either. Finally, he ended in using opium. You know why? Because no God Given CCTVs could monitor his behavior when he was staying at the house of his friends.

In her email, the Aussie case officer allowed us to leave Iran and heading towards Australia in 2/5 months, otherwise our visa would be cancelled. Immediately I found that I faced a reality rather than a joke. Have you ever played a real poker? It is a petrifying game when you are not a millionaire. Each cent has a meaning for you. A poor man never lose money in a real poker, but in the middle of the game he is losing the bread of his home, bra for his wife or the pumpkin he promised to buy when he is back to home. Now Australia was a real poker for me. I had only two aces- and I wanted to claim “rest”. But I had no way to go for it because I was forced to! How could my mom answer the endless questions of the neighbors? She definitely would have no excuse for my rejection to go Australia. So I decided to leave Iran in 2/5 months for the sake of neighbors!