I used to work at a shop in a railway station. A guy came by who was Iranian, I showed him a picture of his country in National Geographic magazine of a very beautiful green stream in the countryside. He was astonished, staring at the picture, and asked me to read the caption for him. He said it was very near his home, he was like speared by homesickness... so much so that he missed his train. He was going to Liverpool, I think for his Home Office interview on his asylum claim.
He jumped on another train, I never saw him again.
I imagined him trying to make sense of such an unlikely encounter in this hostile country on such an important day, when a life-or-death decsion was about to be made for him.
And then this song came on the radio. "I've seen the beauty of the universe so peaceful and serene, in seconds turn to violence and screams", and it just summed up that moment, the beauty and the terror of life in Iran, and of such a day among the English.
I used to work at a shop in a railway station. A guy came by who was Iranian, I showed him a picture of his country in National Geographic magazine of a very beautiful green stream in the countryside. He was astonished, staring at the picture, and asked me to read the caption for him. He said it was very near his home, he was like speared by homesickness... so much so that he missed his train. He was going to Liverpool, I think for his Home Office interview on his asylum claim. He jumped on another train, I never saw him again.
I imagined him trying to make sense of such an unlikely encounter in this hostile country on such an important day, when a life-or-death decsion was about to be made for him.
And then this song came on the radio. "I've seen the beauty of the universe so peaceful and serene, in seconds turn to violence and screams", and it just summed up that moment, the beauty and the terror of life in Iran, and of such a day among the English.