Memoirs of a Kurdish lady has been narrated in "The Garden of Grandmother"

A Kurdish Lady Memories

Akram Dashtban
Translated by M. B. Khoshnevisan

2018-8-14

The book "The Garden of Grandmother" which includes the narration of memories of the Kurdish lady, Khanzad Moradi Mohamamdi has been authored by Mahnaz Fattahi and published by the Office of Resistance Literature and Art of Sooreh Mehr Publications in 2017 in 284 pages. "Another Ordibehesht", "Farangis" and "Brides of War" are another works of the author which have so far been released. 

Mahnaz Fattahi has narrated the life of Khanzad in seven chapters of "The Garden of Grandmother". In the book's introduction, the narrator of the grandmother's stories writes, "One day, while my grandmother was praying, I looked at her and thought of writing her memoirs of the war time. I was looking for finding a proper opportunity to convince her. Finally, one day, we went together to the grandfather's grave and sat down under the tree that blossomed by his grave. I seized the opportunity and said, "Dada, I want to write your memories. Do you tell me your memories? Memories of wartime and displaced people." She said, my dear, what do you want them for? Do you want to spoil my good things? Do you want to tell all that I am a good woman? God must know what everyone has done, who knows well." I begged her so much that she was finally convinced."

As the phrase on the book's cover (Memoirs of the Kurd's lady, Khanzad Moradi Mohammadi) shows, the book has been written in the form of memory. The first chapter starts with the introduction of the narrator with her own language, "I am Khanzad from Ravansar, the village of Geleh Charmeh, I am a Kurd and 92 years old …" Then she introduces her family. The author from the very beginning uses footnotes, explaining about the Kurdish idioms that Khanzad uses and the geographical situation of her living place.

The book has been written in a feminine style, and the writer due to the writer's acquaintance with the area and the culture in which Khanzad has been grown up, refers to various cultural and religious points of the people, depicting their hospitality, kindness and simple life. The book's text enjoys space-creation and at the same time focuses on the details. The writer's exploration in the details has caused her to explain about the social customs of the time while referring to the social conditions of that period. Part of the book in page 36 reads, "Ravansar had three lords. We gave three kilos of wheat. But they wanted us more ransoms. We paid taxes every month. We had to give two chickens and six kilos of oil in return for each pair of cows. A few men went to ask the mercenaries to come later. They told the people, "You must prepare the ransom. We'll come later and take it." My father was very angry at them. He went to clash with them but some people stopped him and said, "That's enough Kak Ali. It is useless to be angry. Let them go."

In the book, Fattahi explains about the happy days of Khanzad's childhood, and the story of her marriage with Fattah who was a faithful and religious man. What is highlighted in this book more than the customs and traditions of the people of the area is their efforts to earn living legally and helping their fellowmen, in a way that this culture became fully apparent with the breakout of the Iraqi imposed war against Iran; helping the displaced Iraqis, and the people of Halabcheh and sheltering them, and then the story of Khanzad's children each of whom have been involved in the war, and the problems which happened for each of them. Khanzad's concerns for her children and the gathering of her children and grandchildren in their houses have fascinating stories that the author has quoted from the language of the narrator.

About "The Garden of Grandmother" and its relation with oral history, Mahnaz Fattahi who herself has played a role in the memories says, "While the book "The Garden of Grandmother" is the individual's narration, it has been written in the form of oral history, because it is not merely about the memories of Khanzad and I have interviewed 40 people such as children, the people of the town of Ravansar, the Iraqi people who were Khanzad's guests and the local authorities. While the book expresses memories, it also retells the process of her life from childhood to old age, reviewing the war's narration from the people's view. You face with important events in the memories like the arrival of Iraqis to western Iran and then the event of Halabcheh's bombardment".

He continued, "Alongside Khanzad's memories, the culture, customs and traditions of the area, the beliefs and the geographic identification of the area have been considered. I wanted to add more images and documentation to the book. But I could not. My flaws are mostly due to a lack of documentation, in which the atmosphere was not such that the images could easily be recorded. Filming facilities was not like today and there was no technology. I wanted to add pictures of the arrival of Halabcheh people to Iran, but did not. In general, I think I did what it should be done for this book and I'm happy with it".