Salsabil is Salsabil

Elham Saleh
Translated by Natalie Haghverdian

2019-12-17

Cruising Tehran's old neighborhoods has a different feeling; the ambiance of the clean swept alleys, the houses with courtyards, the tiny ponds in the middle of the courtyard, the trees running to the sky in the houses and the neighbors who care about each other. This Tehran might be strange to us and unbelievable for future generations, but the forgotten memories of its neighborhoods and people might be preserved in memories. That's what the books do. Salsabil[1] does the same. Salsabil is a report of people living in the 10th district of Tehran; people from neighborhoods such as Salsabil, Beryank, Azerbaijan, Qasr al-Dasht, Khosh and Jeyhun. In this book, they tell the past and present of their neighborhood to make a part of District 10 oral history.

Memoirs of an old journalist

Many have been mentioned in Salsabil, the old shop owners in the 10^th district to those involved in cultural activities. Asghar Zarabi is one of those residents; a journalist and Hafiz schollars living in Salsabil, who expresses his observations of the neighborhood in the book: “A part of Salsabil was wheat field. At the end, there was a large garden called the Golestan, which is now a recreational area. In 1963, there were a couple of boutiques, a number of glass shops and a tailoring shops, and a few cafés, which formed the businesses of Salsabil. Flying pigeon were common in this neighborhood, and some others were so-called "pigeons-fly gamers". "Of course, there were many coffee shops all over Salsabil."

In the past, Tehran was smaller and the neighborhoods were less populated, and the neighbors knew each other well and kept in touch. Salsabil is one of those old neighborhoods where love of neighbors was popular. "Salsabil and Navab were special neighborhoods," Zarabi said. Their particularity was because of the love and care in between neighbors". There were no apartments and multi-story houses. The houses were at most one or two floors and all close together. People were very much in touch with each other, and Salsabil and Navab were not commercial as they are today. The friendship and caring about neighbors made life sweet and lovely. ”

Salsabil; gardens and vegetable growing

People in the streets are the narrators of the book, from Hasan Ali Sedghi Tavana, the owner of the Watan café, the first cafe in Salsabil Street, to Michael Haman, a German filmmaker who has passed through this neighborhood, and Tahereh Sadegh Rizmpisheh, retired teacher who remembers the private gardens around Salsabil very well. Babak Moghaddam, a resident of Salsabil, is another narrator who talks about the early history and recreational areas of the neighborhood. Part of his remarks is on the state of food in the old Salsabil: "In the past, the down end of Salsabil was full of gardens and vegetable growing lands. Fruit and nuts were also brought to Salsabil from the villages of Kan-Suleghan and Tarasht and the currently known Azadi Street, which was a dirt and narrow street, by mules. Most people planted vegetables in their garden and often had fruit trees, especially persimmon in the yard. "There were also some husbandries around the area from where milk and dairy were brought to the locals by mule and bicycle."

Reference to “Traditional Relationships” Book

The author of the book quotes some of the information contained in the books and "Traditional Relationships" by Dr. Mohammad Mehdi Forghani is one of them: “Besides the story tellers and showmen and those reading the Shahnameh, there were also comedians in the café who would entertain people. The café even occasionally auctioned goods and merchandise. It is said that the coffee shops were the popular place for poets because they found it the best place to connect. To summarize, it should be said that the cafés, besides their other roles in the community, such as leisure and recreational activities, have been a vibrant and exciting place for cultural communication. "

Seal of Approval on the Book

The author of the book has stirred up the history of a neighborhood with the help of its residents to portray a part of Tehran to its audience not too long ago. He has succeeded. Those who tell of their neighborhood in this book have lived and experienced Salsabil. Their memories can be trusted. Their memories are part of Tehran's oral memory. Pictures are also used in between these memoirs to document the words with the image and to have an impressive book.

The author, however, has received approval from some people for his book. Seyed Abdollah Anvar - a researcher, copywriter and cataloger, Nasrollah Hadadi - a Tehranologist and Reza Kianian - an actor and writer are some of these people.

Reza Kianian, in his preamble to the book titled "The old memories of people, the identity of tomorrow", emphasized that the memories of the people of yesterday build the future of the people of today: "Tehran's history is old buildings; building build during Qajar and Reza Shah but then destroyed resulting in loss of identity for the city. Salsabil of yesterday or Rudaki of today are each famous neighborhoods which are not just reminiscent of yesterday. The history of the streets and neighborhoods are our identity. Neighborhoods with a historical identity and heritage that we have forgotten. "

Preamble of a Tehranologist

The book Salsabil contains conversations with people who might have experienced the old neighborhoods of Tehran, but are no experts in Tehranology, the book is something and the preamble by Tehranologist Nasrollah Haddadi is something else. In fact, the preamble provides complete information about Tehran's past. Haddadi first refers to Tehran surrounded by the Tahmasp king and then Naseri. "Mozaffari Lands of Yesterday to Salsabil Today" is another part of the preamble which reads: "The neighborhood of Salsabil, from the part behind the Baghshah garrison, had the chance of receiving piped water in 1959 in less than two years which was the reason of its development and the Bagh Shah garrison area was the first place receiving piped water. Salsabil might be referred to as “Sar Sabil” meaning the stream basin or Rudaki, today it is one of the busiest neighborhoods inwest of Tehran, with a highway that would be much more effective in facilitating traffic if it continued south of the city and connected to Nawab Highway."

The ancient architecture of the mosques, the cinemas that have been shut down, the shoe stores in North Salsabil, the figures of the Revolution, the first residents of Salsabil and the martyred Salsabil commander, are some of the topics of the book. The most prominent figures in this neighborhood are presented in a section called "Prominent Features of Salsabil featuring "Kourosh Yaghmaei" - singer, songwriter, "Fereydoon Foroughi"; singer, songwriter, Seyyed Hassan Hosseini; poets and author, and Mansour Parzegar, wrestling champion.

The old photo album of "Mahmoud Habibi" and "Mohammad Ali Asadzadeh" also give an insight into Salsabil and its people not too long ago so to paint a better image in the mind of the audience.

 
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