Out & About with Brief #RandomThoughts On the Eve of #Nowruz

The Countdown to Nowruz continues!!!

The team at Taghvim.com has been tracking the countdown!!!    I had no idea that 19 countries (that's almost 10 percent of the members of the UN) recognize Nowruz as a National Holiday.    This is as the UN has also designated Nowruz as a day of celebration as well.    The Smithsonian in Washington had a celebration this past Saturday and I captured their beautiful "Haft-Sin" which signifies renewal, hope and optimism.    I am jealous as mine does not even come close to this!!

I wanted to do the traditional jumping over the fire that signifies to let go of the past, burn it off and look ahead--I did not have a match to light something--and being a serving a City Official, it simply was not right--so I did it "Virtually"!!!     But, I could not help to remember the less fortunate in Iran right now captured so beautifully by this: 

This depicts a child bringing her doll to her parents as she wishes them Happy Nowruz--to underscore the unspeakable hardship Iranians are facing right now.    There is a day that does not go by as I review the Telegram Channels--it is just heartbreaking.    This is as I pay tribute to all the political prisoners including the lioness of Iran, Nasrin Soutodeh, who has officially received her sentence and has decided not to appeal it to underscore the injustice that prevails in Iran today.    As one simple ordinary face, I salute Mehdi Felahati who paid such a beautiful tribute to her as he called her the most courageous person of the Iranian Year 1397.      One of her crimes:  the decision to accept the case of some 6,000 people accused of supposed security offenses.    Jafar Panahi, the acclaimed Film Director, called her a Modern Day Gandhi or Mandela--I could not agree more.    That's why the Regime is so afraid of her.     I caught this (in Farsi) on the Tavanah Telegram Page based on updates from her husband who's also facing a prison term:

I continue to be in awe at the resiliency of Iranians in spite of it all as I leave all w/this beautiful 2 Minute celebration of Nowruz:

Onward as I say, "#WeWillReClaimIran"...