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| Gohar Kordi: Courtesy of Serpent's Tail Press |
An Iranian Odyssey by Gohar Kordi
A more difficult escape from an emotionally suffocating life situation is almost inconceivable. Born into a culture where being born female was already a detriment, at four years of age, Gohar contracted an illness which, ignored by her family, resulted in her complete loss of sight.
While this neglect may have been accidental, it has long been understood that in some societies a female child is deliberately or negligently disfigured, maimed or disabled in order to enhance household income via begging.
As soon as she was viewed as old enough, each morning Gohar was placed in an area believed suited for her to sit and implore passers-by for whatever meager coins they might spare. Later in the day, these “earnings” would be appropriated by a family member.
With time, as her intelligence grew, Gohar found this plight humiliating to the point where it became unbearable. Still, her familial role had been assigned, and her pleas for its end were treated with that same indifference which had caused her to lose her sight.
A time came when she felt she would die inside if this subsistence continued. Desperate and determined, she found a means of contacting a radio station and thereby makes her miseries publicly known.
Eventually, she was rescued and relocated to a school for the blind. Once there, despite brilliant grades, her attempts to enter a university were met with a similar bigotry as she had suffered in the past. Still, in 1970, she succeeded in graduating from Tehran University.
Fortunately, during weekends spent at the home of a friend, this friend’s brother saw both her physical beauty and observed her deep understanding of literature as well as other interests the two of them shared.
At this point, I will leave the rest of the story for readers to explore and enjoy. Despite its disheartening start, this memoir ends on a drumbeat of triumph, a sense that the cruelest obstacles can be overcome by a combination of strength and ingenuity.
