Tuning in…
Tuning in…
Castaway
1 appearance
An expert in Middle Eastern affairs, professor in politics, women's studies, and Islamic law; crossbench peer, Shia Muslim, Marxist, and feminist.
On the island
Eight records
Barum Barune is a song about the arrival of the rain, and it's sung by Shusha Gabi, who is a wonderful singer for whom I have a lot of of admiration, because she was One of the first Iranian women to come in the West, and she was bohemian and a singer, and loved, and I absolutely adored her.
Jaten Rais is a song that my mother used to sing when I was very, very little, when we were in in France. and she, unlike me, could really sing. And very sadly I lost my mother when I was fourteen. And um this song which is about waiting and thinking. Um, just makes me think of her.
Marobebus is a revolutionary song. which is about someone going after their destiny, leaving where they are. But it became very popular when I was a teenager in Iran, and it became very popular as a goodbye song of lovers. And I remember my cousin and I trying to play it on the piano and singing it as a love song.
General Craternien is actually Edith Piaf saying exactly that because I do not regret any of the decisions I made, and I went subsequently to make an equally bad decision in my family's eyes by marrying Maurice, but I think I was very, very lucky. I made the right choice, and I think at the time for the right reasons.
The Yellow Submarine is a song that that goes right through our family. First of all, because I actually won a ticket to hear the Beatles in a poker game.
Der Hölle Rache kocht in meinem Herzen (The Queen of the Night's Aria) from The Magic Flute
Morris introduced me to the opera, and it s it was an absolute amazing revelation. I mean, I just fell for it. And the Queen of the Night was something that we always judged the singers. You know, if you really can sing those notes. You're absolutely top in our list.
Cello Suite No. 1 in G major, BWV 1007: I. PréludeFavourite
Is Jacqueline Dupre playing the Predue to Bach? And I must say that I came across the cello concertos at universities. And of course I played it when Molly, my daughter, was having Kate, our first grandchild. And she told me later on, you know, Mother, did you realize that you were dancing around the room to Bach? and I said it was just fantastic.
The Wind Beneath My Wings is an incredibly important song to me because my daughter was singing in a concert. At school, and she sang this song, and she began by saying that she was singing it for me.
In conversation
Presenter asks
2:10Which of your characteristics [feminist, Muslim, Marxist, expert on the Middle East] is the most important?
I am a feminist, and I think that that's at the core of everything that I do. I am also born in Iran and I remained Iranian. But of course, after 9-11, I then became a British Muslim. because that was an identity which was regarded as problematic. And we were all told to choose between our identities as Moslems and our identities and as British. And I am what I am. And why should I choose when other people don't have to?
Presenter asks
4:46Describe your privileged upbringing in Iran.
Well, I I was I was very lucky. I mean my parents were both very, very active and busy, but also incredibly loving. And really in my childhood I never had to do anything at all for myself. I mean, when I was fourteen years old, my nanny would bath me, she would undress me, she would put me to bed, she would be there in the morning, she would dress me, my mother would comb my hair, and it was just completely accepted that this is how it is.
Presenter asks
9:12Explain the impact that Jane Eyre had upon you.
Well, I mean, I was fourteen and there was this young woman Who loses everything? And she is able to cope, first of all, with the hardships at boarding school and and then to just stand on her own feet. And I just thought, you know, if I wanted to do anything, you know, if I wanted to get up, I need my nanny to dress me. So, you know, how would I ever be able to do something like that? And it actually made me decide to come to England.
The keepsakes
The book
Hafez
It will have to be the poems of Hafez, who is of wonderful Iranian poetry.
The luxury
I think I'll have a rose bush. I love the scent of roses, and I think it might start me planting a a a scented garden, which would be a wonderful thing to do.
Presenter asks
12:26What first impressions did England make on you?
Well, the first thing that hit me was how low the sky was. I was not used to grey skies which just hit you on the head, and it was how uniform all the houses were, and it took me a long time to get used to The weather, but I mean particularly the light that the the light was missing. I mean, once I I got to school, I was absolutely astounded at all the rules and regulations and and and the whole idea that you had to obey because you were told.
Presenter asks
13:41How did you hear of your mother's death?
Well, that was really awful because they didn't tell me anything. And then one day the headmistress asked me to stay back, and she announced it in the morning assembly that my mother had died. And it and that was ... I mean, I was just in pieces. Um, and I just I just I mean, you know. I sort of cried all morning. And then decided, okay, you know, this is not what my mother would have wanted. You know, I have to get myself together. I have to pull myself together.
Presenter asks
26:25How much pressure do you come under these days from the Iranian authorities?
I actually became a target because I wrote a criticism. of Khomeini's analysis on women by saying this is not Islamic. ... And so I I sort of said to him, but you know, Easton does not allow you. to become an executioner. ... And the choice is yours. And um He he ran, and the reality was that when I when I when I died, nobody answered. There was nobody coming up ... But anyway, I think I was convincing enough for him to run.
“I am what I am. And why should I choose when other people don't have to?”
“If I wanted to do anything to change things, the first thing was to be able to stand up on my own feet.”
“I think that you just you just accept that, you know, if you are as privileged and as happy as I am, you have to have a bit of pain. And, you know, you have to live with it.”