Rural Persians Cling To Old Customs

Press, Volume CV, Issue 31057, 12 May 1966, Page 2

Rural Persians Cling To Old Customs

Although sultry Persian beauties were seen in the large cities of Iran, women in the back country clung to the traditional Moslem customs, Mrs W. F. Mulligan told members of the Christchurch branch of the Royal Overseas League yesterday morning.

Mrs Mulligan and her husband travelled to Persia through Pakistan, covering 1500 miles of desert country by bus and stopping off at several smaller towns and villages and later at Yezd, Isfahan and Teheran.

Veiling was.no longer compulsory in Persia bat in the back country women were rarely seen on the streets, said Mrs Mulligan. While travelling through the desert the bus stopped at a bleak little Persian village, where a Moslem women and her two daughters were standing near a mosque. Mrs Mulligan wanted to photograph her but the woman would not allow it. “She believes that some of her strength goes out of her if her likeness is reproduced and no amount of persuasion could influence her otherwise.” Although the men pose quite happily for the tourists they do not like their women photographed, even in the cities. Deserts Vary Deserts in Persia vary enormously, and Mrs Mulligan, who was always accompanied by her sketch book, found them fascinating subjects. Some were sandy and bleak but some had vivid rock formations with blues, greys, purples and pinks. Trees do not grow easily in Persia and they are regarded as precious. People respect them. “There do not seem to be any vandals anywhere,” she said. The Mulligans were accustomed to milk in their tea and butter on their bread. But in Pakistan tea was normally served black in small glasses and a type of unleavened bread which was cut with scissors was served without butter, Mrs Mulligan said. In some of the better hotels

French butter was served. In Persia Mrs Mulligan bought a prayer rug. Later, in London, she saw an identical rug in Petticoat lane. “It was very hard to say which was the genuine article,” said Mrs Mulligan. “But the rug in Petticoat lane had a lot of pseudo-authentic knots on the back which made it seem a bit too good to be true.” Low Wages Going into Isfahan, the bus had a puncture going over an enormous bump in the road. Two Arabs appeared over the hill carrying shovels and repaired the damage. The people in the bus made a collection and gave the Arabs £1 each. “It was very sobering when we learned that we had given them the equivalent of four weeks’ wages. It made us realise what an enormously difficult job the Shah has trying to modernise his people when the wealthy landowners will not co-operate.” Isfahan still had all the charm of the old world. Marriage customs seemed very strange to the Westerner. At the Christian hospital Mrs Mulligan saw young mothers aged 13 and 14 with their first babies. “If they are wealthy and can afford a separate room at about £3 a week, they may bring two of their relatives to live in with them. Drove Bargain

plastic goods. You have to continue down long tunnels to find what you want.”

After she had sat crosslegged on the carpet with her husband with a pencil and paper for quite a long time, a satisfactory price was reached and three beautiful Persian rugs changed hands. Although Tehran was only a day’s journey from Isfahan, the two cities were worlds apart, said Mrs Mulligan. In Tehran there were two mil-

Bargaining with the Persians at the bazaar in Isfahan was very thrilling. “At the entrance of the bazaars, there were very shoddy Western goods—dreadful shoes, shoddy cottons and inferior

lion people, large cars and sultry Persian beauties. Huge Jewels “A glimpse of the crown jewels was just like a dream of the Arabian nights,” said Mrs Mulligan. The collection filled an enormous room. There was a jewel case two inches and a half long cut from a solid emerald, a ruby sugar basin, and a globe of the world about two feet in diameter made from solid gold. "Land was depicted in rubies, seas in sapphires, and the equator was a row of diamonds. It was just like a glimpse into Aladin's cave.”