A Rendezvous about Books (Not just hers!)

Dr Azar Nafisi. Oh how I wish she's my professor!

Yours truly with the woman who read Lolita in Tehran.

This is a woman who's passionate about books, and not just hers. Dr Azar Nafisi only read a short passage from her latest book Things I've Been Silent About: Memories and occupied the rest of the time allocated for her to share her latest cause in saving independent bookstores specifically and bookstores in general from closing down due to economics downturn and technological advancement that threaten the conventional way of acquiring reading materials.

She doesn't talk much about the former but concentrated more on the latter. Yes we can now buy books online she said, "but nothing can beat the feeling of possessing a book by holding it with your bare hands and making it yours." Oh what a helpless romantic, some might say, but as an avid reader myself, I can emphatize.

I was considering getting a digital reader myself about a year ago but decided against it because I was unwilling to give up the smell and the feel of each page against the skin of my fingers. And the act of actually paying the cashier in exchange for possession - oh nothing can compare to it! My parents taught me early; the trip to the bookstore is a monthly ritual for us and my parents would let the four of us roam around, choose books (yes, books!), hand us the money and insist that we line up for check out ourselves. An experience that doesn't only cultivate independency in us but also instill that conventional love for books that is second to none. Mom and Dad, I sure owe both of you a lot! *You can bet that this is one of the important parts of my upbringing that I do want to pass on to my own future children*

Dr Nafisi is a true teacher. She is so vibrant and engaging, so even with her pretty heavy Iranian accent I was transfixed at her very words. She mentioned her personal view that a woman should take the veil because of her faith and it shouldn't be the symbol of state thus forced on females. I share this opinion, but let me word it a little differently. As someone who has been accused of being as apostate and accused of not believing in the miracles of the Qur'an, I guess I need to clarify before being accused again of only God knows what. Okay, here goes: I accept that Muslim women must veil themselves, but I also believe that if a Muslim woman chooses not to, that matter is between her and God. She has made a choice, thus she must face the consequences (i.e the hellfire in the afterlife). We should not be judging her because we are imperfect ourselves. If there was one thing I really hate, that would be "holier than thou" attitude.

However, when I do share her opinions about some clerics misinterpreting the words of God, I do not agree when she said that "who are the clerics to tell us what to do when God Himself has been silent?" Well, I think maybe she hasn't been listening hard enough. Contradiction in opinions is not something to be frown upon, but celebrated. When she asked me while she was signing my book where I am from and I dutiful replied, she mentioned of her works with a female Muslim group in Malaysia.

"Sister In Islam?" I tried to clarify.
"Oh yes. Do you know about them?"
"Yes, but I am not a big fan."
"Why?"
"Well, they're a little liberal for a conservative Muslim like me."

The conversation then turned to my veil (it's just a scarf really, my first tudung bawal, a gift from my Cousin Nafisah). I have to say that for a woman of strong opinions like her, Dr Nafisi is very respectful of views different from hers. Tolerance is the key to communication, after all.


*Lolita is a beautiful novel by Vladimir Nabokov