Parvin Invited to Join the Ministry of Education

When I graduated from the American School, Madam Soler asked me to join the school and teach the students. I accepted the offer and stayed for two years. During the two years I worked as a teacher and studied the students from the position of a teacher, I explored more new things in them. Now I was a twenty-year-old girl and a number of my poems had been published in the magazines. I had a little fame and my name was known among the names of the poets and literary figures of the country.

One day I came across a strange event. An unknown man had come to our house to see me. In the first place I thought that he was among the readers of my poems and probably wanted to see me to talk about my poems. But it was a figment of my imagination. He had come from the Royal Court of Reza Khan. He said he had to talk to me secretly and privately about a significant, secret issue. It really surprised me. What private issue did he want to discuss with me?! A man from the Court? Meeting Parvin E’tesami? The young poetess?! Anyway, I met him in face to face. After buttering me up a lot, he said: “His Majesty, Reza Shah has personally invited you to join the royal Court and head the ministry of education.” I could expect anything except being invited to serve in the royal Court and head the ministry of education. His remarks both surprised me and made me laugh as well. It was really funny. Me and heading the ministry of education? Me with a single mind and thousands of obsessions; me with my heart being with the common people and whose poems smelled of the people; how could I forget the people?

Translated by: Sadroddin Musawi