Kolkata: Kolkata-based Iranian, Sima Niakan (36), has been spending sleepless nights, even as she tries in vain to get in touch with her family back home. With all phone and internet connections snapped following the violence that has been raging through Iran for the last 10 days, she has no idea if her family, which lives in Neyshabur, 770 km east of Tehran, is safe. Many are believed to have been killed in her hometown during the ongoing deadly protest. The toll from the protests topped 2,000, according to US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency, though an Iranian health ministry official said as many as 3,000 died and the hospitals were now overflowing with corpses.
"I am feeling so helpless. I managed to talk to my mum last week on Tuesday when she was on the street, buying essentials. She was anxious, her voice was breaking, and the call suddenly disconnected," said Niakan, who has a seven-member family. That was the last time she heard from them. Her mother, Zohreh Ajelian (66), was ailing. Niakan last saw her family members on Jan 24, 2023, as she headed to Kolkata to marry her Bengali boyfriend, Dhrubojyoti Chatterjee. Chatterjee is a Bagbazar resident working as a show director in the animation industry. They met on social media and married after a decade-long virtual courtship.
"I fell in love with Kolkata, but I miss my family too," added Niakan. Amidst the threat of a US attack on Iran, Niakan thinks the uprising is not sudden at all, and it is a result of years of accumulated pressures, political exclusion, economic collapse, and the absence of basic civil rights in her country. "What we are seeing now is a societal breaking point, not a momentary reaction," she added. "During last year June, there was a 12-day-long war with Israel and almost a similar situation, but this time it is now more than a fortnight and still counting, with no chance of respite," said Chatterjee, her husband. Chatterjee stayed with Niakan during the challenging time and continued work-from-home to support her.
Niakan's hometown, Neyshabur, is the birthplace of Hakim Omar Khayyam, the renowned Persian mathematician, astronomer, and poet. "I love Kolkata's vibe during monsoon season," she added. Bengali foods like luchi, arhar dal, and local biryani are Niakan's most favourite. She also loves to venture out to local bazaars of Kolkata, as well as walking down Park Street, New Town, and Salt Lake streets.