Catherine Yesayan (right) with Deegeen Arax (center)BY CATHERINE YESAYAN
It doesn’t happen often that someone dear to you turns 100. I was invited to a celebration of life of a dear friend’s mom who turned 100 on December 12, 2023. The celebratory event was postponed a few tines due to unforeseen circumstances. Two months later, however, we finally celebrated “Deegeen” Arax Aslanian’s—our centenarian—birthday on February 17 at Phoenicia Restaurant in Glendale.
In attendance were nearly 100 guests. As I entered the banquet hall and made myself comfortable at my assigned table, I noticed that old family photos were being screened on two different monitors. Then, I saw our centenarian enter the hall, dressed in a formal dark blue outfit. Her hair was coifed in her natural white—very elegant for the occasion.
Deegeen Arax at her 100th birthdayAfter dinner was served, and a few speeches delivered, Deegeen Arax announced that she wanted to recite poetry. To everyone’s amazement, including myself, she shared a few poems in Armenian, and one in Farsi.
To tell you the truth, I was dumbfounded to hear her recite all of those poems. I had known Deegeen Arax for over half a century, yet I never knew that she had a special aptitude for poetry. I asked her daughter if this was preplanned, to which she said, “Last year, at her 99th birthday, she expressed interest to recite poems, and she did.” This year, her daughter asked if she’d like to, again, recite a few poems, and she happily said, “Yes.”
The first two Armenian poems wee heard are among the most popular in our literature. First, she recited Yeghishe Charents’ “Yes Im Anush Hayastani,” followed by “Tears of the Arax River,” which is a lament about the suffering of the Armenian people. These two poems were followed by another Armenian poem, which was unfamiliar to me, and then one in Farsi.
After listening to Deegeen Arax recite these poems from memory, I began scratching my head. I wanted to know how she was able to remember all what I had heard. Was that an innate talent? I believe it is, as it all seemed to come so naturally.
I asked Deegeen Arax if I could meet with her to learn more about this hidden talent of hers. However, after the birthday celebration, she felt quite exhausted for a few weeks. Two months later, I finally had the chance to sit with her for a chat.
I had a pressing question: I wanted to know how, at her age, she could recite all of those poems from memory. She explained that she had always had a special interest in learning poems.
Deegeen Arax in the 1950sDeegeen Arax told me that when her kids were young and learning poems at their elementary school, she often repeated the poems with them, and can remember them still, today. She then recited two of her favorite poems, which she had learned with her kids, and my jaw dropped. Both poems were unfamiliar to me, and she remembered them word for word!
My next question was about these two poems. First, she told me the story about the Armenian poem written by Aram Garoné. Deegeen Arax knew Garoné personally, as he was principal of her elementary school years prior.
The poem, which is over-two-minutes long, is a conversation between the poet and Omar Khayam—an iconic Persian poet, who died 900 years ago.
The poet tells Khayam to rise from his grave and notice how Iran, due to efforts made by the new Shah, has transformed into a better place.
Here, I will provide a brief history of Iran, in order to better understand the poem. In 1789, a new dynasty, called Qajar, was established in Iran, which turned the country into shambles. The rule of the Qajar dynasty ended when, in 1925, Reza Shah, a former brigadier-general, was assigned as the new Shah and began the modernizing the country.
The final poem she recited was in Farsi, and, yet again, one I was hearing for the first time. The poem advised the listener that it’s better to have an enlightened foe than a dumb, brainless friend.
During my visit with Deegeen Arax, I learned that she was the oldest of the three, and was born on December 12, 1923 in the historic City of Yazd, Iran. Marco Polo—an Italian explorer and writer of 14th century—once called Yazd the “Nobel city of Yazd.”
There were not many Armenians in Yazd. Yet, her family was there because her father was the director of the city’s telephone and telegraph company.
Deegeen Arax, her husband, and their two children in the 1950sAfter Deegeen Arax was born, her family moved to Shiraz and then to Isfahan, where they had two other girls. She attended an Armenian elementary school, called Armenian School of Kermanshah, in Kermanshah, in western Iran, where she was a studios student.
Soon after graduating from elementary school, her family moved to Tehran, where she attended a school run by American Presbyterians, called Nour-Bakhsh, on Ghavam Al Saltaneh Street.
Sometime around 1936 and 1937, a decree was issued to close all Armenian and foreign language schools in Iran. Although the new law was only in effect for a few years, Deegeen Arax was unable to continue her studies at an Armenian school as a result..
While Deegeen Arax was still enrolled at the elementary school in Kermanshah, Aslan Aslanian, who was eleven years her senior, had set his eyes on her, telling his mother that he would one day marry her. When Deegeen Arax completed 9th grade, Aslan, who was an engineer at the time, proposed and they were soon married.
The newlyweds moved to Qazvin, which was about one-and-half hours south of Tehran, due to Aslan’s job.
Deegeen Arax says that, in Qazvin, the Armenian school had a women’s committee that organized small-scale events. She often attended these gatherings with her husband, and would use them as opportunities to recite poetry.
Deegeen Arax surrounded by love letters written to her by her husband, Aslan
A love letter, in the form of a poem, from Aslan to his wife
While we were chatting, Deegeen Arax revealed that her husband had written her several love letters, in poetic form, before they were married. Coincidentally she had kept the letters and, with a little help from her daughter, was able to find them. She also divulged that her brother-in-law, “Ashot Aslan,” was a well-known poet.
Aslan provided Deegeen Arax, and their three children, with a happy and comfortable life. Although they started their life in Qazvin, they later moved back to Tehran, where Aslan was hired as a manager at the National Iranian Oil company. They stayed in Tehran until the Islamic Revolution, after which they left for the United States and made their new home in Glendale, California. After 66 years of marriage, Aslan died in 2006, He was 93.
“My father and mother’s relationship was truly based on a love story. My dad adored her and she did the same,” said their daughter.
Catherine Yesayan is a regular contributor to Asbarez, with her columns appearing under the “Community Links” heading. She can be reached at cyesayan@gmail.com.