An essay about Tehran

An essay about Tehran
Niloofar Gholamrezaei

More than twelve million people live in Tehran. Even, during the day, the population of the city becomes almost seventeenth million. Tehran is the capital city of my country Iran, and is the city that I lived before I came to the United States of America.

 Tehran is a big city, with lots of traffic jam and air pollution. Tehran is placed close to the north of Iran, and is next to the Alborz mountains. The Damavand mount is a high mount near Tehran, and it can be seen from most parts of the city. Damavand like Ararat mount for Armenia has gained many symbolic meanings in the Iranian literature: the mount that for hundreds of years has witnessed hopes, despairs, happiness and sorrow of the people who have lived in Tehran.

People of Tehran are diverse in terms of language, ethnicity, class, etc. Particularly, I think Tehran is diverse in being traditional and modern. In other words, in Tehran tradition and modernity is mixed in a strange way, maybe nonhomogeneous or contradictory ways; One may enter a modern architecture, though the people who live there have a very traditional life, while they also can have certain modern behaviors.

One never feels bored in this city because it is enormous and has many places to visit, such as restaurants, museums, art galleries, etc. Last summer I visited there and I noticed an interesting change. In almost each street and even alleys, there were several coffee shops, in which people, particularly youth, gathered and socialized. I found this fascinating and positive because I think these coffee shops could be a public space in which people could build communities and have dialogue.

The worst things in Tehran are the traffic jam and air pollution. In Tehran, one can spend hours in traffic every day. The traffic is not only because of the big population, but also it is because people do not respect rules while driving. Air pollution is also a big issue there. Many days, a brown fog of smoke overcast the city that also covers the Damavand mount.