I bumped into this bit of nostalgia in someone’s old, rusty dusty trunk. It’s a late 1364 (1985) edition of Keyhan Bacheha (Kids’ Keyhan). I had completely forgotten about this magazine, and so seeing it gave me flashbacks of other covers, and of the fun I had reading them with friends in the afternoons while waiting for our soccer game to break out.
After reading it now, I see how it is mostly garbage, laced with propaganda, from the editorial piece to the crossword puzzle at the end, and clearly a tool for brainwashing the revolution’s new generation. But back then, it was a replacement for the superhero and horror comic books that I could no longer find, and so I would eagerly anticipate getting the next issue at the newspaper stand.
Just for fun, here’s the opening article:
“New Year Greetings
May you not be tired! I’m talking to you. Yes you, you who have put another year behind you with a knapsack full of pride and victory. May God give you strength! I see drops of sweat on your forehead, and your heart, so vigorous, so jubilant, throbbing in your chest: Thump, thump, thump! Let it throb, for one can hear its beautiful and glorious music of victory.
I know you have arrived, having put behind you roundabout roads, terrifying cliffs, and burning hot deserts. Enemies laid out ambushes for you along the way, but you, the traveler, escaped the lures with the name of God on your lips. Now, with eyes full of hope and faith, you look at tomorrow; at the distant and cloudy horizon, at your appointment with your God.
Congratulations to you for those victories, and best wishes for the year you have ahead of you. Beware, so that you would not be derailed by those who lay by fetid swamps, inviting travelers to worm-like merriment and idleness. No! No! Never be deceived by them, and know that you are now conquering the peaks of pride and dignity, and a world is mesmerized by you and your bravery. So march forward, you traveler of God’s path. May your steps be unwavering.”
Ahem…yeah, most of us ten-year-olds had a huge hand in the revolution.
Tags: magazine, propaganda