A Reminder from Hamadan to Sanandaj

Currently I am wandering Western Iran, primarily inhabited by Turks/Azeris and Kurds. My journey began in Shiraz, I then made my way to Isfahan, Kashan, Qom, and then Hamadan. From Hamadan I took a shared taxi to Sanandaj, the capitol of the province of Kurdistan, I was in the front seat and had a prime view of the rolling fields of wheat and small Kurdish villages that were constructed out of mud. Taking pictures along the way, all of a sudden I noticed a huge traffic jam up ahead and knew there must be an accident. It had taken place literally a couple minutes ago and cars and freighter trucks were going in every direction, off and on the road.

Then we came upon the accident...what can I say...a gigantic freighter truck had smashed into the side of a little old Peugot...the car was literally unrecognizable, it looked as if it had been in a junkyard for years, crushed to pieces, the windshield caved in. At first I thought the driver had been rescued, because I did not see a body behind the steering wheel. But the ambulance and police had not yet arrived, so the driver still had to be inside. Then I noticed the dirt outside of the car, next to the driver's seat was not brown, rather it had mixed with the deep red blood of the driver, and there was so much. Then as the taxi moved forward, I spotted the lifeless corpse of the driver, a man who was wearing a white shirt and black trousers. I did not look too closely or for two long, I could not bear it. The body of the nameless man was crumpled, twisted in unnatural ways, hopelessly trapped in the car miles from any help.

Tens of men in their baggy Kurdish pants were just milling around just watching the tragedy, no one was moving to help the driver or to even check on him. Just a few minutes before the man was happily driving his car, perhaps on his way back home or on his way to work. But his life ended so quickly, so tragically, how many people were affected by his death? As we drove away, the driver chatted animatedly with the other passengers, talking about even worse accidents they had seen. He quickly zoomed off, once again engaging in the dangerous game of driving too quickly, without a seatbelt, and passing cars constantly. I had to work hard to control my emotions, so I would not collapse into tears. It was not just about the death of this man on the road from Hamadan to Sanandaj, but so much more.

We live our lives quickly and carelessly, but we forget that our lives can end so quickly, just like the driver of the Peugot, I am sure he never expected that he would pass away on that day, he expected he had so many more years to live, more time to watch his children grow up and get married, more time to enjoy life.

Inna lillah wa inna ilayhi raja'un - Surely we come from God and to him we return...