I believe that it is only through empathy, that the pain experienced by an Algerian woman, a North Korean dissident, a Rwandan child or an Iraqi prisoner, becomes real to me and not just passing news. And it is at times like this when I ask myself, am I prepared - like Huck Finn - to give up Sunday school heaven for the kind of hell that Huck chose?
There is little consolation in the fact that millions of people are unhappier than we are. Why should other people's misery make us happier or more content?
When I first left Iran at the age of 13, Iran had become such a shining star - it was the point to which all my desires and dreams returned.
My passion has always been books and literature, and teaching.
Khatami is a symptom and not the cause of change in Iran.
