Two years of my life passed from 1982 to 1984. After all the troubles and escaping death narrowly in the battlefronts, I finally graduated with the highest score. There was no graduation ceremony whatsoever. There was also no prize or favor for being the top student graduate. Wearing graduation gawns was also considered a western practice and taboo at that time! Things have changed now for universities, but I don't think the ministry of education-affiliated-TTC would still allow such a luxury! After graduation, I had to fulfill my contract with the Ministry of Education and start teaching for 5 years at any middle school they decide from September 1984. I was not complaining as I did not have to do my military service; moreover, I had a job with a monthly guaranteed salary. The salary was exactly 36420 rials per month for 24 hours of teaching per week. It was equal to 52 dollars per month at that time and one dollar and 25 cents now (2014)! We had the option to finish our five-year term and resign or continue our career as a middle school teacher for the rest of our lives. We could also get our military service exemption card after 5 years when the contract was fully covered. However, if we did not want to work, we had to pay for all the expenses of these two years of education and go to serve in the military for two years. War was still going on in the most brutal manner and using chemical weapons by Saddam Hussein had become very routine with the silence of international organizations like the UN, and the US, and the EU! Therefore, leaving the ministry of education was not still an option for me. As I was the best student (achieving the highest score) in the TTC and for being Hussein's loyal partner during my education and had attended all extreme religious extracurricular activities regularly and enthusiastically, they let me choose my own place of service in Tehran province. I chose Karaj which was the northernmost city of Tehran province with 5 hundred thousand population at that time. It is now a province for itself due to rapid expansion and is recently named Alborz province. Being 40 kilometers away to the north of Tehran, the city (acting as the countryside for Tehran) was a pollution-free and lovely city with thousands of fruit gardens and orchards. The city was also a place for rich Tehranis to spend their weekend in the private properties they had purchased for their secret recreation and mainly illegal entertainments, like drinking, adultery, and smoking opium. It was also a place where my parents had moved to be away from the pollution and hustle and bustle of the capital with 12 million people of that time. My parents had bought a big house in an enclosed area with a swimming pool and had decided to stay there for their retirement. That was the reason I chose Karaj.
I used to have a long beard when I was studying at the TTC to be just similar to the others. Haji had told us that according to Islamic Sharia, any man who shaves his face with a razor blade should be whipped on his back. However, when I graduated, I gave my face a clean shave. I went to the administration of the ministry of education in Karaj. They sent me to the boss's office who was already studying my classified file. I realized that as it was stamped classified with my name on it. He was stunned when he saw me. I guess because the picture in my file was very different from the clean shaved face he was looking at. He said that the ministry has suggested that I do no teach but work in Gozinesh (the "background check" office). This office was very notorious and fearful for common people. It had very regime-trusted employees who had a clean political and religious background, meaning they were endorsed to be extremely devout and dedicated Shia Muslims and the true followers of the leader. The purpose of this office was to background check those who were going to be recruited by the ministry through communicating with different intelligence services and even interviewing their neighborhood, a local mosque, local mullahs, and Baseej's (militia forces) bases in their neighborhood. The job was not over with recruitment but the continuous supervision of teachers and staff behaviors not to breach political and religious red lines was also among their mission statements. This was a too sensitive position beyond my desire and capabilities. Moreover, I wanted to continue my education and did not want to be involved in any political or religious activities of any sort. Therefore, I declined the offer and officially signed my decision not to put the boss into any troubles as it was the ministry's strong recommendation coming from Tehran. The boss was very surprised by my decision as it was a position with absolute power and prospect. I was eventually relieved as they decided to finally send me to a simple school as a simple teacher at my very own humble request. The school was a primary and middle school for both boys and girls, but not a co-ed. There has never been any co-ed school under the Islamic Republic of Iran. It had both morning and evening shifts. It was run on a rotation basis with boys and girls shifting every week in the morning or afternoon. I met with the principle who was wearing a military uniform. It was a simple khaki uniform with no names or ranks, the type that Baseejis used to wear. He had also pitch black military boots on. I later learned that it is his usual outfit at work! I also later learned that his highest academic degree was a high school diploma and that he had never taught any school subject in his life and was not teaching at his own school or anywhere else either!
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