Comeback
BIG NEWS – Artur Mesjyan makes a HUGE comeback last night. That’s right, I had the pleasure of attending the long awaited concert of Mesjyan who could be considered a guru of Armenian Blues. This poet-singer-composer was absent from the music scene and even from Armenia for over 7 years. He had been singing about the corruption, the spoiled governing bodies, the dream of a better Armenia… then for some reason he disappeared in the very deep parts of the USA.
Last night a , thanks to Vahan Arzruni’s dedicated organization - he stole everybody’s heart. I was mad at him though – why sing these songs after such a long abandonment? Where was he and the rest of the real heroes when the country and the people needed them most. Iwas struggling not o blame him and try to understand perhaps why someone like him with all the love he could feel for his people, just leave – I guess when push comes to shove; you shove off!
I am sure that by now you have also heard about the new café they are erecting in front of the Gomidas Chamber Music Hall; the next time you attend an Aram Gharapegyan or Anna Mailyan concert, you wil probably hear a nice background of some Russian pop or Armenian Rabiz – nice touch, don’t you think?
Some of you may also be wondering where I have been for such a long time. Well, consider this as my come back!
I will give you a brief update about the past couple of months:
Jan 05 – Visited family in Canada and held recruitment fairs for LCO in the USA
March-April 05 – changed jobs from Program Director of LCO to Commercial Manager of VivaCell, the new mobile operator (I know what you are thinking; Raffi in the corporate world???)
May 4, 2005 – Lara and I had our third baby; Vayk is our first son – he is now 6 months old and the cutest attraction in Armenia.
No vacation this year –
working on the house in Shushi – The B&B will be ready by Spring
met Raffi Menechian –
waiting for Arsineh –
That’s enough for now. More later.
Last night a , thanks to Vahan Arzruni’s dedicated organization - he stole everybody’s heart. I was mad at him though – why sing these songs after such a long abandonment? Where was he and the rest of the real heroes when the country and the people needed them most. Iwas struggling not o blame him and try to understand perhaps why someone like him with all the love he could feel for his people, just leave – I guess when push comes to shove; you shove off!
I am sure that by now you have also heard about the new café they are erecting in front of the Gomidas Chamber Music Hall; the next time you attend an Aram Gharapegyan or Anna Mailyan concert, you wil probably hear a nice background of some Russian pop or Armenian Rabiz – nice touch, don’t you think?
Some of you may also be wondering where I have been for such a long time. Well, consider this as my come back!
I will give you a brief update about the past couple of months:
Jan 05 – Visited family in Canada and held recruitment fairs for LCO in the USA
March-April 05 – changed jobs from Program Director of LCO to Commercial Manager of VivaCell, the new mobile operator (I know what you are thinking; Raffi in the corporate world???)
May 4, 2005 – Lara and I had our third baby; Vayk is our first son – he is now 6 months old and the cutest attraction in Armenia.
No vacation this year –
working on the house in Shushi – The B&B will be ready by Spring
met Raffi Menechian –
waiting for Arsineh –
That’s enough for now. More later.
posted by Raffi N at 10:40 AM
6 Comments:
Where's the post?
Nice picture on Armenianow, by the way. :D
Hi Raffi,
It's interesting to hear what you had to say about Arthur Meschian. To be honest, it upset me a little that you were "mad" about his abandoning Armenia. Here's why:
In 1989, after fighting the regime and the way of thought (among other things) for decades, Arthur Meschian realized that his efforts were unable to help much and that for the good of his family, he would temporarily move to the U.S. (he was granted political asylum). When he arrived, he was full of hope and expectations. He didn't want any handouts, but life became endlessly difficult for their family (his wife and two sons). He worked at a warehouse for many years, doing manual labor (his lack of English skills didn't give him many options). Refusing welfare, his family went hungry many times (the diaspora hardly helped him - mostly using him for their interests). No matter, his mind was always in Armenia and in 1997, he went to Armenia to become the head architect of Yerevan. He was hoping that he would be able to fight the regime, but after a while, he realized that at that point in his life, he was not able to stop the corruption. He came back to Boston, and started working as an architect.
At that point, he decided that he will stay in the States until his sons are fully independent and will come back to Armenia then. Sure enough, 2 months after his younger son graduated from Boston University, the Meschians packed up their belongings, sold their house and moved back to Armenia.
My point is - Meschian is just a man. He's incredibly talented and a genuis thinker, but it upsets me that people expect him to be a superman. He never claims that he is one. But he tries to raise awareness (just as he did in the 70s) and move people into action.
Having known him personally, i can say that he is an unimaginably honest and noble man. His love for his country is as great as can be, and I am sure that he will take a big part in leading Armenia to a brighter future.
Anna,
It is rather sad that you blame the Diaspora (something rather rampant these days among Hayastansi's and non-Armenians alike)) for not "helping" Artur Meshjian. On one hand, you state he "didn't want any handouts", and then state the Diaspora didn't help him. So, I guess that's catch 22. Don't blame it on the Diaspora.
Next, whatever gigs he did get and agreed to play at, I am very sure he was paid for. However, from what I've gathered ( I don't know him personally), he was very selective about gigs. This is according to his son, Armen.
Again, this concept of blaming the Diaspora for everything under the sun is laughable. What is sad about you Anna is that you would use Artur Meshjian's name to promote a newly created myth out there that the Diaspora doesn't help.
Vivacell - nice building, nice marketing! yet still no website :(
I am part of the diaspora and I dont think we do nearly enough to help. I meet so many Armenians who go on about "Armenian culture" and send their kids to Armenian school and in the next breath will bad mouth Hayastanci (hate that term!) Armenians, or say "Why would I want to go to Armenia?"..or even laugh when I say I want to live there- without realising that Armenia made us who we are- it made us argumentative and always right, it made us proud, and it made us very competitive, often to our disadvantage!
I think its so exciting and we are blessed to be able to experience a time when Armenia is being rebuilt as an independent nation. So many times its depressing, when you get back to Armenia and the same fat cats are waiting for you, and the same blacked out cars, broken rusty signs, piles of rubble, and buildings with russian letters missing off them- and you want to go home to the shiny lights of wherever you're from- but then you see a child speaking Armenian and you see a future generation.
I think that diasporan institutions dont do enough to encourage "shpoom" with the Armenia of today. They seem more interested in organising Armenian parties that play arabic music.(lighthearted!)
First of all I think the government of Armenia needs to do more to encourage visits to Armenia- and also someone needs to act as a reseller for Armenian television in the diaspora - as thats a great way to start the connection. Then hopefully we will see many many more Armenians visiting.
Yeah, an interesting take Harmick. I don't really agree, but, your take is interesting. I suppose we can all be self-critical and always say "we are not doing enough". But, I think we can all agree that the Armenian Diaspora is one of the most active and involved of any ethnic group.
Sending kids to Armenia school and maintaining their identity in the face of assimilation is pretty amazing, when you stop and think about it. And comparing that to "them not liking Hayastansi's" doesn't cancel out the fact that they maintain identity.
However, I agree that not visiting or living in Armenia is pretty lame since they raised their kids to be Armenian.
Regarding Diasporan institutions not encouraging "shpoom"- I am not sure where you live or are getting your ideas of the Diaspora, but, there are many examples of that. There is the Birthright project, AGBU, AYF programs that encourage going to Armenia for the summer, individuals moving to Armenia that are under 30, families from the Middle East starting businesses there. In fact, if you compare the amount of Armenians moving there now to 3 years ago, 5 years ago, and 10 years ago, there has been a steady increase. So, I don't know where you are getting your info from.
Lastly, I am not sure Armenian TV beamed into homes here in the Diaspora will actually encourage people to move to Armenia. Given the quality of programming there, it may do the reverse :)
Dear Anonymous...
What are you talking about? I only mentioned the diaspora in passing... and I don't BLAME anyone for anything. I am just stating the facts. Most of the people that Meschian came into contact with were selfish individuals... why are you sticking up for them?
Originally from Armenia, I am now also part of the diaspora. I believe that it's thanks to Armenians OUTSIDE of Armenia that things are getting better now in the homeland.
Obviously, I struck a nerve, but you definitely misunderstood me. If you're so opinionated, why are you then "anonymous"?
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