InternationalRazmik Arzooian finds permanence in the homeland
A repatriate discovers solace among the mountains
Published: Friday January 23, 2009
Razmik Arzooian, who moved to Armenia from Iran, has built Daravand, a bed and breakfast in Dilijan. Maria Titizian
Dilijan, Armenia -
Nestled on a lush mountai side in the northern resort town of Dilijan is a hidden treasure. Here is the home that Razmik Arzooian, guided by love and strength and a dream, built by hand. The result is a beautifully crafted three-story home replete with custom woodwork, handmade furniture and antiques, turned into a bed and breakfast simply called Daravand (or Terrace). In operation since 2006, Daravand has served as a haven for the weary traveler, for the foreign worker in Dilijan working on bridges, and for those looking to get away from the rigors of daily life. Guests staying at the bed and breakfast get more than a comfortable room, good food, and spectacular scenery - they get a dose of Razmik's charm and hospitality.
Tall, enigmatic, with a chiseled face, long hair, and a healthy growth of a beard, Razmik, known back in Iran as a community activist, literary critic, and reciter of poems, has created his own version of life and living in the homeland.
Losing the ground beneath your feet
Razmik was born in Masjed-e-Soleyman, Iran, near the Iraqi border. His mother was a pharmacist from Tabriz and his father, from the south of Iran, worked for - and struggled against - the British oil company there. His parents met when Razmik's father went to Tabriz to serve in the army.
When Razmik was a year old, he lost his father. After the family's unexpected tragedy, his mother took him and his older twin sisters to Tabriz to live with her parents. While trying to live a normal existence after the loss of his father, Razmik's life was hit with yet another tragedy, the death of his mother when he was barely 9 years old, effectively leaving him orphaned and in the care of his maternal grandparents. He spent his childhood in Tabriz where he went to a vocational school studying carpentry.
Upon graduation, he went to Germany, where he studied industrial photography, which involved taking photographs of buildings and factories. Later, when he returned to Iran, this included photographing the process of building oil pipelines and those structures of national importance for Iran like the atomic power station. Razmik stayed in Germany for five and a half years before moving back to Iran.
"I did this (photography) up until the revolution and then I changed my job. I returned to woodworking and in the years before I came to Armenia, I had a cafe," Razmik recalls.
The footsteps leading home
His first visit to the homeland was in 1980, when he came with a group of Iranian-Armenians to Soviet Armenia. Today, there are regular 1.5-hour flights between Yerevan and Tehran. Almost thirty years ago, in 1980, Razmik, along with his compatriots had to travel for days before they reached Yerevan: Tehran to Paris to Moscow to Yerevan. With his knack for telling stories and recounting memories, Razmik tells a group of us having dinner at his B&B the many comic and touching stories of his first visit to Armenia.
A decade later, in 1991, Razmik, as one of the representatives of the Ararat Organization of Tehran, was invited to Armenia by the Diaspora Committee. "Then in 1993 I came and stayed. I found a small apartment in Yerevan and stayed," Razmik says plaintively.
When he arrived in Armenia, it was the "dark and cold years," as that time period has come to be known. While an independent country was something that Armenians in the diaspora had dreamed about for decades and for generations, a mass exodus of Armenians returning to the homeland never materialized. Razmik came at one of the most difficult times of Armenia's fragile independence. What was it that beckoned him?
"I was one of those fortunate ones, whose teachers, educators, atmosphere was such that we had an objective, a purpose to our existence, a dream. Many things happened that encouraged me. I wasn't like many others. We grew up in a world of dreams. It occurs to me that I was already late in coming when I arrived in 1993 . . . but there were family issues at the time; it wasn't possible for me to leave. When it no longer made sense for me to stay in Iran, I quickly made arrangements to come to Armenia. And that's how it happened," he recalls.
He didn't have a specific purpose in mind when he made the bold decision to come. "That was how it was ingrained in us: if you had one place to go, that would be the homeland and that's what I did."
He credits his grandmother for instilling in him love of country. "The education I received from my grandmother, and all the teachers who I truly respect, well, they were a unique generation, they ingrained in us patriotism, love of country. We never received a piece of chocolate in our house for free - we had to either recite a poem or sing a song. If we ever used a word of Farsi at home, we would have to contribute our day's lunch allowance to the family bank, which would mean we would have to stay hungry during the school day," Razmik recalls.
When the decision was made to move to Armenia, he left everything behind - unlike some who left things behind to wait and see if they could "make it" in Armenia. He admits that along the way, he burned several bridges.
