For Kashani and Dargahi, Petaluma is the perfect homebase

Describing themselves as “Cosmopolitan - with Iranian roots,” multilingual college professors Tony Kashani and Aida Dargahi - formerly living in San Francisco - are now happily ensconced in a classic California bungalow, where the tile countertops, and a massive kitchen stove, reveal the house’s 1953 roots.

“We love it here,” says Aida, over a cup of Persian tea. “The change has been really positive for us. In San Francisco we had to have our son Idan in private school. Here, he goes to an excellent public school. We found a community in Petaluma. I feel at home, and the people next door are wonderful. (My neighbor’s) mother even asked us if it was all right for her to light candles at church, to give thanks for having us as good neighbors.”

When asked how they met, Tony answers, “I personally believe it was luck. Everything about that day was spontaneous. I was teaching at San Francisco State, and traveled to Iran for research at the Tehran House of Cinema. Aida is an award-winning documentary filmmaker and was a juror for the Tehran Film Festival. I had nothing planned, and a friend invited me to a party for the jurors. I had no intentions of getting married again, so until we were introduced, I spent the dinner looking into my soup like Narcissus.”

Aida remembers that night differently.

“I was headed to study at the Bauhaus (German School of Design),” she says, “so there wasn’t much attraction at first. More like curiosity about him being an American. He revealed his interest, and I replied, ‘Let’s talk, and see what happens.’ I had a car and gave Tony a ride. I liked the fact that he was so honest talking about himself and his life - and his sense of humor of course.”

Aida’s mention of driving prompts a question about women in Iran.

“Americans have a misconception regarding Iranian women,” she says. “Resistance movements in Iran are primarily female-led, and my mother had a very good vision and is very pro-woman. She made sure her four daughters were successful and highly educated. I studied English from the 6th to 12th grades, got my driver’s license when I turned 18, and earned my film degree from the University of Tehran. My documentary “Arai” - about the Kazak women of Iran - won Kazakstan’s National Film Award, and Iran’s Women’s Film Festival Award.”

With a PhD in Humanities, Tony is an interdisciplinary author, educator and cultural critic who uses his books “Hollywood Exploited” and “Movies Change Lives” as a professor of media studies at SRJC. He is also a practicing black belt in Karate, and a Zen philosopher.

Aida received her Humanities/Education MA from SF State, and has taught classes in Mythology, Arts and Cultures of Asia, Film Studies, Critical Thinking, and World Cultural Diversity at several Bay Area colleges. Currently a professor of Humanities at Foothill College in Los Altos, Aida is also a professional photographer whose work has appeared at exhibits around the world.

Several photos grace the walls of her home, and depict faces, landscapes and architecture of everyday life in Iran and California.

“I like to capture moments as they are, where they are,” she says, “and immortalize them as photographs. I see it as capturing time and space forever.”

(Contact Gil at gilmansergh@comcast.net)