| 20110825 | Journalist Negar Esfandiary looks inside the covers of one of her favourite childhood books from Iran and discovers that the delightful tale of a little fish that leaves its little pond to swim to the sea is actually a powerful political allegory - one which caused major ripples which still reverberate to this day.|The story was written in 1967 by a school teacher called Samad Behrangi from the Azeri community in northern Iran and was strikingly illustrated by Farshid Mesghali (who won the Hans Christian Andersen award for it in 1974).|It tells of a little black fish who defies the rules of her community to leave her pond in order to discover what lies beyond.|As she travels along the river encountering other creatures, she learns many things and faces down her fears.|As she reaches the sea she performs one final heroic act and experiences the euphoria of freedom, before meeting an untimely death.|Samad Behrangi drowned in 1968 aged only 29; some believed his death to be a murder by the secret services but those close to him say it was just a tragic accident.|The book became a huge success and has inspired generations of political activists.|The story was quoted by Kurdish teacher Farzad Kamangar on the eve of his execution last year.|Hedayollah Soltanzadeh, a friend of the author says The Little Black Fish was the story of his generation and the symbolism used by Samad Behrangi to disguise his political message in a time of tight censorship was well-understood.|Composer Mehran Rouhani was so inspired by the story that he composed a symphonic poem which was performed in London by the Wandsworth Symphony Orchestra in 2007.|Producer: Mukti Jain Campion|A Culture Wise production for BBC Radio 4.|A powerful political allegory uncovered in a famous 1968 Iranian children's book. |
