I had never heard of the word دوگانه “doganeh” until I was asked to contribute to this project. In Persian, “doganeh” means dual, referring to someone from a mixed background or heritage.
As a British-born Polish-Iranian, I often get asked what it feels like to be from two very different backgrounds and which one I relate to the most. My answer has always been unintentionally neutral: When I’m in Poland, I feel more Polish and when around my Iranian family I feel more Iranian. This is one hundred per cent true. I’ve been celebrating Christmas in Poland for as long as I can remember, enjoying the delicious but rather heavy culinary delights and customs. On the other hand, when I’m at an Iranian family gathering surrounded by the numerous aunts, uncles and… (who was that again?) with the crazy loud music and dancing, I feel truly engaged, even though I do need quite a bit of persuading to join in on the dancing…! Of course, not to mention the amazing food! (So good even my “vegetarian” cousin can’t resist the koobideh kebab once in a while!)
In all honesty, the Iranian-Polish link is not so new, after World War II, a significant number of Poles were saved by General Anders’ army from Siberia in Russia, travelling through Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and other Eurasian states across the Caspian Sea to Iran and further afield. Upon entering Iran, many Polish refugees didn’t make it due to the effects of severe starvation during their horrendous journey. As a result, many are buried in the Polish cemetery in Tehran. Naturally, some of the survivors remained in Iran and stayed there to this day. One of the last remaining few of that group passed away recently.
Visiting Iran after sixteen years was definitely an experience, as it was December, the weather wasn’t great and after a few days I started to struggle with Tehran’s polluted air. Iran has so many quirks, it can sometimes feel like a world away from the highly regimented West, the chaos does take some getting used to. There’s a constant flow of vendors squeezing past you in packed metro carriages trying to sell anything from make-up to chewing gum. The most surprising was perhaps seeing sellers going car-door to car-door on the motorway! Of course, this being Tehran, the traffic was pretty much at a standstill for most of the time. Not all is chaos however, there are a lot of beautiful heritage sites in the country. Moving down south to see what remained of UNESCO sites in Bam and Shiraz (Persepolis) was absolutely magnificent. It was a great opportunity for me to reconnect with my Iranian side.
I feel lucky to have never struggled with my dual Polish-Iranian identity, since living in London, I never feel too distant from either culture. Ironically, both communities are clustered in West London in areas such as Ealing (where apparently Polish is the second language!) and where there are numerous Iranian restaurants. There is even a new delicious Sangaki (Iranian bread bakery)! Every now and then, a famous Iranian singer (Googoosh/Darius/Ebi) is touring and family and friends flock to their gigs. Being able to speak Persian definitely helps me keep a close connection with my Iranian heritage. I did not really attend the London-based Rustam Persian Saturday school as a child but voluntarily enrolled myself into a smaller institute as a teenager and absolutely loved it! Gaining level 3 reading and writing skills came in especially handy when I visited Iran, even though they are still fairly limited.
More than anything, I’m really proud of being a Doganeh Iranian, having a direct link to one of the most fascinating and historically rich cultures to have ever existed!
Roxy N
Roxy is half Polish, half Iranian brought up in the UK. After completing her PhD in life sciences she moved into tech & works as a junior python developer. In her spare time she enjoys playing the violin & dangling upside down from a trapeze :) Her favourite Iranian dish is khoresh bademjoon (aubergine stew).