The Baha'i Studies Listserv Yo! Let me tell you what I know about Ruhiyyih Khanoum. My grandfather, a civil engineer, worked for her father and it was his respect for the Bahai Faith that limited my family's trauma when I told them that I had changed my religion. He told everyone not to worry, that the Bahai Faith wasn't some brain washing cult. My grandmother came from the same social class and culture as Ruhiyyih Khanoum. I found it funny that my grandmother spoke English with the same cadence and inflection as Ruhiyyih Khanoum. This is why when I had the opportunity to spend some brief, casual time with Ruhiyyih Khanoum that I felt so comfortable.
I once noticed the framed Japanese ink drawings that were scattered about the Montreal Bahai shrine and I asked her about them. I am also a Japanese ink aficionado. She told me that Sutherland Maxwell had had a deep interest in "things" Japanese. Later in the 1970's Ruhiyyih Khanoum chose to do a teaching trip to the Amazon. She financed this trip by selling some of her father's collection of ink drawings. Had she chosen to she could have asked any wealthy Bahai to sponsor this trip for her and many would have jumped at the chance. Instead she financed it herself. I remember that this act impressed the hell out of me. I believe that there is a Bahai video in circulation called "The Green Light Expedition" that chronicles her trip. Bill __________________________________________________ You are subscribed to Baha'i Studies as: mailto:[email protected] Unsubscribe: send a blank email to mailto:[email protected] Subscribe: send subscribe bahai-st in the message body to [email protected] Or subscribe: http://list.jccc.edu:8080/read/all_forums/subscribe?name=bahai-st Baha'i Studies is available through the following: Mail - mailto:[email protected] Web - http://list.jccc.edu:8080/read/?forum=bahai-st News (on-campus only) - news://list.jccc.edu/bahai-st Old Public - http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected] New Public - http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]
