Today, while climbing the company stairs, I encountered a very familiar smell coming from the storage room under the stairs. The scent of Baldirghan, a plant I remembered from trips to my ancestral lands in Arasbaran, made me once again ask myself: what am I even doing here?

Postscript:
Baldirghan, also known as Hemlock, is a plant with an edible and highly sensitive stem that grows in wet areas (usually near streams). It can be eaten raw or pickled (tasting somewhat like mayonnaise). My father’s last attempt, along with a friend, to pick a few branches led to severe skin reactions and strange blisters, ultimately sending him to the hospital.