The Medication

Seta Rshduni, a young Diaspora Armenian girl, met Khatchig Tashdents and Hovhannes Shiraz in Yerevan in 1972 along with her relatives, and solicited them to write a few lines in her scrap-book. Those lines, written by the native Armenian writers, became the impetus of Simonian’s article entitled “The Medication”, published in the January 31, 1972 edition of “Diaspora” weekly newspaper. “We are sick nationwide and suffer from mediocrity, the mediocrity of our literature, publicity, clergy, education, charity and especially management and diplomacy.” “Our writers are mediocre – in their prose and poetry, our publicists are also mediocre in their wonderful reprints, our clergymen are mediocre in their sacrifice and faith.” “Our parties still have not perceived that they are not capable and have no right to pursue the Armenian Cause alone, if, of course, the first and the only goal is to achieve something.” “Where is the competent and fully responsible Pan-Armenian Supreme Body to undertake pivotal initiatives and make fateful decisions – well studied and planned, to find not only friends, but also comrades-in-arms and partners, to feel the imperatives of our history, most importantly the fact that throughout our history we have been rich with enemies, but poor with friends.”