Saro Varjabedian has published a book: Tim and Robot

 Vahe H. Apelian

Recently Saro Varjabedian published a book titled “Tim and Robot”. Whenever I hear or read the name Saro, I am reminded not of Saro from the opera “Anoush”; but of Saro Varjabedian and the circumstances I met by which I met his maternal grandparents in Beirut.

My father ran an inn in Lebanon, which was fairly well known among the Armenians of that era.  The upper two floors of a building in the downtown, in the immediate vicinity of the parliament building, constituted the inn. Its guests were mostly Armenians from all over, including from East Europe on their way to immigrate to the U.S. through the sponsorship of ANCHA, the Armenian National Committee for Homeless Armenians.  It was during one of those days, when I exited the elevator, I saw suitcases on the floor. It was not an unusual sight. Guests came with their suitcases and left them in the hallway until my father made the arrangements for their stay. I asked my father who were the guests and from where they had come. He told me that it’s an Armenian family from Bulgaria. 

Over the years I had become privy of the harsh reality of life behind the Iron Curtain. My father had  seemed to have become an unofficial liaison with the ANCHA’s office. This Armenian Bulgarian family too, stayed in the hotel until ANCHA completed the necessary documentation for their sojourn in Lebanon and covered the expenses for their stay in the hotel. After having their papers in order at the ANCHA's office, most of them left the hotel and rented a place. Many found employment mostly in Armenian held businesses until their departure.  Much like the rest, they too stopped by to let my father know that they will be leaving soon and bid goodbye. I remember to this day when this Bulgarian family let us know that they intended to settle in New York, the image of an Armenian family settling in that large city remained etched in my mind for many years and I would wonder how the Armenian family fared  in that impersonal metropolis. 

Fast forward. After much reluctance our son Daniel agreed to attend Camp Haiastan. But it did not take long for him to make friends. Among them was his friend Saro. After their camping session was over, I who drove our son Daniel from NJ to Saro’s parents’ house in Queens on many Saturdays and picked him the next day on Sunday afternoon. During one of such visits, Saro's maternal grandparents happened to be there. I got carried away conversing with his grandfather. One thing led to another, and his grandfather produced a journal he kept and read passages to me of their stay in Beirut. Lo and behold, I came across my father’s name. Suddenly it dawned on me that the Bulgarian Armenian family with two daughters my age l met, was the hospitable family who graciously hosted our son. Our sons had become best buddies. It would not take much to surmise that I felt a strong kinship with the family and especially with Saro.

In 1995 my job took me to Cincinnati to our sons’, especially to our elder son Daniel’s dismay. It was his friends from the Camp Haiastan and from the Armenian Presbyterian Church that kept Daniel going with their frequent phone calls especially during our first year in Cincinnati. And it was Saro among them who paid him a visit a few months after our settling in Cincinnati. 

More than a quarter of century has passed since Saro’s visiting us in Cincinnati. Both remain good friends and visit each other. Through these years Saro embarked pursuing his dream of becoming a cinematographer. A year or two ago, Saro wrote a screenplay and directed his first feature film “Respite”. He has directed eight feature films, one feature documentary, and several web-series and countless short films. 

Saro’s grandfather passed away a few years ago. Saro dedicated a short film he produced in his grandfather’s memory in Armenia.  "After Water There is Sand," has been screened at several International film festivals.

Along with Armenia, Saro has also directed and filmed internationally, in Cuba, France, Lebanon, Mexico and India. He holds a Master’s Degree in Fine Arts from the University of Columbia and has taught cinematography and directing at the New York Film Academy.

Recently Saro added to his accomplishments as a screenwriter, director and cinematographer, his authorship of a book titled “Tim and Robot”. Saro introduces his book in the first paragraph of his the preface he wrote, and says: “I embarked on this journey to write this book shortly after the Supreme Court decided to overrun Roe v. Wade in Dobbe v Jackson on June 2 2022. The ruling handed down by the conservative majority in the Supreme Court, many of whom were newly appointed seemingly for the very purpose of dismantling this right that had been afforded American citizens for nearly 40 years. This ruling was so shocking and disappointing to me, at that very moment, it compelled me to try to do something, beyond voting, irrespective of whether I had any impact or not.”

“Tim and Robot”, a Spiritual Agnostic’s Guidance to a Newly Formed Consciousness” by Saro Varjabedian retails on Amazon.com.