RECORDED BY Maria Romanova-Hynes
When trying to depict the spirit of a country, the traveller has to necessarily retreat either to the narration of their personal responses and opinions or rely on the most objective source of information available — the people inhabiting the land. Believing in the possibility of a more or less objective presentation of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar, the author of this article, thus, eliminated her voice from it. Instead of describing Myanmar from an external perspective, she recorded the voices of four strangers whom she was privileged to have discussion on the matters of religion, agriculture, politics and art respectively. In such a way, what the article displays is the mosaic of a few impressions belonging to Myanmar people whose short speeches, each in its own manner, shed some light on the life of their country, beautiful and mysterious to the eyes of a passer-by.
Yot Kham (Farmer & Sword Maker), Kyaing Tong: I don’t know where to begin. As a child I never doubted religion. Neither do I now. The Myanmar form of Buddhism is very peaceful and you can see it reflected in the people (he gets comfortable on a bench and smiles). But as for becoming a monk I found it very difficult. When I was ten I went to a monastery and in two weeks time I was back on the farm. It did not prove itself an easy life because of the discipline that governs it: you wake up before the sunrise and after a long day of study and prayer you are prohibited from having a dinner. Not all children can obey the rules and I too preferred play to pray. Although when my child gets a little older I will also send him to a monastery for two weeks to let him learn what I have learnt: life isn’t simple. I would like to see him becoming a monk but I feel that the chances of my son following the path of the Buddha are slim (he laughs). Monks are highly respected in our society, however when compared to nuns’ devotion, their regulations appear to be less strict. Whereas Buddhist nuns have over three hundred rules to follow, monks are subject to only two hundred and thirty. Well I suppose I can say I am a free man.
Phyo Phyo (Tracking Guide), Inle Lake: I have a funny name, it means Firefly. Every two weeks I return to my home village and bring my parents the money I’ve earned. They’re getting old fast and my elder sister is disabled so she can’t work. I love walking, that’s why I always wanted to work as a guide. So I went to a monastery for a while to learn English and started giving tours a year ago after finishing my course. Apart from English I speak five local languages (Inn Thay, Poho, Shan, Tan Nu, Touye Yoe) and the official Myanmar language. There are twenty languages in total in this country. We learn local dialects as children whilst the Buddha, Myanmar and English tongues are taught at school. Like in China, the dialects vary significantly so without knowing them we cannot understand each other. Everybody speaks Myanmar, though (taking a cigarette from his pocket). Now, look at this cheroot. It is totally natural: the tobacco, or sharuli leaf, is taken from a plantation, and the filter is made from corn husk. Mountain people never use chemicals, not even washing powder: we utilise mountain eggplant for soap. It can also serve as a medicine. Myanmar is an agricultural society: we produce sugar, black and green teas, rice, tobacco, nemgen bean [used for soya and tofu]. We grow avocado, papaya, mango harvesting in June or July and banana that gives fruits twice a year. There are also many flower plantations where flowers are cultivated in order to be donated to Buddha and also sold in the city. The donation is usually made either in the form of money for becoming rich in the second life or in the form of flowers for beauty. That plant on the top of the hill, by the way (he points upwards), is called “chicken head flower” because of its bright red flower head. It is also donated to Buddha: people bed it in front of their homes and later bring it to a Stupa [a dome-shaped Buddhist shrine] for prayer.
Maung Maung (B.Sc Mathematics, Taxi Driver), Mandalay: I’m not a happy man, maybe I didn’t pray enough in my previous life. I got my degree in Myanmar when I was young and taught children mathematics at school. But you see I like telling anecdotes… so one day after I’d given a speech at a demonstration against the General [Saw Maung] and made a few jokes about him I lost my job and ever since I haven’t been able to get an official position. I decided to become a taxi driver then and move to Mandalay because it is easier to meet tourists here. I realised that my only advantage over other taxi drivers would be the knowledge of English so I began learning it by myself. I’m old now but I still believe in the possibility of democratic reforms and look forward to the 2015 elections. I am a supporter of Aung San Suu Kyi and I am ready to fight for her: if Thein Sein [the president of Myanmar] fixes the elections this time there will be a revolt. We call San Suu Kyi “Mother” for she has given her life for us, the people. He is referred to simply as “the General” because he is not in our hearts. Myanmar used to be a very rich country, but we’ve become so poor and I just hope that it will be easier for my children. When I was their age I hoped for a career but now I have to approach tourists like a beggar. Anyway, I still love telling anecdotes… (and he tells a few).
Mr. Han (Cafe Owner & Art Collector), Bagan: My art collection is limited to a few artists: my grandfather [U Hla Han], his teacher and disciples. Look at that painting on the wall, for example (he points to a dark corner of the room where he keeps his collection). You know how much that’s worth? One hundred and fifty thousand dollars (it was painted by my grandfather’s teacher who is now long gone) but I have no intention of selling it. I just love art very much, especially watercolours. For that reason I usually set a higher price for them. Although it’s completely subjective and one of my grandfather’s oil paintings, titled La-ta-baung [Tabaung, the last month of Myanmar lunar calendar], is displayed at the National Museum. His style can be defined as pastoral but he also paints Buddhist temples and pagodas. You can see his Bagan artworks here (he takes out a large folder with sketches). There are about 2200 temples and stupas in Bagan so he didn’t need to go far to find the scene. Once, when Bagan was the centre of the Pagan Empire, the people in this region were so wealthy that even a widow with no financial support could build a stupa for her late husband or herself. Now we are surrounded by history… One more painting and I promise I will let you go! Look into that frame: you see those trees, those people and their huts, their cattle, country roads and mountains? And how they all overlap with each other creating a kind of pastiche, a backdrop out of which the face of the Buddha emerges? Well, this is Myanmar and the kind of paintings my grandfather creates.
