2016, November, Mahabandoola Park, Yangon
LIN suddenly turned his steps into Mahabandoola Park which has, in its center, the obelisk Independent Monument. He wanted his weary mind to stray from his daily cares and concerns.
This was a kind of solace on which he relied whenever he needed something different from the boredom of his daily job, which included daily visits to book stores and shops which lay downtown, especially along Pansodan Street.
Lin was living with his uncle in a suburb near downtown Yangon. His uncle, U Thein Lwin was engaged in book distribution so Lin worked in his uncle’s office.
Lin had graduated from university three years ago but his aim was to be a successful author. He was striving to achieve this goal. Actually, his mother sent him to live with U Thein Lwin who was Lin’s mother’s elder brother.
As soon as Lin entered the park, he directed his steps towards the whitewashed obelisk where there was a flight of steps on which he could sit. He didn’t expect many people to be spending their time there. He chose the elongated strip of shade provided by the monument, and he readily sat down, putting his Shan bag down beside him.
Lin took out his handkerchief from his pocket and wiped some grease and sweat off his oval face. Within time, a breeze blew gently, and he enjoyed the coolness of it. He thanked the breeze because at this time of the day he really needed it.
One could say that Lin’s appearance was normal in terms of handsomeness. Lin was not a good-looking man, but he liked to keep his countenance neat and tidy. He liked to keep his hair short too because in his childhood his mother kept his hair short and applied coconut oil to it every day.
Suddenly, Lin noticed that this was the only place which totally muffled the noise of the traffic and reckless honking of impatient urban drivers. He thanked the people who had built this park for people to take a rest in.
Lin looked around and saw a few people sitting around the obelisk. They were in their own gaits and postures. Some were chatting, some were standing against the plinth of the Lion, some were reading journals, and some were feasting their eyes on nearby young and pretty girls who posed for photographs while chuckling away.
Lin saw different ages, types, sexes of people. But, he noticed too that there was no one who bothered to read the declarations by late Prime Minister U Nu written on the base of the obelisk. They liked to sit down and relax rather than reading inspirational and serious words from the circular surface of the Independence Monument.
While there, Lin saw an unofficial guide with a white shirt and Kachin longyi who looked more than forty years old due to his receding hair in front and on top. The seemingly officious guide was with two adult visitors, and he pointed his finger towards the pillar. The man audibly explained about the history of the independence monument and the history of the park so that people started to glance at him. His mouth’s twitch was a feat to everyone.
Out of curiosity, Lin eavesdropped on what the guide was trying to say to the visitors who occasionally nodded their heads towards the guide’s careful and meaningful explanation. It seemed that they were trying to appear fascinated by his explanation.
‘’This park has got several names, namely, Tank Square, Fytch Square, Queen Victoria Park, and finally Mahabandoola park,” the guide poured out.
“In the place of this obelisk there used to be a statue of Queen Victoria, which was removed by the people and replaced with the independence monument to let people know that Burma gained its independence back from the British”, the guide sounded proud.
Without stopping, the guide explained more, but it seemed that he failed to notice the emotion of his visitors who showed more interest in the red brick high court standing gracefully in front of them because they glanced occasionally at it with much wonder and affection.
A feeling which showed Lin’s irony towards someone else’s fault shot up and a smirk suddenly appeared on his face. He felt a prickly feeling making him tickle. He almost let out a laugh so he turned himself away from them. But, in his mind he thought what a negligent guide this man was because although the guide had enough knowledge, he had not enough sense. He should know what his visitor’s were most interested in. If not, it was just a waste of breath and energy.
But, the guide happened to notice Lin’s distorted composure when their eyes met, and the guide glanced at Lin with contempt, but he did not show his vexed expressions, and he led his visitors towards the High Court.
Lin’s eyes followed the back of them, and they were leaving, slowly getting further and further away from him. Unconsciously, he looked up to the sky in which some crows were flying south-west, cawing at the same time. He envied their life, so carefree and with so much freedom.
Lin exhaled heavily. He leaned fully against the pillar, and closed his eyes in the hope of gaining back his strength which he used up walking around downtown. As soon as his eyes closed, the face of a book shop owner appeared: much unwelcome, and ugly.
The book shop owner he met this morning had got big eyes, a big nose, and thick eye brows. Everything about this man was cumbersome. Not only were his features rough and big, but also his sentiments.
Lin arrived at the book shop this morning to collect the payment for books which he had distributed to them three months ago. Before he went there, he called the book shop first to let them know he would collect the payment today. A female clerk told Lin that he could come today and collect it.
When Lin explained to the owner of his arrival at the bookshop, the book shop owner turned down his explanation, and the owner insisted that Lin come back next week, saying that there had been no sales today.
Lin felt like he had been kicked in his chest with such a force that he forgot to breathe in. All his energy and strength were almost gone; he was disillusioned, and dismayed. He cursed under his breath inaudibly, and turned his back on the book shop. Decidedly, he said to himself, he would not come to this shop again.
2016, December, Sule Pagoda Road, YangonLIN got off the crowded commuter bus which stopped at Sule Bus Stop. He needed to queue up until the passengers in front of him finally got off the bus.He watched people taking different directions when they disembarked. Some went up to a series of cinemas across the road. Some directed towards the Sule Pagoda where they were going to pray. Some went in the direction of Theingyi Bazaar to buy commodities or other things they needed.But, Lin was walking easily along the road towards Sule Pagoda, and he needed to stop at the traffic lights to cross Anawrahta Road on which many big and small vehicles were running almost continuously, only stopping for a red light.Last night, he had finished reading the poetry book “Rainbow Land and Other Burma Verses” by C. J Richards. In the book, there was one poem titled “To an Indian bull on Sule Pagoda Road” a
2016, Dec, 37th Street, Bagan Book House, YangonLIN was wondering whether there were any other foreign poets who composed about verses on Burma apart from C. J Richards. Currently, to his knowledge, he could not find any other.He thought that he should ask someone who had got much knowledge of Books on Burma or who had read as many books as he could.Lin knew that there was a National Library, and other reliable libraries in Yangon, especially one on the second floor of BTS (Burma Translation Society) which is now known as Sar Pay Beik Man building.But, he preferred searching old books on Pansodan Road and 37th Street in which several old book vendor shops and best book collector shops lie.Now, he was directing his steps towards Bagan Book House which lies in 37th Street. In his mind, Lin thought that he could find the other books of C. J Richards there.Lin read the book list of
Collecting Old BooksAS everyone might know, collecting old books is not quite easy. It takes time, much effort and much money too so that one needs patience and resilience. If not, one easily gives up collecting old books.When a person can collect the books he wants, he will definitely be the happiest person in the world and it adds credits to his relentless endeavor. And, the satisfaction resulting from the complete collection of works is quite charming, and fulfilled. Therefore, there are some private collectors who like to collect the whole set of a certain author or a certain field.Once Lin heard from his uncle, who told him that a famous physician in the city liked to collect the whole set of James Bond and he bought the books wherever he could find them. Lin marvel at such an adamant passion.For Lin, at first, he just collected a few books in his affordable means. Later, he continued to collect old books, especially boo
Chapter-6 2016, Dec, 37th Street, at a local teashop LIN was a bit interested in talking about books and literature. Today, he had an appointment with his friend Oo at Seik Ku Thit (New Idea) teashop on 37th Street. Normally, they met each other for enjoying literature talks and other small pieces of stuff on Saturday morning when they had free time. Lin was looking impatiently at his watch which said half-past eleven. Today, Lin wore a short-sleeve white shirt, and a Karen longyi (man’s sarong). The costume made him high-spirited. He thought that today’s sun was not as hot as last week because he sensed that the winter started to unfold its coldness in the city, making it more livable. In the early morning, he noticed that mist was falling down shortly when he opened his window to see the first sunlight. He saw corrugated roofs were wet with mildew. At this time, he li
2017, January, downtown YangonLIN was thinking about the author C. J Richards and asking the same question again and again because the curiosity was gnawing his conscience. He really wanted to find out about this author’s life such as where he was born, where he was educated, why he chose to come to Burma, etc.Even he tried to find the author on Google, but only a few facts appeared. He was wondering where this author spent his life after his retirement from I.C.S (Indian Civil Service) in 1947 just before the country Burma (now it is called Myanmar) gained its independence in 1948.Lin was placing the poetry book on his lap, and staring into the distance from the balcony which was on the sixth floor of the downtown building on 40th Street. Although he was at the balcony, he felt no stirring of wind. So, he thought that it was another rather hot day in January.Actually, this was not his apartment, but it was h
2017, January, Downtown YangonIT was Saturday. Lin was free from his job. Lin sat at the desk, looking out from the window, staring at the coconut trees which flanked their house fence. On the desk, there were a box for pens and a book was open on the table. It seemed that Lin was reading a book.Lin was looking at the stirring palm leaves of the coconut trees which bore a clump of several coconut fruits. His glance moved from coconut trees to the sky which was sky blue and clear. It seemed that today would be fine.Last night his uncle U Thein Lwin related some history of Rangoon. It was a very interesting topic his uncle told him. It was also remarkable. Rangoon was used to call Dagon in Myanmar King and Mon King’s times.When King Alaungpaya won Dagon city from Mon’s hands in 1755, he changed the name into “Yangon”, which means “End of Strife”. But to the ears of British, they prefer to pro
2017, January, Downtown YangonLIN went over to Oo’s place on the next day to retrieve his poetry book as soon as the day came in. He did not sleep well last night. He was worried about the loss of the book and his mind was tittered with whether he would get it again or lose forever.A boiled pea seller’s cry from the street outside pierced through Lin’s bedroom to wake up his sleep which he got from late in the early morning. Even the sun rays passing through his window already shone on the wooden floor. Lin sat up on his bed with a little bit drowsy.Lin’s bedroom was strewn with books, lying on the floor because he liked to pile the books on the floor. But, his uncle U Thein Lwin preferred keeping books on shelves to place them on the floor.He glanced at the table clock which said seven-thirty. He thought that he should go to Oo’s apartment after taking a bath. When he finished taking a bat
2017, January, YangonTWO weeks had gone. Lin did not get any news from Oo, and he started to feel frustrated and it was hard to concentrate on the job at this state of mind. He wondered what he should do. He was waiting for Oo’s call all the time. But, he was trapped in his threat to Oo. If Oo could not find the similar book, their friendship would be an end.Lin got back home from his job, going around the downtown book stores to collect book orders for next delivery. With heaviness in mind, he felt a little bit tired. At the entrance of the house, Lin paused for a while, with his head downward, trying to control his agitated and wandering mind.When he got inside the house, his uncle U Thein Lwin greeted Lin, and called him to come over to him. “Lin, come over here. Here some tea for you.”Lin approached his uncle with slow paces and he sat down beside his uncle’s armchair. Then, his uncle inquired soft