2016, Dec, 37th Street, Bagan Book House, Yangon
LIN 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 the author in the poetry book, and found out that the poetry book was the second book of the author so that he might have a chance to find other books of the authors from the book shop.
After reading the poetry book, Lin wanted to find more books of the author. He found that the author’s sentiment towards local people was quite different from other foreign authors who wrote about Burma.
Especially George Orwell wrote a novel set in Burma of that time. The novel was so well-known that almost every visitor enjoyed reading it. But, Lin found some of the points in the novel disagreeing, mainly concerned with the portrayal of Burmese characters in the novel.
This author C. J Richards showed much humanity and humor in his writings, and Lin thought that the author introduced Burma/Myanmar to outside world. So he thought that he should find out more facts about the author who would be like a mediator between east and west.
As everyone knew Rangoon was suffered Japanese bombing in WWII, and the evacuation before the Japanese intrusion happened in 1942. The books might be lost in the war too. If some of them survived, it was very lucky to have them right now after 70 years later.
He felt that he was very lucky to find the old book of Burma verses. He wondered how come this little book survived and still carried out its duties of educating and entertaining its reader, past and present.
After reading the book, Lin felt that the book had got some literary merits and he was wondering why this good poet fell into oblivion. This question was nagging him all the time after reading the book.
Many questions appeared in his thoughts and Lin was trying to answer them as much as he could, but not much successful. Lin knew that he needed to find out about the history and the author’s life if he wanted to have the answers for his questions.
By this time, he got into the book shop and met the cheerful and amiable owner of Bagan Book Shop. After exchanging a few introductory words, the book shop owner let Lin to browse all the books stacking on the book shelves. Lin saw many interesting books ranging from history, politics, poetry, postcards, etc.
Lin was really wonderful of the capacity of collecting so many books in this book shop. When Lin looked at the owner, he noticed that the owner was a nice fellow.
Lin started the conversation after browsing some of the book shelves.
“Do you have any other books written by this author?”
Lin showed the poetry book to the owner who looked at the book which was shown by Lin. He scanned it with his eyes, and said, “C. J Richards? Just wait. I think I have one. But it’s in the pamphlet series.”
Not so long, the owner took out a rather thin booklet titled, “Burman: An Appreciation”. Seeing the book, Lin felt very happy so that he forgot to ask the price of the book to the book shop owner.
Lin turned over the pages of the book, and read the first paragraph from the book. During the time, another possible book buyer entered the book shop, and Lin heard the greetings of the book buyer to the book shop owner.
Lin let them exchange the greetings, and he focused on reading some more paragraphs from the book. The more he read the passages, the more he sensed the goodwill of the author towards the natives.
The man who entered the book shop stopped by Lin and reached out for the thick book on the second row of the book shelf, but after a few minutes, the man put it back on the shelf.
That time, Lin heard the man asking, “Do you have the book by Fielding Hall?” Lin noticed that the man was in his mid forty, wearing thick rimmed glasses, with curly hair. The man wore a short sleeve blue shirt and a pair of jean pants.
The man was also carrying a thick book under one’s arm. It seemed like that the man was a bookworm.
Upon it, the book shop owner readily replied, “Yes, I have. You mean you want “Soul of the People” by Fielding Hall?
The man said it was. The book shop owner went back to the attic where he kept most of his books.
When he came back, he emerged with holding the book in hand and he handed it to the man who asked for the book. The man asked him the price of it. And the book shop owner said it would be eight thousand kyats.
The man said nothing, looking at the condition of the book and paid the cash and left the book shop.
When this man left, Lin started the conversation with the book shop owner. “Do you have another one of this?”
The book shop owner replied, “No. It’s the only one I have.” “If you want, I can sell it with 2000 kyats.”
Lin thought that it was fair, and he took out 2 notes of 1000kyats and paid them to the book shop owner who left with smiles.
When Lin hit the road, he unexpectedly ran into his best friend Oo who was all the time funny –making man. But, Oo was like Lin because Oo was also very much interested in reading books.
“Ah, Lin!” exclaimed Oo, “I don’t expect you to see you here.” Oo continued, “What brings you here, Lin. I thought that you will be at home.”
Lin looked at Oo’s square face with short curly hair cut and Oo wore a blue striped shirt, and a Kachin pattern longyi.
Oo was really surprised to see Lin at this place. Lin answered, “Yes, Oo. I should be at home. But I wanted to look for a book so that I thought I should come to Bagan book shop. That’s why I came here.”
“Look at what I got here,” said Lin happily. Lin held out the book he bought from Bagan Book House.
Oo looked at it, and found the book whose title was “Burman: An Appreciation”. Oo asked Lin that why he bought this book.
Lin explained Oo that he firstly bought the author’s poetry book and this time his non-fiction work. He continued that he liked to collect this author’s books, and he now owned two of his.
After that, Oo invited Lin to have some tea if Lin had got some spare time. Lin thought that he could not deny his best friend offer and they both went to the tea shop which lied in the street.
During their conversation, Oo told Lin that he had got a room in downtown. It was owned by Oo’s elder brother who was working abroad. During his absence, his brother let him to stay at the place.
Oo invited Lin, “Lin, if you want to spend your time or read any books, you can come down to my apartment which lies on 40th Street, Middle Block. It’s quite spacious, and there is no one to disturb us.”
Lin thought that Oo was a good friend who wanted to share his apartment with his friends. Lin knew that these days hospitality was diminished because untrustworthiness is common among men.
Lin promised Oo that when he had a time, he would come down to Oo’s apartment and read a book there. He ascertained that he would call him before he came down to Oo’s place.
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
2017, February, Golden Valley, YangonTHE taxi dropped Lin and Oo at the gate which said No. 35, Golden Valley. Oo pressed the bell at the gate. Before their eyes, they saw some padauk trees with thick foliage were standing quietly.The compound was spacious, and quiet, being free from the noises of downtown Yangon. Within minutes, a doorman appeared at the gate and ushered them in.Oo said, “We came here to see U Aung Aye Myint.”When they entered the living room from the balcony, Lin noticed a wooden settee in it. They both sat down on rattan chairs and waited for U Aung Aye Myint. During the time, they both browsed their eyes around the living room.On the wall facing them, they saw an oil painting depicting the natural beauty of Bagan in silhouette but they could not figure out who the painter was. They both were feasting their eyes on it, feeling wonderful at the artwork done by one of Myanmar art
I.CECIL John Richards (C.J.Richards) went back to England in 1947 after I. C. S (Burma) was dissolved from service. This was also a chance to live again with his wife and sons to lead a peaceful family life.He chose a place in Swarraton in Hampshire where the surroundings were peaceful and quiet and its environs reminded him of Burma and its people. Swarraton is a small village in the City of Winchester district of Hampshire, England. It lies three miles (5km) from New Alresford. Its nearest railway station is in New Alresford, on the Mid-Hants section of the London and South Western Railway.The locality of the place was much suited to him because he could also visit his old colleagues and friends who served in Burma as I.C.S and they would meet regularly on weekends to relate their old days in Burma.He had lived in Burma for over three decades and served well up to D. C (District Commissioner), starting from a settleme