23-05-2008 John just before joining the queue for the

plane…never miss a chance

Left home around
10:30 am with Sangtea who dropped me off at
the airport. Our flight was surprisingly right on
schedule and I was in security by 11:45 am. My
friend David was also on the flight as were
some others who were to go on the Deccan
flight about half an hour after us. It was a
pleasant surprise to meet up with two guys
from HCU outside the airport- guys who’d
been real nice while I was there at the
Hyderabad University in January. While we
were sitting in security, John Schlitt and the
Stone Java band guys made their way in and I
managed to steal a picture on my mobile with
The flight stopped for half an hour enroute
to Kolkatta at Imphal- I hate these stops but
there was no choice-I had a wrong day!! We
took a room at the airport but only used it for a
bath and to freshen up then took off to City
Centre for a movie soon after we settled in the
room. We saw ‘Chronicles of Narnia’, the
second in the series and it was a great movie.
After the show, I walked into the mall very
quickly and got a pair of goggles cos I’d
mistakenly picked up my old glasses instead of
my gogs on the way out and had to have
Sangtea take it back.
Bathed, had dinner at the airport hotel and then
proceeded to the international terminal where
we got through our immigration details and
waited for the Thai Airways flight to Bangkok.
It was 1am when we took off.

24-05-08
Bangkok airport was huge and lovely…everything was so well-maintained and technologically
advanced. They had escalators that not only went up and down but straight as well. To top that, there
were small open cars to take passengers from one end to the other, and one could hire them for a price
if the way was too long for a walk. We didn’t have much time at transit so got through our formalities
quickly and proceeded for departure. There was a young Asian male who I’d noticed at Kol airport and
I was surprised to find him waiting for the Yangon flight as well. But I didn’t approach him and never
did get the chance to talk to him cos after he boarded, I never saw him again. The flight to Yagon on
Thai took an hour and it was a very pleasant flight. The Yangon airport was really impressive too-
newly built and fine by any standards. The only thing missing was a large crowd and shops-duty free
or otherwise..more of this on the return trip.

The hotel we were to stay in had sent a car for us and we were met by a very polite driver who
barely spoke English. I was really impressed when I asked if he had water in the car. He didn’t, but
stopped on the way to buy a bottle of mineral water for which he refused to take money. The courtesy
with which he was dealing with a first time visitor has left a lasting impression on me.
Our hotel was one of the better medium-range ones in Yangon and had possibly 3-star standards
though international standards are not applied here. The lobby was friendly and the room comfortable.
Since our timings had been rather odd and because mine had been a long trip to take after having been
ill for a bit, the rest of the day was spent lazing in the room. Managed to catch a short nap but thought
the day was too precious to be wasted. So we went out in the evening after exchanging a 100 dollars
for Burmese kyats. We went downtown to the Super One supermarket and I got myself a cap and a
skirt. All the stuff they sold looked absolutely appealing and the prices were pretty reasonable- except
for the readymade tops which I found were almost entirely imported from Thailand and cost quite a lot
of Burmese kyats. The value of their currency is so low it is almost impossible to find anything below
a 1000K. But with the Indian rupee worth around 25K, the exchange rate was friendly and that was a
huge help.
 Didn’t have that long a time at the store cos they closed rather early- it must’ve been around
6:30 when we walked out and were not allowed back in. this trend, I was told, was a recent one, a post-
Nargis one, to be more specific. But the streets remained alive and there were people moving around
on foot. On the sidewalks were small open shops selling Burmese food which were prepared there in
the open and they put up small tables and chairs on the street. I had a chance to eat a hearty Burmese
Mohenga for 2000K at one of these places and I treasure that experience more than any other meal I
had at all the more exotic locations during my entire stay. Back at the hotel, I took a long and luxurious
bath, relaxing in the warm tub perfumed with the beautiful scent of the hotel’s flowered soap. With the
healthy appetite I had taken with me, I still showed up at the dining hall at night for a glass of wine and
some light snack. The bar was alive by then and we decided to step in for the English covers by the
professional band playing there- I think they were called ‘The Rainbow’. They did some very widely
popular numbers and were quite good tho I suspect their lyrics were written in Burmese!! Opted for
some coke as we sat at the counter making small talk with other guests and the locals. There were a
few people on the dance floor and a specially adept guy who danced with different ladies to a few of
the songs. I later learnt that he was the dance instructor who practiced at night with his students while
lounging in the bar- he was pretty good! I stayed put on my barstool, drinking a local Cola just taking
in the people and the relaxed atmosphere- a deceptively calm and prosperous feel within the walls of

luxury, three weeks after the devastating Nargis.

25-05-08
The Sunday plan was to take a trip to Irrewady delta, the worst hit area and visit some relief camps to
actually assess the situation. But we learnt that the delta was a full 5-hour trip from Yangon and that
entry to the relief camps were a highly restricted affair. The plan had to be shelved and we made our
way to the Shwedagon Pagoda- the single most religious place in the country, just a few minutes’ walk
from our hotel. Legend has it that two brothers brought eight hairs of the Buddha to be enshrined in
this sacred location, inaugurating the Shwedagon Pagoda. We had to pay a 7000K ($6) entry fee while
it was free for locals, at the Southern entrance from which an elevator took us up to the main platform.
We got a guide to accompany us and though there were some stories I didn’t quite get because of the
language barrier, it was a good thing to have him around- there were a lot of things we would not have
understood had he not been there. The guide cost 5000K.
The Pagoda was busy and friendly and there were people milling all over the place. We were
told there was an even larger crowd as it was a Sunday and a holiday. There were devotees praying at
the foot of their favourite statue- there are reportedly more than 2000 Buddha idols. Then there were
those who’d come as families or in a group with their lunches, or their small tea kettles and cups,
sitting down for lazy chats. The Burmese have an 8-day week, the conventional Wednesday divided
into two…and an animal for each of these days. At the Pagoda too, there were eight shrines at the foot
of the stupa for each day of the week, each with its own Buddha, where people prayed at the shrine of
the days of their births.
Two favorite objects of devotion were umbrellas and gold leaves. Small umbrellas were offered
to the Buddha, to shade him from the harsh sun and gold leaves were rubbed on the idols. Many people
also poured water on the statues in the open to cool them down and put them in a favourable mood
before submitting their supplications. Major donations have been made to the Pagoda by devotees from
all the world over time and many smaller Pagodas and shrines have come up within the platform, as
have water containers, umbrellas and others. On the way back, we decided to walk down the stairs of
the Eastern walkway with its shops selling curios and interesting souvenirs. I managed to get a few
small souvenirs with a local friend bargaining for me. Although the shopkeepers are friendly and pretty
honest, most cannot resist the chance of naming a slightly higher price than usual when they find out
you’re a foreigner. This was specially true in my case, because most of them spoke openly in Burmese-
I must look absolutely like one, judging by the number of times this happened- and on finding I cant
understand them, gleefully proceed to price their ware in dollars.

After the Pagoda, I decided to make more of

the day by going off to Bogyoke Aung San
Market (Scott Market) downtown. The market
houses small shops selling everything from
gems to slippers and everything in between.
 large and beautiful dining place and the
highlight of the fare here is the one hour
cultural show from 7:30 to 8:30 pm where one
gets a taste of Burma’s rich and varied folk
culture complete with a puppet show. The food
was good too, featuring a selection of Burmese
The place was alive even on a Sunday and I and Thai cuisine.
loved going through all those precious stones
on display even though I didn’t buy any, afraid
I might be cheated. I mentally saved some
pieces to be bought on another day out with a
local but sadly, there never came another time.
Bought some traditional wear and beautiful
fabrics while I just stood fascinated at the
display of lanes and lanes of slippers and exotic
hand paintings.

The waiters spoke a spatter of English

and since the place was rather empty that night
(only three tables including mine), it was easy
to have them all on attention and every wish
was met with delight- says quite a lot about
service and the traditional Burmese hospitality
again.

After a sweaty time with the crowds at Scott, I

moved back to the hotel to freshen up and make
yet another trip out in the evening. This time I
took the help of the friendly reception staff at
the hotel and decided to go to the Karaweik
Buffet Restaurant, located on Kandawgyi Lake.
The actual restaurant is within a huge boat that
rests on the lake and the lake compound also
boasted of some traditional shops within
beautiful surroundings, an open lawn with
swings and park benches, with live music in the
evenings. There were young Burmese couples
enjoying the refreshing evening breeze and
romantic local music, seemingly unconcerned
with the rest of the world.

The restaurant itself was another

experience altogether. At the entrance I was
greeted by beautiful, traditionally attired It was after 9 when I finally left, one of
hostesses who took me inside the boat through the waiters was kind enough to see me off at
a long and interesting walkway. Inside was a the gate while someone else got me a cab from
the streets. It was while I waited for the cab that
I walked around the place and was delighted to
find young Burmese couples and groups
enjoying a quiet night out
26-05-08
Monday turned out to be a quiet day, since I
shamefully overslept, missed breakfast and
finally moved out of the hotel at lunchtime.
Went downtown again and walked the streets of
Bogyoke Aung San Road, taking in the shops-
big and small, the hotels and the cinema halls-
strangely comforting to find that two of them
were showing Hindi movies, probably catering
to the large Indian minority in Yangon. Ate
lunch at an Indian Muslim place which wasn’t
all that great or clean but had a friendly air
about it. I also browsed through the many small
bookshops that sold all kinds of books- many
secondhand and really old English books and
magazines. It was at one of these places that I
found an old out-of-print book on the History
of English Literature for which I paid the grand
sum of 1500K (about Rs.55). There were some
old foreign cars around too and on looking up
one, a man immediately approached and asked
if I wanted to use it- he said it was a ‘black taxi’
which I understood as a private vehicle that
works as a cab without a permit. These were
especially pimped to attract the attention of
curious tourists.
In the afternoon, I visited a Mizo house
where I was so well-received, more so because
of my late aunt who had been there a long time
ago and had been thick friends with them. We
sat talking for ages and they were happy to help
me out in whatever way they could on my
interest in Buddhist folktales. We made
arrangements to eat there the following
morning as well. From the balcony of their
apartment, we were able to see the railway
station which presented a pretty sight although
the immediate border on our side was the living
quarters of railway employees which was in
shambles, more so after the cyclone. I was also
told that the streets had earlier been lined with
huge trees that the cyclone had uprooted. Their
car had also been crushed by a falling tree!
27-05-08
Determined not to miss another
complimentary breakfast, I was up with enough
time for a bath before moving down to eat.
Made my way downtown after a heavy
breakfast to meet with the leaders of the
Yangon Zofa Society who were meeting to
discuss ways of helping the Mizo population
around Yangon who’d been hit by the cyclone.
Their gesture of kindness and action in
expressing solidarity at such a time was
impressive. And so was their genuine goodwill
and willingness to answer my curious and at
times, difficult questions. We later watched a
video of the devastation the cyclone had
wrecked around the Irrawady delta. There were
times when I had to close my eyes because I
just couldn’t bear to watch the sorry sight of
dead bodies lying around- some in the waters
and others on land.
It rained heavily for much of the
afternoon and we had to sit indoors even
though I had wanted desperately to go on a
train ride around Yangon. But fortunately, there
was Lalnunsanga from T-Melody around and he
was kind enough to sing a few songs for us-
that made up for some light entertainment on a
rainy day
 After the rains passed, we were off to
Scott market again and spent a much longer
time there than I had anticipated because there
was so much to see. We actually spent ages at a
small curio place where I picked and tossed
necklaces and bangles finally picking a few and
having matching jewellery made for them to
take home with me. I also got a traditional
(unstitched) Burmese wear as a gift- something
I will always treasure. The evening was quietly
spent at the hotel, except for an interesting
conversation at the bar and the gift of a ‘Kon’,
the Burmese zarda paan
28-05-08
The following morning, I missed
breakfast again, not because I overslept but
because I got up ultra-early!! I was up at 5 to
get ready for my day trip before leaving
Yangon in the evening. I accompanied one
group to sites on the outskirts of Yangon to give
some relief money to cyclone-affected families
and it was here that I got a taste of how a poor
Burmese family lived.
The houses I was taken to see were
small thatched structures that stood on flimsy
bamboo poles elevated from the ground. There
were families as large as eight living in such
homes that would have measured an average of
five or six feet by eight feet. On my way home,
I started reading ‘Daughter of the East’, the
autobiography of Benazir Bhutto, and on
reading how some political prisoners had been
kept in four feet by five feet cells, the thought
that entered my head was that the houses I saw
in the outskirts of Rangoon were not much
better than the worst punishments meted out to
political prisoners elsewhere!
Most families had somehow re-done the
worst of the damage from the cyclone of three
weeks earlier. Some even had what seemed to
be signboards or posters, probably blown off by
the cyclone, on their walls, as a ready substitute
for the thatched walls the others usually had.
The surprising thing though, was that most of
them seemed to be cheerful inspite of their
woes- the children running around in carefree
abandon while the adults (who I’m sure had a
lot on their minds) only seemed concerned
about going forward and getting on with what
little they had without lingering too much on
what they had lost. Their loss to us may have
been little in material terms, but to think much
of what they had accumulated through their
hard earned labour was gone forever was
something which occupied my thoughts for a
long time after.
The army quarters we visited did not
fare much better and I was shocked to find one
family living with their sow right inside a very
small space of living quarters allotted to them.
There I was told that the little money we’d
brought with us would be used to buy rice
because the one they had been rationed was not
edible and that they had already incurred quite
a lot of debt with the shopkeepers who sold
such essentials as rice. This was rather
surprising because I’d seen lots of pictures in
different media where the heads of the military
government had visited affected families,
distributing aid. One of the accounts I heard
told a very different story. A man recounted
how he and many others had stood in a queue
for a long time because they’d been told that
rice and cooking oil were to be distributed.
After standing so for almost the entire morning,
some high official in uniform came by and
pictures were taken of him with the supplies
and the long queue waiting to be given those
supplies. After those pictures, the official took
off and all the supplies that had been on
display, purportedly for distribution were
summarily stored again and there was nothing
to be had for the time spent in queue. If this
was an account of the norm, I just could not
begin to imagine the fate of those whose very
existence depended on those timely supplies!
The trip taught me a lot about humanity
and universal brotherhood. The sentiments that
were aroused in the heart of a stranger for these
suffering people, the physical pain that came
out of watching dead bodies floating on the
waters- with outstretched arms as if crying for
help- were things I had not imagined could be
my own experience. It brought me closer to
understanding the hearts of missionaries, of aid
agencies who would bet their lives on bring
relief to those in need.
More than anything else, I was touched
by the honesty, sincerity, friendliness and
hospitality of the people as a whole. Like I said,
I must really look like one of them because
everyone cared to speak only in Burmese with
me, some pressing on even after I’d repeatedly
try to communicate in English. The people I
found were those who did not take what was
not theirs. On the long road trip to the outskirts,
I was told that I could leave my things
unattended in an unlocked car and no one
would touch them. I did and they didn’t! this
was so refreshing after having lived all my life
making sure my things were always safely
locked up or attended to avoid their loss.
One rather funny incident at the airport
was our attempt to carry beer cans which we
learnt later were not duty free. The Yangon
airport was beautiful but almost completely
empty except for the bare essentials. When I
saw a signboard saying ‘Shops/Café’, I was
quick to ask whether there actually was a café
and I was told to go straight. Once there, I
realized their idea of a café was not exactly like
mine. There were two young girls and a young
man behind a small table with a few cigarettes,
bottled water and two chicken rolls. Behind
them was a small frig filled with soda and beer
cans. They also had a coffee machine between
the two with no place to sit- either for them or
the customers. This was located a few steps
from the security and departure enclosures so I
assumed they would all be duty free. Just to
make sure, I asked if they were but the wall of
Babel came up against us once again. Confident
in my assumption, I got some cigarettes and a
beer can after a cup of coffee and one of their
chicken rolls. Walking the seven or eight steps
to the enclosure, I was promptly asked to fish
out the beer and finish it off before I moved
down to the departure lounge. When I pointed
out that the sign they displayed outside actually
allowed for liquids in a separate plastic bag,
they answered ‘Yes, but you cannot’ and that
was that!! Their solution- which I enjoyed so
much I was smiling and laughing the whole
time through, was: ‘You have one hour, finish it
off” and though they were actually thinking of
sending us back near the ‘café’ to finish the
beer, I asked if we might sit in their enclosure
to do so. Being the genuinely good-natured
people they were, they allowed the request and
we all shared a hearty laugh
There are so many other small gestures
and sights that would fill a lot more pages had I
the power to express them in a way that would
justify the way they have enriched my
experience. But lest I kill the joy of the
experience, let me just say my Yangon diary
cannot come close to the depth of emotions the
trip worked on me and I am now home with
every intention of going back should there ever
be an opportunity…and I regret having to
refrain from mentioning all the lovely people I
met, for fear that the appearance of their
identities on a public forum like the Net might
not be welcome…but it is because of them that
the memories of the Yangon week are so
special.