N 97     Roots  ( Part  2 )

During the day and the next day before returning home to Taunggyi we visited 2 relatives houses.They were my father’s cousins who lived with him when he was alive. But one was gone and so I saw only the daughters that are left. The other one who is in her 80s and still alive remembered me and she told me that when my father was killed she had gone to Panglone to look for his remains but could not find them. ( My mother was nearly to deliver her 3^rd child and so was not allowed to go. ) 

The places we visited were places of worship where people usually go to when they visit a new place. Merng Nai is an old town  and has many old pagodas, some ruined, and monasteries. It is said to be 2000 years or more old and had much communication with Burma Proper. So the pagodas, monasteries, and traditions were much influenced by Myanmar art and culture.

We visited the Rahanda’s footsteps pilgrimage site which is on the roadside before reaching the town, the Loi Lang Monastery which is over a hundred years old, the 12 Dewi cave where steep steps were built around big boulders and rocks. But on reaching the top we can see a small pagoda and look at the magnificent view of the whole town. Around town we visited the Sintaung Pagoda, U Shwe Aung pagoda and another age old monastery.

Thus the reason to visit Merng Nai, my father’s hometown was accomplished. I had seen a part of  Merng Nai as a visitor should see and I had visited some relatives I had not seen before. And then there were one or two things I hadn’t mention before. I also went to visit my grandmother’s old house. It is not an ancestral’s home anymore, but had changed hands. The new owners hadn’t pulled it down completely, but only done renovations to it. They showed us some photos of the old timber house. So…. this was the house my father and his brothers grew up….I thought to myself.

I wondered if my father and mother lived in this house after they were married. I had known that their marriage was not an easy one. It had to be postponed again and again due to the Saopha and mahadewi who are going to be the guardians not free. ( The mahadewi was my mother’s 1^st cousin )They had to go to Kunhing for the wedding. And so lastly the wedding had to be held on a non auspicious day , a warameiktu day. Elders said that was why their marriage did not last long and he had a violent death. But that is fate, we all had to exist according to fate.

One good thing to mention before I conclude this post is that I got our family tree from Sai Nay Lin Htet’s parents. He told my daughter before we visit Merng Nai to go and visit his father who is compiling Merng Nai’s history  Not expecting to get such a valuable document ,we went to visit him. After some chattings about his works he said he had something to show us and got up to get it. Then he came back with a sheet of old paper and gave it to me. I looked at it to see if I can find my father’s name and soon found it.

He knew I was glad to see it and said he would give me a copy of it to me. I was very happy and thankful for it because with this I can pass down to my ancestors about my roots. A part of it from my father’s side. It is invaluable for me. Not because it shows I am a relative of Sawbwas, which did not benefit us, but it shows that we are not nonentity people and should act and live accordingly.

I would like my children, my ancestors to be honest, simple, humble, sincere who would contribute some good deeds to mankind, as I believe my father to be and not the opposite.  

N   96     Roots      Part 1

When a seed is planted the first thing that will happen is roots begin to grow from it . Only after that the stem, and later leaves will sprout and unfold from it to become a plant. So it can be said that the root is the basic or origin of a plant, whereas for people to become someone who we are today, we also have to have origins or roots, which also means ancestors.

When we say ancestors we mean ancestors from both the father and the mother. Because men and all living things cannot be formed from only the male (father ) and female (mother) . So when we say our ancestors we mean ancestors from both the father and the mother’s side.

My mother was  from Kunhing, a small village on the Nampang stream, which is a tributary of the Salween river. Her parents were originally  from Kayhsi Mansam, who had moved to Kunhing to become hein (headman ) of this village , when their younger sister became Mahadewi of Merng Nawng. Other relatives also moved there where the clan became distinquished people.

My father was from Merng Nai. According to fate I had been close and lived near relatives from mother’s side in Kunhing, whereas Merng Nai , my father’s birthplace had been far reaching for me.

My father’s name was Sao Tun San. He was a second cousin of the Saopha of Merngnai.I don’t know much about him, but only what I made of him from my mother’s telling. He was schooled to the 7^th standard, but he could read and write English well. He was intimate with the Haw’s environment and worked as a clerk  once. At one time he had been a supply officer.

He read and had a progressive mind, and came to know that the feudal system existing  in the Shan State was not good for the people. So he became a political activist as a member of the Asian Youth Association and later of Shan State Freedom Party, which oppose the feudal lords.During the Panlone conference he was the organizer of these organizations and was much active.

When there was a problem about Bogyoke Aung San being the representative of the Shan State or not he lead a rally in support of General Aung San to show that he represented the Shan State in Merng Nai.

So the feudal lords came to hate him intensely and prepared to get rid of him. Knowing of the danger he and his comrades were facing they tried to flee into Taunggyi district where the black hands of the feudal lords could not reach them. But they faced some difficulties in crossing the Pawn Stream at Merng Pawn, because there were women in their group. He was captured and taken to Loilem to be jailed there at the police station.

 And then one night by the order of the feudal lords he and one comrade were taken out of the jail, taken in a car and assassinated at a spot between Loilem and Panglone. How were they killed, the family never know and their bodies were never found.

According to what I heard from my mother and some other people my father was a good and kind man, a straightforward man who cared for the well being of the proletariat  and grassroots people.

I think he was the same age as General Aung San. So when he was killed in 1948 he would be only about a few years over 30. I at that time was only 3 years old , one brother 2 years and another one nearing to be born. Anyone can imagine the sorrow and grief my mother had faced during those days.

So in this way my mother became a widow and we were left fatherless. My mother had to go back to Kunhing where her parents were and we became distant from

Merng Nai, my father’s birthplace.

Now , years had passed, and we could not know the exact truth about my father’s assassination. But we bear no grudge on anyone. So when I have to go and check on the restoration work of the pagodas at Wansing and also my daughter wanted to visit Merng Nai , we planned a one night visit to Merng Nai.

One relative Daw Khin Su of Namsang accompanied us with their own car to Merng Nai. As it is only about 30 miles from Namsang it didn’t take long to reach there.

Daw Khin Su took us to visit Daw Ah Mar’s house, but there was only on family member . Nearly all that was left of the once distinquished family had all gone to stay in big cities like Taunggyi and Yangon.

Merng Nai haw was sold to the government and now it is being used as a government office.But we visited the must see emblem of Merng Nai, the copper cow which is a part of Merng Nai history in the haw ground.

As for the Sawbwa’s family there is only one household left and that is the 3^rd wife’s who is the only one to be still alive. But we didn’t see her as she had gone to Yangon We saw only one granddaughter , but could take some photos of the family members including one which I had wanted to take. The old haw which I had never seen anywhere.