Khin Hnin Yu - Mahasaki

Now, an unknown source of news has started spreading, causing excitement in Kankawkone.

Kankaw Kone is on the road, while Mya Kone is on the railway. You can't get to Kankaw Kone from Mya Kone by road. The road isn't very far. You pass through a beautiful forest and arrive at Kankaw Kone. It's about fifty miles away.

Mya-Yakone is a crossroads of trade routes and is busier than Kandaw-Kone, but it is not as beautiful as a merchant's hut. It is as chaotic as a grocery store. It is the headquarters of the local ruler.

Kankaw Kone is a small town where the city's chief is based, but it is a beautiful town at the end of a forest. It is cool. It is peaceful. The road leading into the city is lined with Kankaw trees for about half a mile. The appearance of the town is like a small forest town, but the courtyards are neat and tidy. The houses are large, old-fashioned oil-soaked houses in the Burmese style. Only three or four retired officials live in brick houses. Their brick houses are also very old.

Usually, only the landowners and the merchants who store and sell beans and cotton from the fields behind live there. In the morning, except for the sound of trucks and carts carrying beans and cotton to the fields, the town is quiet and peaceful in the afternoon.

The news that suddenly broke out in the city was causing a stir. Even the retired criminal investigator, who used to walk to the grove of kankaw trees on the outskirts of the city every morning, did not go to the kankaw trees but discussed the news he had heard with the school teacher, U Aung Ba. The place where they were standing and talking was in front of the mansion where the news had first broken.

Even the school children looked around the big house. The flower girl who was looking at the hibiscus trees also looked around the big house. She pointed to the flower girl who was holding jasmine garlands in her hand and said, “That big house.” - The assistant smiled at the movement of the little girls. He also seemed to be more delighted because the fragrance of hibiscus and jasmine spread around him.

"Even U Aung Ba's flower girls are paying attention to this news."

"Ah... they are also from Kankawkone, so I'm happy that my city will be honored, Your Majesty. In fact, it's an honor."

U Aung Ba replied, looking up at the house. The house they were looking at was an old, two-story house, dark and very dark with oil stains.

U San, the broker who brought beans to the steel mill, approached them. “Hey, U Aung Ba, I think we’re discussing the Mahathaki mansion. I heard the news from the market.”

"Yes, sir..."

“That’s what the young people at the tea shop are saying. So when will Ko Ukka arrive, U Aung Ba?”

U Aung Ba was an old resident of the town and knew all about the history of Kankaw Kone. The chief minister had only heard of Ko Ukka but had never seen him.

“I can’t say for sure yet, I just heard the news, Ko San.”

"Wait, is this news true? Where did you hear it from..."

U San asked U Aung Ba again.

“I don’t know who started it. The first thing I knew was that yesterday, when I went to the monk to take the vows, the monk told me that Maung Ukka would be returning from London, and that the Mahathaki House would be turned into a museum because it was the house where Maung Ukka was born.”

U San nodded. The assistant also opened the big pipe and stared at the big house. The big house seemed to be looking back at them calmly, like an old woman in the middle of the wide yard.

"I am honored," the minister added.

“Kokka, a Burmese national, has become a world-famous writer, so Kankaw Kone is very proud, even though it is a small town.”

“Yes, sir, the people born in this Mahathaki house are also quite unique. Daw Ma Ma, who actually owns this house, and I have been in contact with the Steel Brothers and have been involved in the business. Daw Ma Ma’s ancestors are all related to Hodi U Aung Ba and the old clan.”

The assistant felt like he was reading a good, interesting novel.

"I still have a little way to go to the market, so I'll go."

U San said goodbye and left. Only the assistant and U Aung Ba were left. It was pointless for the two of them to stand in the middle of the road for so long. However, the assistant wanted to know how the writer U Ukka and his family grew up in the Mahathaki mansion, and how the current generations are.

The newspaper arrived late in Kankaw Kone. It is better to investigate the real nature of the story by visiting the nearest native place than by reading the news about famous people in the newspaper.

“Oh, well... if Maung Okka comes, I, as the municipal chairman, will have to host a tea party or a dinner party.”

“You should do it, U Aung Ba, we will help you too. We Burmese people are great in our own country, but we don’t know the value of this person. When people say “Taw Hla Khi” from abroad, they don’t care if there are really good people in our country. If I have to be honest, I didn’t read U Ukka’s Burmese novels before the war. I only started reading the novel “The Potato Picker” written in English, which was published in London. Is this person still in this state of mind?”

"Yes, they used to have bean fields, potato fields, and cotton fields. Did they leave Burma after the war?"

"Hey... I'm talking to you, where did you come from? Your face is so happy and smiling."

U Aung Ba approached a man and greeted him. He was almost fifty years old, but he was very strong and energetic. His sunburnt face was old, but his eyes were bright and clear. His laugh was loud and clear, befitting his height.

“I am happy to see my ancestors, who have been separated for so many years, U Aung Ba. What can I say?”

Kota Tae replied with a really sweet smile on his face. Even the assistant was quite fond of Kota Tae. His face was as lovely as it was ugly.