Khin Hnin Yu - The Awakening of Maung Myo Min

Maung Myo Min has woken up.

"Oh my God..."

My belief in the Buddha must be a movement in our family for Maung Myo Min to awaken. Because a new person has brought his place in my household.

Maung Myo Min was born to his mother, Mi Kyaw Thaung, on December 10, 1970. I don’t know the exact time of birth. However, at 9 pm that night, the first person to hear that a second grandson, a precious boy, had been born into our family, Mahathaki, was Maung Myo Min’s uncle, U Thet Tin.

As soon as I heard the news, I fell on my bed. “Aung Mae Lay, I have come to tell you good news from Queen Mother Mae Yu. Please don’t let me be the culprit. Take your medicine and sleep peacefully tonight.”

I was unable to visit my daughter, Mi Kyaw Thaung, at the hospital when she gave birth because her health was not good.

I saw my grandson's face as soon as I brought Maung Myo Min home. His father, Major Htun Aung Kyaw, put the child in my arms. I stood up in the living room and picked him up. I saw his face, so pale and tender. The touch of his warm body pierced my chest, giving my cold heart a boost.

My steps did not move a single inch. For a moment I became as still as a stone. My thoughts wandered here and there. My sorrows also beat like waves. If I were to write down the movements of my fleeting mind, it would take a book. Sadness, joy, delight, heartbreak, wanting to speak, wanting to stand.

Ah... the mental activity is so abundant.

I'm yet to give him a name.

When his brother was named Kyaw Kyaw Win, their mother, Mi Kyaw Thaung, didn't like it. It was because of the fortune teller's wishes when he was making his horoscope.

“That name, Kyaw Kyaw Win, has a lot of boyfriends,” Mi remarked. However, Mi accepted the name because her father, U Naing (the boy's grandfather), had already accepted it, and she agreed to name her firstborn Kyaw Kyaw Win.

Now, your grandfather's face is gone. Your grandmother is going to name her second grandson. My mother, like her father's face, has a pointed head and is completely flat, so she calls him Maung Pethi.

Maung Pethi is a Thursday, so it is also a suitable name for the day. However, an official name is still needed.

I don't want to search for books with names like garlic cloves, and I haven't seen fortune tellers since my husband passed away.

Maung Pethi is not as tall as Kyaw Kyaw Win, his brother is taller than him. Maung Pethi is a round, round little boy. He is a strong, sturdy little boy. He is calm and peaceful if he eats food with his mouth moving like his mother.

I named Maung Pethi “Maung Myo Min” as a tribute to my teacher, Saya U Myo Min (professor of the English Department), and as a fitting name for the day.

However, they did not call him Maung Myo Min, nor Maung Pethi, but rather called him their little son.

Before his mother got her doctorate, she hired a nanny (first-class nanny) so that she could concentrate on her studies. Even when Maung Myo Min was born, the nanny’s salary was 120 kyats. Htun Aung Kyaw paid for the nanny’s salary. Now that my mother has a degree, we let Maung Myo Min take care of our little girl, who is paid 60 kyats a month. This is because Maung Myo Min no longer has to make milk bottles, boil the items used to clean the bottles with hot water once a week, and wash diapers. I pay for the cook. When there are two people, one cook and one nanny, they eat together, go together, sleep together, and sit together. According to our family’s principle, a bag of rice costs from 50 to 70 kyats. When it came time to pay, the cost of feeding and clothing the housekeepers was much higher than the monthly salary, so in order to reduce the initial housing costs, we were able to hire a nanny to help us with just a few dishes.

In fact, in order to smoothly become a doctor, as my father (the deceased) intended, Htun Aung Kyaw and I spent money on the health of our eldest son Kyaw Kyaw Win and younger son Maung Myo Min when they were infants. Only when the children were healthy could they study happily. If I myself were a healthy grandmother, I would not need to hire a nanny to take care of my children. Now, Maung Pethi's grandmother, let alone to take care of her grandchildren by feeding them bottles, has to wear glasses to eat a bite of rice herself, so she has to hire a nanny who is skilled in cleaning the bottles and feeding the children on time.

Now Maung Myo Min can run and play. He can also speak fluently. The girl who takes care of him is a village girl and her name is Ma Pu Lay.

Maung Myo Min and Ma Pu Lay gave me my bedroom, and I moved to U Nae-moon's bedroom and started sleeping.