Nu Nu Yi Inwa - Some are beautiful, some are not.

July 1984

If you keep saying this, it won't be long before people are all thin. Look... I'm holding an empty iron plate, which is made with duck eggs and noodles. I don't even feel like eating. What kind of noodles and pork, noodles and beef, noodles and shrimp, I've only heard of these, now look, noodles and duck eggs. I've never heard of them, who knows, this spicy and delicious dish is so delicious.

Aye... It's not up to anyone to eat spicy food, it's not up to your mother to make a fuss, it's not up to you to pout. We all have to eat it. No matter what kind of food, no matter what kind of rice, we all have to eat it, but the problem is that "Mathi" can't eat this dish at all. Mathi doesn't like bamboo shoots, and if she doesn't like it, she doesn't like sweet bamboo shoots, she doesn't like sour bamboo shoots, she doesn't like anything. Just like this, duck eggs... quail eggs are also a type of food that Mathi hates. Mathi can't eat these two things, so she has never eaten them, and now she has never encountered a dish that even combines these two things.

Mathi, who had been up since five in the morning, was already growling with hunger at ten o'clock. What should I do? I had to swallow the rice, the curry... I couldn't swallow it anyway, and as usual, anger flared up like fire when it came to food. But who should Mathi take this anger out on? Oh... At home, the dining table had fallen over. Mom, the floors were shaking, Mom's husband, Ko Tun Tin, had run out of the house.

"Hey girl... go get some food, your face is so ugly and you're so aggressive again.."

Aye Thein, who was serving the rice, shouted, and became even more angry. The teacher, who was serving the rice next to Aye Thein, looked at him. Otherwise, all of Mathi's anger would have been reflected on this little girl.....

After eating, I had to put the rice bowl on the table, and I didn't feel like I was eating like I used to. Yes, in the past, I was happy to eat whatever I wanted. For a woman who always came first, who never ate enough, today is a real disaster...

"Now.. are you done? Have you put all the rice and soup plates on? Then we'll line up."

The teacher shouted, and the noisy crowd stopped eating and they all ran to the dining table, ten people in pairs. They lined up in front of each other. Although they were not in the mood, Mathi was the one who shouted from the front of the ten people, so they had to go to the front. Mathi was the one who had the loudest voice, some were good and some were not.

"Now.. serial number..."

“One... two... three... four... five... six”

Matthew started shouting from one to thirty, then Matthew turned to the nine people behind him.

“I am Mathi, Ma Aye Thein, Ma San Chit, Ma Shwe A, Ma Mya Ein, Ma Phyu U, Ma Kyi Hmwe, Ma Khin Khin, Yee Yee Htay, Ma Sue, all ten of us.”

I had to report to the teacher in charge about how full my group was. After Mathi shouted, the two girls in the top two groups of ten looked at the nine behind me and shouted.

"Everyone is welcome, then the oath of allegiance"

"We live on the food provided by the state. With this grace, we will be loyal to the state. We will serve the state..."

In the past, when I said this vow, Mathi's voice was the loudest. Then, knowing that I would have to eat next, Mathi's heart naturally became happy and joyful. Now, because I used to say it every day, I could only leave. People are half angry and half sad.

After swearing their oaths, they sat at the table and ate their food in a hurry... Mathi didn't know what to do. He felt like squeezing the throats of Ma Shwe A and Ma Phyu U, who were competing with each other to eat the noodles from the same bowl. He remembered what his mother had said to him a long time ago, "You are a woman who would kill for food."

"Hey.. Tiger Thunder, is Matthew going to be slow this time?"

Ma Phyu U spoke in a Kachin accent, surprised. Yes, as before, the bowl was empty. Her mouth was eating, her hand was not letting go of the spoon. Every time she ate, she was always getting scolded. She was also scolded, which... For three people, the dish was only half full in the bowl.

Now, Ma Shwe Marthi is calm, but her face is dark and gloomy, like the rain that is about to fall.

"Marthy, why haven't you eaten yet? What's wrong?"

Hey... I think I saw it.

"It's okay, teacher... I'll eat it."

No matter how angry, how angry, how scared, the sweet and fearful voice would just sigh, and then his hand would pick up the rice and eat it. Otherwise, the Myaung-po, who was punished for fighting with Mi Aye Thein the other week, would have to clean the toilet...

I just ate the soup and ate it. But as you know, the smell was so strong that I wanted to vomit. The smell of boiled eggs was also very bad. Ma Shwe Ma Thi, who used to ask for rice often before, wondered how she could finish the whole bowl this time. But she had to eat it slowly and carefully, otherwise she would be hungry before dinner.

Lunch: Boiled rice with milk, Thakuyo, let's try it in turns today, let's try it as much as we can... Today, I'm going to be empty-handed, it's cold. What can I do, just wait for dinner. Oh... I'm done with dinner. Mother... Why did you leave me in this big mess, knowing about my daughter?

For a mother and daughter, not being able to eat what they want as long as they have time is a great suffering. As I swallowed the last bite of rice, I could see my mother's market stall in my mind and I wanted to cry. My mother's market stall, which had two trays, was filled with pork, pork blood, yams, tomatoes, pickled sesame seeds, tea, and various kinds of bread... Oh, how I missed the small shop on my mother's head.

Since she was a child, she could never forget the times when she followed her mother's market stall, picking and choosing, sometimes

"I don't want to wash my hands after eating bamboo shoots. I'm afraid the bamboo smell will disappear from my hands."

"It's so disgusting," Ma Kyi Hmwe kissed his hand in a daze. Even thinking about the flavors of the pastries from Mom's market that she had eaten before was gone. "Die, if you like it that much... Yes, I'll go for it."

“If I could eat bamboo shoots and sleep in the cool rain, it would be a luxury.” San Chit was one of them. Is this praise of bamboo shoots over and over again? For them, it must be yes or no. They would consider eating bamboo shoots and sleeping in the cool rain a great luxury.

I hate the rain... I hate the bamboo that grows in the rain. Just like that... Last July, when it was raining heavily, the Aye Zayet village council sent this women's shelter to Ma.

At that time, when Mathi and her horse-drawn carriage arrived in front of the mansion, it started to rain. She got off the carriage and stood by the gate without an umbrella, exposed to the rain. The councilwoman, who was also with Mathi and who had come to Mandalay for shopping, also had only one piece of cloth on her head. Her cloth was enough for her whole head. Her husband and the other two councilors also had hats. Mathi only had... a patch of cloth and a bare headscarf...

I wasn't too afraid of the rain. But..... My fever had just started to go away. I was afraid that it would get worse after the rain. I didn't dare to get sick in the unknown place they brought me. Oh.. At that time, I was more afraid of the rain than the cold again, and I was more afraid of the big lock on the door, and I was anxiously watching the council elders with blue briefcases that said "Kyauk Myaung Township Party Unit Biweekly Meeting" as they walked in.

What kind of women's shelter did Mathi come to now? How would she treat Mathi? From the gate, she saw a large courtyard... with large two-story buildings. She could see one or two girls.

After a while, an old man who looked like a scoundrel came out and opened the door. A teacher was standing nearby. Mathi and I were taken to a corner room downstairs in the barracks and asked to sit down. It was a very nice room with glass cabinets and chairs. It looked like the teacher's office...

"That's right, teacher. My parents are no longer here, and they're not from our village. Someone else came. When I came, he was with his stepfather... and I have to say, I'm sick. That's what teacher..."

I want to be rude. I got up and ran to the corner of the room where the big "Bow" was written. That way, I wouldn't have to hear what they were saying. Whether the things they were saying were true or not, they were true, very true. But even though I had committed those truths, I really didn't dare to listen.

I wiped the raindrops off my head and face with my hand, staring at the large board with the letters written on it. Their voices could still be heard in the small room.

"The things written on the board are the daily tasks." Ah... those are the tasks that the women in that women's shelter have to do. What are they? Mathi is very interested. Yes... If Mathi is accepted by the teacher, she will have to do these tasks in this shelter, right?.......

“Get up at five in the morning and worship.” The problem is, Mathi has never woken up at this time. When my uncle, Ko Tun Tin, brought me, I only woke up at four in the morning when I was on a boat to Kyauktaw. Wait, after worshipping, should I go back to sleep? What’s wrong? Then… “Clean the bed and rooms.” And then… take a bath at seven in the morning.” And then after taking a bath, I’ll come to eat. Well… eat at ten in the morning. Oh… that’s a big problem. Mathi can’t stay up from five to ten. By six in the morning, Mathi has already eaten half of the rice and fried rice. Now what’s the point…

What about after lunch? "From eleven o'clock in the afternoon to two o'clock in the evening, I'm going to learn how to weave and sew. Well... I don't have any interest in these either. Okay... You can learn too. The important thing is, will you come after lunch to learn those skills?"