Maung Sein Win (Puti Kone) - Five short stories

Spinning wheel and paper kite

1

Sometimes I wonder if my mother came into the world just to give birth to me.

2

My grandfather married my mother when she was twenty-one. My mother had no choice but to follow my grandfather's orders, which influenced not only the family, but also the surrounding villages. There was no such thing as a girlfriend. I didn't know if my father had a girlfriend or not.

After we got married, my father came to my grandfather's house. That's where the problem between my grandfather and my father began. My grandfather was always active and visionary, a man who saw business profits, and was precise, while my father was calm and contented, and didn't talk much. Their personalities were different, so in business, my father couldn't see ahead as much as my grandfather could.

"You're such a nice guy," the comment came out of his mouth. Hearing comments like that so often made my father feel better. It seemed like he had decided not to live with his grandfather.

Less than four months after I was born, my father passed away.

My father's parents are also well-off, so there's nothing to worry about.

3

"Why didn't Mom follow Dad?"

"I asked if I should go with you... If you follow someone like that,

"The child you gave birth to... will never be a complete person. Your grandfather told you to leave the child if you want to go."

I understand my mother. The issue of her son becoming a person and marriage will be two strings that tie together and pull on each side of her heart. It seems that she believed that her grandfather's shadow was the safest place for her son and that his shoulder was the best place to push him to the highest level.

My father invited my mother three times to come with the elders to his house, but she didn't go. He even made a final statement that if she didn't go, he would remarry, but my mother didn't budge.

And so, my father remarried his childhood sweetheart.

4

"Children without a father, children with incomplete parents, have certain emotions. I've heard that they are often flawed. So we have to let this child know that he is our son."

I started to know my grandfather and grandmother as my father and mother. I started to understand that the old man and my mother were my siblings and I. That's why I didn't call my mother "mother". I wondered if my mother treated me like a mother, just like my grandfather had said.

When I was six years old, I had the opportunity to learn that my grandfather was not my father.

"What's going on? The father's name should be included as is. If you can't include it, don't let me put you in my school. I'll tell you the same thing if you go to another school."

I was surprised to hear the words of the schoolmaster, who was my grandfather's friend. Finally,

My grandfather gave up and enrolled me in school under my father's real name.

"Aye... yes... that's your father. But he's gone now."

When I asked on the street, my grandfather gave a short, terse answer.

"Don't ever ask again." I didn't dare ask again.

The older I got, the more my grandfather became a role model for me. I came to understand his clarity, his vision, and his service to the community.

At that time, my grandfather accepted the forest culture that made me enter the workforce after graduating from the fourth grade, and that there was nothing more valuable than education in the forest environment. Many people asked my grandfather why he kept me in school when there were so many jobs like farming and rice milling.

When I passed the seventh grade scholarship exam, ranking first in the district...

"What your grandfather said is very true. It's worth it, Mom."

My mother said with tears in her eyes.

5

My mother probably thought that the higher I got, the more I would win in her gambling game, whether I passed the 10th grade or earned a university degree.

Of the five members of our family, my mother was the coldest and the one who never got involved in anything. When I was growing up, even though I was the youngest and started to talk about my grandfather's business, my mother seemed to be uninterested in anything. | As I grew up, I wondered if my mother had become obsessed with the idea that her life should be in my grandfather's mold.

I was just called my grandfather's grandson. People around me treated me with respect and never recognized me as my mother's son.

"U Maung Gyi's grandson is so handsome"

Every time I pass an exam, people around me praise me by comparing my grandfather's name to mine.

I don't know how my mother would feel, but her happy face seemed to be content with her sacrifices turning into my successes.

6

If I were a paper kite, my mother would be a ball. My grandfather was a kite flyer, and when the paper kite caught the wind,

He is trying to climb higher and higher.

When I was in eighth grade, they decided that I should change schools and send me to the big city, separating me from my family. Although my mother's face was filled with sorrow and regret, she did not dare to oppose my father's decision. And so, like a kite flying higher and higher, I began to move farther and farther away from my mother.

7

When I settled in Yangon, my grandfather and grandmother were gone. Only my grandmother (my foster mother) and my mother were left. My foster mother was the one who followed in my grandfather’s footsteps and ran all the businesses. She had given up her business and could not keep up with me. My foster mother, my foster mother, died of a heart attack in my arms while visiting my house.

Since my mother was left alone, I invited her to stay with me, but she couldn't stay.

I could understand that my mother was unhappy that she had to stay at my house for almost a month for medical treatment.

So, while I was sending my mother back to her village, I decided to visit her more often. I had to leave my cousin and her husband at home to be my mother's companions.

8

My mother loved the puppies, kittens, and cows at home very much... I was careful from a long time ago.

The mother did not give her son any advice. She did not give him any warm words. In her mind, it seemed that I was my grandfather's son, and that he had the right to say everything, to love me, and to love me. It seemed that my grandfather believed that if he took such a chance, I would reach higher and higher. While my mother was content with a reel from the hand of the kite-flyer, I wondered if my mother's heart had grown warm and affectionate towards animals.

I still remember.

There is a big cow called “Daw Kyaw” at home. My mother loves it very much. She is very close to my mother. My mother feeds and waters Daw Kyaw herself. If Daw Kyaw needs a new harness, no one else dares to come near Daw Kyaw. She does not let the harness get to her. Only my mother can change Daw Kyaw’s new harness.

And so, one day, Do Kyaw grew old and the time came for a new cow to be born. Do Kyaw