Thein Pe Myint - A Silver Jubilee Celebration

Chapter 1

Our house, seen from two perspectives.

Our house is not big or grand, but it is a comfortable home.

When we come down from the road that is higher than our house, we go down a brick staircase that is made of bricks. On the right is a bamboo fence and on the left is a punnariki garden fence. The front staircase is covered with large trees such as ka tree and kankaw tree. When you look at the front of the house, you immediately think that it is a one-story house. However, it is a two-story house. The large hill is slightly flattened, slightly leveled, and the appropriate height is built. I imagined the shape of this house after remembering a hut in the Sagaing Hills. I told the picture I had imagined to Khin Maung Yin, an artist who had just graduated from the Institute of Technology, and he drew a house plan. The builder, Ko Hla Kyaing (Ko Hla Kyaing and Ma Kyi), was more generous and bought long poles, so our house is a little higher than the plan that Maung Khin Maung Yin had drawn. At first, I was not happy with the height. But U Nyarana (the late writer U Nyarana) was pleased with his perspective and his praise. One day after the house was built, U Nyarana came and looked at it. He went up the stairs in front of the house and walked to the back veranda. My house has no front facade. There is a back facade. There is a lawn and a garden in the back facade. There are big trees in the valley below. Then there are other houses and other yards. U Nyarana came from the veranda and looked at the back facade...

“I really like this view. It's a treat to be able to ride on top and see the treetops and the rooftops of other people's houses.”

I...,

“Yes, sir, one perspective is good. But if you look at my house from the street, you can see my roof, right? There are two perspectives. There must be a perspective from above. There must be a perspective from below. From my house, you can see it from two perspectives.”

U Nyana smiled and walked around the veranda for a while.

U Nyana..

“Aye, the world really needs people to look up to and down on each other.”

I...

"If we look at each other from above and below, there will be compassion and equality."

Our house is a two-story house, so when it's hot upstairs, you can go downstairs. When it's cold downstairs, you can go upstairs. There are many trees around, so you always have fresh air.

When people build houses, they can't live in houses that look like a forest school. There must be neighbors. But it's not good to have neighbors close together. We have neighbors. But we don't live close together. They are separate houses. There can't be any problems like his house being his own, and someone else being his own.

The lawn and garden in front of the house are small. A few coconut trees and a palm tree act as an umbrella. The big trees in the valley below are like walls on all four sides. So my lawn and garden are like a separate world. Once, when the movie actress Khin Than Nu came to our house, I walked around the lawn and garden. Her mother Manu and my wife Khin Kyi Kyi were with her. Khin Than Nu was moving freely like a teenager. She seemed happy and cheerful. Then she said to Khin Kyi Kyi, “Auntie, our house is good for a movie actress. She can move freely in her own yard without people outside seeing her.”

"Khin Kyi Kyi"

"Even so, Khin Than Nu's uncle is not satisfied. He thinks there are not enough plants in that fence, so he wants to plant more."

That's right. This lawn and garden are like a separate world. They are not as large as the large gardens of other kings and rich people, but are small and narrow, so the sense of separate world seems to be so evident.

Bright lights.

This lawn and park are illuminated once or twice a year, and a reception is held to commemorate the Day of the Fascist Revolution. In previous years, press and cultural envoys from socialist embassies were invited to the reception. Last year, on the Day of the Fascist Revolution, a reception was held to invite paratroopers who participated in the Japanese fascist revolution. On the 50th anniversary of the Great October Socialist Revolution, a reception was also held to invite some political comrades. Every reception described above is usually illuminated. .

This year (1971) there was a reception on November 22. There were also lights. The lawn and garden were lit up with strings of lights. Four or five or six lights were hung from the palm trees. At the top of the path leading to the lawn and garden to the right of the front steps was a large Burmese paper lantern. The combined effect of these lights was a cool, dim light, not too bright, not too bright. Under that cool, dim light, we were celebrating a silver jubilee.

Twenty-five years ago, on November 22, 1946, Thein Pe Myint and Khin Kyi Kyi became husband and wife. That is why we are celebrating our silver jubilee today.

Why celebrate a silver jubilee?

The Great October Socialist Revolution is very important for the people of the world. The fascist revolution is very important for the people of Myanmar. Thein Pe Myint and Khin Kyi Kyi's silver jubilee is not important for the world or for Myanmar. But it is important for our family. That is why we are celebrating the silver jubilee in a grand manner. Even though it is grand, there are limitations. It is limited by the size of our own yard and our own financial and material strength.

In my opinion, it is not difficult for a man and a woman to fall in love. It is easy and they like each other at first sight. They think about each other, they flirt with each other, and then they like each other. They like each other after being arranged, they like each other at the same age. They like each other even if they are different in age. Falling in love is easy. What is not easy, what is difficult is falling in love after falling in love. What is even easier, what is even more difficult is being together for 25 years. That is why we celebrate the silver jubilee with a ceremony. However, as mentioned above, it is a limited ceremony.

Thakin Than Tun and Thakin Ba Thein Tin are the parents.

When we wrote down the list of relatives and friends to invite to our silver jubilee, I remembered those who I wanted to invite but didn’t. When we got married 25 years ago on this day, Thakin Than Htun and Thakin Ba Thein Tin, along with Khin Kyi Kyi’s mother, Daw Thein Han, who was now a widow, acted as the elders and performed the begging, giving, and marriage ceremonies. We were both members of the Communist Party, weren’t we?

That day, a difficulty arose. The Communist Party Politburo member Thakin Bahein died in Mandalay on November 20, 1946. The funeral was held on November 22 (our wedding day). We had planned to have a dinner for our party comrades at the party hall to celebrate our wedding. Would it be okay if a funeral was being held for one party leader in Mandalay and a wedding dinner was being held for another party leader in Yangon?

Some even said that we should postpone our wedding. We cannot postpone it. We cannot set a date for the dead. We can set a date for the wedding. And look at the two lovers. The more certain they are that they will fall in love, the sooner they will get married. We do not want to postpone it for any reason. It is far from being canceled.

Finally, the wedding ceremony will take place as scheduled. They decide to postpone the dinner. Thakin Than Tun and Thakin Ba Thein Tin act as parents, begging and begging, and then they perform the marriage ceremony.

It's sad, heartbreaking, and cute.

I would like to invite Thakin Than Htun to the Silver Jubilee. I haven't received an invitation. It's also not practical to invite Thakin Ba Thein Tin, who is in Beijing. I'm thinking of sending a small invitation by post. Or would it be better if we meet in person?

Thank you, mother-in-law.

Therefore, among the elders who were present at the wedding, only Khin Kyi Kyi's mother, Daw Thein Han, was able to attend the silver jubilee celebration. I often call Daw Thein Han the "thankful mother-in-law." Why shouldn't I call someone who gave me a whole daughter a thankful mother? Before I met Khin Kyi Kyi, Khin Kyi Kyi's father, U Ba Shein, had passed away. U Ba Shein was a high-ranking lawyer from Pyapon. Daw Thein Han, who was widowed at a young age, had to take care of her five daughters and one son. Now, her daughters and sons-in-law are taking turns taking care of Daw Thein Han.

Daw Thein Han, who was seen at the Silver Jubilee, was an old woman with a gray head, broken teeth, and thick glasses. However, if she had someone to talk to or someone to listen to, she could still talk non-stop. Dagon U Hla Pe and his wife Daw Tok came to the Silver Jubilee. Daw Tok was also an old woman with a gray head, broken teeth, and thick glasses. They became friends with my benefactor, my mother-in-law. They discussed old matters. They exchanged the latest rumors. They discussed the Dhamma.