Thawta Swe - Cut and Kyaw San Kay

A bottle of brandy

In the novel, in a house in Sanchaung Keut New, we meet U Tok Pao, a former minister, his daughter Ma Mya Khin, his son-in-law Ko Ba Naing, his nephew Maung Kaet Sa, and his maid Win Kyi.

They were real people. Only the names have been changed.

I was the one who cut the hair.

When I was in Rangoon in 1940, I lived in an uncle's house. The whole family ate the food that my uncle cooked, but my grandfather (let's say) didn't like me.

Meanwhile, I happened to call his granddaughter (let's say Molly) who was boarding at the A-B-M Girls' School in Kyimyin from another city. The old man was very angry and said, "Aung Ma, this boy is not worth a maid in my house, my grandchildren."

So I was very angry with him. I wanted to burn the big, hairy, slobbery man with fire. I wanted to make him a servant in the house. If that were possible, how could it be? But I am a person who enjoys imagination, so I created this story of a bottle of brandy. At first, I did not plan to write it, but only to take revenge on him with my imagination.

Maet Kone

In June 1947, I sent a bottle of brandy from Mandalay to the Shumawa Library, and before I knew it, I met and became acquainted with Ko Gyi Maung (Ngwe U Daung), who had come from Rangoon, at the teacher's house.

At this time, Ko Gyi Maung made a special announcement at Yangon City Hall, saying, “It’s about the Maidan Dagon election.”

He said that the way girls dress, how they pose, and how they drive are extremely inappropriate if you look at it from a purely Burmese perspective.

We only read about this in the newspaper, and it was interesting when he explained it in detail. At that time, Mandalay was also in the midst of preparations for the Shwe Mann Mae selection fair.

Ko Gyi Maung said that in the future, not only Yangon and Mandalay, but every city in Myanmar will hold these kinds of elections. I believe so too.

Therefore, I, who was planning to become famous through my pen, came up with the idea of ​​writing a novel based on that urgent matter.

I think it would be even more "touching" if my character, a skinny, skinny guy, was paired with a woman with a degree in health who was very concerned about her health.

So Thaw Ta Swe discovered U Tok Pao's granddaughter, Margaret Tha Peck, and staged a play.

Detective Maung Katsa

The novel "Maettakone" was exactly what I had planned. The Shumawasaha group liked this novel very much, but they did not dare to include it immediately. In fact, it was supposed to be included after a bottle of brandy. However, they had to consider whether it would be appropriate to touch on such a new and popular issue in the country. Therefore, after more than 6 months, this Maeyul festival was quite popular and they finally included it.

Some places are still quite cut off.

And yet, even after the novel was published, I still received insulting letters.

I still remember one letter.

“Sir Shuma Wa, the entire Shuma Wa magazine is so good, and because it contains Thawta Swe’s Mae Tackone novel, it’s like throwing a grain of dung into a cart full of pure gold. So I cut the pages of the novel with scissors, burned them with fire, and flushed the ashes down the toilet.”

I laughed out loud. My stomach was churning. Isn't this kind of writing a great achievement for satire writers?

Some (mostly girls) were also wondering if it was necessary to write a title like Margaret with a body like that, and it was painful.

However, there were still people on my side. “What’s the matter, U Thaw Ta Swe…. At the end of Mae Tackone (The rain has cleared), isn’t your novel just finished? Can’t you give Mae Tackone and Maung Kaat So?” I thought about how they could fight and wanted to fight the other side, so I wrote this detective novel Maung Kaat So.

 

I just want to scream and cry.

On December 23, 1941, when the Japanese bombed Rangoon, I had to run away to my hometown on the 24th. However, the next day, when I got home, I remembered the girl I had been looking for and, as suggested by this famous writer Kyaw San Kay, I returned to Rangoon. (I was not afraid of the bombing in this case.)

When I arrived in Yangon, I found the door closed and locked, just like the end of this story. That's why I named my experience "I just want to cry." I followed the events on the road, but I ended up in a car and unexpectedly arrived at my girlfriend Arin's house (as you might know if you've read the novel "Friends and Love").

Originally, her husband didn't know me. He was embarrassed. But I was sitting with my back against the wall of their room, and I heard him rubbing the wall behind me and sobbing.

Arin was my childhood sweetheart, a Chinese woman who was very much in love with me. However, her father was betrayed by their family. Her husband knew that I was with him and forced me to marry him.

At this time, I am not as pale as Kyaw San Kay, but I am even more radiant.

Arin was crying behind me, sobbing and sobbing, I was so moved that I insisted on taking the train instead of waiting for the other man's car. Only Ko Ba Hla was left in shock.

However, when I thought about writing a novel, I was already laughing out loud at the inconveniences of the world, and I laughed heartily without a drop of sadness. However, in the novel "Two Flowers of Love", I would say, "I can also write novels of longing..."

In the novel “I Just Want to Cry,” Kyaw San Kay is dragged from the rooftop of Arin’s house. He takes away his belongings one by one, and when he arrives in Yangon, he is left with only a pair of shorts that he can no longer wear around his waist.

Readers will remember that there is no purpose in a humorous story. However, my sincere wish is to remind readers that, just as they laugh at Kyaw San Kay's mistakes, you too can laugh when you yourself are wrong, and you can endure the world.

My novels... always leave my protagonists in awe.

Some people say, “I’m afraid of becoming a Thawtar Swe follower.” “If you don’t want to become a Thawtar Swe follower, don’t act like a Thawtar Swe follower.”

 

Kyaw San Kay

After Kyaw San Kay’s “I Just Want to Cry” I had no idea of ​​continuing this story. However, when the novel “I Just Want to Cry” was published and I left Mandalay for Yangon, Kyaw asked Ko Lay to draw the picture “Kyaw San Kay on the train wearing a short shirt and the woman accusing him of stealing” for the inside of the novel, but he forgot to add it after he had finished the block and asked if Kyaw San Kay could continue writing the novel using this picture (it seemed like he wanted to test my skills), so I immediately agreed. (After writing, I was already on the side of Vajang, so I didn’t use Ko Lay’s picture.)

Basically, as the novel ends, the Japanese are going to drop bombs that day, so I went to the pagoda with Ko Tint Gyi. I saw Ko Yin Gyi who was mentally ill in the temple. I saw a girl who was very interesting in the situation.

On the way back from Yangon, the train was closed, so we had to take a car with us. I even wrote about these things with me.

Kut Sa and Kyaw San Kay are not only thin and hunchbacked, but also have bad morals. In the traditional novels of that time, the protagonist is handsome. He is educated. He has very good morals. He is also a talented person in every way... etc., so he wants to break the stereotypes that people have created to be free from their originality.