Thu Maung - The great evil in the lineage

About my father's mother

“Out of your ten short stories, three are about your father, three are about your mother, and the remaining four are about your environment,” a reader friend said, flatteringly and condescendingly. He was trying to criticize me for being too narrow-minded, as if praising me for finding stories within my family. His sour expression made it clear. Especially since that person was a friend of my brother Maung Wunna, a scholar and scholar, I didn’t say anything back. Wasn’t he always talking in a superior manner? In my artistic life, I have met many people who treated me in a similar way. I felt sorry for him. He was my brother’s age, and the person who wrote my first short story. However, I was so arrogant that when the title of “writer” was recognized by both the audience and literary scholars (when I surpassed him), I didn’t feel jealous for a long time. They seem to have shortened their tails. I can see that they are not capable of developing a sense of humor even though they are not evil. In fact, I am not as educated as them. I am not as literate as them. However, in terms of talent, they are not as good as me.

Then I didn't respond to him, but I started writing more and more about my father and mother. That's why I was able to publish a short story about my mother called "Durinkauk" and a short story about my father called "Sadhu". (This was around 1980) Even now, I write about my father and mother from time to time. Especially about my mother.......

You may remember the long-ago “Mother's Day” by Saya Thukha, which caused a stir in the literary, music, and film industries. During that time, my brother's friend, the writer I mentioned earlier, called me on the phone.

"What's up, Bo Thu, aren't you going to interfere in this game?"

He spoke in the same high-pitched tone that I had used since I was a writer. I was surprised that his attitude had not changed even with age and time. I couldn't figure out why he was still so mean to me about my father's mother. I don't know if he was always up to date or if he just lost his temper from somewhere.

Anyway, I must be grateful that this person even called me on purpose and in a time when “Mother’s Day” is a time when artists related to mothers are coming into fashion. I think I am always in his mind.

“I became a short story writer by writing about my mother, the stories my mother told me. I don’t need to write any more. I just write about my mother as I come across it,” he said quietly. In fact, I knew that he had reached out and tickled me while I was talking about “mother.”

“No, we consider Thu Maung to have written the most novels about mothers and fathers in the Burmese language. It would be good to do something in this competition,” he added. I...

“A person who worships every day rarely goes out to worship alone. When he does go, he goes alone or with his family,” he said. I knew what he was thinking. He seemed to want to drag me into the problem of “Where will my father go?” I finished speaking, but he continued to interrupt. As expected.

"But you're also the one who cares about fathers. What's happening now is that mothers are in a new era, so where will fathers go? The problem has arisen on the other side, so you...

“I’m sorry, I’m not in the mood to write a short story right now. I’m more interested in my artistic experiences, and I’m tired of writing about my parents. Sorry,” he said curtly, and quickly hung up the phone.

Because I don't like his eloquence more than his mother, father, literature and art. And even I, who am very patient and listen to others when they talk, can't stand his inner feelings anymore. It's only because my friend is older than me that I don't let out vulgar words.

“My mother is healthy. It takes at least 15 minutes to call her on the phone. Her speech and voice are very soft. Her memory is also good.”

"A friend complimented my mother. She was a big fan of her mother. Even more so than me. But she wasn't an artist. So she couldn't have the title of mother."

And he always compares my mother to his mother. His mother and mine have the same temperament and are widows. They are both very similar, and they both have the same experience of getting married at a young age. The only difference is in health and family. My mother is over (80). She has not broken a single tooth. She still eats well, drinks well, and sleeps well. Her memory is still good. She had a stroke in her (70) and recovered. She broke her arm near her ear in (80) and recovered. It can be said that it is a good karma from her past life. As humans grow older, she talks more, but her memories are only limited.

My friend is also struggling with this, compared to her mother. Her mother is not in good health. She has been a diabetic since she was about 60. She is constantly on medication. Her memory has also been deteriorating. For example, if I sing on TV...

"Huh... I think this guy is drinking again."

“Huh... I think this guy doesn’t drink anymore.” I always say that. In fact, I haven’t watched TV for a long time. I just rerun old episodes. “Six bad months, six good months.” When I watched TV, my cheeks would swell when I was drinking, and my cheeks would shrink when I was sober. When I rerun these episodes, my cheeks would shrink and swell. Here is what his mother said. Then his friend...

“No, Mom, he doesn't drink anymore, these are songs he recorded in the past,” he explained. But it was only a matter of time before he realized it. The next time the song came back, he would say, “Oh, this guy is drinking again.” To this day, he still can't explain it.

As I said earlier, when he compared my mother to his mother, health was not the main issue. He already understood that it is normal for health to deteriorate as we get older. The problem is a family issue.

My mother has four children. One son and a daughter-in-law live with us. The other three sons and three daughters-in-law live on the same side. Let's say that my mother's house is surrounded by three sons' houses. And the four daughters-in-law take more care of my mother than our four sons, so it can be said that my mother is not enough for her age and situation.

This made my friend's feelings about his mother even stronger.

His mother also had (6) children. All of them were not only able to stand on their own two feet but also able to move around freely. However, I don't know if I should say that the children were unlucky. One of the daughters died of old age due to the karma of the Upasadaka. One of the sons is in prison. (The daughter-in-law is more worried about her husband's affairs than her mother-in-law.) One of the sons who can send money but cannot send love is in a village with a hair tied behind his head. Another son is abroad. Because of that mother, there are only the eldest and middle sons.

You could say that it was not easy for that mother. Because there are many mothers whose children are more unfortunate than that mother. No matter what, there are always needs in life, right?

My friend's mother also has her own needs, depending on her life and circumstances. I can sympathize with her even though she's not in a bad mood enough to write a letter.

My friend would burst into tears whenever I opened the above “Praise my mother for her good fortune” section. Every now and then, she would also make fun of my mother for her good fortune. I realized that she was comparing her life to her mother’s. Tell me, my own life and mine.

But one day, he not only burst into tears, but also spoke with tears in his eyes.

"My mother is lucky, my mother is unlucky."

It's a common saying, but this time it's a little more special, so you have to listen carefully.

"My mother's illness is getting worse, and her mind is getting more and more confused. She feels alone when I'm not at home."

"Hey... you're a married couple."

"I mean, the problem is that my brother's wife and my mother are fighting. This has been going on since the beginning of time, so I won't say much about it. But this guy completely sided with his wife and left the house. He was killed, mother."

"Now, this guy doesn't even tell his mother about his family affairs, and he can't even ask her about her family affairs. I'll tell you the whole story. Even their second son, my mother, has never seen him to this day. He's far from providing financial support."

“You and your mother won’t contact each other again, will you?”

“He should have started, and my mother didn’t want to be arrogant, saying that we were still here. The problem is that there are no young people at home. It’s just me and my mother (he is a bachelor). I have to make a living, and I don’t have a house to stay in all the time. I have to take care of my mother occasionally. I live in an apartment, so the house is locked when I’m not there, so there’s also the fire department. I don’t feel safe locking my mother in the room. When I get home, I have to talk to my mother, who has been alone all day,” he said tearfully.

I don't know what their family problems are or whose fault it is. I know it's a good thing. But I'm really sorry to hear about my friend's mother. If it were someone else's mother, I wouldn't be so concerned. I understand that other mothers are worse than me, but I admit that I'm a bit sensitive because they're close to me.

Anyway, I don't like it when mothers get into trouble. There must be mistakes on the part of mothers. But I'm a person who has seen it firsthand, so I'm not biased.