Letter from Burma (No. 26) by Aung San Suu Kyi

Mainichi Daily News
Monday, May 20, 1996

BURMESE MAKE THE MOST OUT OF FESTIVAL TIME
"Water Festival (3)"

The energy of the young is wonderful. The NLD /thingyan/ festival had begun at 8 o'clock in the morning an concluded at 5 o'clock in the afternoon according to plan. After the visitors had left, the young helpers who had been on the go all day but who were still overflowing with vim insisted that we oldies engage in a bout of water throwing with them. So we took our places on the young women's side of the water boats and together with girls and children tried to splash the young men into submission. Scooping up water in bowlfuls at top speed and throwing it at stoically laughing young men is strenuous work. We participated in three rounds, one at each boat, and ended up drenched to the skin, invigorated and exhausted. In spite of our best efforts only one young man could have been said to have dearly "surrendered" as he held his cap up in front of his face to ward off our liquid barrage.

As far as I was concerned, one such day of water throwing was quite enough to last us for at least another year but of course the young people saw things in a different light. Before they had even finished tidying up for the evening they were making plans to establish a little water throwing depot on the side of the street in front of our garden the next day. As that would be the last day of the water festival, they were determined to make the most of it.

Equipped with large tanks of water, diverse vessels, syringes and several cassette tapes of thingyan songs, our band of water players took up position outside the front gates next morning. The star of the show was a small 7 year old. Deceptively frail looking with long hair, sweetly pouting lips, round cheeks and thin legs, this little girl had more stamina than most boys. She had been engaged in dousing others or getting doused herself almost without respite since the first day of thingyan, yet she was unflagging on the fourth and last day and outlasted almost everybody else.

It gave me a sense of deep contentment to work quietly by myself inside the house while faint sounds of music and laughter and the shrill shouts of children drifted in from the road. To be able to clear my desk of accumulated work and to know that our young people were having a happy time afforded double satisfaction. The water throwers occasionally wandered into the house, faces glowing from their exertions, leaving a trail of wet footprints, getting themselves something to eat. During the hottest part of the day they took a rest to recharge their batteries for the final onslaught, then went back to join the watery fray with new vigor.

In the late afternoon, our water throwers asked me to join them. On the understanding that I would not participate in the action, as I was feeling none too robust after the activities of the previous day, I went out to observe the proceedings. Two young men with whistles signaled to cars filled with soaking wet people to indicate that those who wanted to have a go at trying to get even wetter should stop. The cars usually stopped and with good humor the passengers allowed our water throwers to get to work with their howls and other dousing equipment. Some of our young people had begun to slow down but the hardiest ones, including of course our 7 year old, gave an impressive demonstration of their capacity for sustained endeavor.

It was obvious that many of those cruising around in cars for the joy of exposing themselves to as much thingyan water as possible had imbibed freely. Inebriated merrymakers often make provocative remarks or crude gestures and get involved in brawls quite out of keeping with the traditional spirit of the New Year season. But such unseemly behavior was not at all evident in those who stopped for our water throwers. Everybody was cheerful and friendly and even those who were evidently tipsy did not fail in courtesy. The single exception was a man who jumped down unsteadily from a car with a bottle of liquor in one hand and in the other an aerosol can from which he sent out sprays of scent. He became aggressive when he was asked to contain his overwhelming enthusiasm. Of course it was not all sweetness and light everywhere throughout the festival. Apart from the inevitable brawls that break out when spirits are running too high, a number of traffic accidents resulting in loss of life and limb, take place every year. This year too was not free from the usual quota of casualties. There were also a few unnecessary incidents involving NLD caps which had been sold at our ceremony on the fourteenth. Young men (wearing such caps), some of whom were not even members of the NLD, were harassed by the authorities. One young man was beaten, then dragged off under arrest while his assailant was left untouched.

In spite, or perhaps because, of the repression and injustices to which they are subjected, the Burmese have a remarkable capacity for extracting the maximum amount of fun from the opportunities offered to them during our traditional festivals.

This article is one of a yearlong series of letters, the Japanese translation of which appears in the Mainichi Shimbun the same day, or the previous day in some areas.