Their Brief
Stories
(My grandpa with a Traditional
Burmese clothes in 1958-59.)
(U) Khin Maung Latt (1915 – 1996), my
grandfather, was an English teacher, already looked like a teacher. On his face
there was something, which reminds one of Sherlock Holmes. If he wore a long
coat with a cherrywood pipe in his mouth, he would be a living image of
Sherlock Holmes. He never smoked, but he had once a habit of smoking cigar. I
knew because I saw him smoking in the photograph. But I was told that he gave
up smoking since we were born. He did not wish my twin brother to follow his smoking
habit.
(My grandpa had a habit of smoking cigar, I knew
because I saw him smoking in the photograph.)
My grandpa was a tall man in figure with a height
of 5 feet 11. His smiling lips showed his kind and sympathy. He loved to teach
English grammar, essays, Shakespeare’s Plays and Bernard Shaw’s Short Stories.
He had a habit of doing preparation before teaching. Sometimes he was
conversing with my grandma about the books they read. We all are used to hear
their chatting, and it was interesting.
He wrote essays, and short articles in English.
His books such as ‘Everyday Expressions in English’ and ‘Current Essays’ are
still popular among students. He also wrote ‘Our Country’ in Burmese. By
reading this book, we could learn about Agriculture, Literature, History and
Economy in our country of old time. I believed he had done hard research before
writing it.
(Daw) Khin Myo Chit (1915 – 1999), my proud
grandmother, was a writer of Colourful Burma, Anawrahta of Burma, Burmese Scene
and Sketches, A Wonderland of Burmese Legends, etc. My grandma with a tall, slim
and rather weak body, but her stern face, sharp eyes, and a firm voice showed
her strong mind and her stubborn spirit. She always wore Burmese traditional
clothes as you see in the following photos.
(My grandma was seated in the chair, and she was
reading a book or writing something.)
She used to recite aloud some Shakespeare plays
or poetry. I really envied her when I heard my grandma recite the Shakespeare
play with proud and smart voice. She also had a good memory of remembering some
famous quotations of U Ponya (Old Burmese Scholar), or poetry of Burmese
literature. She was good at memorizing what she learnt in her younger days.
I saw she often was seated in the chair, and was
reading a book or writing something. She wrote with a typewriter too. Her desk
used for writing on or typing, at which sometime we used to play.
(There was a photo of us with her desk, we
seemed helping her work?)
(The cover of the booklet, which was written by
my grandparents.)
(To be continued..)
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