To Myanmar with love

TO MYANMAR WITH LOVE


Sreeja opened one of her dead aunts diary while cleaning the attic in her grandmother's house.The book was full of tamil poems and stories.Suddenly a black and white photo of a young man fell from it.It was an old photo of an Indian soldier in British uniform.The young man looked handsome with an expressive look and smiling thin lips.She turned the photo to see the words”I am waiting for you”.She kept on looking at the words and the image.She felt the sentence and the man were waiting for her.
Startled, she ran up to her elder aunt and enquired about the photo.
“ Who is this maa?”
“Oh from where did you get it?”she pulled the photo from her.
Sreeja started yelling like a child .She even skipped her dinner that night.

Next day she got up to find her uncle shouting at her aunt.”Don't do such nasty things to her.She will become more stubborn”.
The servant came with bed coffee and pacified her.Sreeja could sense something unusual.She felt there was a big mystery behind the photo.
“Who is the man in the photo? How am I connected to him?”

The family of Subramani were migrants from Burma(now Myanmar).They came to India after independence in 1950.Ranjani ie Sreeja s mother was one of the ten children of Subramani.Ranjani was widowed in her early twenties.So she had to move to her parents home along with her only daughter.
Sreeja with her curly hair and mesmerizing eyes looked like a cute doll of an angel.Her mother made a living by stitching clothes.Rajanis elder sister Revathi took care of her education.Subramani had five sons and five daughters.Two of the children died in the ship itself while migrating .The eldest daughter Roopini died ten years after reaching India.
Sreeja found many queer things in Roopinis trunk.There were many poetry books and drawings.She kept thinking of her aunt and her queer and mysterious box just before sleeping that night.The strange soldier in the photo appeared in her dream with open arms reckoning her to come and hug.” I am living in this same city.We are destined to meet and love .You are my beloved don't forget.”
For the next three years on her way to and fro from college she kept searching for him.
After graduation one day the same man came in her dream and proposed kneeling down before her.This disturbed her a lot. Was there a soul somewhere searching for her?But why should that man search her?
She mustered some courage and enquired her grandma about the mysterious man.

Grandma sobbed and told Roopinis story,as there was no one in the house at that time.
Roopini her eldest daughter , resembled Sreeja in many ways.Both looked same in appearance.They all lived in Burma in yuji village in Bambo district before 1950.Roopini was smart enough to run a vegetable shop at the age of twenty.The shop was fully crowded most of the time.Young men especially soldiers from India who were deputed in Burma ,flowed to her shop to get eatables and to admire her beauty.But she never liked anyone until she met Vijayan from Tamilnadu.He was part of the British battalion during World War 2.They were all stationed at Bambo well before the war. Continuous training was also given.
Roopini who was the eldest woke up early in the morning to prepare breakfast for the younger siblings.She did the cooking, cleaning and washing before going to the shop.They had a huge wooden bungalow with several rooms and staircases on both the sides.Subramani had three business in the ship.He had migrated to Burma when he was twelve years old along with his uncle.Mythili his wife was hardly five years old when they married.Mythili used to get scared of him and always hid herself in the house.
He had a flourishing business.Gold and diamonds flowed into the house.Roopini was decorated everyday like a princess as she was the darling of the house.There was a huge garden with lot of vegetables, fruits and flowers.There was a shed at the end of the house with the cattle and poultry.Subramani owned a hotel in the ship.He was not only an excellent cook but an astrologer as well.
It was quite a busy home with a lot of children and animals.Vijayan was frequently invited to their house by Subramani along with other Indians for either lunch or dinner.He was a man of hospitality who never felt tired entertaining the guests.
One day a few months before the start of World War ,there was heavy rain and Roopini was alone closing the shop when she heard some foot steps.As she lifted her head her eyes met Vijayan,the most poetic and expressive man on earth.Oh is it true that they were made for each other and lived their love life in each era.Only their souls knew it.
“Hello, can you walk alone ? It is already very dark.If you don't mind I will take the pleasure of guarding you till your house.The enemies can attack from anywhere.”
“Yes Sir.I am a bit scared only.Father is on the ship . Brothers are too small and mom has to take care of everything.”replied Roopini.
“Yes dear I am here to help you only”.
They walked about two kilometres in the same umbrella.Vijayan chatted with her as if he knew her for ages.
Roopini also liked the young man's way of carrying himself.His decency and appearance made him look like a prince.He was artistic and poetic in the way he expressed himself.Soon the hidden bud of love started blooming in their hearts.
As they heard voices of wild animals they hid themselves in an old temple on their way home.A tiger jumped suddenly.The too frightened Roopini fainted on Vijayan's arms.Vijayan took his rifle and shot the animal.Hearing the noise people gathered and helped them in reaching their home.Vijayan as a protective measure stayed in their house that night.The whole episode of that rainy night was memorable to Roopini throughout her life,even after she became mad.She made rotis and sabji for Vijayan and made bed for him in the hall.All the kids of the family rejoiced in his company.Revathi and Ranjani were also among them.They sang ,danced and played as if to celebrate the new love.
But explicitly they never expressed the love until one day Vijayan dropped her a letter while she was in the shop.Though love was forbidden by her orthodox parents, Roopini enjoyed his proposal and she couldn't control herself.
They met daily and became great lovers.During World War 2 also she kept her shop half open to sell eatables to soldiers.Sometimes Vijayan never turned up.She used to go searching for him with food in her hand.
During peak time of the war none of the shops were opened,women and children from houses also hid themselves in trenches.Vijayan also didn't turn up for two consecutive days.There was heavy downpour of rain.Indian soldiers got stranded in the forest.Roopini sobbed bitterly for him,and couldn't eat also.Previously they had planned to elope to India to get married.There were dropping of bombs everywhere.Roopini ventured into the forest searching for him.After a long search she could hear his voice.Vijayan was surprised.
“Oh my love ,why did you take the risk to bring food for me.”
She sat next to him and fed morsels of food with her own hands,though a part of it was given to the other soldier as well.
“Did you eat my dear”.
“ No” “ How can I eat when you are on the battlefield”.
He fed her with his own hands and they kissed and hugged with tears in their eyes little knowing that Death was just a few steps away.As she kissed and bid him farewell, a bullet from the enemy's gun pierced his heart and another on his friend.Roopini yelled in fear and fell near him . Vijayan fell on her lap,caught hold of her hands “I promise you I will definitely meet you in our next birth.”Those were the last words.
Enemies spared Roopini as she used to sell food to soldiers irrespective of their nation.
Roopini unable to contain the sorrow shrieked with anguish and with the help of locals brought their bodies home to pay homage.Soon after this incident Roopini became mad and died several years after reaching India just before Ranjani's marriage.
Sreeja after hearing all this from her grandma felt she was hearing her own story.But the second part of what grandma told shook her a lot.When Sreeja was three to four year old she started behaving like Roopini.She used to speak in Burmese ,and looking at Vijayan's photo she frequently cried bitterly.Fearing that she may become mad they hid all his belongings along with Roopinis things in an attic.
With the help of researchers in Bangalore Institute of Science after investigation they concluded that Sreeja was Roopini in her next birth.Sreeja also got convinced though she didn't remember anything as she grew up.From that day Sreeja's search for her brave poet soldier continued.