Burmese family
- Bloomington Indiana University Press 1962
- 200p.
In her introduction to this warm and captivating book, Santha Rama Rau points out that it is one of the very few books about Asia written by an Asian. "There hasn't been anyone to tell you such intimate details about life in one of Asia's most important countries until, at last, Mi Mi Khaing spoke up about her Burmese Family."
With grace, affection, and gentle humor Miss Khaing relates the details of her childhood and the history of her family, skillfully weaving into her nar rative a complete view of everyday life in Burma. Here we visit the Burmese countryside, village, town, and city; we enter homes, schools and monasteries; we observe children at play, men at work, and women at their household tasks. We are informed in detail about native dress, cosmetics, food, and uten sils: we go shopping and traveling, sing and dance, meditate and pray. We see handsome jewelry and other examples of superb Burmese craftsmanship, en gage in sports, and listen to stories told by old-timers. We are merry at feasts and celebrations, become acquainted many fascinating legends, and marvel at with the frequency with which girls elope.
The religious beliefs and practices, the philosophical traditions and the colorful history of her people become part of Mi Mi Khaing's rich panorama though she is deeply steeped in Burmese tradition, she understands the Western mind having attended British schor and lived for some years in Englar and she is therefore ideally equippe to establish a bridge between her civiliza tion and ours. As Santha Rama Rau points out: "Burmese Family is a very special contribution. It tells us not only what the upbringing, customs, jokes, habits, pleasures of being brought up in Burma are like. It also performs that other essential task of good literature. It tells you what it felt like to live through all these experiences."
The book is dedicated "to my father and mother, who in their daily living have shown to five children the shining path of moderation that is the Middle Way."
The author notes in a special preface to the American edition that the war and independence have done much to change Burma's political structure but very little to change the habits and cus toms of her people. Since women al ways enjoyed equal rights, for instance, and the differences in the housing and living habits of rich and poor were al ways minimal, modern ideas have found little to change in these areas. Burma's social life, with religion as its base, re mains also substantially unaltered. Thus her memoir retains its full immediacy and value even at the present time. There is more, however, according to Miss Rama Rau: "Aside from her value as an accidental anthropologist for both Asia and Westerners, the real reason for the quality of her book is that she is a funny, expert, discerning and consist ently interesting writer." Many delightful illustrations by E. G. N. Kinch accompany the text.