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Ma Thida, writer,
human rights activist, and practising surgeon from Myanmar, has
deconstructed her role in life and abides by her beliefs,
convictions and her writer's instincts with a simplicity that both
charms and puzzles.
The author of The Sunflower and In the Shade of an Indian
Almond Tree, among others, Thida has also documented the damage
done to her country by successive repressive regimes. “I have been
writing since 1985, 15 years already. Why should I give up writing?”
In 1993, she was sentenced to 20 years imprisonment for “endangering
public peace, having contact with illegal organisations, and
distributing unlawful literature.”
Way of release
She found a way of release through Vipassana and meditation. “I
started reading Buddhist teachings at the age of 13, so my first
exposure to reading was through religious books. I went to a
meditation retreat when I was 16 or 17 but it was without a calling
from the heart. As a Buddhist I had to do it. But when I had to
serve a term for 20 years, I thought ‘Why not take advantage of
being in prison to change my life and get out of the cycle to find
total liberation… not physical freedom but total freedom. So I
meditated for 20 hours. When I was younger, I used to be aggressive,
angry, arrogant. After Vipassana, I changed.”
On being both doctor and writer, she says, “I started writing when I
began medical school so both go together; it's not a big deal. I
manage both since I write from my heart. I am happy to read
anything. I like autobiographies; I love to know about people.
Fiction is my next choice. Some people's lives have touched me, like
Gandhi and Mother Teresa.”
Interdependence
She has published one book on the art of war all over the world. “I
called it 1-0-10; everyone wants to be independent, to be number 1…
no one wants to be dependent, the value of dependence is 0. But
combine 1 and 0, you get 10. So it's better to be interdependent
rather than independent. This interdependence between 1 and 0 makes
you 10 times. That's my perception of interdependence.” Her next
book is “a memoir of my prison experience in Myanmarese; I might
translate it into English.”
On her love for her language and the effort to capture its nuances
in English, she says, “I always lose those nuances. Take Ko ye
Akyin. The correct translation is autobiography but Ko is
I, Ye is write, Akyin is brief or Akyin also
means prison... that's why I love Myanmarese. It's a complicated
language.”
Loneliness is one of the strongest and most prevalent of emotions
for a writer. “I love people but I prefer my own private life. For
me loneliness is rich. Being alone, you don't have to negotiate with
anything else, just yourself and it's just more than enough for me.
I enjoy being alone.”
As a woman in Myamarese society, “We are involved in the community
and society. There isn't any obvious discrimination, may be
politically not socially. Working with Aung San as her medical
in-charge and reporter for all her trips, made me strong. She is
always alert, fresh, quick; her response to people is very
attractive.”
She is also writing about the dark side of human nature. “I am
struggling to come to terms with it, struggling to finish my memoir,
which deals a lot with this aspect of human nature. It's hard for me
to finish it.”
How does she see democracy and, more importantly, an understanding
of its responsibilities? “I want my people to learn more. Education
is the key. We, as intellectuals and professionals, are responsible
for implementing a democratic conscience in our own environment not
only socially but also professionally. If you want freedom,
diversity, democracy, you implement a democratic conscience in your
own family and in your professional environment and your community.
That is why where ever I go, I try to do so.
More about Ma Thida
Author of The Sunflower and In the Shade of an Indian
Almond Tree.
Published 60 short stories during her years in medical school,
1984-1988.
Sentenced to 20 years imprisonment in Yongon's Insein Jail in 1993.
Released on humanitarian grounds after serving five years, six
months and six days in 1999.
Worked as editor of a youth magazine and as surgeon at Muslim Free
Hospital, which treats the poor at no cost. |
