Myanmar on the run: Bullock-carts and bullet points

By Rahul Banerji

You may wonder at the lead visual with this post, but there is a reason for it as we have discovered during the course of Myanmar On The Run, and will become evident as you read on. It is an aspect of life in this country that strikes you almost immediately.

More of that later.

Attention-grabber number two is the colour of the sky. It is always a beautiful blue, the shade and hue depending on the time of day.

Used to as we are to the grey air of Delhi, the Myanmarese sky is something one can get used to, and make the most of while travelling around this fascinating, multi-faceted nation.

With pollution of all kinds increasingly dominating the public space, one can only hope the authorities here continue to keep things as they are, at the very least.

And so, back to the first theme.

Road rules

Even as we drove out of Yangon airport, the traffic discipline became immediately evident. Cars stick to lanes, there is immense patience and application in right of way rules, and jumping lights is something we are yet to see.

Having driven close to a thousand miles on Myanmarese roads on this trip already in Yangon and the long journey upcountry to Bagan, it shows even in the countryside.

Away from the city, the bullock cart is still very much used in villages. Yet, they never intrude on the space reserved for motor vehicles. Every major road or highway has two cart tracks running on either side, and the carts strictly stick to their designated space.

Coming from where we do, it is nothing short of a revolutionary revelation.

I suggest our various government agencies not waste taxpayer money on expensive trips to Europe and beyond to study traffic management systems. Send the babus to Myanmar instead. There is much to learn here.

On, and yes, two-wheelers are completely banned in the capital city. Citizens manage.

Double treat

While in Bagan, besides visiting the 2,000-odd pagodas, temples and monasteries, there is one more must-do. Visit the Sanon Training Restaurant, run by a not-for-profit organization with a clear aim; to train young people from disadvantaged backgrounds to work at and run eateries of their own some day.

Talk about the choice between handing someone a fish, or teaching her how to catch one.

Our dinner at Sanon is a mix of fumbling communication and ‘help-me’ looks at the senior members of the establishment who also double as trainers for the table staff and in the kitchen.

Many of those present are raw inductees into the programme, but that is not obvious from the fare that lands on the table, a most excellent meat-that-must-not-be-named burger and a curry of Irrawaddy prawn and catfish.

Clear vision

Allow me to quote a few lines from the Sanon Training Restaurant mission statement.

“The Sanon Training Restaurant is operated by the MYDI (Myanmar Youth Development Institute). MYDI conducts Sanon as a non-profit social enterprise organization in Nyaung U, Bagan, Myanmar.

Our core strategic aim is to:

• Train up to 30 students at a time, assist them to gain employment and monitor them for a further two years.
• The function of the Project via the Sanon Training Restaurant is to train disadvantaged youth in hospitality and English, find them employment and monitor them for a further two years to assist them integrate into the workplace and have a successful career in the hospitality and tourism industries.

“We see the concept of the Sanon Training Restaurant in the following terms:

• Construct a Training Restaurant in Myanmar to produce up to 30 student graduates each year and then assist them to find employment within the Hospitality industry and monitor them in their work place for a further two years
• “Teach the students the English language
• Through the successful operation of the training restaurant as a social enterprise make a decisive impact on the lives of its students, their families and the broader Bagan community
• To build links with local NGO’s and other key organisations where there is the potential fo commercial synergies and the productive exchange of knowledge and experience
• Become ‘the’ sort after eating-house for local and international tourists in Bagan
• Gain recognition of hospitality training via locally recognized training authorities.”

To say that participating even peripherally in such a step was deeply satisfying is an understatement, and we came away with happy bellies and happier hearts.

And then, on to a sunset by boat on the river to wrap up our all-too-short stay in Bagan the Beautiful.

In transition

From the ancient, to the almost modern. Next up is Mandalay, seat of the last King of Myanmar. Set, like Bagan and Yangon, on the banks of the mighty Irrawaddy, it was the last royal capital till captured by the British in the Third Anglo-Burmese War of 1886.

And in a remarkable bit of twisted thinking, the British sarkar sent India’s last emperor, Bahadur Shah Zafar, into exile in Rangoon (Yangon) and the Burmese raja, Thibaw Min, to Ratnagiri in Maharashtra.

Talk about cultural exchanges, with a difference!!.

Also read: Stranded, and rescued, in the nick of time on Myanmar sojourn