The Echoes of Forgotten Bonds

National Day fell on 16 November that year. The ceremony of paying homage to the former teachers who have served at No 1 Basic Education High School, Kyaunggon, where Min Lwin lives, is often held on every National Day that falls in November. As that year’s ceremony marks the 25th anniversary of the Silver Jubilee, it is magnificently held. Many of the school’s former students return to town to attend the ceremony.
Min Lwin, who is in poor health, could not attend it. He is the one who has pleased himself by paying homage to his teachers from his home. It has been ten years since Min Lwin last attended this ceremony.
At about 10:30 am, while Min Lwin sat in the easy chair in front of the altar, he heard a man’s voice from the front of his house.
The man called out, asking if Min Lwin remembered him, mentioning that he had been looking for him repeatedly and had learned No 61, Yadanabon Street, by heart. When Min Lwin looked at the front door, he saw a man of about the same age, wearing somewhat faded clothes, holding a folded umbrella in one hand and a small bag in the other, smiling at him. Min Lwin did not recognize him. It was more likely that he did not remember him rather than not knowing him. Min Lwin knew well that former students often returned to town on such days. The man must have been a former student. Additionally, he must have known Min Lwin very well, given that he reached his front door and greeted him.
Meanwhile, Min Lwin tried hard to remember the man’s name but could not. However, it was not suitable for Min Lwin to talk to a guest at the very door, so he invited him in. Min Lwin’s living room was not splendid. There were three old single wooden chairs and a small dwarf plastic table only. Min Lwin waved for him to sit in a chair and began chatting with him, though he still could not recall his name.
After about ten minutes, Min Lwin began to remember the name of the guest’s elder brother. He asked if the man had come along with U Tin Thein to the ex-teachers paying homage ceremony, revealing his brother’s name first. Only then did Min Lwin remember the man’s name.
The man replied that U Tin Thein had come along with the ex-teachers from Yangon and had already gone to the school. He added that he came to meet Min Lwin, remembering the address as No 61, Yadanabon Street, but now it was No. 43, so he had circled around.
Min Lwin confirmed, asking if he was U Tin Soe. The man affirmed that he was indeed Tin Soe.
Min Lwin had just remembered him well. He looked at his friend, with whom he had been separated since Grade VII, half surprised and half happy. U Tin Soe’s family, with seven members, was well-known because his father was a Township Cooperative Officer who had five children – the eldest, U Tin Thein, Daw Khin Lay Yee, Daw Khin Hnin Hsi, U Tin Soe, and Daw Khin Mar Lar, who was the youngest.
Their family was well-known in town not only because of his father’s position but also because his two elder sisters and younger sister were very beautiful. The two brothers, U Tin Thein and U Tin Soe, were handsome with fair complexions. Among their family members, Min Lwin was most familiar with U Tin Soe as they were in the same grade.
U Tin Soe also got along well with Min Lwin’s family but never invited Min Lwin to his house. Min Lwin, aware of the circumstances, never asked U Tin Soe, who had beautiful sisters, for a chance to visit.
Min Lwin and U Tin Soe often went to Kyar Inn Lake behind their high school to shoot birds with catapults on weekends. They were close in age and spent most of their time playing together.
The year Min Lwin took the Grade VII examination, U Tin Soe’s father was transferred to Yangon. This caused the two friends to be separated. About a week after the transfer, U Tin Soe came to stay at Min Lwin’s house. Min Lwin’s parents accepted him and took responsibility for his food. He slept with Min Lwin, too. After U Tin Soe’s family moved to Yangon, the two friends kept in regular contact by mail for a year. Eventually, their contact lessened, and they lost touch.
If the period of lost contact was counted, it had been over 50 years. Both Min Lwin and U Tin Soe had experienced new life events and challenges. Under such circumstances, Min Lwin had entirely forgotten U Tin Soe.
During their conversation, U Tin Soe told Min Lwin that he graduated and served as government staff in the Customs Department in Yangon – for the first nine years as a clerk, for the second nine years as a Junior PO, and for the third nine years as a PO. Afterwards, he was arrested and sent to prison. After four months of imprisonment, he earned his living on the income of his better half only. He was now learning the Dhamma of Lord Buddha and mentioned that all worldly business leads to Apãya upon death, so he concentrated his mind on Dhamma. He also asked which line of Dhamma Min Lwin was learning.
Min Lwin answered that he was studying the Dhamma as much as he could. At that moment, he was listening to sermons preached by Ashin Nandamãlãbhivumsa, and during the past year, he had been listening to sermons of Mogok Sayadawgyi, Ashin Nyanissara, and Ashin Javana.
U Tin Soe said he studied various strong dependencies and liked the sermons of Ashin Okkatha, Venerable Mon of ‘The-inn-gu’ (သဲအင်းဂူ). He expressed his happiness that Min Lwin was also practising Dhamma and gave him two CDs of ‘The-inn-gu’ sermons he had brought. He then took his handphone out of his shirt pocket and mentioned that some selected sermons were copied from a CD into the handphone, making it easy to carry wherever he went. They exchanged their phone numbers with each other.
As the practising methods of ‘The-inn-gu’ explained by U Tin Soe were unfamiliar to Min Lwin, they became new knowledge for him. Min Lwin decided to listen to the sermons from the CDs the next day. The paying homage ceremony for the ex-teachers was to start at 1 pm, and U Tin Soe left for the school at about fifteen to one. Min Lwin saw him off to the entrance of his house compound and vaguely remembered their younger days as he watched U Tin Soe’s back.
At about the time the ceremony finished, Min Lwin called U Tin Soe. U Tin Soe answered that he was on the way back to Yangon-Pathein Highway, riding a trishaw. Min Lwin told him to call without fail when he got home.
However, U Tin Soe did not call about his arrival in Yangon that night. The next day, Min Lwin waited for his friend’s call the whole day, but in vain. The following day, he waited again, but it was in vain. Min Lwin wanted to call U Tin Soe, but he had low credit on his phone and did not want to make the call first because if they got in contact, their chat might be rather long.
In this manner, Min Lwin did not call U Tin Soe up to the tenth day. Eventually, Min Lwin topped up his phone by the time he could not bear waiting for the ring of his old friend and decided to call U Tin Soe first. He had been upset about losing contact for over ten days after just an hour of reuniting with an old friend who had been separated for over five decades.
Choosing U Tin Soe’s number from his contact list, he made the call. The call connected instantly.
On the other side of the line, a woman answered, “Hello.”
Min Lwin asked if it was U Tin Soe’s number. The woman confirmed and asked who was calling.
Min Lwin explained that he was one of U Tin Soe’s friends and that U Tin Soe had visited his house on National Day to attend the ceremony of paying homage to their ex-teachers. He mentioned that he was worried because U Tin Soe did not call him back after returning to Yangon.
The woman asked him to repeat the date. Min Lwin repeated that it was on National Day, 16 November.
There was silence for a while, and Min Lwin waited for the answer. Then, the woman said there must be something wrong because she was U Tin Soe’s spouse, and 16 November was precisely a month after U Tin Soe’s death.
Shocked and amazed, Min Lwin held his handphone in his hand. Going to the altar, he held the CDs U Tin Soe had given him. One was on the altar, and the other was on his desktop, still being listened to. One of the sermons from that CD was much liked, copied, and saved on Min Lwin’s handphone.
(Based on the true story)