AS THE BLACK FACE WEEPS

"The black face will weep and the dead shall come to life". That usually means that the black monsoon clouds has gathered to bring the much needed rain on the parched land and the dead vegetation and the hibernating animals, like the frogs, will come to life again.

The monsoon rains are a blessing to our motherland. The rain clouds gather far away in the Bay of Bengal to bring life-giving water to our country. Vaulting above the high Rakhine Ranges and sweeping across the flat Ayeyarwaddy delta, the black rain clouds pour down to bring back to life the dry paddy fields, fill our ponds and rivers with nourishing water.

As the rivers and the ponds fill with water the farmers get ready to begin their work. Oxen are readied, the ploughs cleaned. But the farmers are happy. They are the true sons of the earth.

The land will once more be green again. Vast acres of paddy fields to feed the people of Myanmar and to fill the granaries with food. Typical scenes at these times would be a solitary farmer behind a pair of oxen tilling his land under the lashing rains, his dear wife and children waiting under the shade of the big rain tree, waiting for him to finish his work and join them for lunch. A simple farmers' lunch, nothing elaborate. Heaps of steaming rice, a lump of ngapi ( fermented fish ), a clear veggie soup made from the vegetables found on the land near their modest hut. A smoked fish, from the catch the farmer had caught in the streams the previous night, would be a treat for them. At another plot would be a bevy of young girls transplanting the young paddy from the nurseries.Smiling faces, dabbed with the yellowish paste of thanahka, a natural sunscreen from the thanahka plant. They are also happy with their work. They know also that it is an important job. Unless the young paddies are planted carefully they might not ripen into golden stalks heavy with rice grains. Their songs float on the air despite the heavy monsoon rains that pelt them mercilessly. The peals of thunder and streaks of lightning forming a perfect background to their singing. Those would be the typical scenes in all the farming communities in Myanmar.And nights would be filled with the sounds of the frogs, came back to life.

And we pray that the rains be heavy, filling our fields, our ponds and rivers with life-giving waters