MOE YWA YIN MOE YAY CHO MAE

MOE YWA YIN MOE YAY CHO MAE

(WE SHALL PLAY IN THE RAINS)

"Moe Ywa Yin Moe Yay Cho Mae", that is a ditty that every Myanmar child knows. As Myanmar is a monsoonal country and enjoys abundant rains it is not a surprise that all children love playing and splashing about in the rains.

But the rains not only give joy to the children but also bring immense benefit for the farmers. July is the wettest month in Myanmar. It is the middle of the rainy season and all the fields are flooded with water. The ponds and the lakes are also filled with life-giving waters. All the rivers are full. The Ayeyarwady River, the Chindwin Rivers are now broad expenses of water, one bank now invisible from the other. Many of the sand bars that had restricted the riverine traffic had now disappeared as the river rushes down towards its mouth hundreds of miles away to the south. Some of the villages that were on dry land just a few months ago are now isolated islands in the middle of the roaring currents. But the villagers are happy. These raging torrents bring down rich loam that will cover their fields and when the waters recedes after the monsoon the land will again be fertile.

The fields of paddy are now finally planted. Vast rolling green seas of paddy nodding gently in the stiff breeze. The farmers and the oxen had toiled hard to make this happen. A granary to feed the multitudes when they are gathered later in the year. But now, as thunder boomed and lightnings flashed the village children sing with joy under the lashing curtains of rains.

And it is with deep reminiscence that I finally realize that my innocent childhood had gone forever and I will never have that chance to sing my favourite ditty again.

"MOE YWA YIN MOE YAY CHO MAE, MAE MAE LAR YIN NO SO MAE, PE PE LAR YIN OHN THEE KYWE SAR MAE"

Or to make our English speaking friends understand: We will play in the rains and when mother comes we will suckle up to her but when father comes we will ask him to crack open a coconut"