lekowala!

Got this book in India in June. Its just published this year and gives detailed background to Burmese political history and background. That and also details about The Lady’s dad Aung San takes up about nearly half the book. The other half is a detailed account on Aung San Suu Kyi’s life, her upbringing, her marriage, education in Oxford England, her children and then her involvement in politics.

She had foreseen that she would one day have to leave the comfortable family life in the UK to help her people. She’s had many opportunities to leave Burma and lead a normal life but chose the noble path instead and continues to be present in Burma for her people.

The book also details the appalling atrocities that the army has carried out on the people and especially the minority ethnic groups.

Its a good read and definitely timely now.

On one of the afternoons off from the hectic schedule of the conference, we got a chance to tour Coventry and I decided to  pay a visit to Shakespeare’s birthplace.

One of the cute gifts at that place is an eraser that had the sentence “Out, damned spot” from

Macbeth.  The real big surprise for me was when one of my colleagues told me that Tagore was in the garden.  Here he is in the beautifully tended garden.

The bust of the Great Sentinel, Rabindranath Tagore in the garden of Shakespeare’s birthplace at Stratford-upon-Avon, UK.

Well, that wasn’t all.  When we traveled to London for a few days, we happened to stay near this little park in a square.  Nestled in the middle of  Tavistock Square is a Gandhi statue.

Wow…  2 great people that have been inspiring to read about and of all places to meet them…  I was quite happy about that.  If you look at the lifelike stature; it is lifelike because of the posture and it seems as though the great humble man was there in the square itself, sitting and meditating.   It is so serene just looking at that slightly bent posture in meditation, probably thinking about stuff way beyond what a human mind can focus on.  The artist that sculpted the statue must have captured the man’s peaceful nature.

Ironically, not long ago, the top of a bus blew off near the street from this park.