Down Memory Lane, Myanmar January 2018 Old School Reunion :Gautam Banerji

The 2018 visit was another surprise but different. There were many positives to observe through the restoration of democracy, which had lasted a decade. On a note of optimism, many believed that Yangon was heading much the way Singapore had travelled. For me I thought perhaps someday very soon I would return to Yangon on retirement to live my father’s dream, that never materialized. I was simply overwhelmed by the visit and meeting up with old friends going back to my primary school days.

With its looming Victorian-style architecture, the Methodist English High School has survived two World Wars and revolutionary government regimes in Myanmar. Post-World War II, the school was closed for six years and finally began running in May of 1947. Former Principal Mrs. Logie led the renovation of the school building that had been desecrated due to the war. She was still there when I was a student but soon returned to the UK thereafter, where she continued to live through the rest of her life.

Tribute to Mrs. Logie at the Reunion with four house colors hoisted.

Mrs. Logie (seated 4th from left, front row) with the staff in our school days.

MEHS was a premier institution for international schooling in our childhood, offering the GCE O and A Levels. Under Mrs. Logie’s leadership, it soon rose to prominence as a leading institution for primary and secondary education in the country. The school is now re-named ‘Dagon No.1’ much in the tradition of the Burmese Way to Socialism but nonetheless continues its reputation as an institution of excellence.

MEHS Yangon today

Methodist Church

The Methodist church that was at the core of our school life, still stands in its pristine glory.

Our 2018 Reunion in Yangon was an effort of sorts to revive the legacy under Su Kyi’s leadership. She had herself been a senior contemporary of mine at the school before she left with her mother when her mother was assigned as Burma’s Ambassador to India. Su Kyi did not make it to the 2018 Reunion but did convey her good wishes to the alumni. We could sense her presence, however, in the country by the strides it had made through a little over a decade.

10th International MEHS Reunion, Yangon.

With my primary school classmates

There was little to observe by way of negativity through my little more than a week’s stay. The colourful images I have tried to share here are a testimony of the joy and elation I experienced. I have added captions to them as a reflection of my own feelings at that point of time and space. Take them as no more than that.

With my primary school classmates

Primary school days of many years ago

St. Mary's Cathedral, Yangon

The Cathedral had a creche and nursery facility within its premises, which I attended before my move to MEHS for my primary education.

Nursery I attended (extreme right)

The Myanmar Times Press Bureau
(Opposite St. Mary's Cathedral)

With the restoration of democracy, a free press was emerging once again with freedom of expression. The building boasts of a rich legacy, going back in time to the 1950's when it housed The Guardian, a leading English daily, widely read. The Central Secretariat buildings adjacent to the Cathedral on the old Sparks Street was under renovation and uplift when I was on visit. It was the central seat of administration and executive power under the democracy, with a rich legacy of the past.

The Supreme & High Courts

The High Court and Supreme Court dispensing justice once again. I could notice the restoration and renovation work in progress.

The Old Monument

The old Monument on Mahabandoola Square at the core of the old city still stands tall with the High Court buildings in the background.

The old American Embassy (far right)
overlooked Mahabandoola Square

The old lawyers' chambers clad in green above for restoration, overlooks Bandoola Square on Merchant Street with its entrance in Barr Street. The building next to it used to be the old American Embassy before it moved to 'safer' premises. My father occupied the third floor right hand corner, overlooking the American Embassy. The building was acquired by the Burma Nationalist Party as its headquarters after the 1962 coup and lawyers had to vacate to an adjacent building on Barr Street.

Strand Road

The busy Strand Road overlooking the riverfront still remains an important landmark evoking memories of a bygone era. You see the white tower of the Port Commissioner's office in the far left background. A lot of restoration work on old buildings of the colonial era was in progress during my visit with substantial bilateral assistance from the UK I was told.

Close-up view of the Port Commissioner's office tower from the riverfront.

The British Embassy on The Strand

Despite the vicissitudes of time, the British Embassy has not shifted from its premises, still evoking a rich legacy of the past.

The GPO, Strand Road

Entrance to the old GPO on the Strand, still delivering with pride. Located adjacent to the British Embassy, it boasts of many legacies. A few would be aware that General Ne Win began his career here as a postal clerk.

Sri Sri Durga Temple

Sanctum Sanctorum at the Durga Temple

The Durga Temple, along with the Kali and Hanuman temples remain a pride of place around which the social and cultural life of the Indian community still revolves. The icon in the sanctum sanctorum was installed for worship in the late nineteenth century by Manmathanath Bhattacharjee, who rose to be the first Indian Accountant General under the British Raj. He was my father's maternal uncle and was instrumental in bringing my grandfather over to Yangon under the imperial revenue service.

Emerging skyline of a "new" city as seen from across the estuary in Syriam

The trip to Syriam from Rangoon had to be made by a ferry service in my childhood. It is now connected by a six-lane bridge that extends in turn as an expressway to Northern Myanmar and onto Yunnan in China. It was of course built with Chinese bilateral assistance.

Short boat trip to the island pagoda in Syriam

The Buddha sits serene in Syriam, witness to the vicissitudes of time

Street scenes around the pagoda, Syriam

Colourful streetware, Syriam

That's how they quench their thirst in Myanmar!

Shwe Dagon, Yangon

The Shwe Dagon, presiding over the city as it has done through ages, is where I joined at the evening prayers (below) upon my return from Syriam.

At evening prayers & illumination: Shwe Dagon

In a pensive mood at Shwe Dagon, Praying for World Peace

At the feet of the reclining Buddha in Bago

Entrance to the newly restored Kanbawza Palace, Bago

Interior of the Kanbawza Palace, evoking glories of a bygone era.

At the WWII Memorial, Thaukkyan

Restoration work in progress: War Memorial

In remembrance of those who made the supreme sacrifice

Memories of the parting dessert at "Mother's Home" the guest house where I stayed

A home away from home

The final adieu at the airport

Duty-free with a difference: Yangon International Airport

Departure Call!!

Upon my return and on reflection, with a touch of nostalgia, I recall while my father was still in Darjeeling, having just brought me in for my admission at St. Paul's for what was to be the rest of my schooling, when we woke up to the alarming news of a military coup in Burma on 2 March 1962. He had to rush back to Rangoon leaving aside a few things that needed tidying up in Calcutta before his departure. My mother and my sister were alone there, and he was concerned despite the care of friends and the community.

The initial news was alarming enough. U Nu, the democratically elected Prime Minister, was put behind the bars along with his cabinet. U Nu had attended the Law College with my father. Dr E Maung, a senior cabinet member and a learned jurist, was their law Professor in their college days and he was similarly incarcerated along with U Raschid, another cabinet minister and a contemporary of my father at the Law College. He had spearheaded a student movement in his days along with Aung San, the father of Aung San Suu Kyi. My father knew them all too closely. Now, they were enemies of the State. The judges of the Supreme Court were similarly incarcerated without trial.

For me, however, as a child of eleven, it was to be a transition from the Methodist English High School, Rangoon, where I had by then completed my primary education, to St. Paul’s, Darjeeling. Burma had been our home for three generations spanning almost a century. My grandfather had migrated with the Raj and as a part of the civil administration in 1889. My father continued to live there. My mother joined him in 1950 with me a six-month old and my sister a year older. We had never thought we would seek another home.

My visit to Myanmar in January 2018 for the 10th International MEHS Alumni Reunion was after almost fifty years. I was last there in 1971 on my way back to India from Keio University, Tokyo, after completing a year on a students’ exchange programme from St Stephen’s College, Delhi. Rangoon was already a changed place by then, making it difficult to find the links with pre-1962, when I left for my further schooling in India.

Methodist English High School (MEHS) in the 1960s when I attended

Children's Day circa 1958. I am on the extreme left front row.

This Children's Day event, circa 1958 was held at the USIS Library, Rangoon.  I was then a student at MEHS Rangoon. Many of those featured here were my contemporaries at the MEHS. I was fortunate to have grown up through my early childhood in an environment where children occupied a pride of place in the minds of  educators and policy framers. It's an investment for the future that should never go wrong!