A Trip to Mandalay
Have you ever been to Mandalay in Central Myanmar? Surely, you would be enthralled by the city. The old royal city observes such festival the Waso Chinlone players meet for 70 years.
Waso usually coincides with the months of July and August. Chinlone amateurs gather to pay homage and donate what they can to the Maha Muni Pagoda at Mandalay. The Chinlone amateurs participate to make the festival successful. To donate sweat and labour is also a way to pay homage.Let’s listen to a film director what he has to say. He attended the festival and made a documentary. He said, “We come mostly from the California”.
We think it’s extraordinary. We’ve never seen anything alike it in our life. Do you know the name Michael Jordan, famous American basket ball player? May be or not. Any how his name is called Air Jordan. Who jumps up in the air and throws the ball into the basket. Well, this is like thousands of Michael Jordans. Because they leap up into the air and their foot cause one way, the ball goes the other way. How do they do that? I don’t know. It’s wonderful! And Su Su Hlaing is such a wonderful person. And thus, it’s not just the game, the game is wonderful. But it’s the people who play it, a wonderful people. They are just open their lives to us. They are welcomed just like we were long lost relatives from the foreign land. You know they have been wonderful. They are even going to put a foreign team out there and we don’t know what’s going to happen because the Chinlone players here are so good. I’m afraid when I look at my team. I’m going to have to close my eyes.
Well, anyone can join next year’s Waso Chinlone festival.
See you then.
