265 Pages
Language: Bengali, Publisher: Karuna Prakashani, Kolkata, India
Review by Adil Khan 14 May 2022
Myanmar (Burma) has always intrigued and evoked curiosity of people about this mysterious country for ages and many have written on Myanmar (Burma) already.
Thus, the book, ‘Amar Rangoon Diary’ (My Rangoon Diary) by Shyamal Bandyopadhyay is one more addition to books on Myanmar (Burma)- most famous among these being George Orwell’s ‘Burmese Days’ and Amitabh Ghosh’s ‘Glass Place’ with one important distinction which is that while Orwell’s and Ghosh’s books are fictions, Shyamal’s ‘Diary’, is made up of real stories of real people.
Shyamal, who lived and worked in Myanmar as head of a multinational company for over a decade and during this long period dealt with ordinary people, people in the government in high and low places, people in businesses and in the diplomatic community has been a witness to and a direct participant in many of the stories he narrates in his book.
It so happened that I met Shyamal in Yangon (Rangoon), Myanmar (Burma) in 1997 where I was working with the United Nations and over the years, both of our families became close friends. However, looking back I now see and have no qualms in admitting that I wished I saw what Shyamal with his critical and yet empathising eyes saw in Myanmar.
Written with humour and wit and with great sociological insights (by the way, by training Shyamal is an accountant), the book, ‘Amar Rangoon Diary’ (My Rangoon Diary) that connects the political (from colonial to the current) with religious (Myanmar is a Buddhist majoritarian country) Shyamal skilfully and lucidly presents a rare glimpse into the way Burmese people behave and operate.
The book infers that guided by Buddhism’s philosophy of ‘karma’ (you are what you have been) and ‘nirvana’ (you do what you are ordained to, for liberation) and the country’s autocratic and ultra-nationalistic political arrangements (Aung San Su Kyi’s tryst with democracy, not the first time in Myanmar, was more an accident than rule) Shyamal explains how these two systems – religious and governing – have made Burmese (Myanmar) people docile, fatalistic, and mutually suspicious of each other.
Notwithstanding, Shyamal Bandyopadhyay also narrates how most Burmese businesspeople trust more the words of mouth than written documents and how by abiding these norms he himself successfully executed millions of dollars’ worth of businesses with Burmese businesspeople without any problem.
The book, ‘Amar Rangoon Diary’ (My Rangoon Diary) is a recommended read for those – political/social scientists, businesspeople, diplomats etc. etc. – who have interest in Burma (Myanmar). The only limitation of the book is that it is written in Bangla (Shyamal who is from West Bengal of India, Bangla is his mother tongue).
I do hope that someone takes the initiative to translate the book into other languages, to start with, in English and make Shyamal’s amazing stories available to wider audience.
Shyamal Bandyopadhyay, the Author