The Glass Palace Revisited

Amitav Ghosh, the internationally acclaimed author of Sea of Poppies and River of Smoke, first visited Burma in 1997 and set his awardwinning novel The Glass Palace there three years later. Earlier this month, the Bengali Indian writer revisited the country to see the changes taking place. He met The Irrawaddy correspondent Kyaw Phyo Tha to discuss his recent experiences.

The last time you were in Myanmar was in 1997. What differences have you noticed after 15 years?

It is like going from one planet to another. It’s almost unbelievable. One of the things that make cities of Burma [Myanmar] so distinctive is that all the men wear longyi. Now the longyi seems to be fading. Everyone is in shirt and pants. That’s one thing. The traffic on the roads, the taxis, the buildings—all of that is starting to change. But most of all change is in the atmosphere.

What’s your impression of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi?

That’s like writing a book. Let me say that for me she’s been a sort of beacon in the world. I feel that admiration for her, and I’m feeling incredibly happy she reached this point in time when she’s able to initiate changes in Burma. I was here on the eve of [the ex-military government] proposing a new Constitution. Essentially the deal they were offering then was not really different from the deal the NLD [National League for Democracy] eventually accepted.

So, I felt then she and the NLD was making a mistake by turning down that deal [at that time]. I said so to her at that time because they withdrew from the 2010 elections. I said to her that one consistent thing in the history of Southeast Asia in the 20th century is that any party that withdraws from the election loses something very profoundly.

Your uncle and father were your inspirations for writing The Glass Palace. Could you tell our readers more about them?

My uncle’s family was in Burma from the earliest 20th century. He created a big business in teak. He got the contract to provide the sleepers throughout India so he became very rich. On December 24, 1941, when the Japanese first bombed Rangoon [Yangon], one of the bombs fell on his timber yard which was right by the river. So all his timber was burnt up. That was a catastrophe for him.

So he would tell these stories of Burma all the time. I just grew up with these stories. My father’s stories of Burma too. My father came and stayed in Burma. He was in India when the

Second World War broke out and joined the British Indian Army. When the British reinvaded Burma in 1944, he was with Lord Slim’s army.

India was quite supportive of the Myanmar democracy movement in the early days so why was it later forgotten?

I don’t think this happened. In 1993, India gave Aung San Suu Kyi the Jawaharlal Nehru Award—the biggest award in India. I think what [India] did was they switched from a position of non-engagement with the junta to a position of engagement like that of Asean [the Association of Southeast Asian Nations]. You can criticize that move. People have criticized India on that move. But in reality, that’s the policy that worked.

Why does India have so many internationally renowned writers like yourself, Rabindranath Tagore, Salman Rushdie, Arundhati Roy and Vikram Seth?

I can’t explain really. I think people in India love telling stories. That’s always been the case. You can consider India’s influence in Southeast Asia was never a military influence, or political influence even. But it was the influence of stories like Ramayayan and Mahabarata. Throughout Asia, they became such important cultural forms. It happened not through power, not through politics. It happened through stories. In a sense I think you could say we are doing what our ancestors did—telling stories.

What are the disadvantages of being a writer in a democratic society?

The idea that there are no constraints on writers [in democratic society] is a mistake. There are constraints even in the US and I myself experienced those constraints around 9/11 and 2001. The real threat to freedom of expression in our times doesn’t really come from the government. In most parts of the world now it comes from non-state actors like extremist groups or other various kinds.

—US President Barack Obama during his historic speech at Yangon University

Ko Letyar Htun, a student activist who was given a death sentence in 1998 but released during an amnesty on November 19 to mark President Obama’s visit to Myanmar

—Myanmar President U Thein Sein during his meeting with President Obama in Yangon

—Gen Gun Maw, vice-chief of staff of the ethnic rebel Kachin Independence Army, which resumed fighting government troops in June 2011 after a 17-year ceasefire broke down

—Opposition leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi at her press conference with President Obama in Yangon