Kulsum listens to the familiar sound of light breeze blowing gently through the clump of bamboos. Kulsum loves the ensuing noise of bamboos and the rustle of leaves. The sweetness in it, not even a fraction of it, can be found in today's songs and music. At dawn, after having breakfast with mashed potato and rice, Karim has left his home for the field work. In the kitchen, Kulsum has been preparing the lunch and thinking about their future. Kulsum got married with Karim in 2012. Three years have passed since then. But Kulsum has not yet conceived. Kulsum is twenty-three, her husband Karim is in his late twenties. She thinks about it. Her thoghts cannot be termed as anxiety. There's plenty of time ahead.
Karim's kitchen is not attached to his bedroom. In order to enter the kitchen, there’s no need to go out. There's a shed between the bedroom and the kitchen. Karim's bedroom is quite large. The entire home is built of wicker and thatched roof. However, the kitchen is built of canes and a tin roof. In a similar shack, twenty yards from his own, his parent's live. The two shacks do not face each other. The front part of Karim's shack faces southward. His father, Abdur Rahim Mollah's shack is slightly to the right, facing westward. Both shacks are quite high and placed on a raised floor. Under the thatched roof, there's a loft for keeping luggage or goods.
The ancestors of Rahim Mollah were natives of Aung Syke village situated in Ruthi Daung district. Their ancestors can be traced back to the seventh centuries. But compared to the Buddhist population of Ruthi Daung district, the number of Rohingya Muslims is quite insignificant. Most of the villages in Arakan are dominated by the Buddhists. The family of Abdur Rahim Mollah is one of those families. For centuries, these Rohingya Muslims have peacefully co-existed alongside their Buddhist neighbors. But this beautiful example of peaceful co-existence has become weaker after the 80's. Even though, at least outwardly, a friendly relationship is still maintained between these two groups, for unknown reason, a distance has recently grown between them.
Rahim Mollah realizes the changes kicking in gradually, but hardly ever talks about it. The only companions in his conversation on this change are his son Karim and brother Anis Mollah. Rarely this conversation takes place.
Anis Mollah lives with his three sons, two hundred yards to the north from Rahim Mollah's shack. It is a hut made of thick bamboos and canes. Rahim Mollah owns a tomato field located between the huts of these two brothers. In that field he produces tomatoes all year long. Anis Mollah's home is surrounded by rows of coconut trees. Rahim Mollah has coconut trees as well, but fewer in numbers. There's a huge mango tree at the southern end of his yard. The area they dwell in doesn't have many mango trees. Rahim Mollah had brought the sapling of this tree from Bangladesh. Next to the mango tree, a mud path meets the paved road almost a mile to the east. The paved road runs northward through Mine Pu. The village of Kangri Chaung is situated on the eastern side of the paved road. The river Mayu flows along the eastern border of Kangri Chaung. Most of the inhabitants of Ruthi Daung district earn their living by fishing from this river. On the bank of this river, a huge market is the commercial center of this area. Rahim Mollah and his brother have fabric stores in this market. These two brothers import fabrics from Bangladesh and sell them in their stores. Since there are no other fabric stores in the market, the Mollah brothers enjoy monopoly in clothing business. Both have spent money earned from this business on land.
For education, Rahim Mollah sent his younger son to a missionary school in Yangon. Later, he has completed his diploma from a technical college. Rahim Mollah intends to send this son to Saudi Arabia.
In between Aung Syke and Kangri Chaung, the Pagoda of Hin Kao is on the road that goes to Mine Pu to the North. It is almost two miles from the Kangri Chaung Market. As it is on the western side of the road, it is considered a part of Aung Syke.
The appearance of this temple is different from other Pagodas in Arakan. The main structure of this temple is made of concrete. The rest of the structures around it are made of canes and bamboos. The golden statue of Buddha and the table for offerings are placed at the center of the temple. The temple stands on the concrete structure. The base of the spire is quite wide.
Hin Kao has been serving in this temple as a priest for the last forty years. Hence, most of the people mention it as the temple of Hin Kao. To some, it is also known as the temple of Aung Syke. There's no chair inside the temple. The priest and his disciples prostrate on the floor and finish their meditations. Greeting the patrons after the prayers, is part of Hin Kao’s daily routine. News of the area also reaches his ears while exchanging greetings.
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On the first day of the year, because of much larger attendance of the devotees, the New Year has been greeted by increasing the number of verses, at the same time making it more pleasant to the devotees. As offerings, one of the devotees has brought five kilogram of homemade syrup sweets made of pure milk. Hin Kao is profoundly fond of these sweets. After distributing two kilograms among the devotees, Hin Kao's disciple, Than Kin has saved the rest for his mentor. As breakfast, Hin Kao loves these slightly red syrup rolls, fried in clarified butter. After his mentor has enjoyed those offerings, he puts away the rest of the sweets in the fridge.
After breakfast, for almost half an hour Than Kin gets into a conversation with a devotee about something. Hin Kau notices them, but refrains from saying a single word. He rarely exchanges his views with the devotees. He prostrates before the golden statue of Buddha for salvation, removing the worldly thoughts from his heart.
Then the temple became almost deserted, after seven in the morning. The way Hin Kao looked at Than Kin told him what he wanted. Than Kin gently conveyed to him all about the conversation he had this morning with that particular devotee. It seemed that Tatmadaw was interested in getting onto the bandwagon of this war against terror which was being waged all across the world. In Rakhain state, the Rohingya population was growing at an alarming rate. This fact was an ominous sign for the predominantly Buddhist Myanmar. One day they might wake up with a desire for jihad. Something needed to be done before that happened. There was also this possibility of a big gas field being discovered along the coastline of Rakhain. The Rohingya population was spread out in the entire coastline. Under these circumstances, if they revolted it would be a disaster for the off shore gas exploration.
With his eyes closed, Hin Kao pondered for a while when Than Kin had finished his speech. Then he opened his eyes, and in a very low-pitched tone said to Than Kin, “I've been also thinking about this for quite some time. The number of Rohingya Muslims has increased in Ruthi Daung district as well. Though, at the moment they are majority only in Maung Dao, if things continue like this, one day their number in Ruthi Daung will also exceed the Buddhist population.”
Than Kin looked at his master and said, “I'm scared to even think about what'll happen to us then. In Maung Dao the quarrels between Hindus and the Muslims never end. The Hindus and Buddhists are fed up with these Rohingyas pestering them. Be it today or tomorrow, I think we have to take out the seed of this chaos.”
Hin Kao fixed his dark violet robe on his shoulder, and said, “They've been living here for thousands of years. Is it even possible to get rid of them?”
Than Kin replied, “This is a misconception. The history of these Rohingyas spans a period of not more than two hundred years. They were imported from British India.They do not deserve the honor of being the citizens of Myanmar, no matter what.”
Hin Kao stared at Than Kin. He tried to comprehend what was in Than Kin’s heart. He felt, somehow, his disciple had been influenced by the extremist Buddhist monk. Win Thura had been a very popular monk among the Buddhist population of this country. He could read the pulse of the majority. Relying on this, the young priest dreamed of taking over the mantle of priesthood in Myanmar. Even though the other religious figures couldn’t agree with his ideas, they couldn’t simply brush off the logics put forward by this young priest. It was true that if the Rohingya population kept increasing at the prevailing rate, Buddhists would lose their majority status in Rakhain. Then the Rohingyas would have their representatives in the parliament passing their own bills. Hin Kao knew very well what the implication of it was. Hin Kao gave a pause to his thoughts and moved his eyes from Than Kin to the structure of the temple. The doors and windows were in very poor condition. A new thought crossed his mind. He had to change these doors and windows. But no one wanted to donate valuable wood. He needed at least ten thousand square feet of wood. He placed his eyes on Than Kin and asked, “Are our monks out to collect rice?”
“They left the temple right after sunrise. Are you thinking of giving them any particular instructions?”
“From tomorrow tell them to ask for wood from our patrons for the doors and windows of the temple. We have to motivate them to donate woods.”
“Rahim Mollah and his brother have a teak grove. If you allow me to, I will send the monks to them.”
“Will they provide wood for our temple?”
“If they can provide wood for the mosque at Kangri Chaung, what's the problem with our temple? While living on a land blessed by Buddha, they wouldn’t donate to a Buddhist temple, now that is unacceptable. Your excellency, please don’t worry about it. I will manage the wood needed for renovation.”
The Monks formed a queue with the food collected and stood near the altar just as Than Kin had finished his speech. They poured their food in the bowl and sat down on the floor in front of the table. As everyone wore the same dark robe, together they all looked like a single family. Than Kin began serving the food from the bowl to all the monks. The other bowls, full of vegetable, were left for self-service. Hin Kao silently observed the ritual. At one point he fixed the robe on his shoulder, and stood up to head for his personal chamber, allocated at the corner of the temple.