1326. The famous fortune teller

Feb 9, 2014
Lucky Two Hotel  Rm B3
6.30 am

"Lucky Two is a brand new hotel," my friend Khin Khin told me. "Just like Ocean Blue. I hope you are not afraid of ghosts!"  I had completely forgotten about ghosts in this Feb 8, 2014 hectic visit and here she reminded me again.

Yesterday, I had a most enjoyable time being able to re-visit nature, to meet a Myanmar-English translator scholar, a famous fortune-teller whose clientele includes the top military brass and to visit a 140-year-old monastery, another monastery with the Buddha made from cane by Shan State people and an older monastery with two Buddha trees and a good artist. There were art pieces of landscape and farms on the wall of this older monastery painted by a monk and I could see that the art is of a good standard.

I wanted to visit a village far away from the city or town. "Why not visit the family of her daughter's uncle?" I presumed he was a farmer. Khin Khin tried to discourage me as it would be dusty but I was used to dust as a national service soldier many years back. "I can wear mask," I said. So, she  arranged for me.to visit this village of Karen people. It was sunset when I sat on the bullock cart to view the bean fields which stretched as far as the horizon as the two bullocks pulled 7 adults on the dirt track between bean plants for a tour of the farm land.

To my right, a large reddish orange golden sun was setting, making the sky pink. Acres of short green bean plants on all sides. A few trees. A special tree with reddish flowers stood out.  I tried to video the beautiful sun setting onto the green plantation but it was all shaking as the bullock cart undulated. The farmer could not converse in English but he was most happy to meet me. Villagers are mostly friendly towards foreigners in general. He plucked the bean pods, a thorny plant to prevent cows eating the beans or for some purposes and a bunch of red flowers from the tall tree with red flowers able to forecast rainy seasons.  Much laughter. Clean air. Two black pigs, two mongrel dogs, a few chickens and some ducks. Mango flowers just forming buds. This is a really big farm just like some of those sprawling ones you see in the USA.

I had some stiffness in my back and the 50-year-old farmer got a stool for me to climb up onto the back of the cart. The others and a young monk just climbed up from the spokes of the wheel nimbly. I was worried about falling and breaking my legs, being quite ancient at 63 years. I know cows could kick, being a vet student in Scotland which has cows unlike Singapore. So, I was careful not to climb up the front of the cart where the two bullocks were tethered. The farmer was especially worried for this ancient. So he held my hand as I walked, in case I stumbled as I proceeded to the bullock cart area and his family and children looked on..  

Such a beautiful green land stretching infinity while the large reddish-pinkish golden sun started dropping down at this time of 6.00 pm. A lone  tall tree with red flowers. Cloudless grey skies streaked in hues of pink. Only a city dweller like me will appreciate this scenery, all too common for the farmer.

Then Khin Khin told me that he is a very famous fortune teller and even the top military brass consulted him. I can't image the Brigader-General in Singapore consulting a fortune teller but this is part of the culture in Myanmar. Khin Khin had consulted him several times as regards imminent personal and work challenges and had received excellent accurate predictions and advices.

Recently, she had serious bleeding from a mouth ulcer or a hard palate ulcer. "Big clots inside my mouth," she told me. "Continuous bleeding. I thought it was oral cancer." She consulted the fortune teller who told her not to worry and that the bleeding would stop. She got a biopsy done in Yangon and the test was negative for cancer and the bleeding has stopped.

"Since the fortune teller had seen you, I will ask him to tell you your future esp. your health," she volunteered. "No," I said. "I don't want to know that I will be dying soon." .
 

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