Burma seems to be an anachronism in this era of openness. The bunker mindset of the military junta ruling the country is out of place today. An entire nation has been held hostage by the military generals who should have been held accountable for their crimes had the international community (whatever that means) been serious in tackling their paranoia and isolation. We can only hope that the democratic countries of the world will not abandon the Burmese people this time. Pro-democracy struggle of the people led to the killing of hundreds of people in 1998. The generals should not be allowed to go scot-free this time.
Personally, I am deeply concerned about the developments in that country. My maternal grand uncle was among the hundreds of people from Malabar (northern parts of Kerala, India) who went to Burma, maybe in the 1930 s, when that country was part of the British-ruled Indian administration. He settled in Rangoon, married there, had children and made contacts with his elder sister (my grandma) until mid-1970s. We have not heard anything from him and his children since then. I think I have to make an attempt to trace them. But that is a personal journey of a different kind that I have to make. A sort of quest for lost connections.
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Myanmar or Burma as you have mentioned is not the only country that needs to rid off military rule. Nearer home, there is Pakistan,where General Musharaff who has exiled all opposition and now refuses to get out of his military uniform.
As for personal journeys, yes it would be like walking over the embers of dreams, reaching the misty landscapes of dreams and then realising that it was no dream after all.
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