It is not ironic for a country that only few years ago lost 138.000 of its citizens to a cyclone, the Boxing Day tsunami caused half the victims in an area 20 times larger, to depend on water. Because of the nature of a three season’s climate, Asia relies on weather to a point that the quality of the Monsoon rains determines the difference between life and death.
The presence of water is evident throughout the chapters but it would be inaccurate to omit one about the relationship...
more »It is not ironic for a country that only few years ago lost 138.000 of its citizens to a cyclone, the Boxing Day tsunami caused half the victims in an area 20 times larger, to depend on water. Because of the nature of a three season’s climate, Asia relies on weather to a point that the quality of the Monsoon rains determines the difference between life and death.
The presence of water is evident throughout the chapters but it would be inaccurate to omit one about the relationship of Burmese people with water. I was in Burma during the dry season, which starts in March. When the spring blossoms on our lands, in Burma the temperature increases at a steady pace to reach a point of unbearable agony by mid-April. There is not a drop of rain for months. In this area of Southeast Asia the New Year is celebrated with the Thingyan: the water festival. Unfortunately my visa expired just before the celebrations started. For three days in April people walk the streets splashing water at one another. This is both a symbolic act of cleansing and blessing and a practical opportunity to freshen up from the heat.
By the end of May the Monsoon opens the dances for the wet season. In few weeks torrential rains pour over a continent enough water to refill the lakes, the rivers, the fields. Timely seeded, the plantations will grow green. Rice and grass guarantee food for millions of people and herds for the year to come.
Drenched by Monsoon, touched by the Indian Ocean and crossed north to south by the Irrawaddy River, Burma economy is strongly reliant on water.
I spent some days refreshing in the area surrounding the fertile Inle Lake, in the Shan State. The region is perfect to illustrate how water models daily life. The life of the villages disseminated along the shores, literally, floats. Families reside and work on stilt houses. Pile dwellings grant a safe shelter from undesired guests and avoid floods. The living areas are elevated to create space for the family boat, generally docked below.
Floating gardens in the vicinity provide constant harvests of vegetables, fruits and flowers regardless the level of the water. Simple network of pipes irrigates the rice fields extending from the banks as far as the water can reach the inland. The deep lake, accessed by a network of canals, offers fish. If farmers working in the paddy fields are probably the quintessential image of rural Asia, Burma isolation preserved unique fishing techniques that are not observed elsewhere.
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