In the year 1934, Michail Sholokhov, a Noble prize winning Russian author, published a world famous novel, entitled as “ And Quiet flows the Don”. This novel deals with the life of the Cossacks, living in the Don River valley during the early 20th century. The plot revolves around the Melekhov family of Tatarsk and describes vividly the struggles, sufferings, turmoils and tribulations in the life of this Cossack family over a period of number of years.
I cannot avoid the temptation of comparing the life of the people of Myanmar, living in the valleys of great Irrawaddy river with this novel. They have gone through similar turmoils, sufferings and struggles as they saw their ancestral land being snatched away from them. But the ending is good for the Irrawaddy people as Myanmar Government has finally bowed to the wishes of these people.
