A Life in Three Acts

Part history of Burma and World War Two, part personal memoir, and part reflections on contemporary social and political life in the US and Burma, this book tells a poignant true story. A young boy in Burma has his life transformed by World War II. Surviving war and Japanese occupation, he overcomes adversity, doubt, and family opposition to obtain an education and medical degree in the immediate post-war years. Forbidden to work in any populated area of the country, because he was an ethnic Indian and therefore not considered a citizen in independent Burma, he worked in several remote and dangerous areas of the country before emigrating to the US for an internship and residency. Although he planned to return to Burma, a coup there made him persona non grata, and he slowly built a new life in the USA. Burma's loosening of restrictions in the 1980s allowed him to return to his homeland, to reconnect with family and friends, and to establish lasting business relationships. Further loosening of restrictions in the twenty-first century allowed him to subscribe to news feeds that provide inside information from diverse sources and to monitor developments in Burma's precarious present.