CHENNAI: City resident names granddaughter after Suu Kyi

Source:http://expressbuzz.com/cities/chennai/city-resident-names-granddaughter-after-suu-kyi/223475.html

By G Saravanan

Published in The New Indian Express, Chennai, on November 16, 2010.

CHENNAI: Manickam is a testimony to the adage: ‘You can take a man out of the country, but you can never take the country out of the man’.

Reacting to the euphoria that throbbed through Yangon streets after the release of Myanmar’s pro-democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi from years of house arrest on Saturday, this Vyasarpadi-based man, who has a Myanmarese connection, named his granddaughter after that country’s most respected leader.

“It was a double delight for me on Saturday. In the morning, my daughter, Christa Rani, delivered a healthy baby girl at a local hospital and in the evening, Myanmar’s military junta ‘delivered’ the country’s respected leader from house arrest,” a jubilant Manickam told Express at his home on Munivel Street, Kakanji Nagar in Vyasarpadi locality.

Manickam moved to the city about four years ago with his family from Moray - a border town between Manipur and Myanmar.

His wife is a Manipuri and Manickam has relatives both in Tamil Nadu and Moray.

“During my days in Moray, I used to visit Tamu, a town bordering with Myanmar, to run a noodles shop everyday. Since most of the customers were Myanmarese, I regularly listened to their talks about a person named Suu Kyi. It was then that I evinced an interest in the leader and her struggle for democracy in Myanmar. It has had an effect on my mind since then,” explains Manickam.And it was his liking for the charismatic name that made him name his granddaughter after Suu Kyi, he added.