ThaRum

Pno Klem Chan Krisna or the tomb of Klem Chan Krisna is a fictional short story written by Penn Setharin, a lecturer of Obirin university in Tokyo. The novel was published in electronic version in February 2003. Living in Japan, she has worked there as a teacher of Khmer language and Asian literature, as a restaurant-keeper, translator, interpreter and refugees’ assistant.

Young lady Chan Borey first met Vimol when they were on plane from Cambodian capital Phnom Penh to Bangkok of Thailand. As a Cambodian flight attendant, 22 year-old Chan Borey was doing her job as usual, taking care of passengers, including Vimol who had fever. Thai national Vimol aka Chan Krisna, a divorcé with a daughter of age 10, works as an education officer for United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). Relationship between the two began on the plane right after then. Using phone calls and letters, they scheduled to meet for the second time when Chan Borey was on her work in Bangkok, Thai burstling city.

Named after high quality wood of Cambodia, well-educated Chan Krisna was soon posted to work for Phnom Penh-based UNESCO. Chan Borey, like many other flight attendants, was one in the laid off list. However, inspiration from this new man in her life that changed her future. She got back to school in an attempt to become a university lecturer. She also had her spare time to teach and take care of Chan Krisna’s daughter. From one season to another, the three spent such good time together. The two grown-ups, shared something in common, were more or less inclined to talk a lot about the history, relationship, and citizen’s perspective between the two nations.

Her day came as she expected when Chan Krisna admitted he wanted to marry her. But the day ended when her sweetheart had to get back to Bangkok hospital for an operation. Chan Krisna had long been living with lung cancer. It was when Chan Krisna proposed the marriage that he told her about his decease; just before he left for an operation that he hoped he could get back to begin a new life with his Cambodian wife. But that time had never once come to its existence. For almost a year that Chan Borey had to cope with the loss of love with a man from the neighboring country.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, November 7th, 2006 at 15:21 pm and is filed under Book. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.