A wonderful life?

At 65, still looking good in spite
of the stresses in her life.

I am sure, the best Christmas movie of all time would be none other than the 1946 production of  'It's a wonderful life' starring James Stewart and Donna Reed. It is a touching poignant film on how things that may seem trivial and irritant to us may actually alter the course of other peoples' life! A movie worth watching a few times! [See youtube snippet below of the beginning of the movie- Spoiler warning!]
By now, the dust would have settled on the euphoric news of Suu Kyi's release from house arrest. I suppose it is never too late to write about the Myanmarese icon whose family (father - Founder of Modern Burma, mother was leader for some time and herself) has been the pillar in the political landscape of Myanmar.
Again, I ask myself...
What drives this petite multiple award winning Oxford graduate survive 20 years of house arrest without going insane or just giving up the struggle for justice for her people, knowing well that the world is her oyster and she is perfectly capable of leading 'normal' life with the rest of her family who are scattered all over! This is not the only hardship that she had endured in her life. Having lost her father, Aung San, the founder of modern Burma, to assassination when she was 2, she grew up without a father figure in her childhood.
Returning home to visit her ailing mother, she was placed under house arrest by the ruling regime of Ne Win. In spite of being the legitimate winner of the general elections and repeated international condemnation, her status remained status quo. Of top of that all, her husband, who was in UK all this while, was diagnosed with terminal prostatic cancer to which he finally succumbed to. And she could not be with him during his final days and his funeral as well. To be fair, the regime did allow her to leave the country but Suu Kyi was afraid she could not return.
During her incarceration, she was diagnosed to have ovarian cyst (or maybe ovarian cancer, some melodramatic reports say) for which she was allegedly denied adequate treatment. She had not seen her children in many years. The roof of her house was blown off by Typhoon Nargis which made her stay in her dark house for days as electricity supply was disrupted. but her struggle continues...
In  the same light, what made Nelson Mandela give up 27 years of his valuable life counting bars in exchange for abolition of apartheid in South Africa? And Martin Luther King Jr. who was assassinated when he was voicing vehemently his intention to materialize his dream of seeing his nation turn into an oasis of unity where sons of slaves and slave-owners walk hand in hand as brothers! And why MK Gandhi gave up his Western suit and decided to wash latrines is his ashram (which was at time the work of the untouchables)? Was it purely to liberate his country from the British tyranny? And Ab Lincoln? And Mother Theresa?
Not to forget our local grown politicians like Lim Guan Eng who was behind bars defending an under-aged rape victim. If you think, the end of the rainbow was him capturing the helm of Chief Minister of Penang, think again! His every move is watched hawkishly by the Government-controlled media and is dissected ruthlessly in the negative light.
So, are these people all leading a wonderful life? Well, one thing is for sure. These people (minus Mother Theresa) are all politicians. They parade shamelessly and brand and re-brand themselves again and again in their own well conceived ways to achieve their own pre-planned agendas!
A leopard never changes its spots. A politician, like a chameleon, changes his hue, texture and tone to suit his surroundings!

On Christmas Eve 1946, George Bailey (James Stewart) is deeply depressed, even suicidal. Prayers for George are heard by the angels. Clarence Odbody (Henry Travers), an Angel Second Class, is sent to Earth to save him—and thereby earn his wings. Joseph, the head angel, reviews George's life with Clarence. As a 12-year-old boy in 1919, George (Bobby Anderson) saved the life of his younger brother Harry (Todd Karns) after he fell through the ice on a pond, though George got an ear infection that impaired his hearing in one ear. Later, as an errand boy in a pharmacy, George stopped his boss, local druggist Mr. Gower (H.B. Warner), from mistakenly filling a child's prescription with poison while grief-stricken over the death of his son from influenza. From childhood, George's greatest ambition has been to see the world and design bridges and skyscrapers. However, he repeatedly has to sacrifice his dreams for the well-being of others. He puts off going to college to help in the family business until Harry graduates from high school and can replace him at the Bailey Building and Loan Association, vital to many of the disadvantaged in town. On Harry's graduation night in 1928, George discusses his future with Mary Hatch (Donna Reed), who has had a crush on him since she was a little girl. Uncle Billy (Thomas Mitchell) and Harry then break the news to George that his father has had a stroke. Mr. Potter (Lionel Barrymore), a heartless slumlord, seizes the opportunity to try to convince the board of directors to end the "sentimental hogwash" of providing home loans for the working poor. George persuades them to reject Potter's proposal, but they agree only on condition that George himself run the Building and Loan. He reluctantly stays in Bedford Falls and gives his school money to his brother.  (Ref: lionking94)