Sayas and Sayamas are truly the unsung heroes of our lives. For them, it is hard to know the fruits of their formidable efforts. They have made a positive difference to our lives. However, often they are overlooked in nowadays society. Now, due to the invaluable efforts initiated by a group of people, we have a great opportunity to praise show our gratitude.

I have learned that Sayagyi U Ba Toke will come to the Pu Zaw Pwe, 2000. I am writing this article to apologize for my silly act that I did about some 25 years ago at RIT.

An early afternoon in the beginning of a summer at the RIT. My 6 years of studying there was close to completion. I was waiting for a mathematics class and standing on the breeze-way which connect the second-floors of the Building 1 and Building 2. The sun was shining well, and as usual, the wind was blowing so strong that the yellow leaves were floating in the turbulent air. The "Kha Yay" trees at the end of the Textile Department are swaying back and forth in the gusty winds. They were reminding me of the unstable, impermanent nature of human life.

I was thinking deeply of the future. "I don't want to leave the RIT yet. I have enjoyed here very much. What I should do? " I could not find out any decent means to lengthen my happy student-life at RIT.

The next class at 1 p.m. would be "Selected Topics in Mathematics" taught by Sayagyi U Ba Toke at Room 1/3-16. It was a large lecture theater with about 200 foldable seats, located on the third floor, north-east corner of Building 1, adjacent to Chemistry laboratories.

The bell rang and I went into the class. I took a seat in the rear section of the class. In our class, there were about 120 students. There were only 2 female students in the class so that no much reasons for distractions from paying attention to the teachings. However, I was still thinking deep. Through the wide glass widow panes, I could see the F-27 Fokker Friendship airplanes flying in and out of the Mingaladon Airport.

Sayagyi U Ba Toke entered into the class, stepped onto the stage, and immediately started to teach. He said, "Today, I am going to teach 'Functions and Relations'". I thought it was a boring topic and would not be much useful in the future. My mind was wandering all over the universe.

Sayagyi's solid profile standing firmly before the students and his commanding voice were dominating the entire class. I was able to see his joy and enthusiasm on his face. Skillfully using the blackboard, he was explaining articulately about the mathematical functions and its indispensable applications to every discipline of engineering.

Sayagyi continued to talk about the 'Domain and Range'. A friend sitting next to me made an unfavorable comment, "What is this DOMAIN about? For what use?" I supported his comments by a nod. Just a nod. Only a nod. This disrespectful act returned its reactions about 10 years later.

I got a very rare and invaluable opportunity to pursue a further study at a university in the United States. I was taking a course 'Viscous Flow Theory' taught by a well-known professor. In the class, there were about 30 students from different parts of the world. About half of them were from Germany, Switzerland, and east-European countries. On that day the professor was talking about the Navier Stokes Equation and its solutions. At one point, he talked about using the 'time-space DOMAINS' in the numerical methods to solve the second order - nonlinear partial differential equations.

The word 'DOMAIN' immediately shocked me like a thunder. Enormous fear pushed out sweats all over my body. I realized that my bad deed had finally rewarded me the bad result. I didn't know anything about DOMAIN, except its name. Sayagyi U Ba Toke's solid figure and his distinctive face appeared on my mind. "Yes, obviously, I did a big mistake. Now, at this place, at this time, who would kindly teach me 'DOMAINS'. In Rangoon, while Sayagyi U Ba Toke was teaching with great and pure 'Ceytanar', I didn't take it with respect". I felt an unforgettable remorse. After this incident, although I paid the price for my bad deed by spending long late-night hours for the whole semester with nightmares to understand the subject, I did not do well at the exam.

Now, welcoming the noble occasion " Saya Pu Zaw Pwe of 2000 at San Francisco", I do apologize for my unintentional bad deeds to all the Sayas and Sayamas who taught me generously with pure 'Ceytanar'. Physically, verbally, and mentally, from the deep bottom of my heart, I do beg your kind pardon.

For any failure or obstacle in my studies in the past, present, and future, it is entirely due to my incompetence, NOT because of the teachings of my Sayas and Sayamas at RIT were inferior.

The primary reason why I am surviving today is the invaluable-unparalleled teachings of my Sayas and Sayamas of RIT. I would like to exclaim that "What our Sayas and Sayamas taught at RIT is 'Absolutely Superior' to the teachings at all over the other engineering universities in the world."

Yours Respectfully,

Ba Thein
Atlanta, GA.