Burmese Princess in exile Inge Sargent shares her riveting story of extraordinary courage and love.  She is the author of Twilight Over Burma: My Life as a Shan Princess, and is the recipient of a United Nations International Human Rights Award. You’ll hear her thoughts on following the heart, on courage, and how to work with the mind in a time of crisis. Originally from Austria, she became a “Mahadevi”, or Ruling Princess, when she married her first husband, Sao Kya Seng, who was the “Saophalong”, or Ruling Prince, of Hsipaw State. Located in Northern Burma, Hsipaw is one of the largest of the ethnic Shan states, about the size of Connecticut, and the closest border is China. Hear her reminisce about the feeling she had when she first met Sao, how he “spoke to [her] heart directly.” Sao was a kind and thoughtful man who deeply believed in the power of democracy. But in the end, the instability in the region was too great, and the military too strong, and in 1962, everything changed… Find out more of the hardships Inge endured after the military coup d’etat, and learn what beautiful gifts Sao gave to her life, including, “…a perspective that is kind of boundless…”
I always think there is the brain, and there’s the heart. And, sometimes the brain warns you and says “don’t do that” and the heart says “go ahead… go ahead…” and that’s what I always did. And I have never regretted it for one moment.
-Inge Sargent
Inge’s book: Twilight Over Burma: My Life as a Shan Princess
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