tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-59532128135539318462023-11-15T07:27:10.523-08:00the shyguard - trying to make up for the shyness through the pen "that does not have a condom yet"! In pursuance of my wish to write, here are my childish scribbles. But they are straight from my heart. Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06305378317255032665noreply@blogger.comBlogger21125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5953212813553931846.post-1312164728904796052013-07-24T01:14:00.001-07:002013-07-24T01:14:48.913-07:00The Morning Yoga<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">School
and training days have taught me to clear my bowel, or “clearing the bathroom”
as it used to be called, early in the morning.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>They said it was healthy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
cannot vouch whether it is so, but I can surely say that it has lot of
advantages and conveniences.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Creature of
habit that I am, I have become a slave to this habit.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Another
habit that I can’t shed is my addiction to having something to read while I
attend to this business.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For the life of
me I cannot help it, even on emergencies.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The newspapers and books, forgotten and abandoned after I am through
with my business, strewn all over the place, especially on the bathroom
shelves, irritates my wife to no end.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>But old habits die hard and I don’t seem to be improving; only my
immunity towards her ramblings has improved so far.</span></div>
<a name='more'></a><br />
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Lately
even my son has started imitating me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He
refuses to go for his potties without a book.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>His favourite book is a “User’s Manual” of a watch I got last year.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It has instructions in multiple languages. He
reads, or tends to read it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Once I saw
him deeply engrossed in the book, which he was holding upside down.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He is my three years old son.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">My
‘morning yoga’ as my wife calls it, takes me a lot of time, hence the
name.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the initial stages of our
marriage this habit of mine used to get to her nerves.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She would say, “You take ages!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Hope you are not going off to sleep in
there?”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Now she has adapted herself to
this and living with it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I suppose
marriage comes as a package; accept the whole of it with habits, both good and
bad, and all.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I envy those people who
take only a few seconds to attend to this call of nature.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">On
mornings when my children get up late, there are chaoses in the house as there
is only one toilet in the house.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Before
I am through with my business, my children would start banging the door.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They have to attend to theirs too and they
are getting late for school.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have to
be very careful when it is my youngest knocking at the door.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Otherwise he would ease himself right outside
the door, with a book in his hand.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> </span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06305378317255032665noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5953212813553931846.post-32354482810451325382013-07-19T23:29:00.000-07:002013-07-19T23:29:02.209-07:00Little Known “Ara Phunmey”<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
The tradition of<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">”Lolay”</i> in the Wang (Thimphu region) and
the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“Deepawali”</i> (sorry if I have
misspelt it) in the Southern part of the country are similar, in that people,
the children in the former and all age groups in the later, go around the
village visiting houses and singing the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">lolay</i>
and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">doushiri</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The house owners are supposed to offer these
visitors money, food, rice and even flowers, in return for which they pray and
bless the household.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Equivalent
to the above two, there is another one that is being practiced in the east, (at
least in Pema Gatshel).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I am not sure if
it is practiced in other eastern dzongkhags.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It is called <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“Ara Phunmey”</i>,
literally meaning, begging for drinks.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The men folk would go around the village, singing songs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is done during the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Losar</i> (New Year) and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Thrui </i>(Blessed
Rainy Day).</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Though
it is called <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“Ara Phunmey”,</i> it is not
only the drinks that they are offered.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>On top of the drinks they are also provided food and meat.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The group would go around the village,
visiting every household and singing songs, some of which I don’t hear any
more.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“<b>Ara ma ga nain bu</b></i></div>
<b>
</b><div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Singchang gala drik pey</i></b></div>
<b>
</b><div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Tshering Tshomo lu la yang chey
ru ru</i></b></div>
<b>
</b><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Bjangchuk shing go patra</i></b></div>
<b>
</b><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><b>So yala tsemo lha shing shokpu ruru…</b>”</i></div>
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>A rough
translation of the song goes something like this, “Even if you do not give me <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">ara</i> (locally brewed wine), it’s alright
to offer me <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">bangchang/singchang</i>
(equivalent to a beer)…”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>I am
not very sure if this little tradition is still observed today, but I don’t
hear the song being sung these days.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06305378317255032665noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5953212813553931846.post-84330481039457957632013-07-15T02:33:00.001-07:002013-07-15T02:33:13.463-07:00Little Knowledge is a … Funny Thing?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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My father used to work as a
caretaker of a little government guest house, which then used to be popularly
known as IB (Inspectors’ Bungalow), in a little town that neither had
electricity nor bus services.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But it was
somehow connected to the outside world through a rough and narrow road that
remained blocked most part of monsoon.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Since there were no hotels then, the guest house used to see a lot of
guests, both the official types and the private visitors.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There used to be a lot of ‘philingpa’ guests
(white people) too.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Through such
interactions my father, it seemed, have learnt a bit of spoken English, which
he was proud of.</div>
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I remember a Mr O’Brian, a Canadian
volunteer teacher, who stayed at the guest house for about a month as there was
no accommodation at the school.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Like all
‘philingpas’, Mr O’Brian was also very curious to try on many Bhutanese things
and ways.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Seeing us eat a dish of chilli
he wanted to try it and so he did.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
don’t remember what he exactly said but, I do remember him literally locking
himself up in the toilet for the next two days.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span></div>
<a name='more'></a><br />
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One day Mr O’Brian bought a new gho
(dress for men) and a kera (belt) and he wanted to wear it to school.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He has called my father to help
him wear it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But my father, who was a
bit hard of hearing and with the amount of English he knew must have heard it
differently.</div>
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“Yes, I want bokhu (gho)” he
admitted replying to the ‘philingpa sir’.</div>
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Mr O’Brian was shocked and did not
know what to do.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was finally called in
and as I went in I saw both of their hands on the neatly folded gho, each
pulling it their way.</div>
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Equipped with the grammar and
vocabulary of a class V student who has never been out of his tiny village in
his life, I cleared my throat and proceeded to resolve the issue, which I
somehow managed (I was surprised at myself).</div>
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Later on I learnt from my father
that he heard the ‘sir’ say “Do you want bokhu?” to which he promptly replied
“Yes I want bokhu”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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The request to help him wear the
gho was heard by my hard of hearing father as offering him the gho, which he
readily accepted.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I somehow managed to
convey to each what the other meant and we all burst out laughing.</div>
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On the day he left for his new
accommodation in the school premises, the generous Mr O’Brian presented my
father with a ‘bura’ (raw silk) gho, the same gho they had a hearty laugh over,
just some weeks back.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As I grew up I
wore it to the Tshechu a few times.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As
characteristics of bura ghos, this particular gho looks more posh as it becomes
more faded with passing time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Today it
is a prized possession of my father,</div>
who still boasts to whoever cares to listen
that he got the gho from a ‘philingpa sir’ who presented it to him for speaking
good English.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Of course only I and my
mother know the secret behind it. <br />
</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06305378317255032665noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5953212813553931846.post-11873445790107906872013-01-28T18:47:00.001-08:002013-01-28T20:16:38.112-08:00Naming Them<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Bhutanese are getting more resourceful when it comes to
naming; be it a person’s name or a name for their business entities.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the eighties and early nineties there used
to be a shop by the name “New Ideas”, located at the heart of Phuentsholing
town.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Lots of criticisms were directed
at it, accusing it of not conforming to the traditional name.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To this effect an article even appeared in
the opinion column of kuensel.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">But today the trend seems to have changed drastically.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>People are getting lots of “new ideas” and
they are getting more imaginative by the day, when it comes to naming.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One noticeable change is in the moniker of
people, which are getting complicated and some of them even sounding like
tongue twisters.</span><br />
<a name='more'></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">A friend told me that he tried that stunt with his youngest
son.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I don’t remember the first
two names but the last name that he gave his son was “Khikchung”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He thought everything was alright till he
heard his other two elder sons lovingly and innocently calling their younger
sibling “Khinchung”!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then on he gave up
the idea and changed his son’s name for good.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I must confess that my name is a bit ‘different’, meaning,
not many people own the same name.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
would dread the moment every time I was asked my name.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Usually I would have to say it twice, for
they did not register it the first time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I would also draw a lot of meaningful and nasty looks.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Friends would have a field day mocking at my
name.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>With a bit of twist in their
tongues they would make it sound funny and even derogatory!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Recently I met a lady for some work.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We got to introducing each other and when it
came to mine I was a bit hesitant about telling her my name and told her so.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She did not blink an eyelid and said that
having a different and unique name is in vogue today.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Some weeks back a photograph of a sign board of a hotel in
Samdrup Jongkhar was doing the rounds on the walls of facebook users.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The sign board read “Pholangkatang Hotel…”
literally meaning “big stomach hotel” or “potbelly hotel” or a hotel for the
big bellied. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I don’t really know whether
it was meant to entice customers to eat as much as they can at normal price or
it is a hint that the hotel was for the gluttons only.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">On my recent visit to my village in Pema Gatshel, I came
across a few interesting names that are worth a mention here.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Two business entities had the same name; one
read “Gortab Cement Agency” and the other read “Gortab Hotel”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Gortab</i>
in Sharchokp means road turning or a “turn in the road”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>May be their locations in relation to the
road have something to do with their names.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Then I saw the name “Perga Toka” neatly painted on the sides
of a truck plying between Samdrup Jongkhar and Pema Gatshel.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Perga
Toka</i> means steel ox.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I like the
ingenuity of the owner for coming up with the name, though I feel it is a
misnomer actually.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Perga Kurta”,
meaning steel horse would have been a suitable name, keeping in mind the amount
of load that these trucks ferry each day.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">There is an
automobile workshop by the name “Joktang Workshop” in Gelephu.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Joktang</i>
is potato in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Scharchopk</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I do not know the connection between a potato
and an automobile, but it draws a lot of attention from people, which serves
its purpose.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After all "What's in a name?..."</span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></div>
</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06305378317255032665noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5953212813553931846.post-19447017377308536832013-01-19T07:09:00.000-08:002013-01-20T19:25:32.449-08:00Losing the Roots<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: Tsuig_03; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I come from a small village, located at
the South Eastern part of the country.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Back in the late 70s it used to be a small village of just 15
households, where everyone knew everyone.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Except for two huts, all houses were made of stone and mud.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All of them looked similar - dark and ancient,
in an imposing way.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The roofs were
either wood shingles or slates.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
attics were used as granary cum store room and the ground floor housed the
cattle.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The family lived in the first
floor, which consisted of two rooms.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
outer room served as the kitchen, dining room, drawing room and the inner one
housed the altar.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The whole family
shared these two rooms.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: Tsuig_03; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Ours was a large family, perhaps the
largest in the village.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My grandfather
used to pride about this very fact.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Today we are 116 members, the progeny of our grandparents. Then, we were
seventeen dining members, including us, seven grand children.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One uncle used to be away most of the time,
either for ‘woola’ (compulsory labour contribution) or ‘druk dom’ (labour
contribution for a year by a person for every six able bodied men).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Another used to tend the cattle and the
supply of butter and cheese never seemed to exhaust.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My mother and her sisters used to do the
household chores and weave clothes for the entire family.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Life used to be a simple one then.</span><br />
<a name='more'></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: Tsuig_03; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The staple crop grown in the village was
maize, which used to be cropped twice a year.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The sowing season was the busiest one, where even the children used to
contribute some form of labour.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The men
would plough the field with their oxen and another person, usually the
children, would follow them and drop maize seed each, at certain intervals, in
the furrows made by the plough.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The next
group of people equipped with spades, usually the women, would break the lump
of soil, level the ground and cover the maize seeds with the soil.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: Tsuig_03; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Singing and laughter would fill the air.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I contributed a lot of such works and it was
quite an interesting job.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I never
remember being tired of the job.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I used
to amuse myself by counting the number of seeds I dropped into the ground.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But I never got beyond twenty, because
Sharchokp (language spoken in the eastern part of the country) has countings up
to twenty only.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After that I did not
know how to add up and get the total.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>When we worked in our neighbour’s fields, we used to be paid an egg each
for a day’s labour.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When I started
school this wage was raised to ngultrum one a day, which was a huge amount.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It used to fetch six eggs!</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: Tsuig_03; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">We used to wake up to the sounds of
chirping birds and mooing calves in the ground floor.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The sweet smell of burning incense and
juniper wafting from the altar used to bring us to our senses.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The breakfast would be simple maize flour porridge,
garnished with thin slices of radish. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
‘yithpa’ (in Sharchokp, meaning rotten) or ‘zaed dhey’ (boiled soya beans
stored in airtight containers and fermented) provided taste to the
porridge.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Any leftover food from the previous
day’s dinner would go with the porridge.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: Tsuig_03; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Breakfast in Sharchokp is ‘Changpo’,
which literally translated means cold or leftover.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>May be the term ‘changpo’ came to be used due
to the practice of consuming the previous day’s leftover for breakfast the next
day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Menu for the breakfast would usually
be the same for all the households in the village.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: Tsuig_03; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">After breakfast the elders would go to
the fields for work.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The villagers would
help each other to tend to their fields.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Labour was always paid in labour, meaning, for a day’s work in your
field by someone, you will have to do the same amount of labour in his.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Perhaps that was the reason why a big family
was considered an asset.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Paying for
labour was never heard of, except for few cases where they used to be paid in
terms of grain.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: Tsuig_03; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Back then we had a radio set, a three
band changer, the size of a briefcase.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It was my father’s prized possession and the villagers’ envy, for it was
the first and the only radio set in the village.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(We still have that contraption at home.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I am planning to get it and keep it for
keeps.)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Bhutan Broadcasting Service
(BBS) then used to broadcast two or three times a week, each session lasting
two to three hours.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I am not very sure
about the frequency of the broadcast or the duration of it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>During the broadcast days young people of the
village, especially the girls, would flock to our house to listen to the music
being broadcasted. Works at our fields used to be scheduled on these broadcast
days so that people can work and at the same time listen to the music.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The discussions that ensued used to intrigue
me to no end.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: Tsuig_03; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Every household had few orange trees and
a banana grove, which would generally be located towards the direction of the
wind.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The orange trees provided fruits for
consumption and some were exported, on horsebacks, to Assam, India.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Those villagers who owned mules and horses
would carry the oranges all the way to Assam, which we were told was a three
days journey.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The oranges were bartered
either for paddy or salt.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But the
journey to Assam was only once or, at the most, twice a year.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The rest of the oranges would be left on the
trees for consumption and were used as cattle feeds.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We, as children, used to go around the
village, climb any orange trees that had big and fat oranges and eat them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No one would be bothered, except that we
should not break any branches or we would get an earful.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The banana groves provided protection to the
houses from the strong winds during the winter.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It also provided fruits, which were either consumed or bartered for
vegetables, which were not grown in our village, with the people from the
hills.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: Tsuig_03; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The village is bounded by three rivers
on its three sides - east, west and south - forming an open square of
sort.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As the village slopes gently
towards the south, the two tributaries on the east and west flow towards the
south and join the main river on the south and finally flow toward the
west.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The summers were and are quite
hot, which drew lots of people, both children and adults, towards the
riverside.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There was a favourite spot
where everyone would crowd for a swim in the cool waters.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This place had a solid flat rock face on one
bank, where we used to remove our clothes and dive into the river.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Stones piled to form a wall at the lower edge
of this rock face dammed the water, forming an improvised swimming pool.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The depth of the pool could be varied by
varying the height of the stone wall.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The water would flow over the stone wall.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Naked children and half clad adult males
would be seen jumping into the water and shouting gleefully at the top of their
voices.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even the girls would join in the
melee, but they would be dressed a bit differently for obvious reasons.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: Tsuig_03; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The harvesting season is worth a mention
here.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After the harvest, some of the
maize stalks would be stored to be used as fodder for the cattle during the
winter.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The rest would be left standing
in the fields, for grazing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The local
cow herders would be invited along with their cattle, for grazing in the
fields.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In return they would have to
camp in the field for a week or two.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>This way the field on which they grazed would be manured for the next
crop.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For this the cow herders would be
treated to a grand dinner, with drinks and all, by the owner of the field on
which they were camped. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: Tsuig_03; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Winter, as I remember, used to be the
best time for all.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At sunrise every
household would burn ‘khempa’ (Artemisia plant) leaves.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is believed that Guru Rinpoche rode on the
sun rays and as a mark of offering, ‘khempa’ leaves would be burnt.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I still very vividly remember those beautiful
sights of white fluffy smoke ascending heavenwards, looking like some peculiar
white pillars supporting the sky.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After
a quick breakfast of porridge, we would be out in the fields playing archery or
‘dego’.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: Tsuig_03; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The fields used to be left fallow during
winters.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The whole area would look as if
it has been covered with a brown carpet.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Except for the patches of green banana groves, everything would look
brown.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The women folk used to be the
busiest lot.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In addition to the
household chores, they would weave clothes for the entire family.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Some would be busy spinning silk yarn, while
others would dye them and weave them into ‘bura ghos’ and ‘kiras’.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Since the fields were fallow, the cattle
would be left free.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There was not much
to do for the adults too.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Their daily
routine would consist of collecting firewood, which were abundant in the nearby
jungles, and fetching drinking water.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Rest of the time would be spent playing archery and ‘dego’.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The end of winter meant the end of
merry-making and once again the cycle of cultivating and harvesting would
begin. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: Tsuig_03; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Children were never sent to school before
the age of nine or ten.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The school was
located above the village (thirteen km by motor able road now). At a tender age
of six, you are either too young to walk the distance or fend for yourselves in
school.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I never went to school until I
was nine and at nine years of age I was the youngest in the class.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>From the day one I started as a boarder.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I still remember being hungry and being
bullied by seniors and the older mates all the time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Studies became secondary and fighting for
survival became one’s primary aim.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Every
Saturday afternoon I used to bunk school and go home.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Back at the village we used to be called
‘bongkharang babu’.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>‘Bongkharang’ in
Sharchokp means bulgur.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We used to be
served bulgur food, supplied by the WFP, in school.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: Tsuig_03; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">One thing I can still remember of those
school days is a science teacher, who used to drink tea in a beaker from the
science laboratory. He used to reside in a single room, adjacent to the science
laboratory, in the academy block.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
thought it must be the privilege of the science teacher to drink in a
beaker.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The nearest road head was some
thirty six km away.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Books and lab
equipments had to be carried on backs, for which our parents had to contribute
labour.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The reason for using the beaker
as a drinking glass must have been something to do with this very fact, I
realize now.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He must have found it
difficult to bring it all the way, so he must have made do with the beaker. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: Tsuig_03; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Since then the village have undergone a
great deal of change.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Many of the people
I loved are long gone, including my grandparents.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At 92 years, my grandmother was the oldest
person when she died in January 2010.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Motor able roads have reached the village and made the once serene and
beautiful village look ugly.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The gypsum
mines, located just above the village is a big eye sore to anyone entering the
village.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The numbers of houses have
increased many folds and I don’t even know the exact number as it keeps on
increasing every year.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As you enter the
village from the top, it appears like a field full of sun reflectors placed
randomly.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The wood shingles and slates
have long been replaced by the CGI sheet, which is yet again another eye sore,
literally.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: Tsuig_03; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The bellows of the monster looking
trucks that give out dark smoke and the sound of blasting at the mines occupy
the waking, and even sleeping hours.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
sounds of the birds are gone.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The dark
and ancient looking houses are no more.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>In their places have come up newer ones, which do not look like those
old ones from any angle, though they look much brighter and cleaner now.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All most all the orange trees in the village
have died of some peculiar disease.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
few standing trees look like the trees in snow bound areas, snow laden.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Only instead of snow it is the deposit of
gypsum dust from the mines and the grinding factories, here.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Dust is everywhere.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even the banana groves are not green anymore.
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: Tsuig_03; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">No children play archery anymore.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Simply they don’t have time to.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They go to school at a very early age, some
as early as 5 years.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A school has come
up in the village.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>During the vacations
they work in the gypsum mines to earn an extra buck or two.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Children as young as 9 years of age are seen
working there.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No cows roam the barren
land during winter because there are neither cows nor barren lands anymore.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: Tsuig_03; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Every household owns a television set
and some even two.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The sounds of the
birds have long been replaced by the blaring sounds from these TV sets.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So many ugly looking structures called
‘General Shops’ have lined the roads that themselves have marred the scenic
beauty of the village.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Instead of the
locally brewed ‘ara’ its beer now, which people seemed to be consuming in
gallons.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: Tsuig_03; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The site for the new Dzong construction
is identified at my village.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A grotesque
looking structure that will house the district court has already come up.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Next in line will be the Dzong, which will
mean the exodus of people to the village - people of all kinds.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I can’t even imagine how my once beautiful
village will look like then.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It has
already been ravaged and scarred and it will not be long before it loses its
original identity altogether.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The name
Denchi may not even remain.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Some
fanciful people in power may think of some fancy names, which is happening
elsewhere, all the time these days.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: Tsuig_03; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">A few years from now, I doubt if my
children will ever believe me if I describe how the village once looked.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The one thing that entices us, the prodigal
children, is the simplicity and tranquility of the village life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The innocence of the people is what we look
forward to.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But they are no more
now.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In no time from now things would
have changed completely and the village would have become like any other urban
place in Bhutan. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>With a heavy heart, I
confess here that, I doubt if I may go back to my roots.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The things that beckoned me once are no
more.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The innocence is lost.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I become one without roots.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Uprooted by changing times!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<u><span style="font-family: Tsuig_03; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">22 May, 2012</span></u></div>
</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06305378317255032665noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5953212813553931846.post-14324722894279981822013-01-16T18:44:00.000-08:002013-01-20T19:27:29.938-08:00Taken for Granted – Making Security Our Responsibility<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<div class="MsoNormal">
“The only time we ever think about breathing is when we have
trouble doing it…” says Marty Klein, of Palo Alto, California.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There are some things we take for granted and
never notice it till it is lost or endangered.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Security is one such thing, in the list of a Bhutanese.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It has been presented to us on a golden
platter and we made it our right and never realized how we got it and what it
took to get it and even more difficult, what it takes to maintain it.<br />
<a name='more'></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Sometime
back, before the three notorious kidnapping cases of Sarpang, I<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> </i>was waiting for my turn of haircut at a
barber shop that calls itself “Fashion Haircutting Saloon”, though there was
nothing fashionable about the dilapidated hut that looked as if it will crumble
down any moment or the variegated surface (formed as a result of the peeling
off of the reflective coating or silvering material) of the half- broken barber’s
mirror, or still the old hunchbacked barber, who needed a haircut himself.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the “hot sit”, I mean the barber’s chair,
was an Indian businessman getting his facial hair (my god hair seem to be
growing from every inch of the face!) shaved.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Next in line was another man, supposedly a businessman, from the way
they discussed business, or rather the lack of it these days.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(The following conversation took place in
Hindi and I endeavoured to translate it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>My handicap in understanding Hindi may have resulted in the loss of essence
in translation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, I gave my best
and this is the best I could come up with)</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“I just
took a great sigh of relief and had a grand lunch after a week”, the one on the
chair said.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Where
have you been?”, the other asked.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“I just
came back from home.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Feeling
a little weird, I thought to myself, what people are these, not feeling at home
in their own homes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I couldn’t help but
butt into their conversation.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Sir,
how is that you don’t really seem to be comfortable in your own home back in
your own country.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Then
they went on to explain how peaceful Bhutan is and that there is no fear of
being robbed or extorted.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They said that
they never took a breather till they entered the gates into Bhutan, on their
travels outside Bhutan, be it business or for other reasons.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>That
was news for me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I am sure that it may
be true for many others like me, whether they accept it or not.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We took it for granted, like many other
things that came to us easy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We did not
shed blood for it, at least not in our generation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The December 2003 “Operation All Clear” was a
testimony to our complacency, which was forgotten within weeks of it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I doubt if many of us know the name of the
operation, let alone remember it and remember those heroes, who made supreme
sacrifices for the nation. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>When
someone said “if you chop your own firewood, it will warm twice more” he has hit
the nail on the head.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There is an
indescribable pleasure and charm in indulging in your own fruits of hard
labour.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Of late
things seemed to have changed a bit, at least for now.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The harsh reality of the situation in the last
three months or so seems to have struck us hard.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But as usual, it won’t be long before it is
forgotten.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We have that in our bloods.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>We are
also very good at pointing fingers, which goes on to say that we don’t want to
make it our responsibility.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Make it
others' responsibility and wash our hands off.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>In the latest incident of the abduction of a boy, people were heard, as
usual, blaming the security personnel for not being able to save the boy.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Useless!”
was the exact word they were heard uttering.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“How
are the police or the security personnel in general, in a way to be blamed for
the abduction?” I like to ask myself.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Did they, in anyway, facilitate it?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I don’t have any answer or answers. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Eye
witnesses to the scene say that, and understandably, there were a lot of people
in the town when the incident took place.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>They also vividly describe the scene, some poignantly, how they saw the
boy being dragged.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then what were all of
them doing at the time?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If a few of
them, just a distant possibility though, gathered around or followed the
kidnappers, they were only two in number, or picked up a stone (the most basic
of weapons our ancestors used!) each, there was a possibility that it could
have been averted.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When they couldn’t do
that simple act of picking up a stone, which there is no dearth in the area,
how can they expect the police, to come all the way and be on time for the
rescue?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is also a common knowledge
that the police force is not manned with the numbers it should be on a normal
day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And this is an emergency!</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Two
wrongs don’t make a right and pointing fingers cannot be the solution to any
problems.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is time we realized that
each and every one of us should be responsible for our own security.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Collectively this can contribute to the
security of the nation as a whole, in a big way.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Passing the buck on to the others will take
us nowhere. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The fact, however bitter, should
get into our thick skins by now that the days of spoon feeding are over.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Let’s all go out and chop our own firewood,
so that it may warm us twice more and let us also end our lip services and
practice what we preach.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Let us take
care of ourselves, so that the country takes care of itself.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Let us
make security “our business” and let the people who try to bungle with it think
twice before making any further attempts at it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span></div>
</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06305378317255032665noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5953212813553931846.post-55582450047041919312013-01-10T20:04:00.003-08:002013-01-20T19:26:32.093-08:00Happy Clogging! – My Losar Greetings<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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New Year, as per the Gregorian calendar, is just over and
it’s time for another of the few new years we, the Bhutanese celebrate, in
different parts of this small country – Lomba in Haa and Paro region,
Chunipa<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Losar in the East, Dasain in the
southern part and the Daw Dangpa Losar.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
immediate one due is Chunipa Losar, popularly known as ‘The Sharchokp Losar’.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
And it is time for another round of
greetings – sending wishing cards (on the dwindle now), calling up friends and
families (the order of precedence here is intentional; friends are always dealt
with first, especially friends of the opposite sex type, after which comes the
family), sending text messages (sms), which is the most popular form as of now,
and finally through social networking sites, the most popular being the
facebook ( I can’t imagine how we would have managed our lives without this
facebook!).<br />
<a name='more'></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
For the point for discussion, let
me take the most popular of the mediums, the sms.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>By now, I am very sure that people would have
already started sending them, most comprising of just a simple “Happy Losar”,
while a few would sound very lyrical and the better ones circulated further by
the recipients, for their friends, taking the credit to themselves, of course.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But, it’s not the plagiarism issue that I am
going to discuss here.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I leave that to
their conscience.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
As thousands of sms are sent from
equal number of mobile phones across Bhutan, my lay brain, technically (and is
it electronically too?)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>illiterate that
I am, can only imagine what is happening in the air – text messages made up of
letters, numbers and punctuation marks – physically going around and flying in
all directions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Such things happening,
unavoidably, there will be lot of collusions, as each individual message try to
move towards the direction it was intended, and the wind playing its part, or
better still, havoc.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A funny situation
would have occurred, whereby the letters in the words of messages would get
entangled, not able to move any direction due to the resultant force each is
trying to apply, looking something like vapour trail left behind by jets. </div>
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“qaswer3thgf6yuk$mnj*h9vcm*6np#5u7yt2rewagh<sqwgds>cuit?dvhv”!
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Can anyone, out there, make a head or
tail of this?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I can’t!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If all letters, excepting those letters with
closed and rounded edges, like the letters o, d, I and b, due to obvious
reasons, get entangled in the air, each trying to go their own way and the wind
trying to take them on its way, the jumbled crowd would like something like the
above. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It may even look like a handful
of iron filings clinging on to a magnet. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
Imagine a colony of ants, or swarm
of ants, or an army of ants, (not sure which is correct?) moving around in a
disorderly and haphazardly manner, each trying to get a piece of a
grasshopper’s carcass, that has just been smashed by a careless human foot. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The scene may even look something like that.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The messages will then get clogged and not
reach its intended address. (Hey, we sometimes receive a day old sms,
remember?) At least not on time!</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
But in reality I know no such things
will happen.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Words and letter will
not move physically in their physically form.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It is just my wild imaginations that gave me this crazy idea.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Anyway thank you for bearing with me.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
Here’s wishing everybody a very Happy
Losar.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Let’s clog the air with our
greetings.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Happy Clogging!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Hehehehe….<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span></div>
</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06305378317255032665noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5953212813553931846.post-89808446795670556822012-12-04T04:43:00.001-08:002013-01-20T19:31:54.946-08:00Of Marriages and Infidelities<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">There is a
slight rain today, a drizzle actually.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
remnants of the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Thrui Bab</i> (Blessed
Rainy Day), my wife says.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I am sitting
at the patio of my house, which is directly facing the great old gulmohar
tree.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It amazes me to no end to see this
great tree, standing strong and firm.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Today a majestic looking hornbill
couple has appeared from nowhere and they are sitting on the topmost branch, at
the dome of the ‘big green umbrella’, of this great tree.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What lovely birds!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Elsewhere, they are an almost extinct species,
it is reported.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Birds, they say, couple for
life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They remain faithful to each other
throughout life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There are stories of how
one partner commits suicide if the other dies or gets killed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I cannot vouch for its truthfulness, but if
so, we humans have a lot to learn from these gentle creatures.</span><br />
<a name='more'></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Talking of hornbills, I am reminded
of a story I heard sometimes back.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>During the incubation of their egg, the mother sits on it while the
father collects food and feeds her.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
mother and the egg duo are sealed inside a hollow trunk of a tree, leaving only
a small loophole through which to feed the lady inside.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is said that should the father see any
other bird around the nest, on his return from food forages, it infuriates him
so much that it seals the loophole permanently and leave the mother and the egg
to starve to death.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I do not know how
true the story is, but certainly the mother is paying with her life for
supposedly infidelity, which we are not even sure of.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Infidelity is nothing new to human
beings though how one views it depends upon the person whom you ask.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“It adds spice to life, dear”, says
a friend who is quite popular in such activities and who is into his fourth
marriage.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My God, how does he manage
it!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“Variety is the word, man”, says
another friend, who is less popular, but a “silent killer” as a common friend
remarked, of him.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Well, I don’t know what the other
gender, the ladies, have to say about this.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Do they also boast, like the men do, about the number on their score
boards?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I am yet to know.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Sit in a bar along with friends and ultimately the topic of
discussion will turn to sex and you will hear a lot of stories of “conquests”, if
at all they can be called so.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There are
some men who, after a few drinks, will go on to tell the “gory” details of their
promiscuity, leaving no room for imagination.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Nudge him a bit and he will flaunt his “spoils of victory” as if he has
conquered the world!</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Going by their stories, the mobile services and the internet,
facebook and other social networking sites in particular, seem to be the
culprits.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But then they are only the
agents that affect and facilitate such activities.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is the man behind the machine and of
course, machines are invented by men. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They
are meant to aid and make our lives easier.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The complex and innovative mind of a man is full of ideas, and all ideas
are not necessarily constructive.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
Casanovas of the world got another means to pursue their favourite pastime.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The modus operandi is the same across the board. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A simple approach, as told to me by a friend,
is, select a suitable target, get her mobile number (the sources can be anyone,
from common friends to work place colleagues) and then approach the
subject.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The most commonly used tactics
seem to be to call the number and tell her that it’s your “lucky number”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Most fall for it, they say.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A friend is said to have called the number
and told her that he won a lottery with the same ticket number.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What ingenuity!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The other approach, which is much easier, is,
send a friend request on facebook and then start off slowly.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It begins with a simple innocent chat.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">When I say this, I say this from a man’s point of view.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I don’t know about the other gender.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It may be the same with them too, after all
they are humans too, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">saang ma gaipey sem</i>,
(the unenlightened mind).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is a
common Bhutanese excuse for making mistakes, I suppose.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Obtaining a mobile number is also not that difficult a task
either.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There are people; I know both
ladies and gentlemen, who, very generously dole out their mobile numbers to
anyone who bother to ask, as if they are building up a clientele for a not so
holy profession. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>With these people
around, surely B-Mobile and TashiCell will not go out of business.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I am not saying that all these encounters lead to physical
relationship, but what I am saying is that all most all such undesirable
affairs are the result of such hardly enterprising pursuits.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is not surprising that the divorce rate
has increased many folds.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And why not,
love and faith for each other is the binding force in a marriage, and
infidelity nullifies both of them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There
is no use for a marriage to last and stand, when the very foundation on which
it is built has crumbled.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But
fortunately or unfortunately, many do survive.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The reasons vary; for some it is economic dependency while for others it
is for the sake of their children.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Then, what has happened to the vows,
“till death do us part”, couples take at the commencement of their married
life?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And we Buddhist, the Bhutanese
Buddhists at least, take the vows with <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Lue,
Ngag and Yeed</i> (Body, Speech and Mind)! </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Sometimes I like to question myself about what constitutes
infidelity.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Which is the bigger sin,
being unfaithful in deed or in thought?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>People may differ, but personally I would rate them on the same scale if
I am to do so.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Whatever actions we
undertake are the result of ideas that initially germinate in one corner (I
don’t know which corner) of our brain.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Like the maxim, there being no smoke without fire, if the thought did
not occur there would be no action.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Our thoughts shape our actions, which over a period of time
becomes our habit, and a sort of addiction. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Old habits – I know it’s a cliché – die
hard.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The result is a lot of broken
hearts and broken families (with its inherent myriad of problems), not a hard
thing to spot these days.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And we live in
a country that is the champion and propagator of GNH!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><u><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Disclaimer</span></u></i></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">: -</span></i></b><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span></span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The views expressed here are purely my
personal.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This in no way is meant to offend
anyone, I mean any gender.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is not intended
to portray one gender as the manipulator and the other as the victim.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If the article in any way depicts that, then
it’s purely my inability to express myself.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It is not intended to be that way.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Neither am I attempting at moral policing through this.</i></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">3<sup>rd</sup> October, 2012</span></b></div>
</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06305378317255032665noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5953212813553931846.post-86021593924181728592012-10-11T03:18:00.000-07:002013-01-20T19:33:08.201-08:00Who am I?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">"What's in a
name? That which we call a rose<br />
By any other name would smell as sweet." </b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The famous lines from Shakespeare, probably
read and will be read by countless people generations down the line.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
Of late I got this strange feeling
of wanting to find out who am I.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My
name, the inheritance from my late grandma (May her soul rest in peace!), is
what I am known as and called so.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But,
what and who am I really, inside?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This
has been nagging me for some time now.<br />
<a name='more'></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
My children call me “daddy”, my
wife “my hubby”, my parents “our ata” (“ata” means an elder brother, which is
also used to lovingly call the eldest son), for my friends I am a “friend” and
sometimes my bosses call me “stupid”. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then who am I actually?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I am a different person to each of them;
father to my children, husband to my wife, son to my parents, friend to my
friends and …</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
I may be known by different names
to different people, depending on my relationship to them, but I am only
one.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And who is this “only one”?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Finding that may answer my question.</div>
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I need to delve deep and look into
my inner self.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Perhaps I may find “me”
there, the real me, the person that I am.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>But depending on my mood and many other factors, I like to believe that
I am “so-and-so” sometimes and “some others” at other times.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It may prove to be like searching for the
proverbial needle in the hay.</div>
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I like to believe that I am a
writer and like to live in the fantasy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>But what do I have, to show for it?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>A writer without a book to his name!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It sounds foolish and even childish.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Though I love to put down my thoughts on paper, the fact remains that I
don’t have a book to my name and so, I do not qualify to be called a writer.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
I love to sing and play the musical
instruments (I play a bit of all the musical instruments fairly well), do some
other art work in the form of pencil shading, wood carving and cloth
embroidery, the result of my inquisitiveness.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>(I do not have any formal lessons or trainings on them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I tried all of them out of interest and on a
“trial and error” basis and some of them turned out quite well.)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A friend once called me “a Jack of all
trades...” and I completed the statement for him “…but master of none”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I sometimes like to believe that I am an
artist and an artiste, but without any artwork to prove it I am neither.</div>
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Then what am I and who am I?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Writer?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Artist?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Artiste?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>What?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Who?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Who?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Who?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The only answer that comes to my mind is that
I am me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But who is this “me”?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I may never be able to find out.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As fickle minded as I am and my moods
changing constantly, I am afraid that I may not be able to find out the “who” part
of me?</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
For now I should then satisfy
myself being what I am to different people; “dad”,” husband”, “son”, “friend”
and “stupid ass”, till I make a name for myself, which seems like a Herculean
task.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As of now I am so used to being
all the above, that I can get into the role quite perfectly, and breeze through
without even attempting to.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then it is
better to be all of the above and make all the concerned happy and be happy
myself in the process.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But am I a clown,
enjoying myself and making others happy, at my own cost?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Without thinking to answer this question,
here I rest my case and get myself busy into playing the role that I am
required to, as per the person I am dealing with at a particular moment, and
end the woes of the readers too.</div>
</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06305378317255032665noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5953212813553931846.post-1710751369188417352012-10-04T19:45:00.000-07:002013-01-20T19:33:57.765-08:00A Dialogue with Generation Z<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">By any
standard I don’t think I will be termed as old and I don’t feel so either.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Neither can I be called young any more.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A bit of rigidity has set into my joints,
though I can proudly say that I am physically very active.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But the remarks of my son, while we were
discussing birthdays, made me feel my age.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>He said, “Dad, but where will you place all those candles even if you
celebrated your birthday?”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was telling
him about my lack of interest in celebrating my own birthday.</span><br />
<a name='more'></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Hovering in the wrong side of
thirties, memories of younger days come flooding by; herding cows, climbing
fruit bearing trees, collecting firewood, listening to fairy tales…<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I try to narrate the life I had as a child
and my children seem least interested.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>They say, “You were born at the wrong time, dad.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Wrong time!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I don’t know.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I tell them that we
used to drink from the open stream that ran by the village, without fear of any
pathogens passing on some disease that you can’t even pronounce (the case these
days).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The fruits we ate were directly
plucked from the trees with our own little hands.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The vegetables on the dinner table came from
our own backyards.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The other day my daughter was
complaining of how they were made to cut grass in the school.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Snatching the opportunity I started off my
tirade of how our lives were when we were her age.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We had to collect our own firewood for the
school mess.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They would be weighed and
if it did not meet the required weight, we had to go back to the jungles for
the remaining amount.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The ration,
provided by the WFP, had to be carried on our bare backs for days.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There were no motor able roads then.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We had to miss school to fetch ration.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The demands for stationeries by my
school going children do not seem to cease.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>By the thickness of their note books, a few days after the purchase, it
is obvious that more than few pages go into making aero planes and
projectiles.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Back then stationeries were
free.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Note books, rulers, geometry
boxes, pencils, ink tablets.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The note
books when exhausted had to be shown to the teacher in charge of
stationeries.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He would check them and
then stamp the school seal randomly on few pages and issue a new one.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Back in the classroom, the pages with the
seal marks would go directly into the bins and we would be back for another new
one.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This would go on till it becomes
obviously thin that any further attempt at it would render it empty, bereft of
any pages.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>On a Sunday morning I was taking my
children for a ride in the outskirts of the little town we live in.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sudden cries of “Pig! Pig! Pig!” from my
children in the back made me almost jump and I nearly banged the car on a
nearby culvert.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They were excited to see
a pig, which was tied midway round its trunk at one end of a nylon rope while
the other end was tied to a betel nut tree.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It was their first time to see a real pig.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Their knowledge of a pig was limited to the
textbooks in the schools and the programs on television.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We lived among pigs and other farm animals in
our childhood days.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Pigs used to be fed human faeces!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A Y-branched tree trunk laid over the pigsty,
supported on either side by its walls, would do for a toilet.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Placing the two feet on either hands of the
Y-branch and squatting over it in the act of performing a very elementary and
basic task, we would let off our dung.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The grateful occupants of the sty would get to eat a warm meal, directly
from the source of manufacture!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Yuck!”
they shouted in unison.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“It’s
disgusting!”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I did agree with them on
this account.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I smiled to myself,
remembering those days of my stunts on those Y-shaped branches, not missing the
memories, the only memory I am not fond of.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“We have to boil the milk before we
drink it”, my daughter was saying, seeing our domestic hand fetching the milk
from the milkman who delivers it to our doorstep daily.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Nobody told us to do so then.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We drank them raw.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In fact we used to drink directly from the
cows’ teats.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We had a particular cow
named “Marzom” who was a very friendly creature.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It would allow us to drink its milk directly
from its teats.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My daughter thinks we
were barbarians.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>My son wanted a football and dress
set to play the game.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We did not need
any ball to play the game.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Pages
hurriedly torn from our books, crumpled and stuffed in discarded socks became
our football.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We called them “baktang
ball” meaning rag ball or ball made of rags.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The skin covering our feet were our boots, though broken and often
bleeding toe nails came with the game.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>We called them occupational hazards.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The school is just about two minutes
drive from home.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But my children insist
that they be driven to and from school daily.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>We had to walk to school for hours.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It did not matter whether it rained or shined.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(From Denchi to Pema Gatshel school today is
13km by road and a bit shorter if taken the alternate route, the short cut.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We used to walk this distance to and from
school daily!)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I try to tell them that
it is healthy to walk.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“But our friends
are dropped to school.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Don’t they
require exercises too?”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is futile
even to attempt an argument with them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Tuesday being declared a Pedestrian Day, I now have an excuse on this
day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They hate Tuesdays.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Perhaps I am wrong and unfair in trying
to compare our lives; things have changed, and changed many folds.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But being from a different “era”, I can’t
help but notice the glaring differences.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>This serves as a constant reminder of my days already spent outside my
mother’s womb.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>From then to now, I have travelled
quite long on this road of so called life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The journey along was full of memories, both good and bad.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Looking back I realize it wasn’t that bad
after all.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Life then was pure and
“organic”, as people today may call.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It
lacked the pace and “basic amenities” of today, but nevertheless it was a life
of dignity and simplicity.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is neither
their fault being born “today” and nor mine for being born “then”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>May be a slight adjustment will balance the
equation in favour of both the parties concerned.</span></div>
</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06305378317255032665noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5953212813553931846.post-17359764192376934252012-08-22T23:08:00.001-07:002013-01-20T19:35:02.794-08:00Scratching an Old Wound<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: Tsuig_03; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Death, they say is a great leveler and
it is also the final and ultimate step through which all beings have to pass,
which is a proof of the impermanence nature of life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But, however natural occurrence death is, no one
looks forward to it and everyone mourns the demise of a beloved one.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span></span><br />
<a name='more'></a><span style="font-family: Tsuig_03; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: Tsuig_03; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Since life has to go on, the bereaved
try to resume a normal life at the earliest possible, at least externally.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No one really knows what may be going on in
their minds.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But what happens when
someone, willy-nilly or accidently, reminds the person in grief about the lost
one, especially if that lost one has left behind two young children?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I think it’s natural for memories to come
flooding back and the old wound to become raw again.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It really must be extremely painful.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It also results in lots of embarrassment,
which I am very certain because I just did that.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Without intending to I rubbed salt in a
friend’s wound and I felt miserable, low and felt like the scum of the
earth!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: Tsuig_03; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">It was the 16<sup>th</sup> of June. I
was in his office for some insignificant work, which could have waited.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But the restless person that I am, I could
not wait and I was there in his office.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>After the customary greetings we settled down for business, which was
not much anyway.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the midst of our
conversation, I absentmindedly blurted out, “Is today your late wives’
birthday?” and regretted the moment I said them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If it were possible I would have taken back
my words but then you know the impossibility of how words spoken and bullets
shot out of the barrel of a rifle to be called back.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The damage has already been done.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He went red in the face and mumbled
something, which I could not hear. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: Tsuig_03; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
know he is a strong person, and thanks God he was not in tears, but that moment
I knew I struck a chord deep within him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I knew my words brought back lots of memories, some of which he wanted
to bury deep but I unearthed them for him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Me and my slippery tongue!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
somehow managed a feeble “I am sorry” and then I was loss of words.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What do you say during such moments?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I am not really good at consoling others and
any further attempts at it would have made things worse for both of us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The least said the better.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even if I did console him then, I knew and he
knew that, whatever I said, however sweet and warm the words, they would be
just empty and hollow words.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Only he
would have known what was going on in his mind.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>With nothing more to say, I excused myself out of his office on some
pretext and fled.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Literally, I ran and
people may have thought that I was an eccentric person.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But I was not in a condition to bother.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: Tsuig_03; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">People may wonder how I knew his late
wives’ birthday.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The answer is
simple.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s the internet in general and
facebook in particular that put me in such awkward situation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That morning I visited facebook and saw the
notification there.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That lovely person
was my friend in facebook.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>May her soul
rest in peace!</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: Tsuig_03; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">My slippery tongue got myself into
another embarrassing situation, a few months back.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was in conversation with around half a
dozen of people over a drink.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We met for
the first time that day and were to work together for the next few weeks.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One was a young sweet lady.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As the night progressed we started talking
and the topic of our discussion turned to families.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I asked the lady about her family, to which
she replied that her husband was no more.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I was sorry for her and conveyed the same through words.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The discussion should have ended there.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Period!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>But my next words shocked even myself.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>“How did he die?” were the words that slipped out of my mouth.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I didn’t intend to but somehow these words
came out.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was embarrassed and
shocked.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I knew then and there that my
words brought back lots of poignant memories.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The others in the group froze and there was pin drop silence.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>May be they took me for an insensitive fool
and I don’t deny it because only insensitive fools will do such insensitive
acts.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Resuming the conversation after
that was quite awkward.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But the lady in
question, being a good one in that, took things gracefully.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At such a very young age she has gone through
so much in life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I summed up my words of
condolence thus, “God must have better plans for him”.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: Tsuig_03; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">After the incidence with this lady, we
became very good friends.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She confided
in me how and what all she went through, the shocks and the “near depression”
experience she went through.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>May be it
feels better to get things out of one’s chest and this lady does that whenever
she feels low and down.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I am proud to be
of a little help to someone, though I cannot tell her so in as so many words.</span></div>
</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06305378317255032665noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5953212813553931846.post-91792182516791952552012-08-22T22:57:00.001-07:002013-01-20T19:36:58.030-08:00Night Hunting – The Other Side of the Story<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">The practice of Night Hunting has been
popularised, or rather disreputed by many articles and reporting in the
media.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They made the practice look
dirty, male chauvinistic in nature, and et al, except good.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And I tell you, nothing is farther from the
truth.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I may be wrong but I have my side
of the story to tell.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">This
practice has been there generations before and was a socially accepted
thing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was the accepted courtship
ritual in the villages and they still are in many parts of the country, still
untouched and unpolluted by the so called modernisation and westernisation. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It got a bad name, when the villainous
outsiders, usually the visiting government officials, took advantage of the
innocent damsels, sired children and left them to their own fates.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Many fatherless progeny were left behind this
way.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Thus, this practice came to be
labeled a notorious practice.</span><br />
<a name='more'></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Way
back at the village, we, as teenagers and even before that, used to go on such
forages, if I may call it that.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But I
swear I did not get anybody into trouble.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>When we were “not of age”, as our elders used to say, we used to
accompany them as their aides.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We would
facilitate their entry into the chamber of the lady.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Entry
into the house, any house, could be gained through three different accesses;
through the door, windows and the attic.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Most popular was entry through the door.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>For this purpose we used to carry in our pockets a honed iron rod that
could be bent as was the requirement.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>They were used for opening the door latches of almost any house.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Usually the old Bhutanese doors had some gaps
in between the doorframe and the shutter; some small and some big enough for a
child’s hand to go in.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The bigger ones
were easy to open with our bare hands.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Those doors with smaller gaps required the use of our improvised
tool.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The door latch in Bhutanese
architecture is usually a piece of wood, to which the sharp end of the rod
would claw and push it back to its place, leaving the door unlatched. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">If
the door did not yield to it, the next option would be the entry through the
windows, where we, as children, used to come handy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Our smaller bodies would easily fit in
through the windows.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The skinnier you
are the preferred aide you would be.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Once inside we would silently go for the door and open it for the grand
entry of our “masters”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then we would be
forgotten and left to survive the night.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>We would shiver (with cold) through the night in a corner of the house.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If the lady was a kind hearted one, some of
them were, she would throw us an old ‘kira’ or a piece of rag to ward ourselves
off from the cold.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Even
if this failed, we still had the option of climbing the whole height of the
house, enter the attic and then enter the house vertically downwards.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The success rate was cent percent. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">The
first “cock-a-doodle-doo” of the day, or rather the morning, would signal our
return journey to our base, which we would grudgingly make and swear not to
repeat such adventures in future, starting that day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Who would want to wake up at such unearthly
hours and walk for hours on end!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But
usually we would be back on the road that very night.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Through many such magnanimous gestures, I am
proud to say that many unions resulted and all of them still stand, as strong a
bond as the day they took the vows.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Night Hunting was not viewed dirty then.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Usually the parents did not object
and in most cases they were oblivious.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A
hard day’s work and a good dose of ‘ara’ or ‘bangchang’ at the end of it
created a deadly concoction for a good night’s sleep and a favourable condition
for the hunters.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Moon lit nights are
both advantageous and disadvantageous, in that it makes navigation to the
objective easier but poses a problem for concealment when bang at the
objective.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Dark nights require the use
of torches during move but covers own action at the objective.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>If
any parents were nosy, usually there were few, they would be dealt with
accordingly, from arguing to playing pranks on them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The point of argument was that it is natural
for bees to buzz around flowers and that the parents have no right to interfere
in the act.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If the parents acted a bit
tough, hanging a bundle of nettle plants from the top of the door was the other
option.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then we would instigate them to
come out and when they did, the sharp sting of the nettle plants would bring
about a loud cry followed by swearing that would defeat any truck driver any
day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Some would threaten that they would
report to the village authorities, which they never did.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Incidences where we had to resort to such
mischief were rare, though I remember playing such pranks on a few occasions. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>There
used to be lots of “accidents”, none of them fatal in any way.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Once, I remember a friend falling from the
window of a house and landing directly on the neck of a cow, cross-saddle.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A sudden bellow from the poor surprised cow
woke the whole family up.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I had a hearty
laugh afterwards but my friend did not find it funny.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Yet
again, I remember waking up to the growling sounds of the grinding stones.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The whole family, (my unwilling host for the
night), have woken up and they were going on with their routine chores.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The mother was rotating the heavy grinding
stones, grinding maize grains.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was
sleeping in one corner, luckily at a blind spot, of the house.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then I realised that my “master” had
abandoned me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After helping him enter
the lady’s chamber, I went to sleep in a corner of the house.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Being tired of walking almost two hours to
reach the destination, I must have gone into a deep sleep and my “master” did
not bother to wake me up when he left the warm bed of his lady love.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Staring
from the corner of my eyes, I saw that it was still dark outside.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I weighed the situation and with no other
option available, I dashed out of the house only to bang into the father, who
was returning after attending the call of nature.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Needless to say that everyone was taken by
surprise, except the girl, who knew my presence there all the time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She was a party to the conspiracy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After that I never accompanied that person as
his aide.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My “master” for that night and
the lady in question took the vows shortly after that.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To this day they tease me and have a good
laugh over memories of what happened ages ago, that fateful morning.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>When
I attended my late teens, what our elders used to say “came of age” I did
follow the footsteps of my great “masters” and have had some memorable
adventures.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But I cannot reveal the
details, for some things are best kept secret!</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Through
this I am neither glorifying the practice of Night Hunting, nor am I trying to
justify the act.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Accepted, that some
actions were undesirable and warranted change, but the practice in itself was
not looked upon as dirty. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was
accepted by the society.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All men were
expected to go for such forages into the wild.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Those who were not very adventurous were called “hearth cat” (because
cats usually did not venture out at night and they always slept by the fire
place).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That too by their parents! </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Nobody
was taken advantage of.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The girls had
the right to deny anyone, anytime.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It
was through mutual consent that these activities went on.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All most all marriages were as a result of
this practice, then.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Though there were
incidences of children born out of wedlock, but they were few, and far
between.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These were exceptions, rather than
a rule.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was only after the numerous
incidences of fathering children by the outsiders and denied siring them, that
this act got a nasty reputation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
girls were shown dreams of good and comfortable life back in towns only to be
shattered at daybreak.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the
traditional practice no false hopes and dreams were shown.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Whatever happened, happened on a mutually
agreed terms between the two parties. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">If
left to the villagers themselves, they would have carried on with this
tradition, without bringing bad name to the act.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Today, so much of emphasis is made on the
need to preserve our precious tradition and culture.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Isn’t Night Hunting a tradition in
itself?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was a way of life then, and
it should be so now.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Only that,
outsiders should not step in and interfere in the act.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is only when aliens enter the fray that
things go topsy-turvy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Barking should best
be left to the dogs!</span></div>
</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06305378317255032665noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5953212813553931846.post-85208134144454770952012-08-21T23:02:00.000-07:002012-08-21T23:02:12.639-07:00Difference in Perception<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">On his
recent visit to my place, my dad was shocked to find, or rather not find a
phallus outside my house.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He insisted
that I should display one, either outside the house or hanging from the door
top.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He had an explanation for why my
wife was always sick; that evil eyes are on us since we didn’t have a phallus
to guard against them.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>To please him, I asked a friend to
make one for me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The artistic, nasty
practical joker that he is, he made one that looked obscene, pornographic and
indecent.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It did not resemble the ones
back home, which were a simple one, in fact a symbolic one.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The one he made had all parts, including the
throbbing veins and nothing was left to the imagination.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I must admit that he did quite a good
job.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Had this been for some other
purpose, other than hanging above my door, he did really deserve applause.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Since I did not have any choice I hung it
from the door top.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That silenced my dad.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>A few days later my children’s
friends came to our house.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They are all
below ten kids.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They did not seem to be
bothered by the new “item of decoration” on my door.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Curiously I asked them what it was.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Without blinking an eyelid, they replied,
“Uncle, chu tang ni gi eembay”, meaning that it is an object to urinate with.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They knew it by its basic functional utility
and beyond that it’s just another piece of anatomy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Ah, the innocence at its peak!</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>But it’s a different story with the
adults; visiting friends of mine and my wife’s.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>They grin, giggle, pass comments, some even pass sexist remarks.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I heard one friend of mine saying, “the one
eyed monster taking its post!”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My wife
thinks that it is disgusting and wants to throw it away.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>I was looking at a picture of a gold
chain and a locket, strung around the neck of a lady.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The photographer has intentionally shown the
cleavage of the model wearing a sports bra.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The face was left out.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I must
confess that more than the gold chain and the locket, my attention was drawn by
the cleavage of the lady.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I showed the
same to my friends and even they saw the cleavage first.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>I showed this same picture to my
three years old son and instantly he replied, “Sung koed (sacred thread strung
around the neck) eembay.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He took the
chain and the locket to be a ‘sung koed’.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>He did not notice the cleavage, which we adults did before anything.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The difference in perception is
glaring.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Children see things as they
are; in their pure unadulterated form.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>We, the adults, see things in a different light, beyond its basic
meaning. Ours is a bit prejudiced by our “adult” minds. </span></div>
</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06305378317255032665noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5953212813553931846.post-53876093858793141362012-08-13T07:26:00.001-07:002013-01-20T19:38:02.313-08:00 If only: Reflections on Life and Living<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I am sitting
under an old gulmohar tree (delonix regia), that resembles a large green
umbrella, that is a part of the boundary fencing between where I live and my
neighbour’s house.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The tiny leaves on
the stems are neatly arranged like the plumage of a bird giving it a very
gentle and peaceful look.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The mild
breeze on them creates a movement like ripples in a pond that has been
disturbed by a falling pebble.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I wonder
how many tired souls this particular tree must have helped rejuvenate under its
cool shades.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If only it could talk…</span><br />
<a name='more'></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The cool breeze, which is highly
unusual for a place like Sarpang, caresses my face and the exposed part of my
skin.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I am wearing a boxer shorts and a
vest.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is very pleasant.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Such cool days, during this time of the year,
are a rare treat and a luxury here.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>There are no mosquitoes to bother me today.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The gentle breeze has driven them away.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>I reflect back at the past
week.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Numerous things have happened.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There was a party, in fact a blast of a
party, thrown by a friend on the joyous occasion of his promotion.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All most all people of this small community
attended it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Booze was flowing freely
and there were plenty to eat.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The dogs
had a party too, later.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It took them the
next two days to clear the debris of leftovers.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Then there was a death, two days
after the party.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A colleague has died,
so suddenly.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>May his soul rest in
peace!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The doctors declared it as a
“sudden cardiac arrest”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Life can be so
fragile!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One moment you are very much
alive and kicking, and the next you are no more.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The decease leaves behind a mourning
wife and two lovely children, both of whom have just reached their early teens
in the journey of their lives.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Life is
so uncertain and unfair to some.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If only
had they known about this pending doom!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>But could they have done anything?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>We human beings are piddling creatures in front of the force of nature,
especially if that force is something as dauntless and impartial as death
itself.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The raucous created by the cawing of
crows on the branches overhead draws me back to the present.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Looking up I see that two crows are fighting
over a piece of meat.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Neither is willing
to give up the prized possession.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the
melee they dropped the piece that is the bone (meat?) of contention.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As it lands right in front of me, I see that
it is a piece of fresh ‘juma’ (intestine), about a metre long.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Suddenly a scabied and almost bald dog
scuttles to it and eats up the piece.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
crows are just watching the act from their perches, helpless.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>It would have taken them many
attempts to steal that piece of meat from the greedy watchful eyes of the human
owner.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If only had they settled down to
amicably share, both would have had their fill.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>But of course they are only crows.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>When humans can’t settle such things in a way beneficial to all
concerned, how can it be expected of crows?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Their greed cost them a satisfying and a fulfilling meal.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Many such good opportunities are lost in life
because of our greed. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The
evidence of the impermanence nature of life is everywhere; in the falling
leaves, ripening fruits, decaying of earthworms, time gone by and everywhere
there is life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But to die so young
leaves a lot of room for regrets; many unfulfilled dreams, widowed woman,
orphaned children, to name a few.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If
only we could turn back time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06305378317255032665noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5953212813553931846.post-47530739984074907952012-07-27T08:58:00.004-07:002013-01-20T19:39:02.655-08:00A Dying Art<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Tsuig_03;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">I belong to a time when letter writing was the only means of communicating with people at distant places.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Other than sending verbal messages through people travelling to places, letter writing was the only means of communication.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There was a place called “Wireless Station”, but I was not clear how it delivered messages then, and people did not use it to send love letters.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So it was the good old post office that we turned to and a fifty chhetrum stamp was enough to get a letter going, to whichever places in Bhutan your letter was destined.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But it took ages to reach its destination.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I remember once, receiving a letter that took forty five days, from a place where it today takes eight hours by road!</span></span><br />
<a name='more'></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Tsuig_03;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">In our school, distributing letters used to be a grand affair, sans the fanfare, of course.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Letters used to be distributed during the morning assembly.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Every single letter used to be handed over to each addressee personally by the ‘Gathpu’ – the Old Man – our headmaster.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The ‘Gathpu’, with his ever present ‘pipe cane’ in his right hand, would carry all the letters, delivered to the school by the ‘dakwala’, as we called the post runner, to the assembly for dissemination.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As the students, mostly the senior lot, waited expectantly, he would read out the names and hand them to the addressees.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The proud recipient – yes, we used to feel proud to receive letters – would walk up to the dais and pocket the letters.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The letters addressed to girls were censored and letters with undesirable contents were read out to the whole school, to the humiliation of the addressee.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Tsuig_03;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As students, we used to write lots of letters, both to distant places and to local recipients.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The lack of money to buy stamps did not discourage us from writing letters.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We had developed a fine and fool proof method of reusing and recycling the used stamps.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The post office seal that is stamped on the stamps were very easy to erase.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We would remove the marked stamps from the envelope taking care not to tear them from the sides and then rub them on to the hair.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The marks would have gone and the stamps would look as good as new.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Tsuig_03;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">I remember writing a lot of love letters for my friends too, though I never got lucky with any girl.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A friend even treated me to a glass of tea and a loaf of bread.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I call it a ‘glass of tea’ and not a cup because those days tea used to be served in glasses.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A glass of tea would cost fifty chetrum and a loaf of bread was ngultrum four.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The bread was a rare commodity.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The treat was for helping him write a love letter to a girl.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Obviously the girl reciprocated his love.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Tsuig_03;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Today, letter writing, as some media put it, has become a “dying art”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>People do not seem to be writing letters, except in some remote places where there are no access to telephone or mobile services.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The reason for the decline is that simply there is no requirement anymore.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The coming of telephone, mobile and internet services have changed everything.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Talking to people over a phone is more convenient and hearing the voice real time adds personal touch to the experience, they say.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So, letter writing has really become a “dying art” and is dying by the day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The sms culture has evolved so much that writing and understanding them is an art in itself.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So much for the emphasis on correct spelling and grammar in the school! </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Tsuig_03;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Even as I am writing this piece, I received a letter – yes a proper letter, sealed in an envelope with stamps on it – from my daughter, who is studying in class six.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Her call preceded the letter, through which she informed me of the letter.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Actually her letter was addressed to her mother, who is presently admitted in hospital and I am by her side as her sick attendant.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Since she did not know the proper address, she simply wrote it as “Thimphu Hospital”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I had to rush to the post office to collect it before they trashed it for lack of proper address.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Luckily I reached the post office before the letters were sorted and I found it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Tsuig_03;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">It was the first letter ever from my daughter and the only letter that I received in the last ten years or so!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The letter was titled “Letter To My Mother”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It talked of how worried she was about her mother’s health and that her exams were nearing and such stuff.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I could sense that the style she wrote, like for example the title of the letter etc, was the result of the lessons in the class.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She never had any real life experience of writing or receiving such letters.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But I am happy that at least she took the first step and gained some experience.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For my part, I will write to her, as she requested, and tell my wife to reply her letter too.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This way, I hope she learn a bit about this dying art.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When I go back I will take back her letter, make necessary corrections and show her, so that she learns this art.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I am afraid that my other children may not even get this experience, however small it may be, before this “dying art” completely dies.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<u><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Tsuig_03;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">11 June 2012</span></span></u></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06305378317255032665noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5953212813553931846.post-1686199067910850072012-07-27T08:33:00.000-07:002013-01-20T19:40:13.413-08:00Impractical Fool<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">As I barely sat down to write something that has been bothering me lately, the door bell rang and simultaneously the door opened, revealing a massive head, with a crew cut hair.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The face beneath it looked weather beaten and riddled with potholes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The nose looked like a genetically altered over-sized carrot.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The traces of curls in the short cropped hair spoke of a wild curly hair, if not attended to on a regular basis.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The bulge in the mid-section of the trunk showed signs of prosperity, as we, the Bhutanese, say, and the shiny brown Hush Puppy shoes confirmed it.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>My friend has dropped by my house.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Seeing me with a pen and a paper, he eyed me suspiciously and asked me what I was up to.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I told him that I was just trying to write something.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“You write?” he asked me and I replied “I am trying to.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In fact I have just started to, if at all they can be called writing.”</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">“No wonder” he said, looking around the sparsely furnished room that I call my “living room”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A few creaky sofas with worn out cushions and a table resembling a starving old donkey, standing on an equally over stressed carpet, that makes up my living room.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Except for the two pencil shaded portraits of the fourth and fifth king - my prized possessions - which are my own handiworks, the walls are bare and bereft of any items of decoration, though the leaky roof has rendered them the look of frescos, in black and white, in some haunted chapels in horror movies.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Some shapes resemble fluffy clouds on a windless day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Overall the walls look like a canvas of a frustrated charcoal artist, who in frustration has gone on a rampage with his charcoals.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">The lower parts of the wall, which are within the reach of my children, resembles a blackboard of a primary school when the teacher is not around; filled with a mixture of supposedly alphabets and numerals that only the writer can decipher and drawings of things that I did not know even exist.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My favourite drawing is an image with the head of a girl, with parted hair, body and tail of a horse with monster looking huge wheels for limbs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Until recently I named it “mechanical lady horse”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Artistically my daughter has added a pair of horns on top of the head and now I don’t have any name for it yet.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">“You know, all writers are dreamers and full of impractical ideas” he said. “To say the least, they are airheaded cowards who dare not do things in real life but act their fantasies through writings, knowing that they can get away with anything.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To summarise and to be soft on them, they are impractical fools!” He summarized. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Looking once again around the pathetic looking scanty room and taking a long breath, he went on, “I hope you are not serious?”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">I replied “I love to write though I am very sure that, with my kind of writing, I cannot make a living”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I told him I will write as a hobby and not as a full time job.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">“Do you still think that you can afford to do so?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Are you going to let your children graze in the pasture after you retire?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>How many years do you have, until your retirement?”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Saying this he bid me adieu and closed the door behind him, just like he did while making his grand entry.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Yes, how many years!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What do I have?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Other than my children I do not have anything to show.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Writing certainly will not fetch bread for me and my family.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It will be suicidal even to attempt it, especially for newcomers like me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I love to write but that doesn’t prove that I will be a good one at that.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Somebody has said that writing in Bhutan is like walking the streets with your pants down.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If that be the case then it’s too great a risk.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Coming back to my friend, he is street smart, manipulative, an scheming man, always on the lookout for opportunities.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He will get what he wants and by whatever means.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In business he is shrewd.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He now boasts of his duplex with a sprawling lawn surrounding it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He is the proud owner of a posh SUV and real estate in some prime area of a booming town.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The only thing I can boast of is that in school I was much ahead of him in academics.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But that did not matter as we landed up in the same job afterwards.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I know for sure that he used his manipulative powers even here.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He knows which side of the bread to butter.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">For my daily journey to and fro office and doing something in between, I get some amount at the end of every month that I call my “pay” that affords me to live and send my children to school.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even the house that I just described is a part of the deal and if you take away the house and the pay, I will be left with nothing but a big zero.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I do not have anything for my “after government” life.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">I do not expect anything from my writings.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I do it out of interest and to quench the thirst of my soul.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It pleases me to no end to see the words flowing out from me and settling down on the paper.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My thoughts getting their physical shape in the form of my writings make me feel better.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Perhaps my friend was right in saying what he said.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I may be an emotional, airheaded, dreaming coward.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But I don’t mind as long as I am able to do what I love doing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For now I love to write and I will keep doing so until I get tired of it or find another pastime to divert my attention, which is unlikely though.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Until then let me remain the Impractical Fool. </span></span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06305378317255032665noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5953212813553931846.post-57487035940594627472012-07-14T01:28:00.001-07:002013-01-20T19:47:36.028-08:00Bad Hair Days<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-size: large; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Existence of barbers or professional hair cutters does not feature in any history of Bhutan. I suppose it is safe to assume that such professions did not exist in Bhutan. From the time I remember I saw people cut each other’s hair in the villages. Mothers cut the hair of their children, though the first haircut of a child was always done by the maternal uncle or a big lam, the reason of which I still do not know.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> There was no barber shop in the area where our school, a junior high then, was located. Students used to cut each other’s hair. In the early eighties, the students of our school got the chance of a lifetime, to cut hair by a high official of the ministry! He was a“Dasho” to us. I don’t actually remember what he was that time. He visited our school as a joint director and director during my stay in the school. Anyway we got the privilege of a haircut by the dasho, though it was only a half haircut or rather a foundation for one.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> On one of his visits to the school, which he made often, we were assembled in the prayer hall, located on the upper floor of the office block of the school. It was raining outside. He was not happy with the length of our hair and the tidiness of the school uniforms we wore. He must have been a very thorough gentleman or else how can a dasho be bothered of such insignificant thing as the length of the hair a student maintained, let alone cut it. Before we realised what was happening, a pair of scissors were handed over to him by our then headmaster. We were quickly pushed and lined up in front of the dasho for our turn of the “grand” haircut. As our turn came, he would lift the scissors, catch hold of a tuft in his left hand, he pulled mine very hard and it was very painful, and cut it off unceremoniously and then you are through. The scene was exactly like a line of devotees and faithful souls waiting to get blessings from a revered lam. Only that it was not the lam we were meeting here and the line of students were not willing devotees. Some of us were a bit reluctant but then how can an army of ants stand against the mighty elephant? It was exactly that.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> An expatriate teacher, a Mr Goshal, I don’t remember his first name, must have found the scene quite funny. I saw him smiling and so did the dasho. He berated Mr Goshal on the spot, right in front of the whole school. Dasho’s words, verbatim, were, “Why are you smiling? Do you think I am a joker here?” I saw Mr Goshal go red in the face. His wife was also a teacher in the same school. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> Similar ugly incident repeated in the same school in the late eighties. This time it was our lopen, my class teacher, who made us, his class, to shave our hair. He personally bought packets of razor blades and distributed to the whole class. One Sunday morning I found him waiting outside our dormitory with razor blades in his hands. As we came out of the dormitory he handed us a blade each and ordered us to shave our heads. He was to check the compliance by that evening. By then we were at the verge of becoming seniors in the school and his orders did not meet with the same level of compliance he expected. He even went physical with some of us for not shaving our heads. Some of us, the chicken hearted ones, gave in to his wishes, while some did not budge an inch. I still do not understand why he did what he did. It was quite weird. May be his marrying a girl from our class that same year did not have anything to do with his weird actions. But if people put two and two together, they would have come up with something. The school authorities did not do anything.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> In my high school days too something similar happened. The school regulations mandated us to maintain a certain length or shorter hair, which some of us used to defy. In order to hide our “illegally reared” prized possessions, we would apply all sorts of hair fixtures. One day I was caught and my prized possession cut, during the morning assembly, in front of the whole school. This time it was the principal of the school who did the favour for me. The principal being a lady, I suppose ladies are sensitive and careful, cut only that length of my hair that was illegal. That evening I shaved off my head. The principal did not like it and thought me a rebellious character. Keep it long and you are on the wrong side of the rules and regulations and shave it off and you are a rebellious character. A catch 22 situation! Life isn’t fair. But nobody said so. </span></span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06305378317255032665noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5953212813553931846.post-61949960742368012372012-06-29T03:37:00.001-07:002013-01-20T19:46:41.042-08:00Parenting – An All in One Task<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Tsuig_03; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">God asked him “What were you while on earth?” He replied, “I was a parent, God.” And the God said, “Such multi-talented person! You must have had quite a time. You may rest here.” God sent him to heaven.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Tsuig_03; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> Being parents is not only about procreating. It involves a lot of other things. A parent is a mother, father, teacher, friend, nanny, nurse, judge, referee, mentor, critic and a lot of other things. All in one! Not necessarily in that chronological order though. A good half of our lives are spent on parenting our own children and the other half parenting their children. When you think that you are through it, you have reached your golden years and you need parenting yourselves. If you are lucky enough, you land up being parented well and if you are not so, God save them. Or better still, God take them faster!</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Tsuig_03; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> The life of woes of a parent starts the moment your first bundle of joy (read “bundles” for those very fertile ones) arrives the mortal world – naked, fragile, vulnerable and howling for attention. But you do not realise it then. Wait, let nature show you its ways. Your multi-role starts right from here. All the best, because you really need it! Nursing and feeding takes away most of your waking, and even sleeping, hours. Welcome to the world of parenting. The sleepless nights that you spend by its side, when it develops a slight fever, thinking and imagining the worst of the worst. When the fever is gone you are relieved and want to take a break but your ‘bundle of joy’ never seems to tire. What never ending reserves of energy! It intrigues you to no end. You play and run around with it till you think you will drop dead, only to find that it has found another way of playing with the same toy and you are back to square one. What ingenuity! The little genius!</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Tsuig_03; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> Then your little genius graduates to being the “little devil”. He will want to test and taste everything (and sometimes everyone) around. He will try to do the unthinkable and the unimaginable. Instead of the little devil, it’s you, who will require all the vitamins and calories to keep pace with him. Where does this little devil get such reserves of energy? Is it humanly possible, you wonder? Its babbling unintelligible and disjointed little words here and there need your utmost attention. You have to take the cue what he signals and comply with it or else his little temper flares up and he will be reeling on the ground, wailing out at the top of his voice. If you have more than one little devil, your role of a judge is very much required here.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Tsuig_03; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> The first day in school is another memorable day, for both the child and the parent. Unwilling little feet, refusing to budge an inch, being forcefully dragged along and the parent, coaxing, cajoling and sometimes even bribing little goodies, is the scene. Past the D Day, the daily routine of reaching and getting from school keeps you on toes, literally. The little devil getting tamed by the day, but the school uniform on his hyper body never seemed to be getting tamed. A torn piece here and a missing button there is all part and parcel of the game and not to forget the loose ends of the belt dragging on the ground, with the edges of the dress sweeping the very ground on which his little feet trod. However tidy you dress him in the morning and however well the ends of his belt are knotted, somehow he will manage to untie them. The volume of the frills at the two ends of his ‘kera’ keep on decreasing till finally, there is none left.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Tsuig_03; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> As he grows up, helping with his home works, sometimes even class works, take up most of your ‘after office’ hours, if you are an office goer. The rest of it will be spent on your never ending moral lectures, which usually encounter deaf ears, and some plugged with those weird looking gizmos. The little devil has turned into a little adolescent and racing towards becoming an adult. His voice cracks and overnight he seemed to have grown a metre long! As you stretch up to equal his towering height to whisper some words of advice into his ears, he gives you that disdain look of “sorry dad, I don’t have time for you now. I have some important matters to attend to.” Your attempt at moral lecturing fails, and miserably. How true when somebody said, “Have you ever wondered that we spend the first eighteen months to teach the child to talk and walk and the next eighteen years to get the child to sit and listen to you?” He has hit the nail on the head.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Tsuig_03; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> Graduation and a hunt for a suitable job (he will usually be looking for a job with fat pay packages and less work) follows. Then your worries and your endeavours to look for a suitable bride, or your fears that we might walk the isles with someone not of your choice, are next in line. But who cares what your choices are? By then you have lived a better part of your life. Thanks God that was one life!</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Tsuig_03; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> But wait, it’s not over yet. The little giant (he is still “my little” to you and these days they seem to be growing without an end) wants children of his own. So, they are in the family way. The little naked, slimy, wailing creature called your grandchild has arrived. Its parents have to attend office. The child is left on your lap. You are back to where you have started. Your role as a mother, father, teacher, friend, nanny, nurse, judge, referee, mentor and critic starts all over. Once again!</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-family: Tsuig_03;">Note :</span></b><span style="font-family: Tsuig_03;"> For simplicity the pronouns ‘he’, ‘him’ and the possessive pronoun ‘his’ are used throughout the article. They also mean ‘she’, ‘her’ and ‘hers’ respectively. The noun ‘dad’ also means ‘mom’/’mum’. No gender bias is intended, in any way.</span><span style="font-family: Tsuig_03;"></span></span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06305378317255032665noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5953212813553931846.post-39218484079651281332012-06-21T02:46:00.001-07:002013-01-20T19:49:23.000-08:00Going Under the Knife<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: Tsuig_03; font-size: large;">Except for a greenish gown that has seen better days,
which the hospital provided, she wore nothing underneath. As she was wheeled
into the Operation Theatre (OT) on a gurney, she looked so vulnerable. I have
never seen this side of her personality. She looked tiny, naked and vulnerable.
For the first time in our twelve years of married life, I realised how tiny and
frightened she looked. My heart went out to her. My wife was going under the
knife for some minor surgery.</span><br />
<a name='more'></a><span style="font-family: Tsuig_03; font-size: large;"> Gone is the iron lady that rules with an iron
fist at home. Our children do not lovingly call her “The Hitler Mom” for no
reason. Behind her back of course! I know it because they know that sometimes
even I come in her line of fire and they share with me. But there is no sign of
such lady here. In her place was a rather pale looking, scared little lady with
a “what next” look, that immediately drew sympathy from me like never before.
Even I was apprehensive and the attempt by her doctor to console us goes in
vain. The fact that I signed a risk
undertaking, a day prior, made things a bit scary. But I tried my best not to show this
apprehension on my face and I failed miserably. With an ensuring peck on her forehead to calm
her down and a “don’t worry, things are going to be fine” in her ears I
retraced my steps into the corridor from the threshold of the OT.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Tsuig_03; font-size: large;"> In spite of the assurance from family and
friends that things are going to be fine, the apprehension mounts. Waiting
seems endless. Family and friends have gathered to see us through this ordeal.
All of us wait at the exit of the OT, from where the patients are warded off
post operation. Having people around you lend a lot of emotional support. As time passes tension mounts. One friend tries to lighten the mood with a
joke to which everyone breaks out laughing, except me. His words sounded hollow and empty to me. Even my own attempt to convince myself that
everything is going to be fine fails miserably. I realise, however one tries to console the person
in grief, these are only the empty words of the unaffected. Nobody will really know the pain that person
is going through. All sorts of creepy
thoughts occupy my mind. It becomes a
panorama of scenes, one uglier and grimmer than the other. One’s mind can imagine so much!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Tsuig_03; font-size: large;"> The first thing that I imagine is of her
lying on the cold antiseptic table with those monstrous looking lights shining
over her, the surgeon and his team milling around, talking and laughing amongst
themselves. Suddenly I see her naked
body laying on a cold table her unseeing lifeless eyes staring upwards. Then the scene is replaced by another gruesome
one that I saw in a horror movie, of a mortuary, which I don’t even want to
describe here. God forbid should such
thing ever happen! Then I see her being
wheeled out, her face smiling at me, which is quickly replaced by yet another
scene that is not at all pleasant. As
other patients, some of whom went in later than her, are wheeled out from the
OT, I started getting frantic. Why is it
taking so much of time? Wasn’t it
supposed to be a minor surgery? Then I
remember the doctor telling us about the possibility of having to do a bigger
operation should he detect any other problems that have not been diagnosed so
far. Could that be the cause of the
delay? All sorts of thoughts pass my
mind as I stand there waiting. Human
minds can conjure up so many things, if only we could use this ability for some
positive things. I am brought back to
reality by a pat on my back. Turning back I saw it was a friend trying to draw
my attention to what he was saying. Though
he tried to say so many things I did not hear or understand a single thing. I nodded my head lest he felt insulted.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Tsuig_03; font-size: large;"> Finally, after a grueling two hours, her
name was called out, signaling me, her attendant, to come in to shift her from
one gurney to another to be wheeled back to her cabin. A big sigh of relief escaped my almost dry
mouth. I really can’t express how I felt
but it felt good. As I went into the
outer room of the OT I saw her on the gurney, wrapped up in a dark green
blanket. Only her face was visible. She looked calm and composed and her face did
not look that pale, as I imagined. Some
traces of anesthesia that was administered to her were still visible. She was in a trance like state that these
drugs are supposed to induce. I am an
emotional person and emotions got the better of me. In spite of my effort not to, I cried. Tears rolled down my cheeks. I could not help myself. I think I saw tears in some of my friends’
eyes too. May be my tears induced tears
into their eyes too. I tried to call her
name but no sound would come out due to a big lump that has formed in my
throat. It was tears of joy I shed. And why not, it was the happiest moment of my
life. That moment I realised how much I
loved her, the mother of my children.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Tsuig_03; font-size: large;"> Basically I am not that pessimist a
person but this time pessimism got the better of me. Only someone who has gone through all these
will understand me and what I mean to convey.
It was the most taxing, grueling and worrying two hours of my life so
far. It felt like ages and I felt aged
many years. I was sapped of all energy. Only after she came back to her senses and
started talking normal did I realise that I was starving. Then only did I remember that I haven’t had
my breakfast that day and it was already four pm in the afternoon. She may have gone under the knife, but the
pain that I felt was beyond words. I
experienced the pain of going under the knife many times over.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-size: large;"><u style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Tsuig_03;">29
May, 2012</span></u></span></div>
</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06305378317255032665noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5953212813553931846.post-39567560734602149982012-06-21T00:16:00.002-07:002013-01-20T19:52:03.730-08:00Sunday Evening Blues<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Tsuig_03; font-size: large; line-height: 115%;">I hate Sunday evenings. It is
a long story. They bring back a lot of
memories of yore school days. Those were
the days when teachers used more canes than words to teach and discipline the
students. It was sticks all the way and
no carrots. Some of our teachers and
seniors were really merciless, a few of them going even to the extent of being
sadistic. Sunday evening meant a lot of
things; end of the weekend or the beginning of another new week, which meant
facing the canes of our great learned teachers and a host of other things that
were not necessarily pleasant. Ever
since I hated Sunday evenings; this dislike have got into my system so deep
that even today and even when I am on holidays, I still get this creepy
feelings on Sunday evenings.</span><br />
<a name='more'></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Tsuig_03; font-size: large; line-height: 115%;"> My Sunday evening blues
date back to my school days in the eighties, when teachers and student captains
used to roam the school with canes in their hands and only God would have
helped those coming at the wrong end of these canes. Of all the teachers, we had a particular
teacher, the headmaster, whom we used to call ‘Gathpu’, meaning the old
man. He had a head full of grey hair, I
mean shiny white hair, that did not have any trace of black in it. We did not know his age and if were made to
guess it, we would have guessed it at the wrong side of seventies. He was a very dark man and if we met him in
the corridor – we didn’t have electricity then – only his white hair and the
white teeth, which he miraculously had the full set on, would be visible. And of course, if he wore his white dhoti and
white shirt whole of his being would be visible. He had no family with him and we did not know
whether he had them back home or not. He
resided in a single room right next to his office. He had a piece of half inch diameter polythene
pipe, about four feet long, that he used as cane to cane our bottoms. I am yet to come across any person, as
dedicated as him; he single handedly ran the school, from supervising the
morning and evening prayers and study periods to social works. He was omnipresent. But of course he used to be accompanied by
his ‘pipe cane’. It was his only
‘family’ or ‘acquaintance’ that we knew of.
He was very liberal in using the ‘pipe cane’, which he used to employ at
a slight opportunity. Not a single
student, who studied in the school during his time, would have gone untouched
by his magic wand. The ‘Gathpu’ was
feared by all, though he looked a frail old man. He was also sometimes referred to as ‘Woong
Bang Gathpu’, the reason behind which I came to know the harder way. When he swung his ‘pipe cane’ to hit your
bottom – it was only the bottom he hit and not any part of the body – the
hollow pipe and the air movement created a sound ‘woong’ and when it finally
landed on your bottom, the ‘Bang’ sound.
So he became ‘Woong Bang Gathpu’.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Tsuig_03; font-size: large; line-height: 115%;"> Other than the headmaster
himself, we had many other creatures that we had to fear. They were mostly our very own home grown
Lopens. Some of them had fine tuned the
art of punishment to such an extent that a mention here is a bit too heavy. The
nettle plants on your bare bottom became unbearable when dipped in water and a
pencil in between your fingers and a gentle pressure made the pain even more
excruciating. The list is endless. What matters here is that many a student left
schools for good due to the fear of these so called “corporal punishment”, some
of which may be termed third degree torture by international standards today. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Tsuig_03; font-size: large; line-height: 115%;"> There was another person,
whom we feared even more than the ‘Gathpu’ himself. He was a captain, not the type you find in
the military ranks, but a student captain, one of us, the students. Without naming any names, let me call him
“Captain X”. He was feared even by the
parents back at home. I don’t know how
he managed, but he remained captain for about two and a half years. He had a free reign of sort in the
school. He once even chucked one boy out
of the school, for reasons I didn’t know and did not wish to find out. This was only the official record. Unofficially many students, especially the
boys, left the school fearing his merciless canings. I still do not understand who gave him such a
free reign, but he did reign freely and fiercely. The boys from his village enjoyed under the
aegis of this great leader, if I may say that.
Those of us, who were not very fortunate to have such popular and
powerful mentor, had to bear the brunt. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Tsuig_03; font-size: large; line-height: 115%;"> We used to witness most
of the beatings during Sunday evening prayers.
Saturday afternoons would mean a number of students, especially the
boys, bunking hostels and going home for the weekend. Everybody wanted to eat a proper and a
satisfying meal at least once a week.
Not only did the food in the hostel tasted terrible, the quantity dished
out was also miniscule. (It did not take
much to guess from where the huge amount of leftovers came, which our cooks
would carry back home after every meal. We were told that later on at home these
leftovers were fermented and converted into ‘changkoe’. That may have explained
why they always reeked of alcohol, even early in the morning. The school cooks used to be very powerful and
no one could raise a finger at them.
Secretly we named a particular cook “Mr Earthquake” for the very reason
that he used to shake his hands like earthquake while doling out our share of
food. After the quake the amount left in
the serving ladle was just a few grains, which would go into our plates.) So we used to take this chance of going
home. But eventually we would be caught
and there was no rocket science involved in finding out. All boys, about a hundred plus, lived in a
very big hostel, which did not have any beds.
So, it was easy to miss those missing.
After the Sunday evening prayers, those who were found missing, usually
no one escaped, would be separated. Then
the canings would begin, in front of the whole school. I had the opportunity of being in this
separated group, quite a few times, and understand the pain and the humiliation
of being canned on your bare bottoms, right in front of the whole school. The thought sends a chill up my spine
still. (On many occasions I thought of
quitting school, but the image of my parents in tattered clothes back home
struggling to make the two ends meet held me back. I still wonder what would have become of me
had I quit the school like many others who did.) I remember once seeing beads of sweat on
“captain X’s” forehead, which proved that either the line was too long or he
was very sincere and thorough with his canings.
It was not only on Sundays that the canings occurred, it happened all
the time, throughout the week, but it was more during Sundays. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Tsuig_03; font-size: large; line-height: 115%;"> But like all good things
in life coming to an end, this ‘free reign of terror’ came to an abrupt end, on
a fine spring morning. The academic
sessions were in full swing and to the relief of all most all the boys, his
prot</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: large; line-height: 115%;">é</span><span style="font-family: Tsuig_03; font-size: large; line-height: 115%;">g</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: large; line-height: 115%;">é</span><span style="font-family: Tsuig_03; font-size: large; line-height: 115%;">s were not
happy, “Captain X” left the school. We
were told that he left for Thimphu in search of a job, but did not bother to
find out. We rejoiced his departure but
the damage has already been done, at least in the psyche of many of us. Personally I don’t have any grudges against
him, but the dislike and the fear for Sunday evenings is etched in my mind so
deep that I can’t erase it, however hard I try.
There is no personal vendetta against him. But I cannot say the same for the others, who
were unfortunate like me or still for others whose destiny changed because of
him. Life comes a full circle, wronged
get righted and time heals many a wounds, but my hatred for Sunday evenings
still remains. Perhaps I should go see a
shrink. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><u><span style="font-family: Tsuig_03; line-height: 115%;">11 June, 2012</span></u></span></div>
</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06305378317255032665noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5953212813553931846.post-53622549508715533002012-06-20T23:56:00.000-07:002013-01-20T19:50:40.406-08:00Writing<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Tsuig_04; font-size: large; line-height: 115%;">Many people told me to write.
They include mentors, friends, colleagues and acquaintances. And I want to write. Write, but on what? What should I write about? All possible topics I can phantom have been
written about. Equipped with a pen and a
paper does not make one a writer, I realised.
I am a voracious reader and I read anything that comes my way, including
the classified ads and matrimonial columns in the newspapers. Reading makes you feel that writing can be an
easy job, but when you try to pen down your thoughts you realise that it is
easier said than done. It is the ability
of a writer that makes you feel so; the magic is created by the writer. Hats off to those writers who make the
readers feel so.</span><br />
<a name='more'></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Tsuig_04; font-size: large; line-height: 115%;"> How I wish I could
write, and write like all those writers who make me keep reading non-stop. But that’s only a wishful thinking. If only wishes were horses…</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Tsuig_04; font-size: large; line-height: 115%;"> In my school days I
contributed, or at least tried to contribute a few articles for the annual
school magazine. None of my articles got
published. So much for my writing skills! We also used to have wall magazines, which
was a monthly affair. One of my
articles, rather one of the articles that I contributed, was adjudged the best
article for the month. But the laurel
truly did not belong to me. Instead of
being proud I was ashamed of myself.
After that I stopped writing.
That article was actually not mine.
I copied it from some other school magazine of a reputed school in the
hills of a neighboring country.
Verbatim! That was the end of my
short writing career in school.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Tsuig_04; font-size: large; line-height: 115%;"> I know a blogger,
whose blogs I love to read and enjoy doing it.
She says she finds inspiration in the most simple of things in our
everyday lives. May be a writer also
needs an eye for inspirations. Wearing
an extra pair of eyes, I mean eye glasses, does not improve your sight for
inspirations, I suppose. So a writer
should also, on top of good writing skills, have an eye for inspirations. But where do I go looking for inspirations
now? </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Tsuig_04; font-size: large; line-height: 115%;"> How do you go about
becoming a good writer? Not by day
dreaming of how it will feel to be a good writer, like I am doing now, I am
sure. I vaguely remember reading
somewhere about how good writers should be great dreamers, or something
similar. If that’s the case then I am a
dreamer and I should be a good one. But
my dreams are mostly the type you see when you are asleep. By dreaming, here it means your ability to
imagine. Basically one should have a
fertile imagination, which I lack. So my
chances of becoming a writer are slim, if not nil. Writing is not my forte, after all. May be I should stop here and for once and
all. I do not want to be the cause of
misery for those poor readers. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Tsuig_04; font-size: large; line-height: 115%;">The sight of an ant struggling to carry
forward a giant hind leg of a grasshopper, dismembered by my pet kitten,
reminds me of Martin Luther King, Junior, who was inspired by a struggling
spider. He went on to achieve his goal. I am inspired too, now. May be I should not give up so easily. I should give it a try once. Except for an injured ego, I will lose
nothing, even if I am rejected. After
all, the taste of the pudding is in the eating and you never know. People may like my writings. So here I am, giving it a try.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><u><span style="font-family: Tsuig_04; line-height: 115%;">02 May, 2012</span></u></span></div>
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