My Own Thoughts

“Toothache – the mention of it kills me, but there is no escape for me” I say it. If women say labour is greatest pain, toothache is not far. For those men who don’t respect the pain the women endure during giving a child birth, a man should experience the toothache. The pain one have to bear during toothache is equivalent to labour. It makes every sense in body go numb and the brain and the blood vessels are most attacked. In middle of pain, I contemplate getting rid of it but then I worry I have only numbered teeth in my mouth. I choose stomachache rather but I wonder if only there is choice over what pain one must go through. Those who have the taste of it will agree me. Like any child, I was born with 32 teethes. My milk teeth went out to be replaced with fresh 32 teethes. But come the age of 12, bacteria chose to feed and devour my teeth. In middle of the child’s play, I would suddenly go lethargic and this is because the pain in my teeth bothering me. I would spoil the climax...

Looking at the pristine forest, with varied flora and fauna that accompanied us the entire four days expedition, I remained complacent that Bhutan authentically deserved “Earth Champion Award”. The environment conservation is one among the four pillars of the Gross National Happiness and is also clearly enshrined in the Constitution of Bhutan. The National Policy of preserving forest coverage of 60% of its land coverage for all time to come is a dream almost a reality. The unperturbed nature, all in its purest form charmed me no less. There is no denying that the forest can be maintained intact if there exist such virgin forest even outside the protected area system and the biological corridors. We were almost to the top of the ridge. The sun is already high in the sky. We rested for the lunch (packed one) in the clearings at the top of the ridge. No sooner we reached the mountain, the atmosphere buzzed. We have left the sounds of trucks and cars far behind and it should not be audib...

He has a tale to tell about his losing of hairs. “It was the time when I was in Sherubtse,” he started his story. “I joined the group on might hunting in the villages. I was then having good hairs. When our attempts turned out futile in almost five houses we tried, I got infuriated and turned to college. On the way, we dropped by the bar and enjoy the midnight drinks. One of my friends got really out and couldn’t walk. I had to carry him to the hostel. When still at my back, when his belly was pressed between his own weight and my back, he poured down all his liqud into my head. I coildn’t stand the stinging of his puking that I smelt alcohol. Once back in the college hostel, I wanted to run some cold water shower but the tapes ran dry. Then I opted for the last alternatives, using the only liquid we had. We were carrying a bottle of beers each and I washed the face with the beer to do away the smell. The alcoholic chemicals contents reacted with the hairs and soon I realized I am losi...

Knowing that we have long journey ahead, we prepared to depart early. Safely tucked in the rug sack were the toiletries, few pants and shirts, a gho and other clothing and ofcourse the pack lunch, we headed into the destiny unknown. We didn’t know how long our legs could carry, before the nightfall but we moved with the commitment that we must keep walking till we attain the destination. Leaving all the glory of the urban delights, we finally bade goodbye to it even if it’s for a month. We left behind the whizzing cars, the brightness of electricity, the majestic concrete buildings towering so boldly, the well bituminized highways, the sounds and melodies of Cable Television, the sweet ringtones of cell phone, the charm of internets, the inviting groceries and restaurants and other amenities of the metropolitan. We thought we will miss them. We headed into the jungle, the trails infested with leeches in summer, (we were lucky that we embarked on tour in winter), the giants Alnus ne...

All are not born equal. It is rightly said that being even able to be born as human is like a blind tortoise hitting the hole of the yoke in floating ocean, a tortoise that emerges once to the surface in million years. And sometime that too happens to be one bad hit. This is about the man who is in late thirties yet crawling like a few months old baby. Goshing, is a fairly remote place, a day walk from Panbang in Zhemgang. In the heart of the village is a family who’s first born came out surprisingly as a handicapped boy. In the words of his parents, he was born in a hut which served as farm guard house. In one summer night, the couple was out in the field guarding their field from the wild animals. Amongst the shouting and cries to drive out the attackers, a couple gave birth to a baby boy who turned out to be abnormal. He grew up like any normal boy. But he didn’t stand up the time he was of the age to walk and he didn’t even attempt to utter the word to learn to speak. However,...

Tring…..tring…the office phone buzzed. ‘Hello…this is Ugyen speaking’ I answered the phone. ‘Hi’, the first and short sweet accent on other side of the mouth piece allured me, which sounded like a melody in my ear ever heard. I haven’t been familiar with the accent but there certainly was the bond with the lady on other side of the wire. A couple of years ago, I leisurely roamed over the Bhutanese chat and the tempting nick among the chatters caught my attention. I tried my luck and after some minutes of chat succeeded in dragging her all the way to msn chat. Here, we shared our pics and survived upto that extent. We didn’t put in much effort to go further if not even didn’t wanted to also. The break was confronted for almost a year after which we again picked up the momentum and found ourselves indulging in the leisure chat. Day after day, we came closer until we gained an enough confidence sharing over the call numbers. And for no doubt, she has been always conservative. She chos...

‘If Community literally means all about the bond, cohesion and friendship among the people living in it, Lobneykha Community is undeniably an exemplary one. It is more than a conventional community, a community with so much social cohesion and closely knitted people. Lobneykha community under Chapcha Geog in Chukha Dzongkhag is very much renowned in the country for the strong union within the community members. The people in the community share a common believe that they belong to ‘Lobneykha set’ and they do anything but for the interest of the village. The clustered houses built attached to each other are the unspoken symbol of their attachment to each other. The village rests on the lap of a mountain facing the Wangchu River. The community composes of 81 households and grows mainly potatoes, Chillies and beans to sustain themselves. The community is fed by 4.7kms community road which connects to the Thimphu – Phuntsholing national highway. The incredible part that makes the com...

The spring would be the time to start the farm works. This is the busiest time of the year in farmer’s diary. The farmers will be all involved in cultivating their crops. The groups of farmers would be seen going to the field with a sickle in their hands and men with an axe. The smoke would be seen emanating from freshly prepared field so-called tseri cultivations. The terraces would be filled with mud and water and the sounds of men driving the oxen during the plough would be familiar voices around the villages. The shrubs will be soon cleared and big trees would be fallen down. The dry and hot sun don’t deter this spirited farmers working but for their stomach. The plants would soon bear beautiful flowers and the countryside would go wild green. Birds flock in to start their work too for breeding and making their nest. The delicate scent of these freshly budded flowers would soon fight the head turning bad smell. The last work for the season would be weeding the crops and wait until ...

Flocks living in the urban areas look back to their village as more of a mere exile. They think that the village life is a life of darkness. With no modern amenities such as access to road, electricity, Television, internet…etc, establishing oneself in the village would be the last option in the list of choices. People come to the metropolitan never to look back to their native. Yet, the facts remains here that almost everyone is originated from the rural areas only. But, the village in rural village has its own charm and delight to live in. Long before I moved to the urban areas after completion my schooling at my native village, I used to enjoy the life at my own village. Having not known and acquainted with the modern amenities, the lives in the villages were blessings for us. We had our own friends to play and own foes to fight with. The day in a village start with getting up early. Most of the farm work would be executed before the sun rise, way to escape the spell of heat of the...

It is no surprise when a dream woven so intricate can fail to achieve. Her dream failed her, moreso her parents and peers. It is also no more shocking when her appearance, the beauty of her proved the beast on her expedition to lead a more of happy life than the materialistic one. Her beauty earned her material happiness but not definitely the spiritual happiness. Now she is fighting over the conscience and the devil when she cannot herself define the life she is leading. Living in well furnished house, looking from the couch of the building down to the latest fads car, all her fiancée has gifted her; she is regretting the path in life she has chosen to tread. But now that she has chosen it, there is no denying rather than to continue the path not knowing where it is taking her. She has all that needs to be happy, all the money she require, well furnished house, the car that she need for locomotive purpose, a child to play and fiddle with. So, what is missing here? If people think ma...

Bhutan, the land of thunder dragon has witnessed itself undertake development at an incredible pace under the wise and dynamic leadership of His Majesty the fourth king, Druk Gyalpo Jigme Singye Wangchuk, the monarch of his people. With the Ministry of Agriculture according the maximum thrust in mechanizing the farm, many sophisticated farm technologies has found its way to the Bhutan. The machines have now taken over the farm saddle from the animals. Today, instead of oxen pulling the plough, you will see that the power tillers have substituted them. Despite such dynamism taking roots in the country, there are some parts in Zhemgang where developmental activities have hardly touched them. In such parts of the country inhabit the people who have never heard of about the advent of such farm technologies. A 35 year old, Mr. Galang is a progressive businessman in Goshing. His commerce trip took him to other parts of the country. During one of his such trip, he encountered with the m...

‘Every single moment you craft a fake promise to entice an innocent girl, do you ever comprehend the brunt an illegitimate child has to bear for having no legitimate father. Folks, he/she is taunted. Imagine the heartbreak and shame mother has to go through when she is nagged into revealing the father. The following story is a touching episode One day the eight years old son of Lhazom returned back from school with tears in his eyes. The cause of his tears was the taunt he had undergone in school. His friends call him ’bastards’. Imagine the psychological shock the child has to bear when he is bullied just because he has no one to be called father. Imagine the plight of the child when is asked to pencil in the portrayal of his father and cannot phantom a picture. That day he nagged his mother to name his father. He narrated about the incidence of his friends mocking at him for being fatherless. To console and reassure her demoralized son, the mother was forced to unravel the story ...

In the word of Shakespeare, “Life is a stage where everyone plays a role,” and for the Gedu zombie man, life definitely is a stage because his life is nothing more than staging a play. He lives in the mercy of his audience, who if convinced enough having witnessed his performance would spare some cash or something to eat. He sings, cracks a joke, dance to the tune of the audience and react to the beats of audience drums. This he does singly to earn something to fill his hungry stomach. Every morning, he wakes up with the thinking of where he would find the lending ears and even if he found them, will they feed him? Nothing matter him, not those rude crowds sometime, who won’t think twice before throwing him bad remarks, but filling up his stomach through all means. Yet, he has survived thirty five years practicing the same trade of life – eating by entertaining. In the corner of the wall, one sees a congregation and for no ones doubt it is the Gedu Zombie entertaining the crowd. H...