Tuesday, December 31, 2019

Looking back at the last of the -teens of the New Millennium (2019)


My wish for creative writing is in dwindle, and I am fully aware of this! I also know deep in my mind that I should read more, write more, keep my blog updated and alive and perhaps start planning to write a book few years down the line. Today when I visited my blog site I found that it is already a year since I wrote last. 

As the 2019 curtain falls, and as in my last piece that I wrote around this time last year, I will be again writing mostly about myself.  Of course, living in further shrunken global village, owing to ever aggressive social media aided by faster, more affordable and more powerful internet, I also cannot avoid speaking on few global and local issues that made some impact on my mind and perhaps my life too this year.

First I want to talk about the issues around our own home, Bhutan. Whether one likes it or not, some of the key headlines for this year were no short of despair and disappointments that included rapes of the minors, murders, molestation in our esteemed schools (unfortunately often involving our highly respected guardians and the promoters of knowledge), corruptions (most often committed by the most revered and privileged civil servants) and several other immoral occurrences that often gave us shivers of hopelessness in our otherwise upright and high spirit.  Increasing number of fatal vehicle accidents (mostly due to human errors), additions in the HIV cases, upward trends in suicides, serious concerns with oversee youth employments were among many other melancholies filling up our headlines. Drug trafficking, additions, smuggling also featured once a while during the year. Of course fueling hopes in our GNH spirit, there were several positive incidences too that we must not forget to count. Improved connectivity (both physical and virtual), no cutoff for Class X (many young people directly benefited were obviously happy), completion of another hydropower project, and few more socio-economic and developmental programmes which are all well intended initiatives of the Government of the day.  Above all and as always the most significant rays of hopes and dreams originated from the wisdom of His Majesty the King. Addressing the 112th National Day, the HM made few significant and historical announcements that will have a much longer impact on the people of Bhutan, especially the future generations. As always the message was clear, something no one could miss, and in specific points:

Of the three Royal commands, the foremost was a concern of slow economic growth. In this regard, HM clearly directed the Government to chart out a clear economic road map for the 21st century.

Secondly, as a small nation we should be doing better than what we are now. In this regard, the government, lawmakers, civil service, and institutions have been asked to undertake the responsibility of restructuring and improving our laws, policies and procedures.

Thirdly, our Youth: HM commanded that it is in our hands to build a better future for our children. “One of our most important national objectives, is to empower every single child in Bhutan for success. Bhutan’s future will be mirrored by the strength and capabilities of our youth.
For our children to excel, they must adhere to the highest standards, and have capability, integrity, discipline, 21st century education, unity and solidarity.”
To meet some of these youth development activities, Gyalsung (National Service) will commence from 2022. It will be a year-long training for those attaining the age of 18. The one year training will include a 3-month military style training, and a 9-month program in areas like agriculture sciences, entrepreneurship, computers and coding, health sciences, etc.
Gyalsung will provide direction and encourage our youth to be strong, independent thinkers, capable of serving the country. It will bring the youth of Bhutan together in a shared experience and act as a rite of passage- irrespective of their economic or regional backgrounds.”
The crowd applauded in excitement when His Majesty announced that Their Majesties are expecting a second Royal Child. What could be more special gift for the people of Bhutan than this for 2020!

All in all the clear message to the public as well as the government of the day is that, with the five year cycles of election and Government formations that we have adopted, we must not get in the culture of short term  targets simply based on the political compulsions.  
One other big news for the youth, especially the high school graduates, is the plan to expand and deepen the Technical and Vocational Education and Training, making this a very sought after choice from next few years.

All in all I think Bhutan has something to look forward to shaping up in next two to three years. The elected government holds responsibility of accomplishing these noble goals.

On the personal front:
My growth in 2019 was amidst the usual vocabularies such as academic calendar, students, faculty, university, programs, examinations, results, meetings, and so on and so forth. These are all the primary functions in the academic management, but anyone would need some additional fuel to keep one burning normally and not get burnt out. It is important to avoid getting fatigue. This could happen when your job requires very fixed routine and your mind gets occupied immensely by the events around the humdrum. Sometimes excitements and enthusiasm run high, but often equally low run your frustrations. Your mind is often not your own but is the storehouse of concerns, worries, deadlines, difficult resolutions and unpleasant decisions.  

To counter these challengers, where do you draw your breather from, your mindfulness and calm? Of course they say one can do breathing exercises, meditations, yoga, etc., but these require a great deal of self-discipline and the impacts these bring are often inadequate (at least for me). However I had been extremely fortunate in 2019. I was able to enjoy some exciting travels. With three visits to Europe, I was able to happily tick off my travel bucket in 2019 - Hungary, Germany, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, France and Norway. This came pretty unexpectedly but definitely with a great deal of learning opportunities, exposure and rejuvenation.

The highlights of the travel for me was the discovery of a small nation state of Liechtenstein in the heart of Europe.  Small, rich yet with such display of simplicity and authenticity, this country is extra-ordinary. Anyone fortunate to travel that part of the world should not miss out this country. Of course everyone knows about Switzerland but to be there in person and feel the height of advancement along with environmental conservation is awesome. I felt the nature/ creator also had been extremely kind to some of these beautiful countries of Europe.


In general after meeting people from different walks of life and knowing about their aspirations and apprehensions in their own countries, you begin finding a lot of reasons to love your own country. The excitement of development is over in these developed nations and they are seeking new happiness. Bhutan is one country that many think can be a great example of a nation trying to live the philosophy of happiness – at least that is what most people relate Bhutan to (among who know us). The biggest of concerns for most educated and intellectual groups in most of these European nations today seem that of not just the perceived fear but new experiences of climate change.

Not just the adults, even young adults and children are tensed and angry, and are taking to streets to draw the world attention. I am sure Bhutanese children can also rise above the rhetoric and contribute in learning from these global concerns and be prepared for their own future. I am obviously not preempting them to raise slogans but be aware and sensitive to these global trepidation.

While there is a clear environmental consciousness and also effort to reduce consumption in some of these developed nations, there are clear reverse trends here in our developing world. We are rushing towards unsustainable ways.  Many of the developing nations are deep in debts mostly owing to unsustainable consumption and productions. 

Climate change is the biggest global threat today and it can be minimized to some extent by changing our personal habits, moderating desires and being conscious of our own individual footprint on the mother Earth. This year I am trying to avoid using any single use pet bottles such as so called very popular ‘mineral water’. I would also like to appeal my family and friends to support these small steps and also make their own small resolves.

Let us blame the world only after we have taken some actions at our individual level.

Of few books that I read this year, Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari largely kept my mind occupied. His arguments about the natural and biological built of human nature, historical manipulation of the earth, cultural, political and economic evolutions (as ‘imagined orders’) are witty, provocative and in many ways powerful. He also explains how negativity and gossips brings pleasure in humankind. Even though the Homo sapiens sapiens have now succeeded in settling down as diverse ethnic groups, linguistic and language groups,  as tribes, nationalities, etc., the fundamental biological and social human nature runs deep in our consciousness. There are instances of annexations and imperialism continued even in recent years but these are much smaller in scale and scope compared how unsettling and overambitious humans of the previous centuries were. The author reminds us of a need to be more kind, compassionate, tolerant and humane since we all ultimately belonged to same common ancestor.




                     

In Summary:

Time seem to be the biggest healer. This is evident from the fact that even the worst tragedy which happened a year ago or even few months ago seem to be less painful than the most recent one of the same magnitude and form. The case in point is the murder of a small girl in Paro few months ago and the most recent mysterious death of little Dena in the broad daylight of Thimphu. There were many more terrible tragedies that impacted the lives of several families as well as the Bhutanese societies this year. It is often a blessing that our memories are short lived and generally we are very forgiving compassionate being living in this land. This may be a blessing, but it should not make us complacent and let these tragedies keep hammering us. Social media has definitely played some positive responsibility in keeping us connected, informed and integrated in the society. I hope to wish this side of the social media proliferating. A small country with a small population ought to be more accommodating, harmonious and understanding. Let peace, prosperity and happiness prevail in Druk yul and the world at large in 2020 and beyond.

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