C-Virus, Holidays and School

Amidst the alarming and heavy doses of news of deadly corona virus, I survived a severe flu just within four days. Perhaps the local virus shied away sooner than usual this time. As I laid on the bed and held similar precautions as needed by the c-virus patient (except I was not completely isolated and did not get the media attention) that were advised by millions of experts through varied news channels and social media, deep inside I was wishing I was not the first Bhutanese victim.

 While there is hardly any space left in the social media for any other news in last couple of days and since I also have no access to any other media like radio, TV or print for the last few weeks, I have a lot of time to look around the vicinity. As always when I am here at this time of the year, Tulasa and I go for some walk especially on the dirt roads (avoid busy and narrow highway), passing through the beetle nut trees and small houses, which are quickly getting replaced by larger mansions. The ground is flatter, the open plain below is scenic and beautiful especially when you see from distance, and the temperature is generally soothing.  However this winter there is complain about the lack of enough sunshine. Local people blame climate change and the trans-boundary pollution for this prolonged gloomy winter. I tend to agree with them on both reckonings. Everyone else also say that this winter had been exceptionally cold. Did I hear this last year and also in the last to last year? Whatever may be the truth, my short escape from the chilly Thimphu to supposedly warmer south has not been as cheering as it could have been.

Of course life is generally quiet here (no stray dogs), people are busy with some agricultural work, though this is somewhat a lean season. Every household also has few cattle, goat, chicken and pigs to rear. Work never gets over in a Bhutanese village and they will never be able to shut the house completely even for more than twelve hours. So the entire family cannot dream to go for holidays or pilgrimage, even if they could afford. Someone has to look after the house all the time. In the last one week or so when I am here, I see parents of school going children are particularly busy as the schools are about to reopen after a long winter recess.  Despite hopes expressed by few stakeholders to delay the reopening owing to Wuhan crisis, silence from Ministry of Education was loud enough and the schools are opening as scheduled. Perhaps those posts were from some teachers who have not finished their winter chores or this aspiration could be from lazy students who wanted to enjoy the ‘freedom’ a bit more. But I am sure the parents, who are tired of managing untamable kids during the last two months, would not like to be a party to this conspiracy.  This reminded me of some hopeful calls that I receive from my staff and students in the early mornings of first snowfall in Thimphu!! Thanks to our culture of declaring first snowfall a holiday.

I hear that quarantine services at the only airport in Paro has intensified, and our Chinese brethren are targeted, not here in Bhutan but throughout the world, as if they themselves are the highly contagious virus. Here down-under we have open border, and thousands go in and out every day. As the schools are about to reopen hundreds, if not thousands, of Bhutanese parents are visiting the towns across the border for last minute shopping. With the new relaxation of five years old getting admissions from this year, the excitement is running high with both parents and kids, while the shopkeepers across the border are having the last laugh of the season! Just in my family here, there are two boys trying to fit into new ghos, and their older siblings helping them put the covers in their tiny notebooks. I think this was much needed change. Unlike in the past, living conditions are better today and there are fewer kids to care of in the families. As a result they are physically healthier and mentally smarter and therefore ready to start learning early. I see both these boys in this village house are comfortable operating smart phones; they download games and engage for hours in all sorts of fun that they find in the virtual world in this small device. Young parents who are mostly school drop outs have no idea as to how this is destroying their kids’ tender brains. So this new decision from the government gives everyone some comfort that at least now in the schools they will use their time in learning and divert their attention to textbooks and reduce the exposure to these dangerous devices that we all have also become victim of.

Until the Sun shines brighter, adieu!!

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 112^th 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 21^st 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.

All in all 2018 was Great!

The Gregorian calendar year of 2018 came to an end and gave in to 2019 from today. Sometimes in early January 2017 or perhaps few days before the year closed, I had promised the following to myself, what I termed then as My 2018 Resolutions. I share here most of those resolves along with a note of my self-appraisals:

1.       Heath being on the top of my priority list, I said to myself:

ü  Run 3 Kms every day at 6.00 AM

ü  Every day at 7.00 PM do 30 minutes yoga/ meditation

ü  Play badminton every Sunday morning or walk for 2 hours

ü  Drink a lot of water in the morning and add more fruits and vegetables in the diet

I give only 4/ 10 for this topmost criteria for success – instead of those runs I promised to myself, I made 2 Kms walk and those I mostly fulfilled. Instead of 30 minutes, I made my Yoga sessions to 20 minutes but performed on most days. Sunday resolution went out of the window, because often this was like another busy week day and was dedicated to doing all the other chores such as cleaning car, visiting the family guest house in Paro for never ending maintenance, vegetable and other shopping, or simply idling. I never got doing a single two hours walk nor played badminton except for about a week in summer vacation!

2.       Life-long learning must be an essential pledge for any educated person and that I prominently spelt out/ repeated in deliberations with my students. To stay true to my profession and to begin charity from home, I said to myself:

ü  Read half an hour every evening and finish a book every month

ü  Write 2 pages every week, mostly in weekend and holidays with one article on the blog every month.

I am often embarrassed to say to myself that I am not reading as much as I should! I do read few paras to few pages everyday but I could only finish one motivational book this year! What a shame, I have postponed completing 5 partially read books over my winter vacation! I will report to myself again at the end of 2019 on this important target and hopefully compensate for the receding year’s shortfall!

Writing is even more painful! One need to have discipline in writing. I did not learn this in my schooling nor learnt from some of my friends and siblings who have shown such endurance in writing that they produce minimum of a book every year! I need to be pressurized to fulfil this goal and again hope to compensate in 2019 by completing at least a book!!

3.       The third important thing in my personal life is Social and Family life! I thought by doing the below, I will be able to promote this mission too:

ü  Meet one old friend or relative on the last week of every month

ü  Contact all siblings once in every 2 months through skype/ messenger or phone call

ü  Visit parents once in every 3 months (4 times in a year).

ü  Eat out with family once in a month (middle of the week)

The above are never to be scheduled like this again. There are several factors that go in achieving these delicate missions. The fourth is somehow doable and I think I achieved to a great extent. I need to ask my wife to confirm if I did miss these in any of the months!

4.       I still have a great dream to travel and see the world.  Any travel, long or short requires two most important resources - time and money and I have scarcity of both! Even if I could spare some from what I have, the priorities are different. So I intend to achieve this goal using my professional platform by:

ü  Looking up for opportunities for fellowship or guest speaker (once in a year)

ü  Getting involved in Research/ collaboration with a publication one in each year

The first one was partially fulfilled and the 2nd one mostly achieved. I am happy about it but I have realized that my dream of travelling around the world is unlikely to be fulfilled in this lifetime.

5.       Upon crossing the fifty mark, I started a bit worried about our (me and my wife’s) future financial security. So I made up my mind to do the following:

ü  Save Nu (amount hidden) every month from my salary

ü  Buy a plot in (area hidden)

ü  Sell plots that you do not intend to live on (location hidden)

ü  Plan house construction in (location hidden) as soon as  it is permitted

ü  Improve facilities in the guest house in Paro and attract some more airbnb guests.

I have done pretty well in this important preparation for a retired life. Reading a rather melancholy article by a senior retired beurocrat recently, I feel that I am better off even though quite behind many of my counterparts who have achieved their financial security much before me and much more robustly. Except for building a retirement house, which is postponed till another year, I have done well in all other areas.

6.       Equally important fulfilment is your intellectual quest. Recognizing this a bit late in life, I had said last year to me that I would:

ü  Attend one public talk

ü  Teach some RTC classes

ü  Develop professional/ work plan for beyond 2020.

Well, this I could not do out of campus, even though I wished, because of my doubled professional responsibilities, which naturally took priority over everything else, I did attend several at my college and to the best of my satisfaction I was also able to teach some basic Biology Classes during a bridge course last summer. I wish to continue doing that or similar academic undertakings now on!

Prologue: As the 2018 curtain fell, I look back and what comes to my mind instantly is ‘ Man proposes and the God disposes’. Not a very big fan of ritualistic faiths, when I look back the memory lane of 2018, my mind gets clouded by the sad reminders of several close relative’s lives lost this year – my two elder paternal uncles (Badiba: there is no proper English word as specific and as dear as in Nepali for relations) and also an aunt (Badima). By the way the exact translation of this relation is - wife of my fathers’ elder brother and there is another word ‘kaki’ for wife of father’s younger brother, and still different words for every aunts/ aunties from father’s side, mother’s side, etc., – that much now for poor English language!

All of the three who demised early this year were old and fragile but the unanswered question still remains why all in this year and why within less than 3 months? To add to my fury, most recently the family lost a person of my generation, a first cousin to a heart attack adding more woes and pain to me and my entire large family circle. Talking of this mortality, the bitterest feeling comes from the loss of a young relative, a neighbour and friend to the dread of cancer. All these reminds us about the impermanence and the helplessness against this reality of death.

Life must go on! The year 2018 must be also credited for all the happiness and excitement it gave to Bhutan, my family and me! There were interesting outcomes of the series of Election that the Constitution gave to the people of Bhutan! Such was the fanfare that even I was few times lured to participate in this national event as a contestant but was (happily) never adequately invited nor attracted to it.

Remembering the first election, the National Council, the candidacy was a huge rush and resulted in a crowd of unemployed graduates, freelancers and casual entries into this contest. For 20 seats, as many as 180 odd contestants participated in debates (some were pretty bizarre) and ultimately the Bhutanese were required to vote for one in every Dzongkhag (District) and did that pretty well. Voters went for very young yet promising members for this important House of Review (for want of better translation it could be called Upper House of Bhutanese Parliament).

And come the time to change the ruling party! Bhutanese are turning out to be notorious voters. However small they might be in numbers, they are highly unpredictable. At least the last three elections have proven that.  Any amount of coaxing, luring and cajoling will not convince our very democratic and futuristic voters to stay with one party after five years. The change happened and again resulted on some kind of world record. The Election 2018 gave Bhutan a surgeon PM, with a young yet an entrepreneurial cabinet.  

I think the year concluded with a biggest bang! His Majesty the King, in presence of K4, adorable Gyeltse, other Royalties and the Je Khenpo presided over the 111^th National Day of Bhutan that was proudly attended by the people of Samtse on 17^th December. Few weeks ago some enthusiastic friends from Thimphu had gathered in a small room in Thimphu and had decided that we should offer Kusung Thug gi Mendrel on this unprecedented occasion. I joined the group without a second thought and drove to Samtse crossing the new bridge connecting the district with great excitement. As soon as one entered the town, one would not miss the visible changes in Samtse. Not just the magnificent gates, flags and the white wash, which are generally temporary and cosmetics, there were real visible signs of  development such as the new ground with artificial turf, newly paved wider roads, new township, etc.  It was all festive, also for the fact that this one of the oldest towns of the country got officially connected by a motorable road across the great Amochhu (Toorsa River). Of course the Bhutanese are always great Chadri performers, especially under time pressure. It was an excellent arrangement, very well organized and detailed. I was somewhat overwhelmed to see the extent of preparation and wondered how many days of sleepless nights the Dzongda and other involved might have spent. My deep respect and appreciations to all for making this 111^th National Day in Samtse, a cherishable experience.

On a very personal front, I feel I had a very exciting year. I was able to work towards my future physical security, (whatever modest it may be), changed my car and had a stint of new administrative position but quite did not make it making me realize that I also have some inadequacies! I am not interested to work on those short comings but I would rather work on my strengths and look forward to many more exciting years. All that happened this year gave me the proof and confidence that I still have enough resilience, drive and positivity that will not fail me, my family, my well-wishers and if I may in my own small way also say, ‘my beautiful Country, King and People”.  

Election is here again!

It was a mix feeling of hesitance and excitement when the people of Bhutan went to the polls for the first time in 2008. Lot has been said about this globally unprecedented privilege (with responsibility) bestowed upon its people from no other than their throne in the Kingdom of Bhutan.

The second round of elections in 2013 did not require any of those organized mock sessions that were in abundance in the first round as most people were already seen conversant with the process. Of course not to forget that both these elections gave people somewhat unexpected and surprising outcomes. Some of the lessons learnt were that the politics is difficult to phantom and the democracy seems to be a necessary evil today with the party politics being as notoriously complicated as exciting and thrilling that it may be.

This month of April 2018 is the time for the National Council (NC) Elections in Bhutan.

The Constitution of the Kingdom of Bhutan is unique in many ways. While in most democracies the parliaments have upper and lower houses, and the representations in the upper house is mostly reflection of the lower one. But the far-sighted creators of our Chathrim Chenmo, the Constitution of the Kingdom of Bhutan, did not feel that it had to be that way in Bhutan. We have independent elections by the people for the National Council which may be equivalent to the Upper House in other democracies, but the NC is not even termed as ‘Upper House’. This non-political and non-partisan House according to the Section 2 of the Article 11 of the Constitution of Bhutan is designated as “House of review on matters affecting the security and sovereignty and the interest of the country”. The ‘interest of the country’ with no clear limitations makes its role often as powerful as the National Assembly. This was made evident in some occasions during few of the past parliamentary deliberations. The NC had raised objections against the actions of the government and even revoked some of the decisions, reminding the politicians about the gravity of the ‘national interest’ which has to be above the personal and party selfishness.  

With such important role played in the country’s governance and in the making of the laws and the policies, it is expected that we have very credible and knowledgeable members of parliament, sitting in this prominent body in the country. Somewhat commensurate with this noble expectation, in this third parliamentary round of elections, there were as many as 182 aspiring candidates in the fray, being the highest among all the three rounds so far. And with as many as 22 candidates actually debating in a small Dzongkhag like Dagana, this in itself became a record. Similarly there is a good mix of young and inexperienced to elderly and veteran candidates in almost every Dzongkhag, that is hopefully giving a lot of good choice to the voters.

Against this backdrop, what is not sure is that in spite of being this the third round, are the voters excited and sufficiently aware about their candidates. More importantly the important question at this juncture is also how well informed is their decision going to be! Of course there is obviously excitement in participation by these many aspirant candidates, but some of them unfortunately do not seem to even have a good idea why they are there and what it means to be a parliamentarian of a country.  In fact someone has light heartedly remarked that election is becoming like a vacancy announcement of an agency where there is a rush of unemployed graduates vying against limited positions. While we also come across many eligible voters not serious about casting their votes, many people who are voting are looking for friends and known figures rather than candidates with required experiences and potential competencies.

And we have heard the debates. While the changed format of debate itself is debatable, the quality of the questions posed were varied and not every question asked was relevant for what the National Council stands for. Often the quality of the questions also lacked an expected standard. Watching these debates on the national television, one was sometimes reminded of the extempore speech competitions in the schools. Proficiency in the debating language could be one challenge for some, but many others were seen repeating the same idea in different words and nothing noteworthy or even relevant to the functions of the National Council was being said. 

Having said that we also have seen some promising figures in the field who would be able to deliver and uphold the stature and the role of the position of a member of National Council and if they are also recognized by their voters, we will have something to look forward in this first big round of election of the year on the 20^th April.

Let the best of the best win!

Published in Kuensel, a Bhutan's Daily,  on its April 17, 2018 issue.

Is the Bean & Chilly still on Ban?

Like on every weekend I was at the vegetable market picking some vegetables for the next one week and as always I was mostly getting my hands on some green ones. My attention was drawn by nicely packed green beans which I thought would not be growing anywhere in Bhutan in this peak winter and I know they have not been given the travel permit yet to show up in Bhutan.  I asked if these were from Bhutan. “Yes”, the seller said, “from Tsirang” with some confidence. ‘Beans grows in Tsirang at this time of the year?’ I asked.  With some crafty smile she added, “May be", "that is what they (meaning supplier) told us.” Getting a bit more bold now she added, “Some people also say it is from Dadhghari (Indian side of the border), but most importantly we are allowed to sell this.” ‘Of course yes, as long as no authority says anything, who am I, a small consumer, to question you’! I moved on to find that almost every counter had these green packages getting sold like hot cakes at a price that is three times of what it used to be two year ago.

                                                                                       Perhaps about 20 months now, the most sought after Indian soil grown green chillies had faced ban from our Bhutan Agriculture and Food Regulatory Authority (BAFRA), a relatively new wing of our governance that is also often feared by our small scale retailers, hotels and other vendors. The decision to ban the import of these foreign green chillies along with some of their milder brethren like beans and cauliflower has come into effect following a report on the pesticide residue that was found to be beyond the WHO-standard acceptable limits, tested in laboratories in Thailand and India. Very welcome and a fare decision indeed! Since then this body can only tell how many tons of these essential vegetable varieties got confiscated and buried on their way to Thimphu and other interior towns from the close by areas in North Bengal and Assam, India, causing huge financial loss to the agents and vendors doing brisk business trying to sell these ‘unhealthy stuff’.  Once again a well-deserved penalty on these lawbreakers for playing with the health of innocent Bhutanese consumers (expats working in Bhutan included).

What is something that I am unable to understand, however is, why are a number of brethren of the above products still making their presence on our dining table? For instance the soft and succulent tomatoes of all shapes and sizes, our favourite salad maker cucumber, cabbage and many more are awarded visa gratis till date? How is anyone to believe that the insecticide is only sprayed on chillies and beans and not on their counterparts when these are grown by same farmers and in same places? Above all is the BAFRA continuously checking the pesticide level in all the vegetable imported or was it just one time event? As consumers, is their some kind of right to information about something as important as our food?  What wonders me most is by increased abundance of this new found alternative, the red chilly in the market.  The local chilly production being seasonal and often inadequate to quench the chilly thirst of ‘we the Bhutanese’, tons of dried red Indian chillies have found their easy way to our vegetable markets. I am sure the farmers down below are now asked by the suppliers to keep them in the field till they mature and become red. In the process, this would not obviously be without pouring more pesticides, and also not to mention the hygiene of the places they lay to dry them.  Most importantly, what happens to that deadly poison that it had received throughout its prolonged life? It is all a mystery and perhaps must be a grave concern for everyone devouring this form of chillies in lieu of the scarce green ones. Personally I am not a great fan of chilly (thanks to my GERDy stomach), but just their conspicuous and somewhat dubious presence in doubled and tripled quantity in the dishes made for the Bhutanese appetite makes me very worried. By the way, adding to my doubt of their origin but to the delight of the chilly lovers, some small varieties of green chillies in small packages are seen in plenty most recently, also claiming to be Bhutan- grown!!

Having said that I hope that we could increase vegetable production (chillies included) in the country. In fact I had hoped that the ban had come as a blessing in disguise for triggering vegetable sufficiency in the country. I firmly believe that even as a small country we have favourable altitudinal and climatic variations for all kinds of vegetable cultivation throughout the year.

Talking about growing more vegetable, I remember never seeing onions and not even much potatoes when I was growing up back in my remote village in late 60s and early 70’s. The more recent immigrants such as cabbage, cauliflower and broccoli was not even heard of. However we grew enough of indigenous and endemic vegetables in our backyards such as pumpkin, large leafy green lettuce, radish, varieties of beans, squash and few more miscellaneous ones. We also relished the seasonal varieties of wild stuff such as fern shoots, bamboo shoots and mushrooms. Never felt any vegetable was scarce and of course no pesticide or organic fertilizer had to be ever used. In last 50 years our agriculture service managed to add few more exotic ones but most of these came with poor resistance to pests and therefore not very popular with the vegetable growers. But with the affordability and change in our food habits, we are yearning for varieties from across the boarders that are often kept alive by deadly pesticides. 

I hope and wish that there is better monitoring on the vegetable import, quicker actions from the Ministry of Agriculture to grow vegetables in the country throughout the year and make very concrete moves towards vegetable sufficiency just as we seem to have achieved in poultry. The next government in the making may be fully convinced that there will be absolutely no resistance from any quarters for growing more varieties of vegetables and promoting self-sufficiency in this one genre of agricultural products.

My two most memorable instances with His Majesty the 4th Druk Gyelpo

The First Opportunity

It was a beautiful day in the Spring of 1974, when a large number of people from my village walked down to the town of Samtse. From among my siblings, my father picked me for this opportune trip, as he probably thought that at the age of little over eleven I was now reasonably ready to walk that distance bare feet! The first day was only about four hours and ended in a comfortable stay in the house of a distant relative in the next village across Amochhu. The second day was tedious but exciting as the journey mostly descended down the foothills with occasional view of strange yet a mesmerizing great Indian Plain. Crossing several mountains, gorges and streams, we negotiated the meandering Dhamdhum River at least two dozen times and finally landed at the bank of the same river for the night, just about an hour short of Samtse town. All the excitement of sighting a motor vehicle, electricity and the concrete houses and above all the eagerness of seeing the young King of Bhutan had to be given rest on the hard open ground.

Next morning, some of us younger lots were taken to the nearby stream by our guardians to rub the grease off our feet and hands. Others stayed back and cooked the meals. Before noon, we had our brunch and headed towards the town. I was excited, frightened and nervous all at the same time at the first spectacle of the modern amenities. The roaring trucks, colourful shops with goods hanging in the front, the ‘pan’ shop with loud music and above all so many people at one place was simply incredible.  I was given the first ‘modern’ haircut by a smart looking man (I knew some years later that he was a professional barber). After some acclimatization in the town environment, the night was spent in the nearby Shivalaya temple - thanks to the priest who happened to be our relative.

Following morning, I saw tens of vehicles driving uphill to the place where the young Crown Prince, actually the King-designate, would meet the people from the district. By 8.00 AM we were all asked to move to the wide field with so many people gathered and seated in long rows. Fortunately, all the people from a village were seated close to each other and of course, my father was next to me. Suddenly there was this very loud voice catching everyone’s attention and my father gently told me, pointing to a weird object, that the sound was from a ‘mike’. The sound that infiltrated the heart, at first I thought was the King’s voice. Soon I realized that it was actually the announcement about seating to be segregated into rich and poor! The village headman put me in the poor’s group and my father on the rich side! Now I think this was justified as my father had some kind of footwear on and I had none! Not knowing this why at that time, I was worried of getting lost in the crowd. But my father asked an adult from my village, another ‘poor’ to take care of me. 

Soon there was a silence followed by beautiful music of drum and something melodious (this now I realized was the Jaling, a musical instrument played by monks to mark the arrival of high dignitaries). As the sound drew closer, the crowd got more impatient and noisy. I heard they say that the King was arriving. I could not see anything, but my heart beat started to mount. After some silence, an extra-ordinary voice was heard through the loud speaker once again. ‘He is our new King’, my caretaker and neighbour said. People listened in complete silence. I did not understand a word but this extra-ordinary voice penetrated into my heart, increased my palpation and eventually generated a natural and deep feeling of reverence towards the benefactor and it brought much joy and contentment as the long speech ended.

With the speech of the King concluded, there was the cheer of ‘Pelden Drukpa Gyelo’ and some familiar play of local music by the people from various villages around who had gathered to greet the King. Very soon the village heads, the policemen and others started reorganizing the lines, keeping everyone in order and in silence. The young King appeared at some distance away in his beautiful Gho and in knee- deep black boots. He slowly walked through every row greeting and smiling at people. People sat on the ground completely calm with their head bowed down in respect but at the same time eager to see him as soon as he passed them. I waited for quite some time till he arrived closer to the rows of ‘poor people’. My heart started beating again as the King and all the people around him entered the line that I was seated in. I saw some packets of gifts being given to the people by the King. When my turn came I laid out my two palms and received a beautiful piece of cloth from the hands of my King.

As I held the packet firmly, I also kept looking at the direction the King moved on as he continued giving away the gifts and finally disappeared into the crowd. After some time we were told that the King had left and we could also leave. By then my father was there near me to escort me to our host’s place. In the afternoon a bunch of us, the village folk, took a ride on the back of a huge truck, loaded with some boulders, for a trip to nearby Indian town of Chamurchi for some shopping. What a memorable first vehicle ride of my life that was!

I can’t clearly remember the return journey home. But I know I had a brand new shirt on me (the invaluable gift from the King), a brand new pair of footwear on my feet and a lot of exciting stories to tell my mother and the rest of my siblings and the school mates back home.

 The Second Fortune

Perhaps it was in the mid-summer of 1980, when I was a student of 9^th grade at the then Samchi Central School, a news was broken by my esteemed Principal Mr GB Kurup that five of us from the class were chosen to participate in a cultural tour of Thimphu under the auspices of the then National Council for Social and Cultural Promotion (NCSCP). We were quickly brought together and made to practice some dances with the famous dance teacher, Mr Tika Gurung. Just in about a week time we were escorted by Lopen Thiney Gyamtsho to Phuntsholing where we were welcomed by a young ‘Trainee Officer’ Mr Kinley Dorji of NCSCP. We also met other ten students from Sarpang and Gelephu schools. Next morning I had my maiden journey to the capital by the Bhutan Government Transport Service (BGTS) bus through the beautiful and often very precarious and narrow road. It took us nearly 10 hours to reach Motithang High School where the arrangements for our stay was made. The one week program was very tight with visits to important landmarks in Thimphu including Tashichho Dzong and the Memorial Chhorten, as well as several places in Paro including the National Museum and Rinpung Dzong. I remember having a shock of my life witnessing a ‘disco’ night at an entertainment club in Paro.

Amidst our very exciting visits, on the last but one day a news was broken by the Director of NCSCP, Dasho Meghraj Gurung that completely exhilarated all of us. His Majesty had granted an audience to the group.

It was mid-day and we were waiting outside Tashichho Dzong when someone from below a big stone wall came up and said a word to Dasho. He signaled at us to follow him. We found it hard catching up Dasho and only later our Lopen explained that a royal call necessitates such a retort. We were taken into a very humble resting place of His Majesty where he was already seated. He indicated us to sit around. We were tensed but His soft and kind words quickly eased the atmosphere. This time I could understand every word that His Majesty spoke. He spoke about the nation building, the role of youth, importance of Bhutanese identity, international relations, and many more things of importance to Bhutan and the Bhutanese. Irrespective of our young age, His Majesty chose to speak out His mind with great degree of seriousness. That unprecedented audience with His Majesty in the very humble cottage is vivid to me even to this day. When I think of that moment, I feel that the Fourth Druk Gyelpo Jigme Singye Wangchuck was such a great visionary and so very affectionate and concerned about His people and the nation.

With these two fond memories of my life at the backdrop, on the occasion of His Majesty’s Sixtieth Birth Anniversary today, 11^th November, I join the festive nation in commemoration.

Wishing the 4th graduating class a great success

With the growing success of our subsequent graduating classes over the last three years, the 4^th graduating cohort ought to reach even higher level of accomplishments. Inspired by the great success in the last civil service examinations, we have put in our best efforts in preparing you all for similar and even higher accomplishments. With every passing class we at RTC will eagerly wish and wait to hear for better attainments of our graduates in all sectors of employment including self employment and entrepreneurship. With positive attitude and the high confidence level that you have gained through your varied experiences at RTC, I am very hopeful that wherever and whenever you venture in your lives, you will make your marks and stand out as proud RTC alumni and do yourself, your parents and your alma mater proud.

I join the RTC family in wishing each and every one of you a great success.