On Bhutanese reading habits

“The greatest gift one can give a child is the passion for reading.” I read this in a local newspaper. So true! How many of our Bhutanese parents gifted (gifts) this greatest gift to our child?

Generally speaking, reading habits in Bhutanese is so poor. Be it in schools or home, we hardly read. Children along with parents are seen glued to the television screen most of the time at home or either they would be glued to their cell phones with ear piece plugged in. There is no activity such as reading. Apart from television and internet, the introduction of mobile phones has made the Bhutanese lot busier than ever. Walk into an office and try asking for the way around to someone on the mobile phone, he/she will hardly bother to look up from the screen and answer you.  

Picture Courtesy: Bhutan Observer

Who is to be blamed here? Our culture where reading habits never existed? Or the parents who have no time to read bed time stories to their children? The former one seems the appropriate answer. As a child, my parents never read bed time stories to me because it was not in our culture. I discovered myself the passion for reading from an early age and since then I have never looked back. Reading always entices me. It broadens my horizon of imagination and creativity. It takes me to the undiscovered world of enchantment and liberates me from the daily agonies of human quandary. Reading is a freedom in itself. 

Recently at the Junction bookstore, a couple with their baby, I presumed, was browsing some good books to purchase. The father holding the baby in his left arm was browsing through and reading some anecdotes from some books to the baby. The baby boy listened and made small wails as if in agreement to what his dad was reading to him. 

Oh how sweet a sight that was! I could not help but admire. The couple then was bestowing the greatest gift to their child. 

The mother on the other hand selected few books and showed it to her hubby. I was so envious of the baby boy. How fortunate is he to be born to parents who share the same love-the passion for reading. And the passion they are gifting to the child is the greatest gift. No wonder, birds of the same feather flock together, I thought to myself. 

Introducing reading habits into the young minds at a tender age like this would encourage reading habits. 

The school I taught at for a year had this; the first period of every day was designated as reading period. Complete silence was maintained and every student had to have something to read in front of them. It was a good initiative from the school’s part. 

Small initiative in our education system like this encourages reading habits into the young minds. 

While waiting in the hospital or airport you can always grab a copy of the newspaper and read. Book among others is an important component in my hand bag. I carry it wherever I go and especially if I have to wait in a queue it always becomes my companion and makes it easier for me to pass the long waiting hours. These are the small things that have always helped me encourage my reading habits; you may have interesting reading habits too. What’s yours?

Fooled twice by TENGMAA

TENGMAA is a classic Bhutanese snack, that’s what the pack says. Actually TENGMAA is wholesome beaten maize and it is available in crispy form fried in oil manufactured by the Bhutan Food Products in Thimphu. When not fried its hard and pretty tough for the teeth and jaw. It becomes quite an exercise to the jaw, but when it’s fried it becomes crispy and just awesome for your perfect cup of evening tea. But it comes in less content in a pack for Nu. 15 that a few pops in your mouth and it’s already over and out. 

I had become quite a fan of TENGMAA and whenever I am out for grocery shopping, TENGMAA is the list that tops my grocery. Recently, not to forget my top snack for my evening tea, I bought another pack only to be in for a surprise. To my utter amazement and disappointment, the contents inside was not the yummy TENGMAA I have always relished but some puffed corns which looks alike TENGMAA. 

To worsen things, it was salted as well as sugary. The instant thought was, ‘you have been cheated!’ Well, you can imagine how my mind whirled at the thought of being cheated by our own home Food Products. 

The pack clearly screams out in black bold letters ‘wholesome beaten maize’ in its ingredients list with the ever happy go lucky Aptsara’s picture and inside all you find is salted sugary corn puffs.:(

This is the second time I have been fooled by the Bhutan Food Products. The first time I found corn puffs inside the TENGMAA pack I most assuredly forgave the manufacturer thinking that it happens sometimes after having come across some just air-filled chewing gum pack without the gum inside. However, the second time I discovered the same mistake, I don’t think this is another mistake from the TENGMAA manufacturer. It’s pure negligence! It’s disgusting to have been cheated in broad daylight by your home manufacturers. 

If this is the impression of a small TENGMAA manufacturer on the consumer, what about the other Bhutanese manufacturing industry? Is it worthy to trust their products as a consumer? The thoughts are nauseating.

Bigg Boss season 5

What does it mean to stay isolated for 98 days from the rest of the world? No phone or internet connection, you won’t get to see your loved ones every morning, no sweet and then later on angry wake up calls from your mother. But you have to spend 98 days along with other complete strangers as housemates locked out together under the surveillance of 55 cameras, tracking your each and every move. Freaking, isn’t it? 

No, I am not talking about 98 days of solitude. I am talking about the Bigg Boss season 5, the hit Indian reality TV show on colors TV hosted by Sanjay Dutt and Salman Khan. I have come to terms to love these two gentlemen for their humour and personality. 

I would not be doing justice to the show if I don’t update about it here. Since its start on 2/10/2011, I have been a big fan of this show and never before had I followed some TV shows like this. Had I prepared for some examination on the updates and insights of this show I am sure that I would top the examination: P. Not enough of the show, I have googled and dissected each issues about the show and had spent some precious hours of my time going through the spicy gossips and muffins of the inmates of the house on the show. Since the show airs late at night (11 pm BST), I get less sleep every morning and have to reach office groggily from mon-fri. But never mind, the show  will come to an end tomorrow after some 14 weeks and hopefully i will get back my beauty sleep starting this Monday. What a way to start the New Year. :)

It was a pleasant surprise when the Indo-Canadian adult actress Sunny Leone made the entry into the Bigg Boss house. Her entry set the audience on fire. Her choice of career as an adult star led people to Google about her. She became the most searched item. Finally every one landed into visiting her porn websites and pictures.

Another one was the entry of the 601 pound Japanese sumo Wrestling Champion Yamamotoyama, a guest for a day. His was excessively cute and brought in lots of laughter into the chaotic and abusive house, at least for a day. And not to forget, Andrew Symonds, the former Australian criketer was swwet when he spoke Hindi.

Finally, the show is coming to an end with the grand finale on 7/01/2012 i.e tomorrow night at 9:30 pm (BST) and I am super excited as to who will win the show and emerge a 1-core winner. I have my contestant on mind; I pray he/she  win. If you have followed the show, who is your bet on?

Juhi Parmar

UPDATE: Juhi Parmar, the Kumkum soap girl we used to watch some years back on Indian television took home 1-crore, becoming the 2nd woman to win the Bigg Boss show after Sweta Tiwari, another popular soap girl. 3 months of watching the show and i am disappointed big time :(. 

I did not expect Juhi Parmar to win the show for her selfish and snobbish acts in the house. And if we peep into the past, the person who has survived since the beginning has won the show. Since Juhi Parmar survived since day one in the house it was predictable that she would win the show.

I have wasted 14 precious weeks watching the show only to find out at the end that the show is scripted and not a reality TV show. What a waste!

New Year resolutions or Not?

I know I have been away from this space for quite a long time now. The last entry on my blog 

 was on 13/11/11, 53 days back and I have hardly written in a month now. The sheer reason is laziness and it has led to inconsistency of my passion for writing. I feel dumb when I don’t read and write and I have been the greatest dumbo these past months I have been away from writing. That is why it’s becoming tougher for me to scribble down what I really intend to. Words fail and gets stuck midway and I have to press the backspace key on the keyboard again and again. Darn! How loathsome laziness has turned me into, I abhor you, o Laziness of mine!

This is my first post for the year 2012 and here I come with a New Year resolution! I never had New Year resolution this past 25 years of my life because I know well that I suck at resolutions. But this year it’s different, I have made up my resolution. And it is to write and write! And not desert my blogging space. 

 

I ardently follow others space, one of the major tasks I do at work is go through others web pages and stay glued to the computer screen for hours and hours. Sometimes I spent the whole day reading especially when I find it interesting and too lazy to work. In fact, that’s what I have been doing the whole morning today :P. I took the whole week (last week of December) off from work to meet family and friends over Christmas. Moreover, I was in dire need of break from work and that holidays rejuvenated me so much that I am still in holiday moods and have remained glued to my computer screen this whole time.

On the other side, my own space has been ignored and deserted. This New Year, I want to respect my space and keep blog updates. Hope I live it up.

On this note, Happy New Year to all bloggers! Have a prosperous and a great Year ahead.

The unceremonious journey

I grew weary of my monotonous life. All I do is come to office, work all day and go home and sleep away the weekends and the tedious job of coming to work follows suit on Monday. Sometimes I feel that my cup of life is poisoned! I realized that I am cocooning myself in a world of my own where fun and excitement has become an absolute No No.

Tired of this, I wanted to lay my hand at something adventurous and I prayed graciously to God, “Almighty God, there is nothing impossible in you. My life has rather become monotonous, deliver me out of this. Grant me something exciting!” Sure enough God answered my prayer amusingly.

As usual, I was at work and it was mid day and I was already exhausted and starved. Food was the only thought dripping on my mind. Suddenly I get this phone call from my dysfunctional brother who was in town a few days earlier. “De (sister) please drop me till Bumthang today, I have to reach Monggar tomorrow by any means.” 

“What? Reach you till Bumthang? At this hour? You kidding me?” I asked him. 

“No de, m serious. Some important work came up at the hospital” he answered. Hundred and one questions started racing through my head. This is totally impossible, I told him. Calming down, I explained him that Bumthang is not an hour or two drive from the capital, and even if you want to go you have to start early and not sometime late in the afternoon like this. I advised him to go early the next day but as adamant as he ever is, he would not listen to me. 

Sensing the urgency in his plea, I consented without a second thought. 

Wait!I have an important meeting at work the next day and I have to be there at any cost. Oh God what am I supposed to do? Disgruntled for not saying “No” to brother, I postponed the meeting fortunately and necessary arrangements were made.

It was already 2 pm in the afternoon. I had never gone on an unceremonious journey before because I had always been a planned traveller. I plan my journey well in advance to evade unnecessary situations on the way and I have been like that ever since I started journeying on my own. And I dislike people who are unplanned and disorganized when it comes to travelling. This time I hated myself so much. The feeling itself was a huge lump on my throat. With a queasy feeling, I rushed home and quickly changed into a pair of jeans, sneakers and sweater and off we started for Bumthang at 2:30 pm. 

The journey was pretty hectic. I felt that we were on a road trip except that it was an unplanned one. As expected, in two hours time we crossed Wangdue. Darkness fell soon yet we continued on. Hunger was long forgotten. Roasted maize sold on the highway was enough to keep noisy mice away from our tummies. 

The bumpy ride through the rough terrain took its toll on me.  The sitting on the back at stretch started giving me enough back ache. Pot holes now and then were all that was needed to give a bumpy ride. Dust was another compliment to the already rough terrain. 

Few kilometers away from Trongsa we encountered a larger than life bear on the road. Gosh! At this hour what was a bear doing on the highway? Its large arms were enough to arouse goose bumps in me. At first I just could not figure out the animal until my brother was “look, A BEAR!”  It was a decent bear though, silently gave way to us and up it disappeared into the thick dark forest. We must have disturbed it on its hunt to maraud some farmer’s crops. 

 

On and on we climbed uphill into the cold dark road through the forest towards Bumthang. Six years of my stay in Bumthang and I knew the road like the back of my hand. Yet this journey seemed pretty long and hectic to me, the obvious reason being an unplanned one. A little harder push of the accelerator seemed that the car is over speeding and a bump into a pothole made the ride bumpier in the night. Not a single settlement in sight, the road seemed longer and never ending. 

Eight hours later we reached Chumey, 20 km towards Bumthang. The cold in Bumthang is unbearable at this time of the year. Thick mist clouded the air and there was frost on every object outside. The small settlement of Chumey seemed dead, without a single being in sight. The cold weather must have compelled everyone to cuddle in bed and embrace beauty sleep. 

We snaked in through the long deserted road to the greetings of warm bhukari in a friend’s place, it was manna to us. Otherwise, freezing to death was too apparent in that weather. 

The thought of having spent 6 early years of my life in a boarding school in cold Bumthang surprise me today. The weather remains cold in Bumthang almost throughout the year with chilly wind and snowfall in winter. The ritual of early morning prayers and morning studies in the school, having to do our own laundry in the freezing water and those cold evening studies out in the MP (Multi-purpose) hall every day, some yards away from the warmth of our hostel rooms surprised me further. 

How could one possibly survive in this cold without any heat appliances? We must have been adapted then, I presume. A sense of overwhelming appreciation overcomes me when I think about it and I am proud at myself for having been through that.

This is the first time I have been to Bumthang after the Chamkhar fire incident in 2010 and I have watched only on Television how the cozy Chamkhar town had collapsed in the fire. I could not help but mourn the fall and called in to check twhether my friends were alright. Today, having being there myself and stand amidst the remnants of the fire is heartrending. A mushrooming town then, I had expected Chamkhar to become a central business hub to the people of the east. Alas! 

The fall of the town took away my memories. Memories of which shaped the person in me today, memories that were of wonder years spent with friends, family and beloved ones, memories of stolen moments which brought immense joys. I was attending the funeral of my memories with Bumthang, which I considered my “second home” with undefined reasons.

The next day, I started early back to the capital as a rejuvenated soul. It was a comfortable one unlike the previous night and reached early. Sometimes going out of one’s territories of protocols is fun and adventurous just as I embarked on this unceremonious journey.  

            

Writing a Diary

Do you maintain a diary? Or did u ever maintain one? Well, I used to do since high schools until college. Now I do not remember when was the last I ever wrote because I have completely lost the habit. It is said that writing diaries and maintaining one is a good habit. Perhaps I have turned from a good to a bad kid now because I do not write though I claim writing to be a passion of mine.

My earliest memory of writing a diary was at the age of 13 when I was away at boarding school. There were several factors that attributed to my habit of writing a diary. A young girl just into her teens and away from home was one significant factor that made me to pour out my feelings to someone when homesick and penning down those feelings in something I considered somebody (diary) was the only solace I had then.

Moreover, I was shy as a kid and opening up was my greatest fear. So whatever I wanted to speak up and felt about somebody was always penned down. Basically, my pages of the diary used to be about what I did the whole day, who I met, how I felt and some feelings of the crushes I used to have. :)

 

Interestingly, The Diary of Anne Frank is highly acknowledged for the quality of her writing. Her diary has become one of the world's most widely read books, and has been the basis for several plays and films. Call it a coincidence; Anne Frank also started writing her diary on her 13^th birthday. Here is an excerpt from her diary.

Wednesday, 5 April 1944:

“I want to be useful or bring enjoyment to all people, even those I’ve never met. I want to go on living even after my death! And that’s why I’m so grateful to God for having given me this gift, which I can use to develop myself and to express all that’s inside me!

When I write I can shake off all my cares. My sorrow disappears, my spirits are revived! But, and that’s a big question, will I ever be able to write something great, will I ever become a journalist or a writer?”

That is so true. Writing means immortality. Even after your death, your writing will live and the world will remember you just as we do for Anne Frank today. For two years since 6 July 1942 till 4 August 1944, Anne records about everything in her diary. The people they have lived within the secret annex for two goddamn years, completely shut out from the outside world are so immaculately described that it’s like you have lived with them in the hiding all those years.

The Diary of Anne Frank was published posthumously, when Otto Frank, Anne Frank’s father survived the war and found his daughter’s memoirs in her diary. Knowing that Anne always wanted to become a writer, he edited the diary by giving pseudonyms and sent it for publication. It was positively received and became a huge success. Anne Frank, a 13 year old girl’s dream of living even after her death has come to live. So will be yours and mine as long as we keep on writing and blogging. Someday, my grand child would be able to access this blog hopefully and see the world through the eyes of mine some generations back. That’s how I hope to overrule immortality lol.

Some good years back, I encouraged someone special in my life to write and he wrote vigorously in his diary since then. Few of my New Year gifts to him used to be a diary.  Hopefully, he blossomed into a prolific writer now. And I am glad about it today. And I am sure that he has not left that gift of writing his diary unlike me:(.

So what are you thinking then? Tell me about your earliest memory of writing if you have one, it need not necessarily be writing a diary.   

                                      Image courtesy: Google

The Royal Wedding, finally it is here!

Love is in the air! Not for me but for every Bhutanese. The hearts have been racing extra wildly with excitement and there is excitement on everybody’s face. The celebratory mood is seen everywhere. 

Ask why? Somewhere in a small Himalayan Kingdom, the dragon king is getting married. Our king is getting married.My king is getting married. I find it pleasant when I refer to His Majesty the King as ‘my king’ because he holds a special place in people’s heart. Truly he has been tagged as The People’s King. And that ‘my’ syllable brings extra attachment to my king. Yes my handsome, gallant and down-to-earth king is getting married to the beautiful bride Jetshuen Pema. Its a living testimony of fairy tale. Who said fairy tales does not exist? It does! And its happening in Bhutan, right here, right now :)

With the countdown coming to just some hours now, we are super excited for the royal wedding. Unable to hold the excitement I and my friend went out for a drive in our Pajamas to see the Thimphu city in its magnificent beauty late last night.

I have always been fascinated by the colorful lights; its glow and color in the nights brings a great sense of satisfaction and magical feelings in me whenever I see some colorful lights. So not wanting to let this magical feeling pass away without letting it to conquer my heart, we went out like kids excited with some mischief up their sleeves. And lo and behold! This is what we saw; the structures of the city beautifully decorated just like the groom and bride to-be will be dressed in their best on the wedding day.

Tashichhodzong at its glory at night

Shearee Square in Olakha, the only shopping mall with elevators in Thimphu glowing wid blue hues

Hotel Migmar in Olakha and the Expressway sheddin away the same glow

Sorry my pictures are not as aesthetic as it should be. To get the aesthetic view you should go out at night and see it for yourself, trust me you will be amazed! :) 

This is indeed a very auspicious occasion for every one of us. Our king since time immemorial has taken people true to his heart and considered each and every one of us as his family. Thus, we are participating in this historic occasion as one huge family. 

I wish your Majesties a Happy wedding and a prosperous life for now and forever! And live happily ever after, both the people and their Majesties.