The world I know.....

Running Out

2011-03-30T19:11:00.000-07:00

Umm.....it has been a long time since I last updated my little blog. Well, I do have my own excuses for it. But the most important of all is this one thing. There is this guy in one of my class. I think he is a pretty smart chap. Or is it because I didn’t hear him speak? It happened to be a norm in this class that after an hour of lecture, we would be given an in-class work which is due at the end of every class. For the first few times, I consoled myself with the thought that he ain’t really doing his work when he handed the worksheet within fifteen minutes - it took me almost forty minutes. Well I learned few days later that he was indeed doing a good job.

Now I have a mission to fulfill. I want to pass him or at least be run beside him. Unfortunately before I can surpass him, I got to pass by few other guys too. I did leave behind few of them, but I still have some rough track to race. Although the progress is noticeable, I am running out of time. I don’t have much time left in my hand. In fact this is my last undergraduate quarter. But I do need to make a clear point on why I am occupying that chair next to him.

Adious my little blog. I will come and visit you when I am where I want to be. Then we will relish our togetherness once again!

Cherry Blossom Festival

2010-03-28T18:25:00.000-07:00

Few Shots

2009-11-11T17:10:00.000-08:00

Castles in the Air

2009-09-12T21:10:00.000-07:00

"CASTLES IN THE AIR: Experiences and Journeys in Unknown Bhutan," an article written by John Claude White for 'The National Geographic Magazine', and published in 1914 gives an interesting account of pre-monarchic Bhutanese life. He writes in detail about Gongsa Ugyen Wangchuk and the way of life in BHutan. He also gives a detailed description, along with images, of Drugyel Dzong. Well, I am not going to get into the nitty-gritties of what is being written here; that's why I have uploaded the original article for you to read. I hope you will have a good read!

Chili: An obsession among Bhutanese

2009-09-07T22:45:00.000-07:00

Imagine if all countries were asked to send one person for a gathering at a certain place and showcase a talent which will distinguish themselves from all the others. What could that lone Bhutanese possibly do? Showcase Buddhism? Lozees and Tsangmos? Zhundras and Boedras? Dramestse Nga Chham? Well, what about ema-datse and our ability to consume spicy chillies?

After all, ema-datse is considered our national dish and just the sight of chillies is enough to send shivers down the spine for those foreigners. So here is a rule of thumb – the more chillies you add to your dish, the further they [ foreigners ] will stay away from your food. I think the affinity for spiciness is more of a conditioned rather than an innate characteristic for Bhutanese. As little toddlers, the number of times you hear that you are handsome or beautiful is in proportion to the amount of chillies you eat; And toddlers can do anything just to hear that they are good looking.

Foreigners often say that chili is used as a vegetable – not a spice – in Bhutan; If only they knew chili is the taste of Bhutan. Two or three chillies and a pinch of salt is all we need to have a hefty meal. [If you need prove for this statement, flashback to your school days!] It is hard to imagine Bhutanese dish without chillies. Bhutanese eat chillies whether raw or cooked, minced or roasted, fresh or dried, but no Bhutanese dish is complete without it. It isn't just another vegetable – or fruit if you want to get real scientific – we eat everyday; it is an integral part of our culture and life.

It is hard to believe that South America is the actual homeland of chillies. Countries like Bolivia and Ecuador are home to dozens of wild chili species which are believed to be the ancestors of all the world's chillies. Scientist believe that people in South America have been using chillies for at least 8000 years based on the discovery of traces of chilies on ancient milling stones and cooking pots from Bahamas to southern Chile. The evidence gathered from the study of potsherds from archaeological sites shows that Americas began domesticating chilies more than 6000 years ago.

After the discovery of American continent and the Caribbeans, chilies spread around the world rapidly. In 1492, Christopher Columbus encountered cultivated chili plants by the Arawak Indians in Hispaniola , and mistakenly called them “peppers.” Pepper, which belongs to the Piper genus, is a spice which is native to the Indian subcontinent, while chili belongs to the Capsicum genus. The mistake is attributed to another mistake Columbus made by falsely believing that he reached India when he landed on the West Indies. He later wrote that those people “deem it very wholesome and eat nothing without it.”

Columbus took chilies to Spain and introduced them to other Europeans. Soon the Portuguese traded them to Africa from their trading post in Pernambuco, Brazil. Within 50 years, Pernambuco chilies were cultivated in India, Japan, and China. India could be the only possible place from where Bhutanese got their first chili seed. Without written records about it, it will be hard to say when chillies found their place in the Bhutanese cuisines. But I think it is safe to speculate that Bhutanese got the taste of chillies only during the late sixteenth century – at the very earliest.

Chili have many varieties and it ranges from very mild bell peppers to the Naga Jolokia, the hottest chilli. Naga jolokia is a inter-specific hybrid found in Nagaland, Assam and Manipur. The spiciness of chilies is attributed to a heat generating compound called capsaicin. Capsaicin stimulates the neural sensors by affecting the taste buds, nerve cells and nasal membranes of tongue and mouth. The sensors also detects rising temperature due to the heat generated by capsaicin and it notifies the brain. The brain then releases endorphins, and increases the heart beat and perspiration rate. The flow of adrenaline is attributed to the enticing experience while eating chilies.

According to an article titled 'Hot News about Chili Peppers', published in the Chemical and Engineering News ( Aug. 2008), capsaicin alters the way our body uses the energy produced by the hydrolysis of ATP. Normally, the energy generated is being used by SERCA proteins to move calcium ions to and from Sarcoplasmic reticulum, a special type of endoplasmic reticulum found in smooth and striated muscle fibers . The sarcoplasmic reticulum releases calcium ions during muscle contraction and absorb them during relaxation. In the presence of capsaicin, the conformation of SERCA is altered and hence most of the energy is being released as heat energy.

Scientist believe that the spiciness in chilies have a evolutionary purpose. Fruits in general needs to lure birds and animals for a successful germination. But at the same time, they will have to keep away predators. Capsaicin is produced by a gland near the stem and the rate of production increases as the fruit ripens. In an experiment conducted at the University of Washington, rodents ate the mild chilies but avoided the hot ones. Interestingly, chilies have no effect [spicy affect] on birds. However it is found that capsaicin slows the digestive system of birds; this gives time for the seeds to germinate. An in-depth study of chilies in Bolivia revealed that capsaicin also protects the fruits from fungal inflection. It is observed that the more spicier ( more capsaicin ) the chili is, the less fungal inflection it suffered. It is also observed that the more moisture the place has, the more spicier the chilies grown. This is primarily because the growth of fungus is more prevalent in moist places.

While the reasons for the popularity of chilies in Bhutan is entirely up to wild speculations, these characteristics of chili might have contributed to it in small ways. It is quite natural for people to cultivate fruits and grains which grows well and have less predators. Since the practice of shifting cultivation is common in Bhutan, and the capability of chili to keeps away predators naturally, it might have been an idle plant to cultivate [ If this little theory of mine sounds stupid, just forget it]. While some people believe that the cold weather of Bhutan might explain the romance of Bhutanese with chilies, I am left wondering why didn't the people living in the Appalachian mountains eat chilies like we do. The weather is much harsher there than in most parts of Bhutan and chilies have been introduced to them by the English as early as 1600's. Whatever the reasons might be, it is just simply stunning for Bhutanese people to not only incorporate chilies in Bhutanese dish, but also make it an integral part of it just within few hundred years. ( I think an even more interesting thing would be to know the Bhutanese dishes before the advent of chilies. )

The scale which scientist use to measure the spiciness of chilies was invented by Wilbur Scoville in 1912. A solution of chili extract is diluted with sugar water until a panel of trained tasters no longer feels the heat; the degree of dilution gives the Scoville rating. The unit for the measurement is called Scoville Heat Unit (SHU). Due to its dependence on humans to judge the saturation point, it is quite unreliable scientifically. Nowadays, high-performance liquid chromatography ( HPLC ) is being used to measure the concentration of capsaicin and other caspsaicinoids. The result is being processed with a mathematical formula to yield a result in American Spice Trade Association pungency unit. This unit can be directly converted to SHU. Bell pepper have a rating of zero SHU and Naga Jolokia measures 855,000–1,041,427 SHUs. Pure capsaicin measures about 15 to 16 million SHU.

Apart from its usage by Bhutanese as an integral part of dishes, chilies have several beneficial uses. Chilies were found to have an ability to reduce food spoilage and can also be used for medicinal purpose. Mayans were the first to use chilies in treating wounds, gastrointestinal problems and earaches. Capsaicins are also used in local anesthetics. The presence of chili in meals reduces the amount of insulin needed to lower the blood sugar level. Interestingly, chili is found to have an ability to lower obesity level; this explains why I am gaining weight now. While I am not sure about its truth, I heard from elders in villages that applying/rubbing chilies on the eyes when you have conjunctivitis will cure you from it. [ Try at your own risk. ] As is the case with anything, beneficial characteristics comes with destructive characteristics . The high consumption of chilies is the main cause of stomach ulcers and gastro-oesophageal reflux disease (GORD) . I heard that stomach ulcers is one of the highest problems associated with Bhutanese, correct me if I ma wrong.

While I will agree that people eat food to enjoy the taste - other than the obvious reason to supply energy source for our body - and not to torture themselves with capsaicins, we Bhutanese have a weird way of enjoying food. Perhaps Ruth Reichl, editor of Gourmet magazine, was completely wrong when he called Bhutan’s dishes the “the world’s worst cuisine.” As far as I am concerned, you know what's my rating, don't you?

[Reference: National Geographic Society Magazine 2009]

Street Lamp

2009-09-03T22:14:00.000-07:00

The icicles gave a natural decoration to the glowing street lamp. I thought it is beautiful.

A Party Conversation

2009-06-17T02:19:00.000-07:00

I lost a game of darts. The queue seemed endless and my beer glass was almost empty too. It appeared to be frosted over but in reality were merely coated with dust – or so I thought. People of all race, size and height crowded the place. Some are scantily clad while others exposed only their faces and hands. The dart game resumed right after I handed over the darts. Few people played pools and most are crowded around the counter. The bartenders had put on a show of their talents in dealing with the bottles and glasses. Game three of the NBA finals between Lakers and Magic is underway, and the cheers and jeers from the crowd even suppressed the loud background music. Slowly, I made my way to the counter.

After what seemed like an hour, finally I ordered two Monster Bombs – I really don't want to be in that line again. An elderly man was beside me. His eyes were following my glass, so I asked if he would like to have one, which he gladly accepted. After few sips, he asked me which team am I supporting. Since the team I had been supporting had lost the game long time back, I had to resort to the mono-syllabic 'none!'.

“Are you an American?” asked the old man with suspicion written over his face. A good reason to doubt my nationality since every Americans will be supporting either of the two teams.

“No, I am not,” I answered. “I am an international student from Bhutan.”

“What? Bhoo...,” he stammered while trying to pronounce.

“Bhu-tan,” I repeated myself more clearly and slowly this time. “It is in the Himalayas between India and China.” Those lines came naturally on my lips after numerous repetition to countless people. His mouth remained wide-open above the chin which is supported by his left hand. While he kept his eye ball rolling, I took my first sip.

“Ohh... I'm sorry.” said the man apologetically. “Now does that make you an Indian or a Chinese?” Perhaps my looks might have confused him.

“Jesus H. Christ! Do I have to teach him A,B,C next?” I silently asked myself. Nevertheless, his innocence was real and I already stirred his curiosity. “See,” I said finally, “I am neither an Indian nor a Chinese. Can we just agree on me being a Bhutanese?”

“Of course! I didn't realize there is a nationality named 'Bhuutoonese'. My bad!” said the old man.

I might have sounded a bit pissed off when I asked him to agree on my nationality. After all he was quite an old man and the possibility of Bhutan's name reaching him is negligible. He shared his love of different American sports – basketball, football (the rugby style one) and hockey – and how it is part and parcel of everyday American life. I thought he's right since no television channel will broadcast anything without some sports news, updates, or clips. People, both old and young, will rather chose to go for a Yankee game than to eat good and healthy dinner for a month. In fact, once I went to meet one of friend and saw his roommate watching a baseball game between Yankees (New York) and Red Sox (Boston). I just asked who was his team and I seriously was only expecting him to name either of the two teams. Instead he stood up, opened his closet, took out the outfits – pants, shirts, caps, etc – of Yankees and was speaking at the top of his voice that he is a fan of Yankees. I could see my friend (who is from Nepal) laughing and I felt like saying, “Yo Dude!! Calm down. You don't have to get too excited with my question.”

One conversation led to another and soon we started talking about the presidential elections. The election of Barack Obama to the white house has been a history in itself. I saw young Americans of all races and gender rejoicing during the presidential inauguration in January – in fact our professor even paused his lecture and watched Obama speak to the nation. The old man I was having the conversation is a black man; Although I'm not sure whether he is an African American or a Caribbean. The election of a first black president to the highest position in the history of United States signifies the final triumph of the civil rights movement which they fought so hard.

“The election of Obama to the White House surely is a history in itself.”I said Hesitantly. “What does it mean to you? The election of the first Black..... I mean African American-”

The old man brightened suddenly. I knew I made a blunder by using a politically incorrect name calling noun.

“Black and African American. Funny you should correct them. See,” he began, “an interesting thing about America is the political correctness. When I was very young, – about sex or seven – they would call us 'Blacks'. When I was your age in the 1960's and in college, they called us 'Negroes'. After the civil rights movement in the south, we are known as 'Afrikans', and it finally changed to 'African Americans'. We're the same people, common!; our names doesn't have to be changed. But, it does and everything is about political correctness.”

I nodded my head in agreement. I felt stupid of myself for trying to change the word; It would have been normal if I just continued using 'Black' and didn't make any attempt to make the word sound more correct. “Well!I mean, how did you feel for having elected an African American as president?” I said finally.

“It's very interesting you would ask me that.” he said. “You know, people say the 'first black president' or 'first black player'. The fact is no one in America has a pure racial heritage now. Obama's mother was a white woman. Tiger Wood is more like you than he is like me. He has more ancestors from Asia than from Africa. I look like a pure black man, right?” he asked.

“Yea, sure.” I replied.

“My maternal grand mother is Chinese,” he continued, “my sister looks like a white. Everyone has mixed race nowadays. But sure the election of Obama to office is a great achievement of 1960's.”

Suddenly I realized that my glass was empty and I want to visit the restroom too. As a concluding question, I asked how he sees America in future.

“People say that America is a 'melting pot' and I really think it should be one. Racial, cultural, religious, political tolerance should be valued. It should become a place where people like you and me can discuss freely like we're doing now. I'm sure it will be one ultimately.” He said.

By then, my bladder could hold hardly any longer and I took leave of him.

Misquotation or Misinterpretation

2009-05-18T11:34:00.000-07:00

Which will you consider more dangerous, misquotation or misinterpretation? I had been reading few articles from Bhutanese news sites, and frequently the reporters are being accused of misquoting the interviewee. While the officials insist on having incorrectly quoted, reporters have their own justification and proofs of having quoted correctly – often with equal passion. Although this practice could lead to some unwelcome consequences, it is not really an irresolvable issue. If needs be, we can simply resolve it by bringing both parties to the same table. Perhaps the actual truth might be somewhere in-between the two extremes.

On the other hand, the problem of misinterpretation is in being subjective. While a phrase might be accurate word-to-word and letter-to-letter, the implied meaning would differ depending on the context, culture, and time it is being used. There are thousands of phrases which are being misinterpreted and have now become just another cliche. “Religion is the opium of the people” by Karl Marx is one of those phrases which is often quoted and often misinterpreted.

Nowadays the quote is being used to mean that religion makes people lunatic or delusional. It is not surprising since opium is being used for producing a drug-induced delusion for the person using it nowadays. The misinterpretation can also be attributed to the use of similar phrases like “religion is poison” by Chairman Mao during Chinese Revolution. The phrase appears in an introduction of a book – Critique of Hegel’s Philosophy of Right – where Marx critiques Hegel’s Philosophy of Right paragraph by paragraph. Marx writes:

“Religious suffering is, at one and the same time, the expression of real suffering and a protest against real suffering. Religion is the sigh of the oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless world, and the soul of soulless conditions. It is the opium of the people”

In the above quotation, Marx not only says that religion is the opium of the people, but also sigh of oppressed, heart of heartless, and soul of soulless. It is very important to take into account that opium is used as medicine – painkiller – during his time. Therefore he clearly states that religion provides a false solace – it does not make people delusional in any ways. He says that the purpose of religion is to create an illusory fantasy. Even if the living conditions and the economic situation prevents the poor people from finding happiness in this life, religion instructs them to take it positively since they will be rewarded in the next life. Therefore, religion provides solace for now and gives at best a questionable hope for future. Therefore Marx considers religion as an illusory happiness. He calls for the abolition of the illusory happiness since that is the ONLY way to demand the real happiness. Anyone would prefer the real happiness to illusory one, wouldn’t you?

In the recent incident of the murder of a woman by few Christian-converts, I have seen few people using Marx’s phrase to mean people become delusional or crazy because of religion. This certainly isn’t how Marx saw the world’s religion.

By the way, if you would like to read the text by Hegel and Marx, the links are provided below:

Don't Fall Off the Mountain

2009-05-03T20:46:00.000-07:00

"Don't Fall Off the Mountain", an autobiography book written by Shirley MacLaine narrates her childhood days in the suburbs of Virgina, adult days in New York and Hollywood, and the adventurous journeys – in search of her true identity – from the deserts of Africa to the high mountains peaks of the Himalayas. She writes about her involvement in the civil rights movement in the United States to her escape from the political revolution of the small Himalayan Kingdom.

She talks about the intolerance of the white Americans towards the African-Americans during the segregation and the Jim Crow's era. She takes a tour to Mississippi to “see their world through their eyes”. It was a era when every white, no matter what his work was, was a member of the KKK. She writes about the first hand accounts of the brutal acts of the KKK.

She describes about a journey she took along a klong in Thailand. Suddenly, an infant toppled head first into the klong and the parents don't make any attempts to save the infant but just watch their child drown. She rightly says that Buddhist believe that death is part of the cycle of life. But, I am not sure if she is right when she claims that many Buddhist will not interfere (will not try to save the drowning child) because we believe it is preordained fate. I am not sure if it is just a made up story or it actually happens in Theravada Buddhist culture – I'll have to do some more reading or will have to talk to some one. I find it hard to believe.

In remote Kenya, there is a small warrior tribe called Masai. Refusing to adapt to the white man's world, they prefer death to civilization. They rejects any form of development and feels that they're the elites among men. When a child enters adulthood, he will have to kill a lion single-handedly or die trying. It signifies their manhood and the skin of the lion they killed were hung from the door as a prize. Wives have value. They were purchased for a specific number of cattle, the price being fixed by the woman's father. Shirley describes about her stay with those tribes and gives a detailed account of their life-style and rituals. She becomes the Masai blood sister after a new born baby girl gets a name after her. Finally when she says good-bye, the chief asks her to tell her husband that he is going to buy her for five hundred cattle. “When he comes, we do business”, and with those words, they depart.

Then, she travels though India and describes the landscapes, people, and culture. She stops wearing pants and shirts and wears sari instead. After few months of stay at Kolkata, she finds herself a yoga instructor to instruct her. He says that the ultimate aim of yoga is “the liberation of the spirit, the union of the soul with the universe.” He said that get the inner truth continually and with startling clarity when we are on the mountain sanctuary. Thus, shes introduced to Bhutan.

One of her friend knew the Prime Minister of Bhutan, Dasho Lhuendrup Dorji, and he makes an appointment. She expects an old man sitting in lotus position, wrapped in saffron robes, and mediating. Suddenly a tall, slim and young Mongol of about twenty eight, dressed in black mohair trousers and red sports jacket walked towards her and introduced himself as “Lenny”. Lenny talks about his stay in the States while he was a student. Their conversation touched on New York City, Grand Central Station, Wall Street, LA Dodgers, etc. He talks about Bhutan and says it is still in the bronze age – only one telephone switchboard at the border, no electricity, and no wheels (except for the Indian industrial engineers who were constructing the highway from Phuentsholing to Paro). Anyways, she gets a permission to stay in Bhutan for a month.

Dasho Dorji was on his way to Switzerland – where His Majesty the third King was admitted to a hospital – to pay respect. So, he instructs a loyal Indian guide to go with Shirley to Paro. They travel along the Phuenstholing-Paro highway – which was under-construction. At Paro, she mets Dasho Nishioka and his wife. She visits few places like Taktshang and meets few spiritual masters.

Suddenly, the political environment in Bhutan gets hostile and all those people who are close to acting Prime Minister were arrested and acting Prime Minister was exiled. Dasho Lhendrup's non-Bhutanese wife(Mary) gets a mail saying that she should leave the country from a good friend of her. They make their journey to Phuentsholing and tries to cross the border. The guards catches them and takes them to Phuentsholing guest house. The army offered exit permit for Mary and Shirley but denied permit to Bhalla (the Indian guide). They tries to escape by hiding Bhalla under the luggage but gets caught at the second gate. Finally the queen grants an exit permit to Bhalla too and they leave the country to Kolkata. Mary narrates how the former Prime Minister Jigme P. Dorji was assassinated. She says that they were playing a card game. PM Jigme just won a game with a royal flush and was laughing when a bullet shot from the kitchen door of the guest house at Phuentsholing hit him. He died after some time after profuse bleeding. His last words, as per Mary who was holding him, was “Serve the king well.” The criminal was caught but he never spoke a word after getting caught. Thus they couldn't get into any details about the assassination.

She doesn't really go into the details of that incident, although I would have loved to read it. The book is written quite well and I would recommend to anyone who would want to read History, although she only offers one sided point-of-view. I would also love to hear from anyone who knows about those incident or would appreciate anyone who can direct me towards few materials about it.

Brilliance or Brute Force

2009-04-26T00:11:00.000-07:00

Is brute force more brilliant than brilliance itself? This question could sound quite stupid if not considered seriously. Garry Kasparov, regarded as the greatest chess player in the world played a match – six games – against an IBM designed chess computer (Deep Blue) which mainly relied on brute force computing power, and the Deep Blue won the controversial match.

Garry Kasparov was born in Baku, Azerbaijan (U.S.S.R then) and won the world chess championship when he was 22 – thus becoming the youngest champion. He held the world champion title from 1985 till 2000. He is best known for his five matches against Anatoly Karpov, another Russian grandmaster in chess. He played with Deep Thought – a chess computer – in 1989 and won the match. In 1996, he played another match with a chess computer (Deep Blue)and won. In 2003, he played a match each with Deep Junior – An Israeli designed chess computer which won the computer chess championship - and X3D Fritz. Both the matches ended in a draw.

The most interesting match took place in 1997 between Kasparov and “Deeper Blue” (which is and upgraded version of Deep Blue), which was a rematch of 1996. Kasparov won the first game easily by tricking the computer into his way. He lost the second game in which the computer made a move which completely shocked the grandmaster. He was so confident that there was a human factor in play and said it's the “hand of God” in reference to the statement made by Maradona when he scored the world cup winning goal with his hand. He never recovered from the shock and finally lost the sixth and the final game after two draws.

Kasparov asked for the log files of the second game right after the match (in an attempt to prevent the IBM from tampering the file), but his request was rejected. He wasn't given access to see the computer or the room n which the computer was located. However, IBM published the log files on their website later. Kasparov requested the IBM team for a rematch, but the team rejected the request for rematch too. After the game, the “Deep Blue” was dismantled and one part was donated to Smithsonian Institute in Washington D.C. Kasparov viewed the rejection of log files and rematch, and dismantling of the computer as covering up evidence of tampering during the games.

The documentary film “Game Over: Kasparov and the Machine” was released in 2003 which documents the events during the match. The film ALMOST (I feel that the film takes a little biased stance towards Kasparov by comparing the computer to “the turks”, which was a hoax involving a chess playing machine built in 18th century, but secretly operated by human beings) takes a non-inclined position by presenting the views of both Kasparov and the developers of Deep Blue. The documentary is provided below and you can make your own stance on it. Happy watching if you can load it :)

By the way, look at the small teddy rabbit(?) which I won from claw vending machine. This is the first time I got something from that damn machine after playing several times over the years. I wish to close the chapter between me and those gambling machines for good now.

Nauryz : Kazakh New Year

2009-03-24T12:05:00.000-07:00

Nauryz is a non-religious Kazakh folk celebration of the spring – I am wondering if it is the same festival as that of cherry blossom festival in japan. Nauryz is mostly celebrated in the west and central Asian countries of Kazakhstan, Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Iran and Turkey. It is celebrated on spring equinox. The central theme of Nauryz is renewal, cleansing, the coming of spring, and the birth of new life. During the course of history Nauryz has become a symbolic New Year in many cultures. Nauryz is one of the most ancient, respected and favorite holidays in that part of the world.

My university has about 70 Kazakh students and I got invited by few of my Kazakh friends to celebrate their celebration. It started at 5:00 pm but I could reach the spot only at 6:00 pm since we got lost. By the time we reached there, few girls – wearing their traditional attire – were dancing to a traditional music tune. A Turkish student performed Kanun – it looks like our Yangchen – and the small crowd added their own clapping sound to the music. Two Kazakh students performed Dombra (it looked just like a Dramgyen except it has only two strings and no animal head decorations) quite skillfully. They performed few traditional dances from different countries and few of them sang some songs – which I think might be a song to which people will dance when they are drunk. They showed us a short documentary about Kazakhstan. It looks great in that documentary but I also know they showed only the good things in that documentary. As the show is getting closer to end, few girls dressed in traditional attire threw sweets and chocolates in the crowd (I had fun jumping and catching those chocolates).

After the show is over, they served us their traditional food. I forgot their names but they are basically fried rice and breads. I interacted with few performers and friends – including strangers – and talked about their performance and their significance. A girl showed me a landscape which has a beautiful legend associated with it; she was proud hat her home is near that place. Well basically, there is a lake near a mountain and rock in a lake. She said that the rock looks like a young girl with her hair cascading in the wind from one side of the lake and looks like a old woman from the other side. It is believed that once a girl was wooed by men all over the country. As a test, her father made her stand on that mountain with a scarf and all her wooers were made to shot arrow at the scarf. Anyone who can pierce the scarf will get her as price. Unfortunately, the person who pierced the scarf happened to be the son of her father's arch rival. So, she jumped from the mountain into the lake and turned into a stone. Ohhhh.... what a tragedy!

They had a huge wallpaper where people were racing on horseback. I thought it is just a horse race. It is an ancient Kazakh game called kyz kuu (chase the girl). Basically, a guy and a girl will have to ride a horse and run towards a finish line. The guy can start galloping only after the girl passed his position. If the guy can overtake the girl, he can reach out to her and STEAL a kiss. If he could not overtake the girl, they will reverse the direction and the girl will chase the guy. If the girl can overtake the the guy before he reaches his starting position, he will get whipped with her whip. Seriously! what can be more fun than that? I am seriously considering to introduce this game in Bhutan .....

"International" Food Festival

2009-03-14T14:50:00.000-07:00

We had been planning to bring together as many people as possible from different countries and have a feast. Today is the day, yay! We will have fifteen people – all from different countries (well, consider Hong Kong and China as separate. I hope the Chinese government is not reading this LOL ) – meeting in our apartment today. Well! Basically the idea is that we will all cook some food which is native to our country and everyone will get to try different food.

Everyone had been busy since morning – not me though. I woke up at 12:00 noon (Common, it's Saturday) and went to Wegmans to get my recipes. All my friends started working on their respective food from 2:00 PM. Some started chopping garlic without peeling the dry skin, some started burning eggs while trying to make omelet, and some started calling their mother back home.

One of my friend brought the computer in the kitchen and loaded the page which has detailed instruction on how to prepare his food. Well, he was even following the amount of water, amount of salt, etc. But it is good to see him trying really hard.

After I finished making emadatsi, I hanged around a while to see how they are making. I saw one of my friend standing near the pot which is on stove with a spoon full of his food and his mouth wide open just above the pot which contains the actual food. He told me that he is tasting his food. He put the spoon in his mouth and then put back the remaining food in his spoon into the pot and started stirring with the same spoon without even washing it. I could not help but tell him that he just got fired if he is my chef.

I started cutting my chillies and onion at 4:30 PM and I am done now. It is 5:00 PM now, so I am going to take a nap. I asked them to wake me up once they are done anyways.

Oh! talking of shopping, something funny happened to us. We parked our car near a small car at Wegmans. While we were about to leave, the owner of that car – an old lady – opened her car's door to get in. Sensing that there is only a small space between the two cars, my friend politely asked the lady if we should move our car. “No, thank you. I am not that fat”, was the lady's reply. She slammed her car's door and drove away. “What the hell! I have no intention of saying that she is fat” was all my friend could say after the lady drove away. Well! After all, it is not your intention that matters, it is how the other person takes it that does. So the lesson: don't be a gentleman.

Trip to Gettysburg

2009-03-01T12:34:00.000-08:00

"A government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth." Sounds familiar? Those immortal words of Lincoln from his Gettysburg speech defines the fundamental meaning of democracy. I memorized that speech for an English eloquation competition, I was in eighth grade then. I also read few articles about the battle of Gettysburg and always wanted to visited it one day. So when we planned for a trip to Philadelphia and Columbus, I took the chance and included Gettysburg in the itinerary.

Initially, we planned to stay in Gettysburg for only few hours. Unfortunately or fortunately, Gettysburg's weather happened to be like that of Gedhu. When we reached Gettysburg at around 3:00 pm, we could not see the road clearly due to heavy fog cover. Hence we departed to Philadelphia that day and planned to come back for an entire day.

We went to the guest information area and got maps and other necessary items. We went in to watch a short movie about the battle and its history followed by a cyclorama about the battle. Cyclorama is basically a pictorial representation of an event on the inner wall of a cylindrical room, viewed by spectators occupying the center position. The sound and light effects give an illusion of movement and reality. It is one of the most amazing work of art I have ever seen.

[A scene from the cyclorama. source: NPS]

We went to the souvenirs shop and bought few presents for our friends back home. The entire park is so huge (actually the entire battlefield was converted to park now) that you have to use car to drive. You can still feel the history there: with cannons, tombs, and statues lying everywhere. First we went to the national cemetery where the Union soldiers were buried, followed by eternal peace memorial and few other sites of importance.

[The open field where Pickett's charge took place.]
Pickett's charge is an infantry assault ordered by confederate general Robert Lee against the Union position on Cemetery ridge. About 12,000 infantry men marched through the open fields towards the cemetery ridge which is occupied by union artillery. About 50% of the men were either killed or wounded and confederates lost the charge, and battle too.

I always thought that Lincoln gave the speech before the war began like one of those scenes in a movie. Actually, Lincoln gave the speech only an year after the battle when the federal government recognized the battlefield as a national park. Our guides told us that it is more fun to visit Gettysburg during the summer. He said that the local people still imitate the battle and there will be so many celebrations and youth camping. All in all, not bad at all. I enjoyed it and I liked the place.

[A memorial statue for the confederate soldiers who lost their life.]

[View of Gettysburg from Devils Den. It is small hill and the open field you see at a distance is the main battlefield.]

The bloody wheatfield. A series of confusing attacks and counterattacks within two hours left the place with thousands of dead bodies.

Pema Tshewang Tashi

2009-02-17T08:12:00.000-08:00

On “Quality of Education”

2009-01-29T12:32:00.000-08:00

“Quality of Education” has been the topic of intense debate among educationalists, policy makers, teachers and general public for years now. The debate occurred in the scared halls of national assembly, educational conferences, online forums and day-to-day gossips. The general consensus is that the “quality of education” has deteriorated in recent years. Fortunately for policy makers and unfortunately for teachers, every little blames is put on teachers.

Firstly, we will have to agree on what “quality of education” really means. Is it how much materials have the students memorized? Is it how well the students can read, write and speak English or Dzongkha? Or is it about what percentage of students fails or passes the board examinations? Perhaps could it be the variety of talents that the student possesses? Or is it about how well prepared the students are in the job market? May be it’s a combination of all of the above qualities. We will have to come to a common consensus on what is “quality of education” to debate about it. If we consider above mentioned entities as “quality of education”, it is illogical to say that the “quality of education” has declined in recent years. While some of them might have been worse; some of those qualities are better off now than they were years ago.

The main objective of education is to question and search for the higher truth. Hence “quality of education” is how well prepared the students (youths) are to tackle the present and future challenges. The youths of today are faced with a completely different reality than our parents did years ago. Competition has drastically increased, expectations are high and demands for excellence in specialized fields are soaring ever more. On the other hand, apathetic parents and elders are still comparing and contrasting what they could do years ago to what the youths can do today in total disregard to the environment. Therefore it is totally unfair to claim that the “quality of education” that today’s youth are receiving is not as good as the ones received during “good” old times.

Our education system is still based on “Traditional Learning System” which basically does not allow creativity and innovation in the curriculum. Discussions and debates on topics of academic interest are nonexistent. Teachers read exactly what is written in the textbook and declares “syllabus covered” once they finish reading the book. Even creative writings like poems are taught only for the sake of literal meaning. Most of the examinations are “recall memory” test where the students are asked dates and names rather than the actual context of events and practical applications of theories. This teaching and learning system can never prepare our youths to face the challenges in an information age. These are signs of failing curriculum which in turn is the result of failed policies. In fact, our elder generations should have foreseen those changing trends and adapted our system to the changing world if they really did receive better education. Unfortunately, prudence happened to be a meager resource.

Some people argue that the quality of education cannot be any better or worse than quality of teacher. This argument underestimates the importance of “system” itself. If the system doesn’t facilitate in the creation of an academic environment where creativity and innovation is encouraged, good teachers will not serve any purpose. Students will have to be taught about the importance of independent thinking, so that the present trend of borrowing each others' notebook is seen as something unworthy. Teachers should try to act as a catalyst for students to participate in active discussions and exchange their budding ideas rather than being a source of idea. The distribution of teachers should be uniform. At present, some schools have three different teacher to teach some subjects (like a teacher each for organic, inorganic and physical chemistry) while some schools have no teachers at all. This is morally unfair since all students have to take the same exams. The development of infrastructures like libraries will have to be given utmost importance. At the very least, we need books and journals (if not Internet facilities) so that our young minds will be able to explore for ideas.

Just creating an interactive curriculum in classrooms will not have much impact on the society. What use will the knowledge gained in classrooms have if it can’t help the people who are in need? In order to make the new ideas practical, we will have to create a space where practical applications of theories can be made possible. Perhaps it will not be hard to come up with an annual “Innovation” festival where youths from different parts of country can build connections and collaborations. This festival can serve as a space where they can show their artistic and scientific talents. Let it serve as a space where they can show the fruits of their hard work. Let it serve as an environment where talents lying on the extremes of spectrum can be “fusioned”.

With the advancement of technology, our youths will face tougher competition and challenges. They will not be able to march along with the world without an environment in which creativity and innovation is encouraged. If we create a learning environment of dynamism and competition, our youths will be able to face the hard challenges of present and future without difficulty and our elders will not have to worry about the deteriorating “quality of education.”

[ Note: An edited version of this article has been published by BhutanObserver - a private news paper based in Thimphu, Bhutan. Click here read it.]

Hoch Scholarship Program and Bhutan

2009-01-12T12:04:00.000-08:00

“The Hoch Scholarship program is a small private scholarship program which provides funding for up to two Bhutanese grantees, currently in the field of electrical and hydroelectric engineering at the undergraduate level, for a maximum of four years. Grantees are selected by the Royal Civil Service Commission of Bhutan. Grants are full grants and cover tuition, room and board, insurance, airfare and grantax services. It is funded by an individual philanthropist and his family”, says the Information on Institute of International Education (IIE)’s website. That is the only information on this scholarship program which educated a handful of Bhutanese students in the United States in engineering fields. I am sure all those students are contributing towards the nation building process.

I have been lucky enough to receive this same scholarship and study here in the United States. I am sure that the extraordinary experiences (be it in academic or non-academic fields) I gain here will help me in contributing back to the nation which made me the person I am today. I am from a poor family and I neither have aunts or uncles who have the power and wealth to make a difference in me. If I am to thank anyone, I will have to thank my parents for bringing me up and enrolling me in school even when they lived hand to mouth, and the Royal government for the enlightened initiative of free education policy. Thank you.

I think I have the responsibility to know what Hoch Scholarship is. After all, it’s this scholarship which brought me to a land which I can only watch on Television; and attend a university which I can only dream of attending.

In order to understand Hoch Scholarship, we need to understand the Helvetas - Bhutan relationship. In 1948, Her Majesty the Queen Mother, Ashi Kesang Choden Wangchuk and Ms. Lisina Hoch attended the same school in London (House of Citizenship). Ms. Lisina was the daughter of a Swiss industrialist and trader, Mr. Fritz Von Schulthess. In 1949, Mr. Schulthess’ family visited the family of Ashi Kesang at Bhutan House in Kalimpong. After Ashi Kesang married His Late Majesty Jigme Dorji Wangchuk, the royal family of Bhutan and Mr. Schulthess’ family developed close ties. It is from this relationship that Helvetas had its existence in Bhutan.

[The photo to the left is Ms. Lisina Hoch. Photo Courtesy of Helvetas - Bhutan. ]

The Hoch Scholarship is a private scholarship funded by Mr. Late Frank Hoch and Ms. Lisina Hoch’s family. Ms. Lisina is also the Vice President of Bhutan Foundation with its headquarter in Washington, DC. Since the initial intent of the scholarship is to train Bhutanese engineers in electrical or hydro-electrical engineering, I guess I can say it started after government took initiative to develop power projects (most probably Chukha) in the 1970’s. I have no hard evidence to back my unofficial claim. Before I came here I did met a alumni of Hoch Scholarship who is in his mid/late forties, so I think it is quite safe to say it started in 1970’s or before (assuming he is not the first person to get the scholarship). I do strongly believe that RCSC will have the record and will be in a good position to say about it. I will try to find it later!

Into the Thunder Dragon

2009-01-04T14:59:00.000-08:00

I finished my assignments and submitted them. I had nothing to do, so i surfed the web for some documentaries on Bhutan. I found a documentary which is about a Canadian and an American unicyclist traveling in Bhutan using unicycle. They travelled from Paro to Ura, Bumthang in a bus and trekked the Rudungla Pass between Ura and Trashi Yangtse. On their journey, they gave some fascinating geographical, historical and cultural information in first person. This is one of the best documentary I have seen on Bhutan. It's simple, deep and very informative and educative. Even thought I am Bhutanese, I have never seen those passes myself, It's a time well spent. For those people who are interested in watching the documentary, I have embedded the video below:

Innocence is Bliss

2009-01-03T15:22:00.000-08:00

Thanks to the technological developments! I hardly go to movie theater to watch movies now. We can just buy DVDs or even better, we just need to order them online through several movie renting sites like Netflix. It is much cheaper than going to theater. But sometimes, you feel that you are happy that you made the choice of doing something which is more difficult, more expensive, or more challenging. My friends asked me to go for movie with them. I resisted at first but finally submitted to their persuasion. We drove to the theater which is about five minutes drive from our apartment. I tried to persuade them to watch “Body of Lies” but they insisted on “The Boy in the Stripped Pyjamas”. Finally we settled on voting and I lost the deal.

“The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas” is a British-American drama film produced in 2008. It is based on a fictional book by John Boyne. It circles around the adventure of a eight years old German boy during World War II. Bruno, a son of a German Nazi commander in a concentration camp suddenly has to move to a countryside from Berlin when his father gets promoted. On his very first day, Bruno looks from the window of his bedroom and spots several people in “stripped pyjamas”. He mistakes them for farmers and asks his mother if he can play with those farmer boys. But his mother figures out the truth and discourages Bruno from getting outside.

One day as Bruno is playing outside, he finds a way to get out through a window. Secretly, he goes there and becomes friend with a Jewish boy (Shmuel), who is of same age. He asks if Bruno have food in his house and if he likes soldiers. From that day, Bruno secretly steals food and goes to the camp to play with Shmuel. One day Shmuel tells Bruno that he didn't see his father for few days. They discovers that they can dig a hole under the fence so that they can bypass the fence. At the same time, Bruno's family tries to move out to a safe place for their children to grow. On the day his family were to move to a new town, Bruno escapes to the camp and tries to help Shmuel in finding his father. In the process, they are transferred to a gas chamber and killed.

"It's not fair. Me being stuck over here on my own. While you are over there, playing with friends all day long", says Bruno not realizing Shmuel is in a concentration camp. It is a beautiful story and I am glad I went to watch it. The trailer of the movie is given below:

New Year's Images

2009-01-01T20:53:00.000-08:00

This photo of late His Majesty the 3rd Druk Gyalpo was taken by Frank and Lisina Hoch in 1955.

This photo is in upstate New York.

Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame

2008-12-31T22:10:00.000-08:00

Before I went to Cleveland, all I know about that city is the Cleveland Cavaliers. Although I am a fan of Boston Celtics, Lebron James never fails to amaze me. But Cleveland has lot more to offer than just Cavaliers. I was there during the Christmas break and I felt in love with it. Besides the normal skyscrapers, they have Cleveland Browns, Great Lakes Science Center, Cleveland Indians, Lake Eric shores, and many other tourist attractions. But I never knew the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame and Museum is located there.

The museum and Hall of Fame is located on the shores of Lake Eric and it has six stories of exhibitions. The entry fee is about $20 but they have a discount for students. So we got in for $17 each. We could see the dresses and musical instruments of great artist, listen to songs which shaped the rock and roll culture, play around with touch screens and learn the history of rock and roll, and see some original lyrics of great songs handwritten by the original artist. Elvis's car, guitars, dresses and shoes are all on display. We can also listen to 500 greatest songs that shaped the world of rock and roll. It's a great experience listening to Led Zeppelin's stairway to heaven, Beatles' yesterday and hey Jude, Midnight Oil's beds are burning, CCR's fortunate son, Bob Dylan's blowin’ in the wind, The Eagles' Hotel California, Elvis Presley's mystery train, and Pink Floyd's another brick in the wall, just to name a few.

They also show how the rock and roll culture flourished despite so many strong oppositions from conservative politicians and interest groups. They have a cafe on the 4th floor (or is it 5th, I am not sure now.) where we can drink and eat while enjoying the lake Eric water body. On the second floor, they have a small shop which sells souvenir. It's a life time experience and I am glad I made it.

Trip of North-East US

2008-12-31T20:27:00.000-08:00

It's Thanksgiving break again! Time to rejoice, not because I celebrate it but because I get two week's break. I can do whatever I want and the world will not complain: no date lines, no late penalties, no surprise quizzes and test, no meetings, nothing! It's time to relax from the busy schedules of study and other club activities. So six of us decided to go on a road trip to Portland in Maine, the land of lobsters.

Everything went so well as we planned till we reached Salisbury, Massachusetts when one of our car flipped over and went below the road. Thank God! Nothing happened to us. The process of calling the American Automobile Association (AAA) and the police to access the accident took us quite a while. The car has been destroyed quite badly but I am still wondering how two of my friends managed to stay without even a very minor injury. They pulled the car up and sent it off to a workshop in Boston and we continued our trip to Portland.

It's already 1:00 am and we still have about 70 miles to cover. Six of us used one car and finally reached our hotel at about 2:00 am. We checked in and soon, everyone's fast asleep.
It's already 12:20 pm when I woke up next day. Two guys were still sleeping and the rest were about to leave. I rushed to the bathroom, brushed my teeth, flushed my face with few sprinkles of water, put on my jeans and jacket, and got ready to march with them.

Portland is not a big city by American standard. But for a person like me who's brought up in remote Bhutan, I can't help but jump in jubilation. All I need to do is remove those other American cities from my mind and it becomes a mega city. Over the period of about a week we went to the Portland Museum of Arts, Portland harbor, downtown, malls, and other tourist attractions in the town. The native cheese and beers have their own flavor. We went to watch "Quantum of Solace" and as predicted, I felt asleep. A visit to Portland or any part of Maine is not complete without having Lobster dinner. I tried to go with “lazy man” lobster (they basically remove everything for you) but decided to go for normal. Two huge lobsters and scrambled potatoes made the trip complete.

The wineries of New Hampshire and the wine they produce will make me nostalgic every time I taste a bad wine. The sales tax rate is lower than that of New York and it looks like everything is cheaper except the lobsters. The oceans and lighthouses, waves and sands, seagulls and seaweeds have their own beauty. Having been born in the mountainous country, the sight of oceans, horizon and plains are always more appealing to me than the snow capped mountains.

Once back to my station, I will be kept busy by my professors: readings, homework, projects, test, exams, and assignments. I also bought a book called "The Way of the Bodhisattva" by Shantideva, which is called "Choejug" in Bhutanese. It's a good book and I am enjoying every bit of it. In fact I should, I paid about $23.

Bhutan: HM's National Day Address

2008-12-19T01:29:00.000-08:00

Childern of Heaven

2008-12-12T11:58:00.000-08:00

In 1997, Majid Majidi directed a film which would be the first Iranian film to be nominated for Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film. Children of Heaven centers on the story of a young brother and his little sister, and the adventures over the lost pair of shoes. Ali (elder brother) takes Zahra's (little sister) shoes for repair, but loses it on his way back home. Realizing that their parents have no money to buy a replacement, the siblings decides to keep the matter secret. Instead, they devise a plan to share Ali's sneaker: Zahra will wear in the morning and Ali will wear in the evening since their school has a shift system. They go through a series of adventures in trying to hide the secret from parents, attend the school regularly and to acquire a pair of shoes for Zahra. Ali enters a marathon race hoping to get the third prize: a new pair of shoes. Unfortunately, Ali wins the race and receives a cup and a medal instead. The movie is on youtube and anyone who wishes to watch it can, Click Here.

Last Lecture

2008-12-06T10:59:00.000-08:00

If you could only have one last chance to share your knowledge with the world, what would you say and want your legacy to be? This is the basic idea behind the generic "Last Lecture" given by some renowned professors.

Randy Pausch was a Professor for Computer Science and Human-Computer Interaction at Carnegie Mellon University. Unfortunately, for Prof. Pausch it became a reality. He was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and soon it turned terminal. He accepted to give the lecture before he knew that his cancer will prove fatal. Indeed, it really was a Last Lecture.

He gave a talk about "Achieving Your Childhood Dreams" on September 18^th, 2007. The lecture is given below:

Yak Legpai Lhadhar Gawo

2008-12-03T18:37:00.000-08:00

Soe Jangothang, a small village near the foot of magnificent Mt. Jomolhari became the village for Chuni Dorji in 1922. Like most of his fellow citizens of his time, he never had the opportunity to enroll in formal school. He was everything but educated, yet he excelled in playing with words. He spent his whole life herding yaks, singing songs and dueling lozays. According to Kuensel (December 29, 2003), he became the singer and composer for His Late Majesty Jigme Dorji Wangchuk till His Majesty’s Death.
Ap Chuni happened to compose one of the most beautiful songs from Bhutan: Yak Legbi Lhadhar. The combination of the melody and the emotional story it narrates has the capacity to bring tears to everyone who listens to it. The lyrics of the song is as follows:

Soo yak legbi lhadhar zshel legsa
Yak legbi lhadhar lhachu dhi

Soo yak kayyul droyuel shedming go
Yak kayyuel droyuel shed go na

Soo thow gangri karpoi zshaylu lay
Pang sersho khagyel thosa lu

Soo ya metho baabchu legsa mo
Yak rang gi phayul dhiley inn

Soo tsa zawa ganglay zengo za
Chhu thungma ngomchhu tsholay thung

Soo na thruelni lhadhar nga thruel way
Nga laywang che gyi lhadar mo

A rough translation of the lyrics is given below:

Ohh, handsome Yak lhadhar with a beautiful face
Yak lhadhar is like a God's son.

Ohh, You dont have to know about the home of yak Lhadhar
But, if you have to know about Lhadhar's home.

Ohh, Lhadhar's home is near the magnificant white mountains
Where the yellow meadows covers the landscape.

Ohh, a place where the flowers adorns the landscape
That is the place which Lhadhar calls home.

Ohh, I have been eating the green grasses of the highlands
I have been drinking water from the pounds and lakes.

Ohh, it's I, Lhadhar who feels sad
Its I, Lhadhar who has no luck.

[Note: This translation is done by me, so quite a huge amount of messsage is lost in translation. ]

The video above have a clip of Ap Chuni singing the song he composed years ago.

It describes the feelings of a yak, Lhadhar, who was slaughtered for a ritual in Laya. It begins by describing how handsome and wonderful is yak Lhadhar. Then it describes the beautiful environment in which Lhadhar grew into a adult yak along other yaks. But suddenly, all the joys of his life comes to an end when his owner receives an order from a powerful local lord to give Lhadhar for slaughter.The lyrics produced above is what is popularly sung nowadays. The actual song was said to run for more than an hour.

Late Soe Gup Limchu was said to have popularized this song among the mainstream bhutanese people and even today, most people mistake him as the composer. The song is played in the country on radio stations regularly and it made a debut on International scene when it was adopted for Travellers and Magician's soundtrack.

My King

2008-11-21T23:41:00.000-08:00

Throughout recorded history, the meaning of leadership has evolved constantly. At one time, leadership meant having greater control and securing more authority; but today it means sacrificing personal goals for the common good. It meant doing what people wanted to do; today it means not only listening to people, but also leading people where they ought to go. Leadership meant physical and oratory power; today it means having the influence and inspiration to make others “dream, learn, do and become more.” These characters that define today’s leadership qualities are also what defines my king, Druk Gyalpo Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck.

His Majesty was born on the 21^st of February 1980, to His Majesty the Fourth Druk Gyalpo Jigme Singye Wangchuck and Ashi Tshering Yangdon. Being the eldest son to the reigning monarch, the burden of responsibility fell on him from a very early age. Unlike other fortunate children, he was brought up under strict official code of conduct and ethics. He went to school together with other ordinary Bhutanese students, and led the life of a regular student at school. After the completion of basic education from Bhutan, His Majesty was sent to the United States and later the United Kingdom and India for further education.

Apart from his formal education, he has also served as the president of Bhutan Scouts Association, president of Bhutan-India Friendship Association, president of the Bhutan Trust Fund for Environmental Conservation, and Chancellor of Royal University of Bhutan among other such responsibilities. His Majesty also headed many Bhutanese delegations to international forums and countries. In 2002, at the United Nations youth forum, he called upon the world leaders to give importance to the development of children and youth in long run under the concept of “A World Fit for Children.”

His Majesty has also taken every opportunity to educate citizens about the vision for the country. Addressing the graduates of Sherubtse College during its eleventh convocation, His majesty said, “I will adopt your aspirations as my own and work towards fulfilling them. Therefore, you must have big ambitions and hopes for our country.” Speaking to the graduates of 2007, His Majesty outlined the main task for our generation to work and succeed:

Maintaining Peace, Security and Prosperity for Bhutan
Making Gross National Happiness a national conscience
And, Building a Vibrant Democracy

All three broad goals outlined above can only be achieved by building a strong economy in this day and age. These, he said are the responsibilities that every Bhutanese should shoulder.

Bhutan has been a member of the United Nations since 1971, where the member states recognize each other’s territorial integrity under international laws. Today Bhutan is a member of all major international and regional organizations and associations.

When peace and security of our nation is compromised, His Majesty will be the unifying force that will bring harmony and stability. Hence, His Majesty emphasized the need for a strong sense of intelligent patriotism and unity in effort among all the citizens to “further secure, consolidate and hand over an even stronger nation to our children.”

Gross National Happiness (GNH) is a radical approach to development. The four pillars of GNH: equitable socio-economic development, environmental conservation, cultural preservation, and good governance are being re-emphasized by His Majesty. GNH is the guiding philosophy for our economic development, rather than a goal to achieve. His Majesty called upon the people to use GNH as our “National Conscience”, which will help us make better decisions for all ages to come.

The concept of a happy and prosperous nation will remain a far-fetched dream, if we still have fellow citizens lacking the basic necessities of life. The appointment of Zimpon Wongmas to identify and help the “poorest of the poor” is a giant leap forward in eradicating abject poverty. The Zimpon Wongmas are traveling to remote places, under the command of His Majesty, to identify and provide direct assistance to those underprivileged citizens who are often left out by broad policies and programmes– thus taking Kidu to the people rather than people approaching His Majesty for Kidu.

In the words of Rosalynn Carter, “a great leader takes people where they don't necessarily want to go but ought to be.” His Majesty worked hard to make the transition to democracy a success by all standards. He traveled tirelessly to many districts in order to discuss the draft constitution and get the people's view. When people appealed to His Majesty about their concern and uneasiness about the transition to democracy, he said that the current political environment makes Bhutan ideal for democracy. His Majesty cleared the apprehensions of people saying that democracy must succeed and called upon the people to work with the spirit of unity and common purpose.

His Majesty has repeatedly urged us to be the best in the world. He said that in order for Bhutan to succeed, we have to build a society based on meritocracy. Anyone who was fortunate enough to receive an audience or heard him speak always got one thing: Inspiration. Whenever he meets students, civil servants, or businessmen, he urges them to “rise to the challenge, change the mindset, the way of working….. think big and work hard.”

His Majesty has sacrificed the delights of youth and personal ambitions to prepare for the responsibility of serving the country and people. The transition to democracy would have never been more peaceful without his encouragement and firmness on “One Nation with One Vision.” Bhutanese citizens were always blessed with great monarchs and never had a time where they lacked inspiration to dream, work and achieve. He is my king, our king and the People's King.

[Note: I wrote this for the Coronation Literary Competition for Bhutanese Students studying abroad and it has been published in a small booklet called "Our Hero"]

Angulimala: The wearer of finger garland

2008-06-13T20:13:00.000-07:00

Angulimala was the son of the Brahmin Bhaggawa and Mantani. Bhaggawa was a loyal advisor to king Pasenadi of Kosala(an ancient kingdom in India). He was born under thieves' constellation, and on the night of his birth, all the armours and weapons in the town shone brightly. The king was so disturbed by this, and next morning he called upon his advisors and asked them why are the armours shinny. So Bhaggawa answered, “My wife have given birth to a son and according to his birth signs, he would become a lonely bandit”. The king ordered that the child be sacrificed but Bhaggawa advised the king that since he will be alone, they can catch him easily in the future if it turns out to be true. Bhaggawa named the child “Himsaka” which means “harmful” in pali, but later changed it to “Ahimsaka(harmless)”.

When he was old enough, Bhaggawa sent Ahimsaka to University of Taxila, then the Ox-bridge of India. At Taxila, he was the most strongest, brightest and obedient among all students and excelled in his studies. As a result he was liked by both his teacher and his wife so he enjoyed the privilege of living in their own house. This made the other pupils jealous of him. They went to the teacher and falsely accused Ahimsaka of having an immoral relationship with the teacher’s wife. At first, he did not believe them, but after hearing it a number of times, he thought it was true and vowed to have revenge on Ahimsaka. He thought that to kill him would reflect badly on him but some sources say that he dared not challenge Ahimsaka physically(Ahimsaka is said to be as strong as seven elephants). His rage prompted him to suggest the unthinkable to the young and innocent Ahimsaka. He ordered to bring him “1000 human right hand thumb” as his tuition fees(thinking that he will be killed in the process) and expelled Ahimsaka from the university.

When his father heard about the reason why his son was expelled from the university, he became so furious and ordered Ahimsaka to leave the house on that very day when there was heavy rain outside. He went to his mother for advice, but she couldn’t help him as she was afraid of her husband. Than he went to the house of his betrothed, but when the family learned why he was expelled, they too rejected him. Now the shame, anger, fear and despair drove him out of his normal mind and he could only recollect his teachers order: 1000 human right hand thumb.

So he decided to fulfill his teachers wish and resume his studies again. Some sources say that he asked people to give their right hand thumb, but no one was willing to give thus he became a highwayman in the Jalini forest in Kosala. He murdered each and every passerby even when they are in groups of ten or twenty. He took the thumb to make garlands so that he can keep the exact count and hanged the corpses on the trees for vultures and crows. Initially he hanged the garland on a tree but the birds stole the thumbs, so he hanged them around his neck. Thus he came to be known as Angulimala (“anguli“ = fingers, “mala“ = garland or necklace) and he became terror of the countryside and people avoided the path through Jalini forest. Now he attacked the villages and later towns to fulfill his dream. Since he was murdering so many people, the King of Kosala decided to go with his strong army and capture the bandit. When Mantani heard this she went to her husband and asked him to save their son, but he rejected saying that he became a real evil. The mother was so soft hearted that she decided to go to the forest herself and warn her child about the dangers from the king.

On that day, Angulimala has 999 thumbs, just one thumb short of 1,000. Having spent months and months in the forest without any proper food and rest, he was anxious to kill the last person to make up his full quota of 1,000 and so complete his task to pay off his debt and live a decent life. So he made a promise saying, “Today even if my own mother becomes the first person on my way, I will kill her and cut off the thumb to make one thousand thumbs”. The Buddha perceived with his “divine eyes” that Angulimala had killed 999 victims, and was desperately seeking a thousandth. If the Buddha encountered Angulimala that day, he would become a monk and subsequently attain Nirvana. If Angulimala encountered his mother instead, he would kill her as his thousandth victim and fall into hell for thousand years for the act of matricide. So out of compassion, Buddha left for the forest.

As he looked down from his perch, he saw a woman on the road below. He wanted to fulfill his vow to complete the 1,000 thumbs, but as he approached, he saw it was his mother. At the same time, the Buddha was approaching, and Angulimala had just enough presence of mind to decide to kill the wandering monk instead of his mother. So he raised his knife and began chased the monk. Now Buddha powered with “psychic power” walked before Angulimala but he never caught Buddha. At that moment he thought:

“Isn't it amazing! Isn't it astounding! In the past I've chased and seized even a swift-running elephant, a swift-running horse, a swift-running deer. But now, even though I'm running with all my might, I can't catch up with this contemplative walking at normal pace”. So he shouted angrily at Buddha to stop, but the blessed one answered, “I have stopped, Angulimala , now you stop!”. At that moment he thought these monk is the speaker of truth and yet he says he have stopped while still walking. Why don’t I question him now! Thinking thus he questioned the Buddha:

While walking, contemplative,
you say, 'I have stopped.'
But when I have stopped
you say I haven't.
I ask you the meaning of this:
How have you stopped?
How haven't I?

To which Buddha answered him:

I have stopped, Angulimala,
once and for all,
having cast off violence toward all living beings.
You, though, are unrestrained toward beings.
That's how I've stopped and you haven't.

On hearing these words Angulimala was recalled to reality, and thought, these are the words of a wise man. This monk is very wise and very brave that he must be the leader of the monks. Indeed, he must be the Enlightened One himself! He must have come here specially to make me see the light. Thinking so, he threw away his weapons and asked the Blessed One to admit to the Order of the bhikkhus, which the Buddha did. So at the age of twenty he became a monk.

Since he was a brilliant student, he learned everything from the Buddha and dedicated his life to strict meditation. As a result of his former karmic actions, while seeking for alms in the streets he will be beaten up with stones by the people. He used to go to the monastery with wounds and bloodshed to be reminded by the Buddha that it is his former karmic deeds that he is undergoing this hardships in this life itself. One day when he was on his alms, he saw a woman suffering from extreme labor. He went to Buddha and asked what should he do to reduce the pain that the woman is bearing. Buddha asked him to recite:

Sister, since the day I became an arhat
I have not consciously destroyed
The life of any living beings.
By this truth, may you be well
And may your fetus be well.

He went to the woman and recited this verses and she delivered without any pain. Later the verses came to be known as “Angulimala sutta” and is recited even to this day when the ladies are in labor pain. He lived most of his life in solitude and meditation. Later he passed away peacefully in meditation.

After his death, his friend asked Buddha where was Angulimala reborn, but He answered, “my son Angulimala has attained Nirvana”. They could hardly believe it and asked can such a person attain Nirvana. So Buddha said, “Bhikkhus, Angulimala had done much evil because he did not have good friends. But later, he had good friends and with their help and good advice he became steadfast and mindful in practicing the dharma and meditation. Thus, his evil deeds have been overwhelmed by good karma and his mind has been completely rid of all defilements”. The Buddha said of Angulimala as: “Whose evil deed is obscured by good, he illumines this world like the moon freed from a cloud”.

Angulimala , after knowing that his goal in life has been achieved said of himself:

Who once was heedless,
but later is not,
His evil-done deed
is replaced with skillfulness.
he brightens the world
like the moon set free from a cloud.

And prayed:
May even my enemies
hear talk of the Dharma.
May even my enemies
devote themselves to the Buddha's bidding.
May even my enemies
associate with those people who - peaceful,
good -get others to accept the Dharma.
May even my enemies
hear the Dharma time & again
from those who advise endurance, forbearance,
who praise non-opposition,
and may they follow it.

After performing Act of Truth, he is said to have brought safety to people and they in return worshipped him. Atlast his name “Ahimsaka” befitted him.

The World I know

2008-06-13T20:08:00.000-07:00

What can I say that might be of interest and relevance? Let me answer this question by taking a journey all the way from the time when I was a little child just eagerly waiting to be enrolled in school to today. The most formative and influential years of my life were those which I spent as a kid. Every word that I hear and every action that I see others perform has some influence on me. That is the period where my mind is free of skepticism and I believed in everything. That is the period where I followed everything that my elders do and my peers suggested with neither the fear nor analyzing it’s effect. That is the period when I didn’t know how to discriminate people on the basis of race, sex, wealth, region, ethnicity and religion. I never prayed to God to give me the courage to speak the truth, yet I was able to speak it whether it is good or bad, but the truth. The power of reason is almost unknown, for I didn’t care whether my parents can effort to buy me toys or give me five ngyeltrum every time if I am to stop crying. I never realized that my parents had sacrificed all their needs and wants so that I can be a happy child. I hardly knew that the foods that I have refused to eat where the best that they could effort. What a beautiful life it has been without trials and tribulations, worries, fear, reason and discrimination.

When I was five years old, I was admitted to a school which is about six kilometers away from my home. I could still feel the happiness within me when I was taken to the school by my mother with a new gho with lagoue(white scarf on the gho), new shoes and socks and calling myself proudly as Dasho. I promised her that after finishing my studies, I will bring them radio, cloths, etc(I don’t know if ever I can fulfill all that promises ). What a good entertainment it used to be when I taught my parents everything that I learned in class and reciting them the national anthem. They would laugh and feel proud for they knew that I was learning something new which they didn’t know themselves. Every morning I would refuse to go to school if there isn’t any cash with me, what a burden I had been to them besides my two brothers. This is the period where I learned how to read and write ABC and ka, kha, ga, nga but I never thought that those will be the words which I would be writing to express the thoughts in my mind today.

From my sixth till twelfth grade, I went to a boarding school and the life thereafter was almost completely different than the earlier ones. I met more people from different ethnic groups, social status and regions. I used to do temporary jobs so that I can help my parents and effort my school spending. This is the period when I learned discipline, living our own life in relation to others, looking for someone who is closer to us thereby the sense of discrimination, pride, selfishness and above all the reason. It was there that I found my true identity – learned who I really was. The cocky kid on the outside, who was really scared on the inside, emerged after years as a reasonably self-confident person who was ready and anxious to enter the next phase of his life. The world that I knew earlier was just my own world, my own creation.

The world in reality was unequal, insecure, unstable and unsustainable. Firstly It is unequal because almost half of world’s population aren't part of it. A billion people live on less than a dollar a day. Two and a half billion people have no access to sanitation. A billion never get a clean glass of drinking water, forget about cooking their food. About 46 million people are living with AIDS and millions are inflected with it since the day they are born. Millions have no access to proper health facilities and education. Millions are left orphaned due to diseases, civil wars and huger. Millions search for rice while the water is boiling on the oven. Forget about the world at large, just take in the context of Bhutan. While some people can even drive their cars into the house, some have to walk days after days just to reach a road point. Some people have hardly any cloths to change even in a year while others just dump it because they don’t like the design or color. Some children cry saying that they don’t want to eat while others hardly get any. Some people leave their fields to the mercy of nature when others don’t even have a palm of land registered under their name. Some people go to United States to perform some minor operation where as some die on their bed because they even can’t effort to go to the hospital. Some parents sent their child overseas to study but some can’t sent to a school which is in their own village just because they are not able to generate about Nu.500 a year. How unequal is the distribution and how unfair is the world?

Secondly, it's an insecure world obviously because all the benefits that we share of being connected make us more vulnerable to destructive force, because we're connected. Whether it's terror or weapons of mass destruction or the specter of a global epidemic disease like Avian influenza and AIDS, which we don't yet have a vaccine or a cure. The attack on Afghanistan and Iraq by United States have had impact on all the world. Some countries loosed their income because they are highly dependent on tourism which was directly affected. Millions and billions of dollars were spent on the operation which could have been spent on poverty elevation. Thousands of civil and innocent people were killed just because they were ruled by a regime which is against the United States. The increase in the price of oil by some oil-rich countries resulted in the fall of the economy all over the world. The green house gas released by some nations are directly or indirectly effecting the world at large. The presence of weapons of mass destruction in the hand of few terrorist are a threat to the world security. The development of science (specially the war weapons) had made the world totally insecure and the human race itself is threatened. In the context of Bhutan, look at the recent several bombings carried out in Phuentsholing. The apprehension of people connected with communist party of Nepal in Samtse. Any one can become a victim of their act of violence. How insecure is this world?

And, finally, this is an unstable and an unsustainable world because of global warming, which now virtually everyone accepts as a reality. The world's ice caps on the mountains and polar regions are melting at a steady rate and the water level is increasing drastically. According to Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change(IPCC), the worlds surface temperature is likely to increase by about 6.4 °C within 2020. An increase in global temperatures can in turn cause other changes, including sea level rise and changes in the amount and pattern of precipitation resulting in floods and drought. Some low lying nations like Maltese and Maldives will be buried under water for ages. Agricultural production patterns and habitat of animals and plants will be changed. And all of this is going to happen at a time when the world is already short of resources. We are cutting down too many trees, we're losing too much topsoil; we're losing drinkable water at a time when there is already a shortage. Most biologists believe that plant and animal species are disappearing at the most rapid rate in 150,000 years. Meanwhile, the population is growing from the level from 6 and a half to 9 billion people in the world, mostly in the countries least able to handle it. Bhutan is investing billions on hydropower which is the main source of income for the nation. Some small streams are already drying up. What if all the major rivers of Bhutan suddenly dries up? Hopefully it will not! The farmers in the villages are already facing the shortage of water during the summer when it is the time for the cultivation of paddy which is the main source of their food. The places which used to get snow earlier are now no longer receiving it. The productivity of some foods items are decreasing despite using more advanced fertilizers and seed variety. It is self evident and we cannot escape from the fact of global warming. How unstable and unsustainable the world we are living was?

That is the real world that I knew till date and Bhutan is not an exception to any. It is the duty of each and everyone of us to face the challenge. We must contribute in every possible way in any field, let it be in education, development, poverty elevation, etc. Since in this world, what we think and what others see us thinking matters, let us all work for the peace and security of the world at large and Bhutan in particular. We must use some of the education that we have received to deal with inequality, insecurity and sustainability all over the world and not just in Bhutan, because we are interdependent.