All Strangers: a typical reflection on urban life

A couple of days ago, I read on Kuensel about how a Bhutanese official working at the Royal Bhutan Embassy in Bangkok, Thailand as Accountant was accidentally electrocuted while attempting to cross over the fence inside the residential area near the Embassy, but until yesterday, I never knew that he was my neighbor living just across the street here in Thimphu. I was shocked when my wife told me this after hearing the news from other neighbors who had gone to attend his cremation yesterday. Although I am not personally familiar with them, my wife knows his wife very well and she told me that she had met her with her daughter just last Sunday in the vegetable market. My wife says his wife is a very frank and friendly person and that she talks to her wherever she meets her. The deceased had left for Bangkok, Thailand in January this year and that his family was planning to join him soon. It seems they had even bought air tickets during this summer vacation to go to see him in Bangkok, but it’s very sad that their dream could not materialize. Life is just like a dream: you won’t know when you would wake up to reality.

The drama of city life in Thimphu as seen through the eyes of taxidrivers

With rapid development of modern infrastructures and public facilities, Thimphu is now growing into a city that hardly sleeps as it gets crowded with people from all corners of the country. It is estimated that there are over 50,000 people currently living in Thimphu city who have come for various reasons: employment, education, business, etc. As a result, we get to see different people with varying lifestyles and strange behaviors in the city every day. But more than anybody else, the taxi drivers get the opportunity to watch the real drama of the city life as they ferry passengers from one place to another every day. I have personally talked to a couple of taxi drivers in Thimphu and they have shared the following stories: