Memories from Chennai, India

“We had the first-hand experience of flying through the cyclone today and I hope you might have enjoyed it” the pilot announced as soon as we touched down at Chennai International Airport, probably in an effort to comfort the worried passengers. We all burst into laughter when the pilot made that announcement. The weather conditions in Chennai on Sunday, 15th November 2015 were really wild with heavy rains and strong cyclone. We took off from Bakdokra at 4:30 pm and after a short stop at Kolkata, we continued to Chennai in the same flight. But as we approached Chennai International Airport, the aircraft began to tremble wildly as we flew through the oncoming cyclone and heavy rains that had been flooding Chennai and the neighboring areas over the past five days or so. As the pilot announced, it was really a scary and dangerous flight. I had never been nervous and anxious like that before. I kept on praying as the aircraft struggled to cut its way through such a strong and wild rainstorm. But due to God’s grace and the kind wishes of our friends, we could safely land at Chennai at around 8:30 pm as scheduled.

The first leg of my official trip to India

Six years after my first official trip to Bangkok in 2009, I am thankful to my boss for letting me join her team to visit a youth center in Chennai in India. When I was told that I have been nominated for the study visit a couple of weeks ago, I accepted the offer with gratitude for two main reasons. Firstly, the activity is part of the project I look after and somehow I had a feeling that I deserve this opportunity after being involved in planning and implementing numerous activities under the project over the past two years. Secondly, it has been a very long time since I had got my first official trip outside the country. So, I thought it would be an opportunity for me to refresh mentally for a while. It has been really a long gap. My wife was 6-month pregnant with my youngest son when I first got to officially fly to Bangkok in September 2009 for a week-long training and now he is six-years-old when I have got this second opportunity. However, my first official trip was a true blessing for me because although I could not officially fly out of the country thereafter, I got the opportunity to travel abroad once every year privately either upon the invitation of external agencies or through scholarships. I think that those blessings are over now and here comes the second official trip. I once again hope that this official trip would also bring me another bunch of blessings for the next couple of years.

On the 60th birth anniversary of His Majesty the Fourth King of Bhutan

The heart of every Bhutanese is throbbing with excitement and joy at the moment as the nation comes together for the historic celebration of the auspicious 60th birth anniversary of His Majesty the Fourth Druk Gyalpo, Jigme Singye Wangchuck. All the cities and towns are brimming with life and music as various forms of artistic displays and decorations add extraordinary glamour to the existing charm of the natural landscape. People from different segments of the society and from different walks of life have come together with various initiatives to join the nation in celebrating such an auspicious occasion. This is the day we had been waiting for to offer our wishes and prayers for the long and peaceful life of our beloved king, the Fourth Druk Gyalpo and express our special gratitude for his selfless contributions to making Bhutan a safer place for all of us to live in for ages. As Bhutanese, we have thousands of reasons to celebrate this historic moment tomorrow.

The unfit parents

Human beings are the only creature blest with the biggest brain and because of this, we are far more advanced than other animals in terms of our capacity to think, judge and act. We have moved carefully and consciously through every stage of human civilization and our experiences have made us a perfect social animal in the world today. We are the only animal capable of understanding and respecting others’ emotions. We are biologically wired to show compassion and love to those who are near and dear to us. Indeed, great masters say that when we are born, we all are born with Buddha nature in us. But as we grow up with modernization, it seems some of us are losing those human values we have been born and brought up with.

Lemlema: a mysterious woman that roams the brooks and creeks at night

When I was a child, I often used to hear elder people talking about Lemlemas, the ghostly spirits that would roam the brooks and creeks at night. I was told that those who go out at night for fishing are most likely to encounter them because they would be usually roaming the river-banks in search of food. It’s believed that they feed on fishes. Those stories would scare us to death and we would never dare to go out during the night since there was a brook nearby. We were told that if they find a human being, they would kill and eat only the cartilages: finger-tips, palms, ears, nose-tops and soles. Although I always questioned the existence of such spirits, some of the stories I heard were quite convincing that they literarily froze me with fear.

Problems are not always as bad as they are thought to be

Life is like a car. Once you get behind the wheel, it becomes your responsibility to get to your destination no matter how bad may be the condition of the road ahead of you. Challenges are everywhere and sometimes they make you feel that you are more unlucky and miserable than others. But if you look around carefully, you would find that there is nobody in this world who would not have undergone similar experiences you have been through. Problems are part of life and there isn’t anything that can be done to strip them off completely. But as nothing happens without a reason, I think it’s also important to realize that problems are there just because there are solutions. It’s true that every problem has a solution and if you can take time to think and explore it, you can definitely find your way out. People say God has plans for each of us but I am sure they don’t always materialize if we do not strive to implement them. Whenever we are bound in a chain of problems, sitting down and crying won’t break us free. We must always have the courage to pave our path through the wilderness of time as we move forward in life.

How positive thoughts and actions can make a difference in life

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Great masters say that our life is a reflection of our own thoughts and actions and I think it makes a lot of sense. It’s true that what and how we think today defines who we are tomorrow. This is called Tha-Damtshi Lejungdrey in Buddhism and this explains how our life revolves around our Karmic actions. When I was in school, our Dzongkha Lopoens used to tell us that we can harvest only what we have planted. We cannot expect to harvest corns from a paddy plant or vice-versa. In Bhutan, we all believe that if we focus on good deeds, the reward will naturally be positive. But if you engage in sinful and unhelpful acts, the brunt of the consequences falls back on you only. If we have to blame anybody for our failures and sufferings, it must be ourselves, not anybody else, because what we are today is the product of our own actions and thoughts. Both our happiness and sadness depend on how we look at life and the world around us. We say that man is the maker of his own destiny because our life is in our hands and we have all the freedom to take it forward in any direction we wish. Have you ever heard the story of a house with a thousand mirrors? I have summarized it below to illustrate what I have stated above.

The wrong victim

The nation which firmly believes in the philosophy of Gross National Happiness is devastated by what happened in Yebilaptsa Middle Secondary School on 16th October 2015. The entire population of Bhutan react with shock to the senseless murder of a 13-year-old student of Grade 7 for no personal fault of her own. What is most shocking about this particular incident is that the crime was committed by her own teacher and this is something Bhutan had never seen in our schools before. Schools are supposed to provide a safe environment for students to learn, play and have fun with friends, but tragedies like this one is really unthinkable.

True Love: a short poem

The fragrance of a flower lies in its petals, not in its brilliance
The true love of a person lies in the heart, not in the caste or appearance;
People say a stone can also show love if you hold it with trust and right opinion
But even nectar can be poisonous if you take it with suspicion.
I neither have wings to fly like a bird in the sky
Nor do I have the fins like a fish in the ocean to swim by,
But I always have a sacred room in my heart
Where you can forever live like a princess as in the art.
You just give me your heart where I forever can be,
And I shall fight all the obstacles that get between you and me;
I shall never let the external force disturb and destroy
This beautiful journey of our love and joy
For, I have loved you with the heart of a true friend
And decided to walk with you the rest of my life hand-in-hand.
No matter what tragedies befall us on the way,
May our hearts never break away!
May our hearts never break away!

What we can learn from Buddhist, Hindu and Christian cultures as seenin Bhutan

Bhutan is known to the world as a Buddhist country but Buddhism is not the only religion our people are allowed to follow. Today, we have a significant number of Hindus and Christians as well in the country who have their own rightful places to worship and carry out their rites. Unlike some other countries, Bhutanese people have never been subjected to religious persecutions for not following the state religion. Although some people initially believed that Christians were discouraged by authorities to influence others to join them, there was no written order issued to this effect and nobody has been legally charged so far for being a Christian or for influencing others. So considering this liberal attitude and tolerance of the Royal Government of Bhutan and the Bhutanese population towards other religions in the country, I think now it would be fair to call ourselves being in a multicultural society where people from different faith and cultures have been living in harmony for centuries. Honestly speaking, I have been exposed to the culture and practices of all three major religions found in Bhutan: Hinduism, Christianity and Buddhism. I was born and brought up in a Hindu family and I have some understanding of Hindu culture and traditions. But after my father suffered a brain-stroke in the November of 1990 and partially lost his ability to walk, we started living with my paternal uncle and his family who are Christians. My father was then convinced to believe in the miraculous powers of Jesus Christ to help him regain his mobility and then he was baptized. Since then, I grew in a Christian family during winters where I got to learn many things about Christianity and its cultures. I often used to accompany my father to church on Sundays and attend the church services. But I could never decide to become a Christian although I was frequently invited by my uncle to sit with them for prayers. Then when I was in school, I got the opportunity to study more about Buddhism and that’s how I got more exposure to the philosophies and teachings of Lord Buddha, which ultimately made me realize that this was my religion, if I ever have to adopt one. However, I have learned that although the actual essence of every religion is same, the spiritual practices are often influenced, either for good or bad, by our cultures and vice-versa. So based on my superficial understanding of these three religions, I would like to draw a brief comparative analysis of Buddhist, Hindu and Christian cultures as seen specifically in Bhutan. I am saying particularly ‘cultures’ because what I have seen and heard is the cultural aspect and not the spiritual part. The following are some of my observations: