A Day With The Stray Dogs

I have heard people saying: Dog is man's best friend and yes they are one loyal friend too, but are we their friends too???

Recently I had this fantasy; what if dogs ever talked… and if they ever did then all funds will be drained to built prisons for mankind. I know they will have volumes to protest against the mankind. Had it been an agreement of mutual benefits signed 30,000 years ago when dogs were domesticated, human kept none of those clauses.

History of animal domestication says; during the most recent Ice age there lived two superior hunters, Wolves and human. Humans and wolves are competing for the same prey, but there are advantages for both in teaming up. For the wolf, human ingenuity and the use of weapons mean a share in a greater number of kills and for humans, the wolf's speed and wildness is a new weapon.  For the mutual benefits in teaming up, human kinds nurtured the young cubs and these cubs soon learnt the rules of human society. That’s how all dogs are of wolf’s origin.

Upon teaming up these wild brothers of mankind served us well, showed us their love and of all they had been the most loyal…

With roads at door step, electric fencing and CC Camera for security in human life, their utility to mankind became minimal and thus not required. People trend to hate the presence of their ancestral friends and to my quite surprise I have seen the cruelty of mankind here. Some people pour hot water on dogs when they come begging for food and some kept a sharp object to hit them. I have also seen those people in so much of a celebrative mood upon hurting those innocent animals.

Picture of he Dogs being injected by Mr. TN Timsina (Animal Husbandry officer, Dophuchen)

Recently my school became a hideaway Paradise for dogs, kindness of equally innocent kids and left over to feed on has turned this place into a dog paradise. Upon close gaze I observed some dogs suffer from the results of human cruelty while others suffer from Dermatitis. Dermatitis is a common skin condition caused by inflammation of the skin. There are several different forms of dermatitis but all are caused by the skin reacting to allergens or irritants. Long rainy season is one main cause of the disease here and in long run the dogs lose their fur, wounds get worse and foul smell dilutes the air where ever the go until death bless them.

The danger of spreading it to kids here is risks losing their paradise; so I gathered a group of young warm hearts to save their lives and paradise. With the help of those boys and Mr. TN Timsina (Gewog Animal Husbandry Officer, Dophuchen Gewog) we undertook a short campaign to inject those infected and wounded dogs against Dermatitis and Maggots in wounds. It was successful and I am very happy with the task.

warm hearted Volunteers from Class VII 'B"... 

Upon completion of task I called all the volunteers and told them the best service is something that you do without expecting anything in return and that’s what you all did, I applauded them. I also told them we should take care of existing ones while we control their population too as none wants them now.

Are we Tshethar Tshopas now? A boy questioned me. “Yes we are but with zero account and there’s no need of it too;” I said.

Thank You for reading and please visit again

Losar Tashi Delek to my neighbors

The festive season is here and I send my heartiest New Year greetings to all the lhops around. Theirs is the first of the festivals to follow; owing to the mountainous geographical landscape partitioning the regions and historically being ruled by many petty rulers there are infinite festivals in Bhutan. These festivals evolved out the belief system, myth and mythology of individual regions, some well known losars we relish are Lomba, Nyilo, Thue-Baab, Chu-nyi pai losar, nya-ru, Dassian, daw Dangpai losar etc and lhop lo is one such festivity developed on the banks of Amo chu river.

Lhop dancers adorning their ancestral dress during the inauguration of
 new court building.

These losars are usually an end product of a good harvest and provided people of differing regions with differing platforms to thank the forefathers for the tranquility bequeathed, local deities for the best harvest, friends and family for the help, relish new harvest, appreciate their input, etc and it’s also a big time to smile at the bygone years with celebrations and look ahead with hopes. Timing too is different as the growing season and harvest season differs from place to place.

Normally we follow two types of calendar in Bhutan i.e. solar and the Bhutanese lunar calendar but the lhops of Dorokha region follows the third type i.e. Tibetan lunar calendar. I am not aware of the third one and upon inquiry I learnt that theirs is a month ahead of ours. 29^th day of seventh month of the wood female sheep year in Bhutanese calendar is considered as the 29^th day of the eighth month of the wood female sheep year in Tibetan lunar calendar.

Like the 1^st day of eleventh month is a new year for haaps and parops [though celebration starts on 29^th of the tenth month] the 29^th day of 8^th month of Tibetan lunar calendar kick start a new year for the lhops and they become a year older (birthday makes less sense here). On this day families join together to have a good time and it all starts with ku (maternal uncle) making the offering. In lhop culture it’s the groom who leaves his ancestral home to join brides’ family but the maternal uncle is the sole decision maker and head of family of his ancestral home. Ku is highly respected by the family member.

The complete offering were not done at my host’s place due to recent demise of a family member and also it’s not his paternal home otherwise he’s a always on with celebrations yet I enjoyed everything that’s LHOP. I understood that the first day is just a simple one and continues for few more days with different mandatory offerings and merrymakings. Will catch up each program as it unfolds…

Please join me to wish them a prosperous year ahead… 

Call for a Ministry

15-0 humbling of Dragon boys by Qatar in the second round of world cup qualifier made me to go beyond my usual thinking margin. I was all set for the match half an hour early with all my usual chores completed before 9:00 PM which normally stretches till the mid-night.  Night favored me with a clearer sky after continuous down pour since last few days, which otherwise would have disturbed my DTH signal or might have prompted recurrent power cuts that has revolved over as a habitual customs in Dorokha.

source: BhutaNews

 I knew it would be an uphill battle for Bhutan yet I was rather optimistic about the prospect of holding the game into a competitive end. The pre-match analysis went quite my way despite the fact the analyst had a better idea of opponents strength. The recent success of our young boys boasted our morale especially with the qualification to this round after hammering Sri Lanka home and away. Over all spirits were high and last two defeats haven’t dampen Bhutanese moral.

In spite of conceding 28 goals in last three international outings I still hold high flying hopes on our young boys. Football in Bhutan is a recent history yet we came too far with limited infrastructures, funds and most of all a very little tactical & technical knowhow. We do not have a reputed football academy nor do we have an advance selection procedure, with these many shortcomings instead of luxury at our disposal I think we must sort it out in an appropriate manner for our very own good.

Taking the football to other level or exhibiting Bhutan to the outside world along with GNH needs a thoughtful investment and careful planning which means what we are doing today is good but not enough. The relevant stakeholders, departments and BFF are exceptional till date yet the demand on the international font is incomparably high in all dimensions.

I believe instituting a ministry exclusively for the development of sports and sports related infrastructures would do us good. Our boys are young and have a long carrier ahead; we also have junior talents with lots of promise. Careful and consistent molding will help us attain our goals sooner rather than later. Not only are we good at football, we have the potential to compete in all other disciplines. A gold medal at Asian Boxing championship in Bangkok by Tashi Norbu recently is a green signal of the rising competency of the Bhutanese in world of sports. We have all the riches in terms of potential and enthusiasm, so a ministry with specialist personnel, wisdom, fund, investment, continuous molding and etc would shine luck on us soon.

Hoping for a ministry to keep up the level we are hoping for…

Note:- its my humble thought and would love to hear your views la

Amo chu And Her Ecosystem (Doyas in Focus)

Starting off from the glaciers and glacial lakes are numerous streams and rivers that wind down terrain Himalayas through the foothills into Indian plains, Amo chhu is one of the five glacial fed major river systems of Bhutan lying to the south-west of the country. The river swiftly flows down from Chumbi valley through Haa and Samtse into the Brahmaputra touching the lives and living beings, forming a unique ecosystem throughout its course.

Map of Bhutan showing five major river system and lhop land

Between the deeply interlocked landscapes just before the river drains into adjacent Indian plain is the mysteriously misty land of Lhops (lhop literally means southerners a term mainly used by Tibetans in her reference of Bhutan as lho Mon/Lho yul and people as Lhop: considered to be the early inhabitants). Living in the catchment area, I came to understand that lhops have lived, inhabited and evolved as an important element of Amo Chhu ecosystem. Their songs, verses and folktales give us glimpses of their past, myths and mythology. These people resided in the area and depended mostly on fish, wild fruits, wild vegetables and wild animals. They are mostly non-vegetarian and depended on wilds for almost everything and nature in turn provided their needs favorably, that could be one reason that kept them so close to their culture and traditions and helped preserved it through the time.   

They believe that once the whole region around Amo Chu valley was their home stretching far and wide. It’s said that the lhops apparently lived as far as the Bara-Tendu to the west bordering Indian state of Sikkim but probably a deadly epidemic or a war in the neighborhood reduced the population to the present size. Presently there are some 180 households inhabiting six villages namely Sanglung, Satakha, lothu, Kuchu, taba, and Ramtoe. There are so many hypothetical stories and reasoning on drastic decline in population and burial of lhop tribe in the folds of mountain on sloppy banks of Torsa River. 

Namgay Tashi, a good friend of mine who formerly worked with the election commission of Bhutan has toured and learnt a lot about lhop and their culture during voter education program back in 2007. He told me that he could identify a Lhop individual out of millions anywhere in the world during our usual bed time conversation back in Samtse College of education, I took it a big joke back then and the subject did not interest me much, now that I am amongst them and noticing alikeness in every lhops fascinate me, it took me to different sources to build up a concrete basis to uncover the reasons behind such biological alikeness and genetic connections.

One side of the story says a devastating war occurred between the lhops dwelling to the north of foothills and residents of plains (Indian) on the other side of the foothills, it’s said a group of them went into hideaway place and the war almost destroyed the whole of the tribe. The group that went out hiding came out and inhabited the present area during the post war era, so they say the population grew out of this small group and therefore genetically related. Other story says once the entire lhop population was believed to have disappeared due to deadly epidemic. Only a pair of cousins had survived, a boy and a girl. In course of time they grew into adults. There were no one around and knew nothing of reproduction. One day they saw two grasshoppers stuck together (mating) and in next few days saw many young grasshoppers hopping around. The boy and the girl realized that if they did what the grasshoppers did they would have younger ones and would no longer be lonely. They did what they thought should be done and so came the revival of their tribe with reproduction. While other source unfolds a similar story of devastating war that destroyed the tribe but believed to be amongst themselves and not with their counter parts on the other end of the foothills. 

 

 

you can clearly see the similarity in each of them, starting from face cut to height and build up

Here are some more pictures I captured during a short trip to the place recently to prove that they originated from one family 

It’s very hard to conclude with any of these theories as they lack authentic and chronological presentation. No written documents of the time had been found and nothing is known of the existence of writings or paintings till date but their oral traditions and belief notes that writing culture existed long before outbreak of war/epidemic. They belief the cave beneath the waterfall on the other side of the river houses all their ancient documents and belongings and is said to be the palace of their king. It’s also assumed that no lhops are ever allowed to cross that place as it’s believed to be an ancestral demarcation and thus nothing is retrieved to date.

 The LHOP king was believed to have resided there beneath the waterfall and LHOPS believe their scrip is still there

Lastly as I think deeper and learn more about Lhops, my appreciations for them grows by the days. These people are really conservative and put their culture above anything else, they are shy, simple and modest with lots of dedications to our King, Country and People, and one best quality they were brought up with is not being in sphere of consumerism, they are one hardworking people relying greatly on what they produce…

Note: This is just a glimpse of their lives uncovered through limited sources, so your kind suggestions and add up will be of great help…  

Amo chu And Her Ecosystem (Doyas in Focus)

Starting off from the glaciers and glacial lakes are numerous streams and rivers that wind down terrain Himalayas through the foothills into Indian plains, Amo chhu is one of the five glacial fed major river systems of Bhutan lying to the south-west of the country. The river swiftly flows down from Chumbi valley through Haa and Samtse into the Brahmaputra touching the lives and living beings, forming a unique ecosystem throughout its course.

map of bhtan showing river system and lhop land

Between the deeply interlocked landscapes just before the river drains into adjacent Indian plain is the mysteriously misty land of Lhops (lhop literally means southerners a term mainly used by Tibetans in her reference of Bhutan as lho Mon/Lho yul and people as Lhop: considered to be the early inhabitants). Living in the catchment area, I came to understand that lhops have lived, inhabited and evolved as an important element of Amo Chhu ecosystem. Their songs, verses and folktales give us glimpses of their past, myths and mythology. These people resided in the area and depended mostly on fish, wild fruits, wild vegetables and wild animals. They are mostly non-vegetarian and depended on wilds for almost everything and nature in turn provided their needs favorably, that could be one reason that kept them so close to their culture and traditions and helped preserved it through the time.  

They believe that once the whole region around Amo Chu valley was their home stretching far and wide. It’s said that the lhops apparently lived as far as the Bara-Tendu to the west bordering Indian state of Sikkim but probably a deadly epidemic or a war in the neighborhood reduced the population to the present size. Presently there are some 180 households inhabiting six villages namely Sanglung, Satakha, lothu, Kuchu, taba, and Ramtoe. There are so many hypothetical stories and reasoning on drastic decline in population and burial of lhop tribe in the folds of mountain on sloppy banks of Torsa River. 

Namgay Tashi, a good friend of mine who formerly worked with the election commission of Bhutan has toured and learnt a lot about lhop and their culture during voter education program back in 2007. He told me that he could identify a Lhop individual out of millions anywhere in the world during our usual bed time conversation back in Samtse College of education, I took it a big joke back then and the subject did not interest me much, now that I am amongst them and noticing alikeness in every lhops fascinate me, it took me to different sources to build up a concrete basis to uncover the reasons behind such biological alikeness and genetic connections.

One side of the story says a devastating war occurred between the lhops dwelling to the north of foothills and residents of plains (Indian) on the other side of the foothills, it’s said a group of them went into hideaway place and the war almost destroyed the whole of the tribe. The group that went out hiding came out and inhabited the present area during the post war era, so they say the population grew out of this small group and therefore genetically related. Other story says once the entire lhop population was believed to have disappeared due to deadly epidemic. Only a pair of cousins had survived, a boy and a girl. In course of time they grew into adults. There were no one around and knew nothing of reproduction. One day they saw two grasshoppers stuck together (mating) and in next few days saw many young grasshoppers hopping around. The boy and the girl realized that if they did what the grasshoppers did they would have younger ones and would no longer be lonely. They did what they thought should be done and so came the revival of their tribe with reproduction. While other source unfolds a similar story of devastating war that destroyed the tribe but believed to be amongst themselves and not with their counter parts on the other end of the foothills.

 

you can clearly see the similarity in each of them, starting from face cut to height and build up...

It’s very hard to conclude with any of these theories as they lack authentic and chronological presentation. No written documents of the time had been found and nothing is known of the existence of writings or paintings till date but their oral traditions and belief notes that writing culture existed long before outbreak of war/epidemic. They belief the cave beneath the waterfall on the other side of the river houses all their ancient documents and belongings and is said to be the palace of their king. It’s also assumed that no lhops are ever allowed to cross that place as it’s believed to be an ancestral demarcation and thus nothing is retrieved to date.

Lastly as I think deeper and learn more about Lhops, my appreciations for them grows by the days. These people are really conservative and put their culture above anything else, they are shy, simple and modest with lots of dedications to our King, Country and People, and one best quality they were brought up with is not being in sphere of consumerism, they are one hardworking people relying greatly on what they produce…

Note: This is just a glimpse of their lives uncovered through limited sources, so your kind suggestions and add up will be of great help… 

14 Good Deeds. Good deed A Day…

Challenge14 

As time draws nearer for the completion of mid-term examination, my students had their luggage packed for the vacation, but I have for them a simple social project. A project according to Encarta dictionary is “a task or planned program of work that requires large amount of time, effort, and planning to complete” but the project I have designed requires no formal planning or effort, all it needs is a loving heart to share and ready hands to help.

This idea just stuck my mind while I and my class VIII ‘B’ students were arranging our class for the exam as instructed by school examination committee. After the job was done we sat for a while to wish each other best wishes and had talks on what we would be doing in the fourteen day break. Almost 90% of them would be helping their parents in cardamom field (cardamom/elanche has taken over as the number one cash crop recently) and this is one best thing we see in rural Bhutan where students pick up spades as soon as they rest their pens for vacation. Some would be rushing to continue their town lives even if it’s just for two weeks while some are desperate to see their parents in the far east of the country. Then I just asked what good things they have in mind for vacation other than helping their parents and friends.  Its then I felt pin drop silence in the class.

For a while we were sharing nervousness in silence, then I said; ‘Do you think good for others?’ yes we do, is the immediate answer. I explained to them a little I knew of the virtues of good thinking termed as “Menpa Jangchub Sem” in shanti Deva’s book the path to bodhisattva way of life. The talk of “Jukpa Jangchub Sem” followed our brief session; it’s here that we thought of ‘one good deed a day challenge during the break’. Before we finalized our decision I informed them that it should not be made an obligation or term it a  religious, I just told them to do it once with their true heart to experience the true bliss.

To make it even clearer I provided them few simple examples as follows:-

1.      Helping old/aged person to get on or off the bus, or helping someone to load or unload luggage if you traveling.

2.      Picking few pieces of stone/gravels and fill up pot-holes in the road, or getting footpath or steps in your village fixed.

3.      Uprooting grasses and weeds nearby lhakhangs/chortens/mandirs, or making a flower garden for the same.

4.      Comforting a crying child/fetching a jerry can of water

Teacher and students like two hands at close proximity we agreed to take up the challenge in unison and reminded ourselves that it should be a complete voluntary help we should render to community or individuals and not something of an involuntary one to complete the project.

Since then I had been designing a record sheet for them and finally came up with the following.

“Good Deed a Day Challenge”
Personal Diary for the summer break, 2015

Name…………………………………………………..

Sl.No.	Action (particular help rendered to community/individuals)	Date	Brief description of how the community/individuals respond to your kind gesture (verbal/facial expression/body language)	A brief description of how you felt after rendering your help (happiness/satisfaction/any other feeling)	Name of community or individuals you helped	Signature/thumb print of community head/individuals you helped

Signature of candidate                        Signature of Class Teacher                                    Signature of Principal

NOTE: - This project won’t fetch them or me any marks our reward but a simple satisfaction. plz give me your valuable feed backs

Opening of the Dorokha Book Cafe... (Inaugural speech, 02/06/2015)

2^nd June, 2015

Let’s share books…

‘‘Dorokha Book Cafe

A very Good morning to you all

Honorable Dasho Dungpa, Dasho Drangpoen, distinguished guest, teachers and students of the central school, well wishers and kind supporters, ladies and gentlemen.

It’s a big pleasure to welcome you all to the inaugural of the long awaited Dorokha Book Café, welcome to you all.

speaking through the horn mike is rather a new experience

 I would like to express my sincere appreciation in particular to Dasho Dungpa for your kind approval, guidance and participation in building a dream here.

I convey my heartiest gratefulness to Mr. Passang Tshering for your great Ideologies, willing heart to share and ready hands to help at all times. In fact you and your ideologies inspired me to dream big, sir. I also put across my genuine gratitude to Mr. Ngawang P Phuntsho of (WAB) for the creative ideas, moral support and a lot of books the café received.

The roles Drungkhag Adm. and each sectors played in building this very café is unparalleled, thank you very much. I also put forward my earnest appreciation to the Gup and the Gewog Administration, community and public of Dophuchen Gewog for the level of awareness you accomplished and the amount of support you rendered  us, I am deeply touched by your kind gesture.

I am so indebted to you Mr. C.B Rai and family for your readiness to sacrifice for this café, your readiness has rather made me over use you. I am sorry and am very thankful for all that you did.

Mr. Buddha Lepcha,(business) Mr/s. Wang Tshering(business), Mr. Deepen Chetri(business), Mr. Dorji(business), Mr. Tashi Tobgay(engineer), Mr. Ghalley and Mr. Bhim (civil servants) and all the individuals for the amount of time, energy, books and money you invested. Actually any society in the world would love to have your presence and I am one such being showered with bliss of your company. Thank you la…

As the count goes by, I am just short of words to describe my gratefulness to the principal, Vice-principal, teachers and students of Dorokha Central School.  The support I received since the day one is immense. The dream would have remained a dream had it not for your presence, you all are the strength and weapon in making this dream a reality. I owe you all the credit yet I know, no superlatives would be enough to elucidate how indebted I am for you all. Thank you…

Let me also share some motives behind the institution of the café…

Vision

“To be the hub of knowledge for all”

Mission

Work hand in hand to provide opportunities to learn, connect, enjoy and discover to enrich lives…

Aims and objectives:-

1.     Dedication to the our 4th Druk Gyalpo His majesty Jigme Singye Wangchuk and His Holiness Chabje Rinpoche on the joyous occasion of 60^th birth anniversary celebration 

2.     To celebrate national reading year 2015

3.     To provide a better place to hangout for the students, civil servants and the general public of Dorokha community

Values we share

Ø Accessibility to book is directly proportional to the quality of life

Ø Reading hands power to improve and enrich lives

Ø Books provide best recreations and safest travel

Ø We believe in sharing, so “share your inspiration, share your books”.

Ownership

“Once set up the café will be the property of students, civil servants and the general public of Dorokha community”. Each individual have the right to use and care the café.

Roles

·        Making information available

·        Providing learning materials for enrichment and growth

·        Presenting a precious hangout place

Slogan

Share Sober Dream:-  If Dorokha offers hundred reasons to get drunk, the café offers you a reason to be sober too…

Functioning

The functioning of the café will be administered by a committee (volunteer members comprising donors, students, civil servants and general public of Dorokha) headed by an elected member secretary.

The roles of the committee:

ü  Keep an account of the donations and contributions received

ü  Maintain the checklist of infrastructures procured in the café

ü  Monitor growth and the future of the café

The infrastructure in the café shall depend solely on donors and contributors, in the form of books (both new and second hand), old/new furniture, any reading materials,etc

General Service will be provided by the founder of the café during the weekends and government holidays but now I am rather happy to announce that Mr. Megnath Chapagai the caregiver of the school volunteered to provide his service during his off hours…

Service norm

1.      Anyone interested to learn can avail the services of the café

2.      Can contact the café administering body any time if need be

3.      Will have to deposit the cost of the book as a security deposit at the time of lending which will be refunded at the time of returning the book back to café except for the students.

Pardon me for making it long, please listen to me, for I have a dream to share:-

1   1. Reading year shall not end with 2015, rather 2015 shall kick start readings forever

      2.May the café grow with days to become a central of knowledge for all times to come

Lastly I would like to thank each one of 
you for kindly making it here and bearing with me…

Thank you one and all

formal opening by Dasho Drungpa & Drangpoen

Ten minutes reading to mark National Reading year after ribbon cutting