The joy of giving

It's easier to take than to give. It's nobler to give than to take. The thrill of taking lasts a day. The thrill of giving lasts a lifetime.

                                                                                                    ― Joan Marques

I first met Ugyen Penjor last month when I visited Guru lhakhang with my two friends. He is the caretaker of this beautiful monastery (two-hour walk away from Dochula). Decked in knee-length orange and red robes, he is very humble. And tellingly, without modern education.

This monastery sits spectacularly at a high mountain, enclosed by woods and colourful prayer flags. Reached there, then we’ve become quiet, our mind at peace. The sky was just stainless, gorgeous. On my face, the fresh mountain air and steam of clouds brushed full.

We circumambulated the monastery and went inside to prostrate and say our prayers. Though small, it has magnificent interior and serenity. It is, in-a-word, heavenly.  

A few yards down the monastery, Ugyen Penjor has a small cottage home. He invited us for tea. “Come please, come,” he insisted on us, his smile beautiful. Actually, we didn’t expect this.

His little room was warmed with bukhari and he asked us to sit around the fireplace. On mats - that spread around it. He offered us tea. Meanwhile, he talked to us - softly with a bemused smile and sparkling eyes.

In a while, he brought snacks, then fruits, and again tea. I’ll tell you that the tea, snacks and fruits - all are so delicious. And once I started eating, I couldn’t stop. He-he.  Seriously! Then, he served us lunch. It’s red rice with ema datshi, ezey and fish and beef curry. It’s a luxuriously long lunch though.

I was incredibly grateful to him. Surprised, too. He gave us as if he had never exhausting foods and wealth inside his small cottage. Each time he brought us foods, it seemed to me that he had more to give. And instantly, I remembered this gorgeous saying: As you give more and more, you have more to give. And I felt it all true. It is one of life's wonderful paradoxes.

This is very strange. As he offered us foods, all I could see in his eyes was the natural outpouring of happiness. And the more he gave the happier and joyful he seemed and new richness filled his life. In fact, he was sharing with us more than his foods. His joy, love, compassion, gratitude for life, too. Yes, all that can be reaped from giving.

And there, I couldn’t help thinking of Thimphu. We’ve buildings, acres of land and savings of millions ngultrum and we drive Prado and Mercedes. Our houses fenced with cemented walls. In front, monstrous iron gates and import dogs and security guards vigilant at you.

Don’t ever expect that you’d be invited for even a cup of tea. We forgot even the merest acts of kindness. We failed to smile and utter a kind word to others. We’ve no time to give a piece of advice reassurance and a helping hand to needy people.

We’ve accumulated so much of wealth, yet we’re unhappy and desire more. Why? I don’t know the precise reason. But the basic truth about life is that when we withhold and try to get more things to fulfill our needs, we only end up feeling more empty, needy and unfulfilled.

But as I left this monastery, I looked at Ugyen Penjor and felt this keenly, this sense of reverence and awe for him. He gives freely. He loves. He dances, joyful, complete, spreading his compassion and happiness. Oh, he lives a beautiful life! Like a drop of water, it created ripples in the pond of my heart. And I walked down home ever joyful, blissful. 

Changlimithang Stadium refurbished!

Here’s good news for all Bhutanese football enthusiasts! The construction of the first artificial turf, being built at the Changlimithang stadium in Thimphu, is almost complete. All works like the laying of artificial grass, stadium lights, and construction of drainage system and posts are complete. The total cost of the artificial turf, borne solely by FIFA, is US$ 900,000. Yesterday, I went there and took these pictures:

Letter from a Pemagatshelpa

This is a letter from a friend of mine who lives in Pemagatshel. Read it below how he perceives Thimphu and people here:

Hey dude,

How is the cold out there?

You know what?

I asked God to help you guys by not having to use AC in winter

And make air from His fridge flow

So that you guys can wear wollen jacket once in a year, he-he.

I hope you must be loving that.

No wonder, Thimphu is a heaven,

Geographically on high mountains,

Spiritually blessed with dzongs and other religious sites,

Financially, the Bhutan’s Wall Street.

Demographically, the populous centre,

The corridors of power.

And for the people like you

That is heaven,

If not, it truly is hell.

Regrettably, the worst kind of people live out there,

Robotic ones,

Riddled with ego as high as Sangaygang,

Pride as long as Thimchu,

Heart as cold as the weather at present.

Thimphu is truly the place for dreamers

Because dreams are broken there, if not made.

But you still have scores of gangs around

To give you solace with drugs and violence.

If you dream of power

You get to watch people in power,

With shining patangs and colourful kabneys

If you crave for wealth,

You get to watch people drive fancy cars

And constructing towering buildings.

If you wish to fly like a bird,

You still can climb the hills of Sangaygang,

Watch Thimphu City with bird's eye view

And consider oneself as a bird

But from the panting of your breath from the uphill climb

Beautiful! Beautiful!

All decorated high profile people live there deciding policies for us.

Alas! They’re those corrupts, who steal the poor’s property,

Break or manipulate the law for their benefits,

And pleasure themselves in honour of kanchi.

Despite the stereotype, not everything in Thimphu is sinful.

Relationships are taken for granted.

One day, you steal your friend’s wife or girlfriend,

Another day, he steals yours.

Folks must go to Kuenselphodrang

And fuck or get fucked

In the presence of the giant Dordenma Buddha

Because the giant Buddha's eyes can reach anywhere people think.

Why not fuck openly, right in front of Him;

After all, there’s no hiding place from Buddha's eyes

True…for amorous pursuits!

That’s life out there. Enjoy! 

A few words about bachelorhood

It’s always a breathlessly exciting topic to talk about. Isn’t it? For lack of a better word, the bachelorhood is fucking great. Bet you! Because I know it; after all, I’m a bachelor.  

*Wink*

So to speak…I live in a rented apartment in Motithang. And guess what? Motithang is the talk of the town (most beautiful women and elites of Thimphu live here). But I tell you that the world here is bizarrely crazy: the sounds of kids and cars during day time; and volley of noises of barking dogs at night. Ha-ha!

And this bachelor doesn’t own car. Yes, not even a motorbike. Honestly. Because the idea of buying a car had slipped through my grasp as I could never learn to trim my spending and the saving always remained negative. For me, everyday was the Pedestrian Day.

This is one reason why many girls denied going out with me, yes, for date. LOL! They say, “Druk 11, please no, no!” or “i11, eh, no chance la.” Well, this is embarrassing and also hysterically funny. And I only scratched my head and muttered, “Huh, jedha”.

The truth is, while I reveled in bachelorhood, I also sought companionship. What I’m referring to is that I did date girls. Occasionally, though. Tsk. Tsk. Not kidding.   

Ahem…I got too little sleep and rest. Allow me to become honest with you, which I prefer. Most nights were spent with rowdy friends bar-hopping, sipping a cocktail on a breezy late night and making intellectual noises (throwing cool comments on politics and business). After that, dance partying, head-banging.

There was no breakfast, and no proper lunch and dinner. I was in hurry and running late, all time: to office, meetings, social gatherings, on dates, everywhere. Sometimes, things got a wee bit out of hand. I had notoriously erred and also survived several desperate scrambles. How insane!   

I dare say a bachelor’s life is very intense, full of milestones. It’s undeniably the most exciting part of my life though. That said, it added further gloss to my life’s experience. It helped me become contemplative, more complete. Now I’ve a greater talent for joy and a larger embrace of life.   

Let’s admit that there is a reason why I’m still a bachelor. You would wonder what the hell was wrong with me. My point is that it’s important to give myself enough time to discover who I’m and where I want to go before I can bring somebody along for the ride.

And pleasing others or just to follow what our society wants us to be must take a back seat. After all, in the end, what matters most is our own happiness. And we’re always starved for that laughter that bubbles up inside you and cannot be faked.

Frankly speaking, bachelorhood has worked to perfection for me. At least, for now.

But I’m realizing something, and trying to accept it, too. I know that with time, things will change and it’s never going to be same forever-not precisely, not ever. There comes a time when bachelorhood won’t anymore serve its purpose to me and another phase of life, marriage, would perfectly suit me.

And lo and behold, this year's autumn has taught me a significant lesson: dropping of leaves - letting go of what no longer serves us or required anymore, so that we can embrace new beginning.

Catching last glimpse of Fall

The season of fall, autumn, has come to an end. And if you don’t hurry and walk around, you would miss the last extraordinary colours of fall; those vibrant yellows, deep reds and oranges. If you can't, don't worry. Today, I’m here to offer you some beautiful photographs I took last week. 

Way back to boyhood

Last weekend was gorgeous. As I had my friends, three of them, come to meet me, at my home. We’re all college buddies, very close. Today, two of them are happily married and have a kid each. And one into serious relationship. All of them are well educated and doing quite well in life with successful careers.

As we sat, we talked about weird things like politics, taxes, economic crisis and corruption. We also have a chat about school choices for our children and what we look for when we are buying a car, home and plot of land.

How weird, I thought, to talk about all this things. It’s so adult of us to talk like this. And who are these grownups? Shouldn’t our parents and those adults be talking about that whole tax, school choices for children and politics things? Five years back, in the college, we would only talk about fun, college hot girls, foods, dates, and movies.

But I looked at my friends and they look same as they always have. Still innocent, impulsive, freaking and boyish.

They, too, looked at me and understood what I was thinking. And we laughed.   

The industrious entrepreneur

The day has turned bewitchingly colder in Thimphu, the wind more iciness. The bitter winter is here, inevitably. And since the mid-morning, I was waiting for my friend at the Thimphu Town for a work. It’s frost-cold out in the open. My hands turned cold as ice. And the chill spread through my veins and my back ached badly, shrieking with cold.

“Wait, I’m coming…on the way…five minutes,” my friend hung up my phone calls. More than 30 minutes passed, yet he didn’t turn up. Fucking liar, jedha, I grumbled, scratching my head. The obvious tempers boiled over me, making me go mad, literally. Yes, all this cold, backache and frustration of waiting here. Finally, I decided to return home.

So, I walked way up. And you all know that this street is boisterously crowded; all equal-people, cars, shops, and even dogs. But I agree that it’s, undoubtedly, an intense and overwhelming City. And here, you can meet people with various expressions on their faces: excitement, happiness, intoxicated, stress, hunger and pain. Even anger, like mine, he-he.      

And for the record, this street has no dearth of beautiful girls. After each few footsteps, you always come across one after another gorgeous girls. Seriously la! And allow me to be honest with you. Continuing the walk, ahem, I stole quick look at them, each one of them. C’mon man, because they’re so irresistible, and after all, I’m a man.

At the main traffic, oh, I came across a painful scene. An old mustached man, a beggar, was seated on the street lane in a mournful state. I looked at this old man so obsessively, with strange remorse and curiosity. I don’t know why. On his face, I saw, he carried a deep well of destitution and hopelessness.

However, the brutal truth is that when you walk across this street you would meet at least a dozen of beggars, of all ages. And more disheartening…every time, you would see here new beggars, begging embarrassingly.

And this beggar, supposedly in 60s, has his head padded with a monk hat, a drum in his right hand, bell in his left hand and he wore a Buddhist monk’s robes. But one can easily make out that he isn’t a monk. Right in front of him, he has a box. Only a few people have dropped money in that box.

He woke up abruptly and collected his stuff (a walking stick, umbrella, jacket and mat). And he set off to the Norling Complex where he saw better fortune, more people passing by. I followed him. At the alley, right in front of the complex, he dropped his things. He pushed his umbrella and jacket in one corner and arranged his mat on the floor and sat, cross-legged. He placed the money box in front of him, took out his drum and bell and began his daily chore of begging as the mid-morning sun fell heavy on him.

Here, the alley has been swarmed with people passing by, non-stop. Some people looked at him with a surge of pity and affection and altruistically dropped money in his box. Others didn’t even bother to look at him. And a few looked at him disrespect and disdain.

And lo, this surprised me. When he sees more people passing by, he hits his drum harder, rings the bell louder and chants religious mantra. This drum, bell and mantra are all his tools that he deploys exquisitely to attract customers. Even the monk’s robes he wears. When there are no people, he puts down his drum and bell.

                                                 Pic: When he leaves for tea and snacks

Each time his money box is half full, he collects the money and keeps it safe in a bag that he has worn over his chest. And my head filled with amazement. Goodness, he is so well-organized in his work.

There were comic interludes too. His money earns him enemies. That’s why beggars don’t do their work at night. Children and youth always attack their money. See, for example, this small kid fusing closer to steal money from that box.

Like any one else I was also really curious to know his income. So, I went next to him. He eyed me cautiously. But I forced upon him a small token of friendship in Nu 50 note. He told me that he was introduced to begging by his friend a few years back. When asked how long he works here, he answered, “9 am to 5 pm”.

And sitting next to him, I counted each currency note (money) falling into his box. I was shocked witless. In every ten minutes, there’s no fewer than Nu 120 collected in the box. That means he earns around Nu 1,000 a day. And Nu 30,000 a month. He is, oh god, a rich man!

Then I asked him where he keeps his money. He replied me, rather hesitantly, “As soon as my bag is full, I go to my relative who runs a restaurant here. I always deposit my money with him as he looks after my health and children’s education. My children study in India.”

This beggar intrigued me. He is not a mere faceless wretched beggar, but an industrious entrepreneur who taught me that even this work (begging) requires hard work, desire, risks, innovation and entrepreneurship skills.  

Brothers’ Day-Bhai Tika

I’m a Hindu, and so is my family. And you all know that yesterday was the Bhai Tika, the fifth and last day of Diwali celebrations. Two of my sisters who live here in Thimphu invited me. Because it’s the most significant day for a brother and sister in our culture; a day where a sister puts tika on forehead of her brother to ensure long life and thank him for the protection he gives. More importantly, this occasion honors brother-sister relationship, celebrating the holy emotional bond we share. 

My sisters have decorated their house with lights and flowers. It looked like a sparkling diamond. In every door and window, small clay lamps filled with oil were lighted to signify how the tiny flickers of light would waive off evil.

To begin the tika ceremony, my sisters performed a puja for Lord Ganesh, Janmaraj (the God of Birth), and Yamaraj. And I was requested to sit on a mat for the tika ceremony, as my sisters broke a walnut, praying for me:

No obstacles to come in my brother’s way,

If came, may it break like this nut.

Then, my sisters poured circles of oil and holy water from a copper pitcher around my body for three times. It signifies as a boundary over which death and evil spirits cannot pass me. Kneeling before me, they worshiped me with the offerings of flowers, nuts, fruits, and rice.

The most important act of the day was applying the special tika on my forehead. The tika consists of seven colored tika (the colours of the rainbow). First, my sisters applied a white base (made from rice paste) on my forehead and on top of it, they dabbed the tika with their fingers.

They have made a special marigold garland for me. As they put this flower garland around my neck and prayed for my long life, happiness and continued prosperity, they chanted this invocation:

Thus do I mark my brother’s forehead and thereby plant a thorn at the Door of Yamaraj, marking entrance into death impossible. As Jamuna streaked the forehead of her brother, so I do my brother’s. As Yamaraj is immortal, so may my brother also be immortal.

Because we believe that the tika drawn by our sisters on our foreheads protects us life from the clutches of Yamaraj, God of death. And performing of these required rituals with love, dedication and gaiety would protect brothers from death and that they will enjoy a long life, health and prosperity.

Then, I was requested to give tika to my sisters in the same fashion. After completing the tika ceremony, my sisters offered me special gifts and a fantastic midday feast. In return, I delighted my sisters with gifts and money. After that, there was a lot of merriment on this occasion. We sang and danced and our mood was generally delirious.

And like every Bhai Tika, the day came to an end with feelings of love and renewal of the brother-sister bond. Yamaraj, the God of Death was again warded off with flowers, holy water, and the precious bhai tika until the next year. And next year it will be done the same…on and on through the cycles of eternity.  As a brother, I’d keep providing my sisters protection, care and support.