Miles to go

“The woods are lovely, dark and deep,
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.”

This particular stanza has always been my favourite from the poem Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening by Robert Frost. First published in 1923, the story goes that Frost wrote it in a few minutes after he took a sunrise walk. Because of it, well, I am a great lover of poetry. 

I first heard this poem when I was studying in the primary school. My English teacher read out the poem, and I liked it instantly.

Ah, I still remember sitting quietly on a darkened window of my house and reciting the entire poem oblivious of noise outside. These lines used to sumptuously transport me to another realm. I used to feel dreamy, magical, and mysterious.

So did I fantasize that magic was found everywhere - in the dark woods, in every lake, behind the closed doors, under the grasses, and high up in the mountains. 

Such is that this literary composition had on me!

Later, in the 10^th grade, I could get to study the poem as in the English literature textbook. And I have loved it even more. 

In several occasions, in front of young people and to my friends, I read and quoted this poem - particularly these lines - to inspire and to be inspired.   

Today, as an adult, I see these lines much differently. It is about duty, promises and commitments, sacrifices, and positivity. The journey ahead too. As I recite the poem now again, yes, it rings loud, all clear.

I turned 31 this year. It means that I have hit a biggest crossroad of my life and now just heading into a new direction. Just completed my first five years of service, and just started a fresh life of marriage.

In the recent time, I have thought a lot about “miles to go”, how I would spend the years ahead of me. But the universal truth is that this world is always “lovely, dark and deep”, filled with pleasures, pain, uncertainties and distractions - tugging at us all time.

It reminds me that “I have promises to keep” to make myself happy and fulfill the commitments towards my wife, parents, siblings and friends before I actually “sleep”, die. 

In fact, I am doing it all already. I have narrowed down my social activities so as to spend more time with my beloved ones. For, sacrifices are to be made for one’s own loved ones.

Now I have this poem hanging on my office wall. I read it when I am engrossed in the busyness of my daily life. 

Each time I go through it there, I think of making the best use of “miles to go” – duty yet to be done, commitments still to be undertaken, goals yet to achieve, and promises to be fulfilled.

I have so much to do before I eventually breathe my last. As I would fulfill it all, so I called it truly a life well lived. Oh, I have miles to before I sleep! 

Miles to go!

Daisy blooms

This week, I took some pictures of daisy in my office gardens. They are lovely, and so pleasurable to have captured in my digital lens. I hope you would enjoy looking at them. Have a wonderful weekend!

The first five years

Yes, you read it correct. It has been exactly five years. May 2010 was the time when I first joined the office of Department of Youth and Sports. It went by so fast; in fact, it was an intense, overwhelming period of time.

During my first office assignment

I started my career as a young gelled hair boy. Frankly speaking, it was purely for the sake of employment that I joined the office; I knew nothing about the office’s mandates and objectives before. But I began my service bursting with excitement, with real gusto.

In the first year, I could perform exceptionally well. My performance and initiatives had hugely impressed my colleagues and supervisors; they applauded me for my works. The truth was that I was young, energetic, passionate and obedient. I didn’t mind taking up extra responsibilities. I didn’t mind working extra time. 

That time, a senior staff told me, “Young man, Riku, a decade ago, I was like you. Passionate. Hardworking.”

Then he had listed down the initiatives he took and added, “My boss applauded me. I was super happy. Now see, I am a de-motivated person. The system killed me.”

I didn’t know what exactly he meant by that.

Gradually, I have realized that the bureaucratic system was insanely huge and the managements were cunningly unprofessional and unfair. Much of our time, we have been struggling with paperwork and administrative hurdles.

Oddly enough, most office managements lacked leadership, dynamism and vision. They still adopted the punitive approach where employees were taught work through abuse, scolding, daunting and controlling. It was really frustrating and demoralizing to work under such management and leadership.

As a fresh employee, in the beginning, I was thirsty to learn about the work and create impact as much as I can. But rather disappointingly, the system functioned in a complex manner that always tried to stop you from going forward and pulled you down morally.

Many times, I came into conflict with the system, with my supervisors. This affected me a lot, it made me nervous too. The passion and confidence had vanished in me. I became, in a word, de-motivated. And my senior’s words rang true; I understood what he had meant.

For the better or worse, some of my colleagues quit.

At one point, I requested for transfer which eventually didn’t happen. After that, many times, I contemplated on resigning from the service. For quite sometime, I have become like my senior – an indifferent disgruntled civil servant. I did not much work but often landed up complaining about the management and the bureaucratic system.

However, slowly I have realized that my reaction and attitude was wrong. In fact, my colleagues and friends gave me a word of encouragement and injected a renewed mood of optimism and positivity in me.

I worked on the communication. I rebuilt relationship with everybody around me. Likewise, I began to fit the broken pieces together one by one. And things started to become less complicated, less stressful, much more stable and more focused.

Meanwhile, I have developed an attitude that I was not only working for my boss and the system but for the wellbeing of youth too, thereby serving the tsa-wa-sum. And I felt that I am the future of my office, the future of Bhutanese bureaucracy.

The civil service rules and regulations can be amended; it can be improved prior to our own feedback and recommendations. Our bosses will retire one day, and if we (young gunners) become concerned, then in the future we can become effective and dynamic person to head any managements.

Above all, I have learned millions of things in the last five years, through my work. This July, I am expecting my first promotion; this is just a first stepping stone of my career.

Ah, I still have a long to to go! 

Photographs

I took some pictures on my journey to Gelephu from Thimphu in the recent time. I feel that they are worth sharing here with you. Have a wonderful day!

Breakfast stop, between Dochula and Thinleygang

Road worker and her child

Mekhu sellers at Metsina

Wakhley Taar, Tsirang

Kami Chu, Tsirang

Fruit stall, Tsirang

Tsirang Town

Sarpang bazaar-razed down to ashes

Tsirang

PaSsu and his Knight

At a road widening site, between Lobesa and Wangdue, the bus stopped suddenly. After inquiring a site supervisor, the bus driver announced, “The traffic will open after one hour.” By the way, I was travelling to Gelephu to visit my parents in the village.

Other passengers apparently turned restless and frustrated, but I merrily sprinted out of the bus. Often I have been travelling via Wangdue but I didn’t really spend a good time here. Each time I travelled from this place, I tend to look at Bajothang particularly the High School.

“Oh, this is the place where our blogger friend, PaSsu, live,” I used to think about the Bhutan’s most popular blogger, feeling elated and happy.   

So this was a perfect opportunity for me to explore the place where Passang Tshering had worked and written most of his blog stories, at least for an hour. 

The story of this place has been sufficiently written by PaSsu and if anything I read and know about it, then it would be from this teacher’s blog.

Well, he is someone who always has something to say and I haven’t missed his single post. Besides his bold and fearless stories, I love his witty and credible word building.  

But do I really need to say it?  

However, incapable of writing forward, I always go through his site and get inspired. If PaSsu had quit blogging, then I would have stopped writing long time back. He is the one person who drags me on to continue blogging.   

Well, in all my time there, this place appeared so familiar to me. Every corner, every nook and cranny evoked fresh memories. I knew this place well, it seemed to me. Bajo School and Town, Buddha’s face and many more.

Meanwhile, my mind bounced on his most popular and viral post Letter to Khaw BoonWan and then to other significant posts Say No to Sex on Camera and Jigme's surprise morning speech.  

At the end, I was engulfed by emptiness looking at Bajothang. The place suddenly appeared empty. For he has left the place, for bigger venture, for Paro. I felt sad.

The traffic reopened and we got back in the bus. But I kept on looking at Bajothang. 

Amidst the heat and dust there, however, a fond feeling embraced me when I suddenly remembered another blogger of Bajo who has been hugely inspired by PaSsu. Dawa Knight.  

As the bus drove away along the enchanting Punatshangchu, I marveled at my own feeling that this young engineer could fill the emptiness of my heart left behind by PaSsu. I simply hoped to read a lot of stories about Bajo from Dawa.   

Being home, orchid bloom

I have visited my village again particularly to spend some time with my parents. By the way, this is my third visit of the year. The roads are bad due to the monsoon rain and heat is unbearable in Gelephu. But my heart is there in my village with my parents. So I visit them often.  

To tell you, each visit is uniquely different experience for me always filling with happiness and joy. Being with our own parents in our own home is simply the greatest feelings and of course is priceless.

Besides, every time I visit my home, my small village has something magnificence to offer me. This visit too it surprised me with beautiful bloom of orchids that my parents have planted in front of our house. The pictures here:

“Thank you Bhutan”

Yesterday night, I was chatting with a Nepali friend on Facebook. This was our first contact after his country was hit by the deadly earthquake on April 25 which killed over 6,600 people. However, I was quite happy to find him and other friends safe in Nepal.       

“I could just manage everything again after the disaster,” he answered me. Meanwhile, he went on sharing the news of the disaster in his country: about 10 millions people affected; 60 thousands houses collapsed. All the affected people were homeless and they were facing shortage of foods, water and shelter.

I expressed my concern for him and all the affected people of our neighboring country (over 28 millions population) and told him that Bhutan too experienced the quake on April 25.

“Oh quake again!!!” he wrote.

I asked him, worried, “When?”

“Just now! So scary all time,” he replied, apparently panicked.

Concerned, I told him to stay alert and safe. He informed me that Nepal has experienced almost 700 hits of tremors in the last six days and the people were living outside in the open.  

Then I informed him that a relief team comprising of 63 Bhutanese personnel are there in Nepal helping the survivors of the disaster as commanded by our King. Also, I informed him that Bhutan has been planning to send some more support.  

The Nepali friend told me that he saw the Bhutanese relief team (in orange uniform) in Nepal. “They are doing great,” he said adding, “We are very grateful.”

“Thank you Bhutan,” he expressed his gratitude.

I was immensely touched by his words. I felt proud too.

Besides I am so happy to know that Bhutan is the first country to personally handover the financial assistance to the Nepalese government. More importantly, our Prime Minister himself led the relief team to Nepal.  

I salute all the Drukpas in orange uniform in Nepal!

Photos: Bhutan4Nepal

Giving it a new look

If you are a regular visitor of my blog, then you would see some changes here. In the last couple of weeks, I worked pretty hard modifying this space. It was not easy; I had to give a great length of my time.

The important features upgraded are pages (writing page posts), gadget image, and change of layout and blog theme. I couldn’t really make it the way I wanted it to be. But I will keep working on it to make even better.

I am not IT savvy and it was very difficult for me to use HTML and other codes to modify the web. However, I learned online and also sought help from Amrith, my colleague, while working on it.

In fact, I wanted to give a new look to my web since long time back. My blog was simple and just ordinary. I must tell you that it looks monotonous after sometime. So I decided to change its layout. Still it is very simple.

So, I hope you like the new look of my blog and please go through the page stories. Have a wonderful weekend!