Nawang P Phuntsho

Courtesy: Bhutan Telecom Bhutan Telecom is conducting its lucky draw again. This time it’s to commemorate 50 years of Bhutan Telecom since its inception. The prizes range from iPhone 5 to iPad 4, Samsung Galaxy S4 and cash. There will be a total of 33 prizes in total. This sounds interesting! We all should give a try. The voting lines will remain open starting today (October 1) till December 15, 2013. Anyone, who owns a mobile phone, can participate. Each time you vote, B-Mobile will deduct Nu.5 from your balance. It makes sense too – Nu. 5! But the terms and conditions continue;   Each lucky draw number is entitled to one (1) prize only; no number(s) shall win more than one prize Okay that makes sense! But it goes further:   Customers sending more number of SMSs will have higher chances of winning   Now that is where I find it confusing. That’s where most of the lucky draws, reality shows included, become messy. We understand it is business and m...

Back in our high school biology classes we were taught that “vestigial organs” – or as Charles Darwin called them “rudimentary organs” are nothing but those organs that have lost their functions in the  due course of evolution.  According to Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, “ The concept of  vestigially  applies to genetically determined structures or attributes that have apparently lost most or all of their ancestral function in a given species…. emergence of vestigially occurs by normal evolutionary processes, typically by loss of function of a feature that is no longer subject to positive selection pressures when it loses its value in a changing environment .” It seems that these “structures” did have some functions in the past. But the word here is “loss of function” or loss of their “values” due to “changing environment”. I like this definition.  This only means that those things that have no value or create values are basicall...

My first report card Today I violated a traffic rule by talking on the phone while on the road. And the vigilant traffic police on duty caught me red-handed. I knew it coming. This is my first offense since I obtained the legal documents that allow me to sit behind the wheel. The man in uniform took my bluebook and my driving license. I requested the policeman and said that it was my fault for using the phone while driving and I repetitively promised I would not repeat again. The man did not hear me. He was busy scribbling down my offense and instead handed me a yellow slip. And knowing that I would be wasting my energy pleading him I drove home with my first driving report card. But it was a good experience getting caught and having to pay for the blunder. “Expect the unexpected” reads a signboard a few meters away from where I got caught. And getting caught unexpectedly made me reflect on some pertinent issues. As drivers, we must not bear any grudge against th...

First up – it is so good to hear from our own bloggers and I am happy to learn that the Bhutanese blogging community is mushrooming by the day. This is good for the nation.  And secondly I would also like to thank  Rekha Monger  for initiating this bloggers’ conference. It was timely and fun, and I am sure this initiative will for sure lead us somewhere in future; except that I wish we keep doing this quite often. Thank you Rekha! 1. Why did you start blogging in the first place? And what’s the story behind your blog title? Back in my Shercol days, I used to fiddle with a lot of sites that allowed us to write and post pictures. The idea was tempting. Back then I tried writing on  www.helium.com  - it was of course my friend PaSsu, who directed me to this site. And later I caught hold of our own sites  www.nopkin.com  and  www.kuzuzangpo.com . But the best thing came about when I started my own blog on a platform that  www.blo...

Photo: Mountain Echoes   Mountain Echoes is over and I am already feeling nostalgic about it. But I am sure 2014 will bring in even more engaging and interactive Literary Festival. The organizers have nominated two Bhutanese writers - Ashi Kunzang Choden and Aum Pek Dorji - as the co-directors of the festival. And for the same reason I feel that the forthcoming edition of the festival would have a well-balanced representation from both the countries. Talking a little more about the festival – it is like living in the moment. My Uncle, who faithfully attended the festival, told me that this was shown by the nature of conversations - light and casual. And interestingly there are no written records of what have ensued from these discussions. There are no academic papers written or submitted and no records of the festival proceedings. People just appear on stage and talk. That’s unique and I find it quite comforting. After all who records what happens in our Tshechu grounds ...

Young people are special: Our beloved King I am rather disturbed and can't make out anything out of this. And it only means that without the support of big people, small people like us will always be left behind. It is sad I know. It is a serious issue only when big people's relatives are involved and not so much when small people like us are involved. However, this may not have anything to do with one's background and I would be extremely happy if I am proved wrong.  Last week, my wife's Aunt dropped her only son at a certain college after he was selected for a certain program in that college. It was a big day in their life. Finally, someone in the family was going to graduate from a college in the country. And now a week later I was told that my wife's cousin's admission in that college was not accepted anymore. After a week? I don't understand this. Didn't the college authority do a background check earlier? I don't know if things can ge...

Is there a need for evidence? the remains of the bite was visible 
 the culprit is hiding somewhere
 how long can he hide in there? Five faint kerosene lamps are lit now
 and the soot painted walls are whitened
 the search for bloody bedbugs starts
 how long can he hide in there? Come out you buggers, come out
 let me treat you another round, he swears
 a farmer woken from his mid-summer night’s dream
 nurses the bitten portion in his arm. Under wooden floors, where bamboo rug folds
 how long can he hide in there?
 how noxious buggy odour fills the room!
 the farmer’s disturbing sleep disturbed. Somewhere a baby is born
 an unidentified father is out on the run
 a genetic hunt is about to begin
 how long can the man hide in there? What prompted her verdict? How could the woman possibly fail to draw a boundary between a man and the man? How best to paint conscience of men? P.S: This is something I wrote years ago and still haunts me dear. 

Photo by Penstar The other day I was out in the town with my dear friend - my three-year-old daughter. And when we were about to have our lunch I realized I needed some cash. So, that took me to the doorstep of an ATM. I was totally taken back. That was not what I expected to greet me. But it is a sad reality; this is when modern problems coupled with our traditional mindset - confront us dear.   Don't stare at the lady's bottom, but what is on the floor! Lol... Recently, all BOB ATMs started refusing to print receipts and I admired the idea behind this initiative. By discouraging the machines to print receipts unnecessarily we do a great service to our environment and a big favor to our municipal authorities. It is our common knowledge that as soon as a receipt is printed the customers throw them in the ATM rooms even if there are trash cans provided. And at some point ATM rooms have nearly become a garbage-house. This has a lot of things to do with th...