Nawang P Phuntsho

Preliminary Exam is the gateway to the most sought after career in the Civil Service in the country. And that's why many graduates are trying all that they can do to crack this examination. That way they come a step closer to realizing that dream.  Sadly, some graduates, however good they are, cannot pass this first hurdle. And consequently they cannot write the main exam. But I think we cannot judge an individual by just giving him/her to write one examination. And of course knowing this is the only option left, graduates seek solaces in preparatory classes. Because of the sheer number of graduates looking forward to crack Preliminary Exam, there are many individuals and private companies willing to help the graduates prepare for the exam. Of course this help comes with a pricetag. And going by the information doing the rounds on the streets of Thimphu, the tuition is expensive. I only hope these classes are useful.    These individuals and private comp...

I have had the pleasure of meeting this person of high repute and since then I have been closely following him with great admiration and respect. And one day I run into another person. We happened to casually chitchat when he suddenly mentioned this. I was told that because I wrote something against a cause that the famous personality is known to champion, the man decided to unfriend me on Facebook. I did not know that he did that. But I was really sure that he may not have done this. And it was only in the evening when I checked my Facebook profile I realized I lost one virtual friend. The famous person has really blocked me. That made me think a lot. I had great respect towards this man. In fact when a student wrote something controversial about him a few months ago, I requested the student not to post it anywhere because I knew that would dent his reputation. And on my request the student decided not to post it. That was that. But I was really shocked that he would ...

I was told about a particular teacher, who happened to observe a group of girls celebrating the birthday of a particular Indian movie actor in a school. (I forget whether it was Salman Khan or Sharukh Khan’s, but certainly it was one of them). The teacher went to them and conveyed them his appreciation for a celebrity’s birthday.  And then he casually asked the girls, “Do you know when your parents were born?” which silenced them all. Most of them, I am sure, did not know their parents’ date of birth.  Last evening, I attended one of my nieces’ birthday. It was a decent gathering of family members and friends and relatives.  Now people of my generations or a generation before that would know that celebrating birthdays is fairly a new culture in Bhutan. But it is gaining popular by the day. And some day in future our younger generations would assume this was always a part of us.   Most of us in Bhutan (especially those born in the villages) don’t kn...