Ngawang Phuntsho

It was a great trip. And a visit to Taj Mahal was the greatest treat of India. I have heard a great deal about this monument that I had to visit it. So, on August 24, 2014 as I was winding my India trip I managed to visit it. I can't describe how spectacular it was - it was simply amazing! One has to see with his/her own eyes and physically be there - only then can he/she realize what is meant by that!   It was truly memorable event of my life; second to the birth of my daughter, of course. And for now I will leave all information and historical facts about how this monument came into being to the historians and researchers!  It was Sunday. And I think there were more than 10,000 visitors. It was crowded. It was hot. I found that running the monument was an organization in itself - I am sure it employs thousands of people. Taj Mahal is one of the greatest treasures of the mankind and showcases the magnificent piece of human creation.  An Indian visitor pay...

Picture by Kuenga Tashi, BBS, Monggar My becoming a vegetarian has nothing to do with the fear of sins and thereby being thrown in the darkest corner of the hell. Some people do not like the taste - they are vegetarians under duress. Some cannot consume meat because they are advised against it by their doctors. Mine is purely out of love and compassion for the animals.  My assumption is that if I stop eating meat there will be one hungry-mouth less feasting on it. The whole idea is that if we have less mouths feeding on cruelty then there will be fewer merciless knives that take the lives of innocent animals. We worry that we might die soon and perform rimdro s or visit doctors. But then people die for meat! Animal cruelty is cruelty like no other.  But what had happened at a place in Monggar is even worse. The owner of Gashamo suspects that some men are raping their cow. And there were evidence thrown everywhere. That's not all - a few days ago, the inhuman act ...

From: www.jantoo.com I had no say in naming my daughter unlike most modern parents because I chose to offer that honor to some highly learned and incarnate Buddhist Lamas. And according to the karmic forces my daughter was named. Yangchen Tshogyal Dolkar དབྱངས་ཅན་མཚོ་རྒྱལ་སྒྲོལ་དཀར། is a decent name. But today there are so many names that are far more difficult to pronounce and by that token Yangchen Tshogyal Dolkar is not at all sophisticated.  I had to write this post – hoping some day my daughter gets to read it herself and understand my limitation and that I had no say in her name – to let her daughter know that I had to let you down with your request. How can you change your name? But she does not understand that. She thinks it can be done like the way we change our clothes in summer. Sorry! There are some modern men who change their wives more often and realize they can’t change their names as often as they wish. Of course now thanks to Facebook Rimpochhe – peo...

Yes, I want to go home. I see nothing to cling onto in town or that I can point my fingers at and count as mine. Except my wife and daughter. Of course there a few things that I could gather in the last few years of living here. They cannot however be counted. Here, everything is about money. And almost nothing else. Our GNH teaches us otherwise, but here everyone is in a mad rush to make more money - more the merrier. But again they are only being rational and wise. Sometimes I regret that we have spent so many productive years going to school and learning many things that no longer find use and purpose in our lives. Don't you feel that? Our parents sent us to school in a hope that we would have comfortable lives once we get jobs for it was every parent's dream then. And see how wild that dream has become now? Things have moved at lightening speed. But why am I rambling so much here? Anyways - yes I am going home. That is where my heart is. That is where my land is. That...

Kuensel Article I was going through today's edition of Kuensel (August 1, 2014). And an article by Tempa Wangdi particularly caught my attention. What a good news to begin the month, I thought.  Some farmers in Trongsa are saying 'No' to town planning. They fear that they will have nothing at the end to hand over to their children. And that will be the end of their ancestral properties. But that's not all - I think - it poses a serious threat to our food security. How on earth can we achieve food self-sufficiency when we keep building houses and big structures in places that were once preserved for agricultural purposes? I don't understand this thing. On one hand we insist on our policy of food security and other we build houses and turn fertile lands into towns. This is quite intriguing. In some countries, fertile lands are used for agricultural purposes and it is only here in Bhutan that we submit them to developmental activities. Thimphu Expressway...