Simple Reminders from Nature.

Spring is the season of hope, with the nature recuperating from the pains of harsh winter. With the sprouting of new shoots, and blooming of fruit trees, the peasants hope for a bountiful harvest when the autumn season comes. They experience hectic days by slogging in the farm and their pockets would be now void of any savings or it might be less than half-full, with expenditure for their children’s education, farm seeds and equipments. At such a time, their only hope is for nature’s fair play with the beauty of spring.

beauty of spring

However, Mother Nature seems dissatisfied with the way our people are dealing with it and it seems least bothered about the hopes of our poor peasants. It is revealing more of its tragic fate than the lyrical essence and comical existence it possess.

Of late, forest fire devastated many parts of our country. The cause, be it due to cruel intentional or regretful accident, engulfed potential resource of the nation and also startled many innocent farmers, who have to rush for battling the fire leaving behind their field works. In such an adversity, Mother Nature instead of showering a heavy down pour, fuels up the fire by strong winds.

whats in the store of nature?

Besides, windstorms and fires are also leaving many families in destitute with their homes destroyed. I could not resist the mental trauma when I read news headlines that says ‘roofs of many homes blown by wind and heavy rain,’ or that ‘a house is being gutted down by fire’ etc. Last time, wind blew off the roofs in Wangdue and Punakha and now it has shifted its direction to the east, where as many as 14 houses were destroyed in Mongar. At such a time, it will be very difficult for the victims to restore their homes to former shape and recover their lost properties.

Moreover, the country is deep into agony due to the rupee crunch, the worst economic crisis the generation has experienced as they say. How much extra sum will our poor farmers have to pay for the new CGS sheets they will have to buy to restore their home?

So in order to remain self reliant and happily in our own homes, we should be visiting our farms than the vegetable markets, worshiping the nature than setting it on fire, practicing the cultural ethos than ignoring them, so as to please the guardian deities that dwell our homes. It is only when the Mother Nature is satisfied with the way we act that it bestow us the beauty, whose joy would last forever.

Everything that troubles us is but a reminder for us to change the direction we are following. 

World Meteorological Day: Powering our future with weather, climate and water.

 23^rd March: World Meteorological Day;

The other day, World Community of Foresters, Environmentalist, Biodiversity Conservationist and Nature Lovers celebrated the World Forestry Day with a note to reach to the common man, the importance of forest and the need for its conservation with sustainable utility. While celebrating the day, emphasis regarding the link between the green coverage and stream flow would have been definitely made, and so came the importance of forest for water and water for life.

Because they purify and slow the flow of water to the sea, helping to control floods and water pollution, the wetlands are considered as “the world’s kidneys.” As water is essential for food production whose demand is ever escalating owing to the arithmetic rise in worlds population, the foresters then joined the FAO agencies and world community to celebrate the importance of water on World Water Day yesterday with the theme “Water and Food Security.”

Forests are further considered as “the world’s lungs” because they take carbon from the atmosphere and produce oxygen, and it is this function that has attracted growing attention in recent years as the world faces the challenge of Climate Change. And as the world celebrates the World Meteorological Day today, the need for conservation of forest to ameliorate the climate is re-emphasized. The theme for World Meteorological Day 2012 is “Powering our future with weather, climate and water,” and this focuses on the critical roles of weather, climate and water services in powering a sustainable future for us and for generations to come.

Photo courtesy of Satori13  

Every year news headlines the newspapers where hurricanes and storms devastated the homes of civilians, where drought hit the farms of our peasants, and where the impact of climate change has is painfully felt. The greatest injustice on our watch is that those who did the least to cause climate change are the first and hardest hit.

So, to secure the life of our successors fully lies in the present generations. In this regard, Michel Jarraud, Secretary-General of WMO has conveyed a message to the world and some important excerpts are as follows;

“Certain human activities are contributing to the warming of the climate system and have dire effects on our natural environment, such as increases in global average air and ocean temperatures, widespread melting of snow and ice and rising global average sea levels.”

“It will be extremely important to ensure that in all our efforts to implement the Global Framework for Climate Services (GFCS), in particular to contribute to sustainable development, we always keep in mind the need to minimize as much as possible the atmospheric release of greenhouse gases.”

“Vulnerable communities around the globe are struggling to increase their effectiveness in preventing or mitigating natural disasters, close to 90 per cent of which over the last 50 years have been linked to weather, climate and water hazards.”

 “WMO has continued to stress that Least-developed Countries (LDCs), Small Island Developing States (SIDS) and other vulnerable developing countries should be increasingly empowered to use early warning systems to safeguard their fragile sustainable development, as well as the environment and the global climate, for present and future generations.”

“While many renewable energy projects must necessarily be large-scale, several ‘green’ technologies like wind, solar and hydropower are especially well-suited for the rural and remote areas,”

“Biomass production involves using garbage or even crops, such as corn, sugar cane or other vegetation, to generate bio-fuel or as a direct combustion material. However, care must be exercised not to release an even more powerful greenhouse gas into the atmosphere than the one we seek to avoid in the first place, as well as not to jeopardize, through energy generation, the food security resources of the concerned population.”

“By scaling up renewable energy and other low-emission technologies, it would be possible to provide universal access to modern energy services by 2030 without significantly increasing greenhouse gas emissions.”

“The 13 warmest years on record have all occurred since 1997 and global temperatures in 2011 were higher than any previous La Niña year, an event which usually has a cooling influence. Concentrations of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere have continued to increase unabated, reaching an all-time high in 2011.”

           Read the full Message HERE;

image courtesy: google images;

World Water Day: Water and Food Security.

22^nd March 2012: World Water Day;

International World Water Day is held annually on 22 March as a means of focusing attention on the importance of freshwater and advocating for the sustainable management of freshwater resources. This year the theme for the World Water Day is “Water and Food Security”.

World Water Day Logo 2012

Water is one such element without which the existence of life is but a big question mark. About 70% of the earth’s surface is covered with water. Of this ninety-seven percent of the water on the earth is salt water which is filled with salt and other minerals, and humans cannot drink this water.

courtesy: Riku Dhan Subba 

Two percent of the water on earth is glacier ice at the North and South Poles. This ice is fresh water and could be melted; however, it is too far away from where people live to be usable.

Just less than 1% of all the water on earth is fresh water that we can actually use. We use this small amount of water for drinking, transportation, heating and cooling, industry, and many other purposes.

Since water covers almost all corners of the earth, a mere 30% is occupied by land. This land is further fragmented into deserts, cities, mountains, etc and leaves only 10.57% (15.74 million square kilometres) as arable, and this minute fraction of land have to feed as many as seven billion greedy people at present. Statistics say that each of us drinks from 2 to 4 litres of water every day, however most of the water we ‘drink’ is embedded in the food we eat: producing 1 kilo of beef for example consumes 15,000 litres of water while 1 kilo of wheat ’drinks up’ 1,500 litres. So, the least percentile of less than 1% of fresh water has to not quench the thirst of 7 billion people directly but have to satiate the greed by producing nutritious food. So came the slogan “The World is Thirsty Because We are Hungry”.

save water, save money.

Food security is when all people all the time have easy access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food for their dietary need and preferences for the better living and life style, and to produce such food, water is the fundamental output.

The following Video Clip Produced by FAOWater best explains Why is water so important to our food security?

To read more about World Water Day, ClickHere.


Yesterday, we celebrated the World Forestry Day. There is a close link betwwen the forest and sustainable water supply. Forests help sustain the soil and water base that underpins agriculture. According to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), eight percent of the world’s forests play aprimary role in soil and water conservation. Forested catchments supply a vital source of clean water for human use: an estimated 75% of usable water worldwide. So we should save the forest to save water and 

Save Water, to secure the Future!!!

World Forestry Day: Value the Forests.

21^st March 2012: World Forestry Day;

Bhutan Forest: source linked

This day marks the importance of the Forests. Forests has played a paramount role in the evolution of ethnological culture and shaping the livelihood of the people dwelling in close intimacy with the forests from time immemorial. Forests are the basic of life, which contributes towards environmental, economical and socio-economic development of this modern world. Thus, forests are one such creation of God, which helps the people and community meet their basic necessities for living. The world’s poorest of people rely on forests for food, cooking, heating and lighting, owing to multifarious services the forests provides in the form of timber and numerous non-wood forest products.

“Everything in nature is lyrical in its ideal essence, tragic in its fate, and comic in its existence.” Contemplated George Santayana, and as such the natural beauty of forest is a great source of inspiration for the innovative artists. It is worth mentioning here that Lord Buddha himself was born in the forest and got enlightened in the forest. His teachings were made simpler for comprehension by using many metaphors and similes from the elements present in nature and as such, rooted in the forests is the doctrine of Buddhism. Moreover, many believe that there are unseen spirits everywhere – in the earth and trees, sky and waters, rocks and forests, failing to respect them, they punish us with natural calamities. This calls for the conservation of forests from the spiritual point of view.

Life in the metropolitan city is never peaceful. There are noises of honking cars, and surrounding areas are filthy with stinking garbage. The air is polluted and water is not fit for drinking directly. A short recreational tour from their busy schedule by the side of woods would heal the entire mental trauma that the man faces in their what they ironically term luxury homes, when gush of fresh air filled with natural aroma from green trees and colourful blossoms caresses them. Added to the mystical serene are the sounds of chirping birds, rustling of leaves and flowing of pure streams. This is why a valleys adorned with natural forest rich in its biodiversity attracts many nature lovers, thus opening the scope of ecotourism.

Forests also serves as major carbon sinks and plays a crucial role in reducing the negative impacts of climate change. Looking beyond our narrow human greed, forest provides home to diverse animal species and maintains a stable and dynamic ecosystem. Furthermore, forests play an important role in prevention of soil erosion, and helps in maintaining a water cycle thus offering a protection to catchments and our agricultural lands.

fire continues array in forest

However, many forest areas are lost annually due to carelessness and unsystematic use of forest resources by humans. Intentional as well as accidental forest fires engulf thousands of hectares of forest cover every year. The expansion of urban areas and road networks further adds pressure to the nearby forest areas. Excessive grazing of cattle’s trample the newly sprouting seedlings of trees rendering the area degraded. Illegal cutting of trees and exploitation of the virgin forests disturb the wildlife habitats, which compels the wild animals to come in close proximity to human settlements causing great threats of human-wildlife conflicts. Wildlife is dying and species are prone to extinction. Watersheds are diminishing and fish spawning streams are shrinking. The air we breathe is getting polluted and world is getting warmer year after year due to global warming, only because the lost forests are not replenished.

We should therefore remember that when we take away the forest, it is not just the trees that go. If the forests go, so will be the fate of the entire population who depend solely on forest for their livelihood, and the balance of the entire ecosystem will be shaken, leaving dire consequences for all of us. With the disappearing of forest, so gone will the beauty of mother earth, so we should sustain the forest by protecting it to meet the requirements of products and recreations forever.

Save our Forest to Save Ourselves.

ལོ་གསར་ལུ་བཀྲ་ཤིས་བདེ་ལེགས།།

photo credit: Pema Gyamtso/fb. 

༆  གནམ་ལོ་གསར་དུ་ཚེས་པའི།། བཀྲ་ཤིས་དཔལ་གྱི་དུས་ལ།།

མཁྱེན་ལྡན་ཕོ་མོ་ཡོངས་ལུ།། བཀྲ་ཤིས་བདེ་ལེགས་ཞུ་གེ།།

གནམ་ལོ་ཆུ་ཕོ་འབྲུག་ལོར།། ཆར་ཆུ་དུས་སུ་བབས་པས།།

ལོ་ཕྱུགས་བརྟག་ཏུ་ལེགས་སྟི།། ནད་དང་མུ་གེ་ཞི་ཤོག།།

སྨན་ལྗོངས་སྐྱིད་པའི་དབུས་སུ།། རྒྱལ་བློན་སྐུ་ཚེ་བསྟན་པས།།

འབངས་རྣམས་བདེ་སྐྱིད་ལྡན་ཏི།། དགའ་སྐྱིད་ཕུན་སུམ་ཚོགས་ཤོག ༑༑

Long Life His Majesty the fifth King.

Today is a very auspicious day in the history of Bhutan because it was on this date 32 years ago that his majesty the fifth king of Bhutan was born. And in order to pay tribute the schools all over the country celebrate the occasion with solemn gratitude and rededicate themselves for the service of nation and for that matter the entire nation join in hands and witness the cultural programmes organized by the school children to remember the day.  

Today I had the privilege to witness the day by visiting my first school where I firmly established my foundation for building my career. Sephu Primary School in her own little ways celebrated the day by little kids performing various cultural items following the welcome speech and chief guest’s speech. Despite limited time for practicing the items, they gave their best performance that made me remember my childhood days in the school.

Following is the praise they have composed for His Majesty the Fifth King;

བཀྲ་ཤིས་དུས་བཟང་ཚེས་པའི་ཉིན་མོ་འདིར།།

ཆོས་རྒྱལ་མི་དབང་འཇིགས་མེད་གེ་སར་མཆོག།

མཚན་བཟང་་ཡོངས་འཛེོགས་དང་བཅས་སྐུ་གཏམ་བསྟན།།

སྐུ་ཚེ་ཞབས་པད་ཡུན་རིང་བསྟན་པར་ཤོག།།

ཆོས་རྒྱལ་མི་དབང་གེ་སར་མཆོག་གི་སྐུ།།

གཏམ་པའི་མོད་ལ་འཚན་དང་པད་བརྒྱད་ལྡན།།

སོས་ཀྱང་དྲིན་མེད་རང་བཞིན་ཟིད་འོད་ཀྱིས།།

འབངས་རྣམས་འོག་ཏུ་བསྡུ་བ་ཡ་མཚན་ཆེ།།

བྱང་སེམས་སྙིང་རྗེའི་རང་གཟུགས་མིར་སྤྲུལ་བའི།།

མི་དབང་འཇིགས་མེད་གེ་སར་རྣམ་རྒྱལ་ཆོག།།

བདག་ཀྱང་འབངས་རྣམས་བསྐྱོང་ཞིང་རྩུག་རྒྱན་ལུ།།

བརྟག་ཏུ་འབྲལ་མེད་སྐལ་བརྒྱ་བཞུགས་གྱུར་ཅིག།།

Some images captured from the day;

LONG LIFE OUR KING.

HAPPY LOSAR FOR TOMORROW.

Haiku Talent Hunt.

from the dormant blogger...,

The moon it gleams

With shining rays from above

To sparkle earth.

The rose it blooms

With bright appealing petals

To attract the bees.

With angelic look

And voices so melodic

They entertain us.

Thus with equity

Lets vote for the real star

And play fair game.

The Painful Truths.

Like the flutters of gentle breeze,

And like the rustling of autumn leaves,

My bewildered thoughts, it escaped my body

To discover the truth of unknown quest.

Up on the hills facing the rising sun,

The flags flap amid ferocious fogs.

The inscriptions on it, when fades with time,

I discovered the fact of impermanence.

Down in the flow of swift rivers,

Swims the fishes with fearless soul,

Yet when in the tyrants net they entangle,

I discovered the truth of untimely death.

In the fields filled with the final reap

When suddenly the storms hits violently

The peasants, they weep in agony

And I discovered the truth of uncertainty.

The chromatic rainbows on the hillsides

And the flowers that embellish the gardens,

When in fragment of seconds they perish,

I realized the short lives of natural beauty.

Thus far, my thoughts it roamed

And like the free flowing river life passes by

Never to return and when I realized my wilderness,

I discovered that final destiny is one step closer.

As the Phase of Life Changes.

It was during the winter of 2007 and having given the BHSEC from Bajothang Higher Secondary School, I left for my vacation with loads of fruitful memories. During my childhood days, my duty during the winter vacation was to rear the sheep and cows on the pastures and hillsides everyday but no more then as the population of sheep declined drastically. My last and longest vacation of school days was historic as I got to attend many political campaigns, and hear the voices of politicians as they made numerous promises and having taken part in casting the votes for the candidates of NC and NA of the first historic election of democratic Bhutan. In the village, it was always fun with the village folks during the annual village tsechu, losars, annual lochoes, etc. and of course working at the sites where new houses were constructing. However, my mind was never engrossed in those activities but deep within I had that worry, a worry about my BHSEC result. Though I was quite confident that I had done my best, I was little worried about the consequences of my luck.

source: google images

It was during the month of February that I came to Wangdue town to wait for the declaration of our results as my village was quite inaccessible to media if not for the FM radio only. Today we have electricity to light our homes and B Mobile network to reach the friends and relatives. So in front of the computer, I was checking my result on the Bhutan Telecom website on the evening of the result declaration. It took quite a time and when I finally could view my scores, I was happy to see that my marks were good enough to seal a slot for scholarship provisions. For few successive weeks, I did not miss the kuensel issues to see the notifications and advertisements regarding the availability of scholarships for further studies but somehow I missed it. By the time I learnt about the it, I was left with just a couple of days to submit my documents to the Scholarship Division of Department of Adult and Higher Education. This made me rush to the capital city which was my first time. Of course during my first journey, one of my cousin brothers accompanied me. Rushing from the hospital to the DAHE office, from DAHE office to the Xerox shop, it was a tedious job for me and more tiresome and tough, when I didn’t have a friend.  

Worst, I could not decide specifically on which field of study to choose as I didn’t have good idea about the scope of different courses. Nor could I avail much advice from those who have ideas. I was a bio math student and coincidentally my marks in those two subjects were equal, which gave me a better option in both the bio and math fields. My favourite is bio so I had chosen in the bio field. Me being a villager have a good attachment with forest so Forestry is what I have chosen adamantly and didn’t dreams a shit about becoming an engineer. My parents being illiterate and uneducated, they neither pressurized me to focus for certain specific ambitions, nor did they have any objections for my choice of course and that’s the liberty I enjoyed being a son of farmer.

Now that the class twelve results are out, quite a number of our dear brothers and sisters might be excited and in jubilant state with their good marks. For them what is important is to get themselves vigilant about the notices and advertisements regarding the opportunities of further studies besides getting themselves equipped with all the necessary documents like medical fitness certificate, security clearance certificate, class ten mark sheets, etc. It is always advisable to keep atleast three Xerox copies of each. Meanwhile they should consult with the seniors, teachers, and authorities concerned about the prospect of choosing the course of one’s interest. There are many instances of career mismatch and even those sent on government scholarships land up without a single job vacancy when they complete their courses and come back. While it is good to make the choices, it is sometimes best to take the chances as well.

Since the news reports states that only 15% of the total class XII pass outs will be absorbed by RUB, it is for sure that some 75% of our class twelve pass outs will have to either get into the job market, which is already facing the scarcity of jobs. Farming, though it is one of the best and sustainable sources of income, our youths show hatred towards the profession. From my point of view provided that one’s parent have a good land resource, it is best to become an educated farmer than earning a meager sum by picking up job which neither satisfies us, nor our parents.

What so ever the situation may be the youths should now get themselves prepared to face the challenges and accept their fate. It might be painful and agonizing experience this season for some unlucky ones and it is during such times that our youths tend to follow the wrong path, so it is important that our parents and authorities concerned gives them best counseling and groom them face the real world. 

Facebook scribbles.

Written when the path I am traveling seems to be taking a much longer duration to reach the final destination.

paths of variety,

"It is better to prepare and prevent than to repair and repent...” but when the other end seems least bothered and more reluctant to work for a good cause, then our will to prepare and prevent fades, leaving us startled!

Eroding the paths once paved with glistening emeralds to transform everything into a history of life. History which some people won’t dare to look back and history which others have experienced in a similar manner to loath about.

Four years ago, I Consciously had chosen a path which seems to be a mistaken one. To fight the wars, I feed a steed and developed a shoe for it and as years passed by the horse aged and shoe got torn and when I am to fight the ultimate battle, it seems my steed is exhausted and the shoe is beyond repair. Now I leave the fate of my unfinished mission in the hands of almighty.

The hopes cultivated in the garden of my heart diminishes, the aspirations developed with beat of my rhythmic heart stopped and finally the life jacket which I have been wearing for years is lost and thus I may sink in this ocean.

Like a Bird-II

A poem for children,

Like a bird, I want to fly,

Above the clouds so high.

Soaring higher in the sky

Without any obstacles nearby.

When storms of desperation struck me,

Like a bird, I will set myself free,

To discover the joy, lengthy or wee,

Amid the beauty of elegant tree.

When to me, the drizzles of happiness befall

The flocks of same feather, I would call

And like a bird, heartily I would sing for all

For the recipe, they shared big or small.

When entire world tends to act cruel,

And quenches their greed with goals dual

Like a bird, I would contend with simple gruel

And pray for goodness of each individual.

On the Soil of Enlightenment - II

Read Here On the Soil of Enlightenment I-

2600 years ago, Prince Siddhartha got enlightened under a peepal tree after six years of enduring pain by meditation at Bodh Gaya. Today every Buddhist aspires to visit the site to pay homage to the enlightened one and to follow the path towards enlightenment, yet only the lucky and fortunate ones fulfill their wish. For many Bhutanese, they toil the entire summer to save some amounts for their pilgrimage in chilly winters while for others their sons and daughters doing service sponsor their aging parents to visit the sacred place. Bodh Gaya is a pilgrimage destination for all the Buddhists around the world.

The ultimate apex as viewed from the lower realms via colourful paths amid mystical haze.

This winter starting 31^st December 2011 to 10^th January 2012, a special prayer and teaching programme is being conferred by his holiness the Dalai Lama. The 32^nd Kalachakra Empowerment 2012 is being attended by over two lakh people from across the world majority being the Tibetans, and I was one lucky few to have witnessed the special ceremony though not for the entire duration.

Having learnt that Dalai Lama is preaching in Bodh Gaya, which is some 7 hours journey by train from my college, I planned to visit the holy site and booked the tickets though I was quite sure that accommodation would be a problem out there. So on the evening of 4th January, we proceeded towards Bodh Gaya. The train reached us Gaya junction at 3:30 am so after waiting for half an hour at the station fearing the looters at night, and at 4.00am we took an auto heading to Bodh Gaya, which reached us at 4:30 am. Bodh Gaya was in deep silence if not for the devoted pedestrians on the way towards the Mahabodhi temple. We waited for the dawn to crack so that we can look for a room for lodging but it was more of an impossibility and expensive if available unlike on other occasions.

Finally, we could get a local residence at a reasonable rate, and then after taking rest for a while and taking a breakfast, the purpose of our visit began by circumambulation of the Maha Bodhi Temple, reciting the Badza Guru, and then listening to the preaching’s of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, which is in Tibetan medium. Nevertheless, owing to the advancement in technology, the preaching is being aired live in various languages including Dzongkha.

HHDL, as prophesied accepted to live 113 years.

The teachings of Dalai Lama, as per the translation made by a Bhutanese Khenpo, mainly deal about how to live a peaceful life by practicing dharma. He said that it is only through the practice of true Buddhism, the obscurity of our mind can be cleared and that in this materialistic world, no wealth can buy an ounce of happiness but by practicing dharma and taking refuge in the three jewels of  Buddhism, the Buddha, the Dharma and the Sangha.

His Holiness the Dalai Lama taught the devotees for ten days mainly covering five important texts to reach the message to the people in simplest form but if not for those sitting in the tent where his holiness was seated, others outside the kalachakra ground might not have received the messages completely. This is due to the excessive heat during the day and numerous distractions from the crowds moving up and down, doing business, playing games, chitchatting etc. I could listen to the teachings with full concentration only for one day from the four days that I spent there but could get a copy of the texts for the entire preliminary teaching, which contains inscriptions in Tibetan and its equivalent translation in English.

If looked from a religious perspective, my trip was a virtuous one because since my landing on the soil of enlightenment, negative thoughts tends to disperse and thoughts of cognition develop in me which reminds me of the negative karma which we will endure if we tend to affiliate our thoughts and actions towards negativity.

From the recreational point of view, it was a wonderful experience visit the holy sites of Rajgir and Nalanda, visiting the various temples from various Buddhist countries thus relishing the mind which is otherwise occupied by the daily mundane of college routine.

And if fate is to be considered, I could meet some of my high school teachers who after quite a year and meet friends from the colleges in Kolkata and Allahabad. Such a meeting in a holy site, though it seems a mere coincidence but it’s an indication of continuity of my previous fate and hence I prayed for the further continuity of good fate, fate for my mind to adhere more towards religion.

The Five Texts that were deliberated by HHDL is as follows;

1.     A hymn to [the Buddha], the World Transcendent by Master Nagarjuna,

2.     The Second volume of the Sages of Meditation by Master Kamalashila,

3.     The Eight Verses on Mind Training by Geshe Langri Thangpa Dorje Senge,

4.     The Thirty Seven Practices of Bodhisattavas by Bodhisatava Thongmey Zangpo,

5.     The jewel lamp: Verses in Praise of Bodhichitta by Khunnu Lama Tenzin Gyaltsen.

First Page of the 366 Days Journey.

If we are to believe that what we do on 1st day of first month of any new year will repeat throughout the year, then the year 2012 meant a lonely year for me without much companions, often confronted by the harshness of external forces compelling to fast without a cause.

When I woke up in the morning today (I made my mind to wake up early starting the New Years Day but it was already 6:30a.m when I was awake), I did not feel the chill of morning air as I use to feel on other days. Looking through the window I found that the otherwise parched lawn appeared quite fresh and the air was humid with blanket of thick clouds over us. With a cup of hot coffee in hand, I walked on the porch contemplating the very first step of the year’s journey, sipping the hot coffee with the air of cosy environment.  Will it rain today? I thought. After all winter rains are not as interesting as those of spring. But at such a peak winter season it won’t rain, rather there might be a drizzle I comforted myself. Such a drizzle if ever poured will be a good omen for the year as we Buddhist consider such drizzles a flowery shower from heaven. 

The other day at the New Years Eve after taking the dinner, my friend and me discussed about how we should celebrate the New Year. Since we are, only two remainders left in the otherwise noisy three-storied hostel, partying the New Years Eve sounds odd and it won’t be of much charm if we do so also. Therefore, we decided to go to the city on the New Year’s Day and have a lunch in the restaurant.

 Actually, it was a good coincidence that New Years Eve falls on Saturday so one can rock the night until dawn and rest the whole Sunday. This might have happened with others but for me I waited for the New Year surfing net and then dosed off to sleep quarter past mid night with the mind to wake up early.

So at around 9:00a.m I called upon my friend and two of us as decided the other day went for roaming the town to seek the company of strangers on a warm foggy yet gloomy weathered New Year day. The sun never radiated its light down to earth the whole day. As soon as we reached the periphery of the town, it started drizzling. So two of us in haste rode on a rickshaw asking the rickshawahla to reach us to the nearest restaurant. The restaurant is some two kilometres far and no sooner did the rickshaw ride started than the rain poured in full velocity, after which the old rickshawahla too was fatigued in the rain to paddle harder, and two of us got totally drenched in wetness.

"It seems that the cyclone from Tamil has reached this far now. It’s not advisable to stay in the restaurant for a lunch in this condition." He told me so I with a nod we headed towards auto stand to reach back to the hostel which is some 8 kilometres. By then the intensity of rain has reduced and it was little comfortable though we were wet in and out. Therefore, our idea of taking a lunch didn't materialize. He suggested me to take either fish or chicken so that we can have our own supper in the hostel but I refused. Fish I don't like and chicken, I don't want to see them dying in agony in front of our eye.

 "We have enough vegetable in there, so let’s have a salivating kewa datse." I told him as we walked towards the auto stand. Two of us are on self catering since a month ago, my room serving a mini kitchen . Still raining but lightly. There wasn't much pedestrians and consequently only few autos were there. One was already packed and it was ready to leave, and other few, they were empty. So, we had to squeeze in the single auto which was already packed.

Fourteen passengers and the autowala. Indian traffic rule is so liberal but in times it’s beneficial for needy passengers. I was allotted an inch of the driver’s seat from the right side and my friend a same proportion from the left. As we travelled, it started raining harder and heavier again. Every drop of water from the cable fall unto me and with the splashes of rain from beneath, yet again I was totally soaked and I couldn't even sit. Same was the case with my friend but somehow we reached the campus.

So two of us rushed to the hostel, changed ourselves and we were to prepare a hot tea and then a delicious lunch, but unluckily there was no power. This is the problem here, rain comes, power goes. So, we were to go for fasting for no cause. All alone without much jolly I looked through the window reminiscing the summer days which I use to spent with parents back home during my childhood days. My friend seems frustrated and never came out of his room until 5:00p.m when he knocked on my door to ask me about dinner. I looked at the florescent tube. Outside it was still raining.