Tour of the dragon

Posted inSports10 Comments
This year’s Tour of the Dragon was a grand success. At 2:00 AM on Saturday, 45 riders representing 15 teams took off from the town square in Chamkhar and raced towards Thimphu. 28 of the riders managed to complete the grueling one-day, 268 km mountain bike race from Bumthang to Thimphu. Last year’s fool – the rider who fell off his bike in Trongsa, but stubbornly rode on to complete the race – fared better this time. He didn’t fall. And he clocked a decent 14 hours 16 minutes to complete the race. But this year’s Tour had better…

Earthquake!

Posted inNature26 Comments
As we drove home earlier this evening, my wife noticed that Taba was in total darkness. And she observed that the residents were huddled, in the dark, outside their houses. It was an eerie sight. We were driving, so we hadn’t felt the earth move. A powerful earthquake, measuring 6.9 units, had hit the Himalayas. Its epicenter was reportedly in Sikkim. In Bhutan, thankfully, no major damages have been reported. But posts on Twitter indicate that the tremors were felt throughout our country. I’m concerned about our farm houses, old monasteries and dzongs - they, and their residents, are…

Freeing horses

Posted inCulture11 Comments
Several of you identified the image in the last “Big picture” as a horse. That is correct. Well done. But Passang’s answer was the most accurate. He said that the image was a “Picture of the horse (lungta) on a faded prayer flag.” The big picture is, quite literally, a painting of a horse on an old prayer flag. In fact, the prayer flag, with the lungta (or windhorse) printed in the middle, is clearly visible in the painting. To Karma Wangdi, the artist, that lungta, drawn within a square border, looked confined and trapped. So he set it…

We should (not) be proud

Posted inGovernment47 Comments
I applaud how the prime minister has responded to allegations that he, and other powerful people, were allotted land illegally in Gyelpozhing. He has written to ACC to investigate the allegations, and he has promised that offenders, especially those holding current political authority, will be made fully accountable. The fact that the head of the government demands to be investigated is a very good precedent. We should be proud. But I also condemn how the prime minister has responded to the same allegations. He has questioned the motive for and timing of the media’s reporting on the so-called “Gyelpozhing…

Lottery issues

Posted inGovernment20 Comments
Last year, on 29th September, I wrote that media reports about Bhutan’s role in the Indian lottery scam screamed for answers. On 11th October 2010, I wrote that the government needed to answer certain pressing questions regarding its dealings with Bhutan’s lottery agent in India. On 14th November 2010, I suggested that, instead of pulling out of the lottery business, the government should use lottery proceeds to fund public service broadcasting. On 30th November 2010, during the National Assembly’s question hour, I asked the Finance Minister to explain what the government had done to investigate the alleged violations in…

Explaining our absence

Posted inGovernment15 Comments
I got back yesterday. My tour to the eastern and central parts of our country was quick yet fruitful. So the first thing I did today was to visit Dechenphug Lhakhang, my favorite monastery. I went there to thank Ap Gengye, one of our foremost guardian deities, for granting us protection and safety during the tour. In Dechenphug, I met several groups of recent graduates. They had attended the recent National Graduate Orientation Program, and, as they prepared to enter the real world of work, most of them were still weighing their options. They could sit for the Royal…

Act against corruption

Posted inDemocracy89 Comments
News that certain powerful people, including the prime minister and ministers in the current cabinet, were given large tracks of land, illegally, in Gyelpozhing has shocked our people. News that that land had originally belonged to poor farmers, many of whom are now destitute, has angered our people. This is terrible news. It’s alleged that land was taken from the poor and illegally distributed to the powerful. We should be shocked. We should be angry. Today, we stand at an historic crossroads. We can investigate the “Gyelpozhing land grab case” immediately and completely. And, if laws have been broken,…

Sorry!

Posted inGeneral1 Comment
I have not been able to update this blog – not because I’ve been busy touring our country, but because the data card I use to connect my laptop to the Internet is broken. So while I’ve been able to post updates on Twitter and on Facebook using my cell phone, I have not been able to work on my blog. I am sorry. We are now back in Trongsa, our first stop on the tour. From here we had traveled to Bumthang and then on to Lhuntse, Mongar, Trashiyangtse, Trashigang, Samdrup Jongkhar, Sarpang and Zhemgang. Tomorrow we head…

Zaedja Pagsam Thishing

Posted inReligion11 Comments
Yesterday, I had the opportunity of visiting Rigsum Goenpa in Bomdiling, Trashiyangtse. The monastery is famous for its history, sacred artifacts and, most of all, its murals. If you visit Trashiyangtse, make sure to do the 2-3 hour trek to Rigsum Goenpa. The trail is broad, and the views of and from the monastery are spectacular. And once you get there, make sure to visit Lhakhang Wogma, the lower monastery. That’s where you’ll see the rare and exquisite murals of the Zaedja Pagsam Thishing, which is an account of the Buddha’s 108 previous incarnations. These include the popular “Thuenpa…

Secrets of our leaders

Posted inCulture8 Comments
In my last post, I invited you to think about what was causing a part of the Trongsa Dzong wall to be perpetually wet. “Andrea” and “YPenjor” put forward some good guesses. But, alas, modern cement is not to blame. It isn’t a hidden lake. And sub-terrain water seepage is not the cause. Nor is leakage from the rooftop. Or seepage from recent plumbing. The answer is history.  Yes, history! No one could quite tell what was causing that particular part of the wall to stay wet throughout the year. And that wet patch would not be covered by…

An eyesore

Posted inTowns23 Comments
I'm in Trongsa. Will visit the Dzong, and meet with sector heads and members of the new local government, before heading to Bumthang. As we approached Wangdiphograng yesterday, I could see the new Bajo town on the other side of the Punatshangchhu. And for the hundredth time, I looked across the river and muttered: UGLY. Neighboring Punakha's town in Khuruthang is widely regarded as a mistake - an ungainly concrete jungle devoid of any Bhutanese charm or character. But the town, which was built more than a decade ago, gave us one very important lesson: how not to build…

Legalize abortions

Posted inHealth31 Comments
Last month I posted a poll asking if abortion should be legalized in our country. Thank you for participating in the poll. And thank you for your views, both for and against legalizing abortion. 55% of you said yes, abortion should be legalized. 38% of you said no, abortion should not be legalized. And 7% of you said, “I don’t know”. I don’t know. That, apparently, is the government’s position too – they don’t seem to know. When asked about abortions, the prime minister reportedly accepted that our laws are “causing certain problems and deaths to mothers.” He added…

Double wedding

Posted inMiscellaneous10 Comments
Earlier today, twin sisters Sonam Lucky and Lucky Wangmo married twin brothers Nima Dorji and Dawa Wangchuk in a double wedding. How rare is that? Very rare. Facts About Multiples, an online encyclopedia of multiple birth records, has recorded just 28 instances of quarternary marriages i.e., twins marrying twins. How cool is that? Very cool. Many guests talked about the double wedding as a spontaneous opening act to the much anticipated Royal Wedding that we will celebrate in October this year. Congratulations!