Thank you Ama

May 13, 2012Posted inWomen15 Comments
We don't celebrate Mother's Day in Bhutan. But 160 countries do. And 79 of them celebrate it today, the second Sunday of May. I think we should celebrate Mother's Day too. Like the rest of the world, we should dedicate a day to thank our mothers for their love and affection, and to acknowledge them for the huge influence they've had on our lives. Bringing up children is a difficult job at the best of times. But my mother raised six of us - all boys! She did so single-handedly. And she did so on a shoestring. That meant…

Water and food security

March 25, 2012Posted inEconomy, People13 Comments
Students and teachers of Thimphu’s schools came together in Changangkha to commemorate World Water Day on 22 March. The celebrations included a wide array of well-thought-out presentations and entertaining performances highlighting the importance of water. I was given the opportunity to talk to the students. So I told them a story, one that is relevant to this year’s World Water Day theme: "water and food security". But one that is also relevant to the current rupee crisis. Here’s a quick summary of my story: Nob Gyeltshen is 77 years old. He hails from Dorithasa, a small village in the…

Sexual harassment

March 21, 2012Posted inWomen60 Comments
My wife and our daughter, aged 12, walk home every afternoon. They enjoy their walks, but they’ve been harassed by all sorts of men including commuters, taxi drivers and even school students, in uniform, younger than our son. The eve-teasing is offensive and hurtful. Yet, they’ve continued to walk, even if they have to suffer sexual harassment, hoping that, sooner or later, we, men, will learn to respect our women, and permit them the freedom and simple pleasure of walking home from school or work. During their walk today, they met the procession of vehicles carrying effigies and other…

Deserving parents

August 3, 2011Posted inSports14 Comments
Dago Pema Retty deserves to be congratulated. Dago, who is a Class VII student at Pelkhil School, recently participated in the 9th International Clubs Open Taekwondo Championship in Vietnam. He bought home a bronze medal from that tournament. Dago’s parents, Aum Pem Dem and Gyambo Sithey, also deserve to be congratulated. They spotted their son’s interest in taekwondo, and went out of their way to cultivate that interest. They hired a private coach for their son. And even though Dago was the only Bhutanese participant in the Vietnam tournament, they sent him there, and they bore all the expenses.…