སློབ་དཔོན་ང་།

The choice is yours. You hold the tiller. You can steer the course you choose in  the direction of where you want to be-  today, tomorrow, or in a distant time to come.  - W. Clement Stone                          In what can be praised as bold and decisive move, schools re-opened and students are back into books. It is a national achievement to rejoice. We have experience over-load from keeping schools closed. Should experience be the best agent of positive change in education system, COVID-19 was the best, but, wait; it is underwhelming to witness schools driving back to same-old-themselves. A recent viral ‘ban and shame’ photo of someone carrying a smart phone to school is one revelation of schools heading back to old-selves. Numerous school re-opening Office Orders and Notifications shared on social media (by schools) showcased how reckless and indifferent schools are to students owning cellular...

When the voices of children are heard on the green,  And laughing is heard on the hill,  My heart is at rest within my breast,  And everything else is still.  -William Blake (Nurse’s Song)  We miss our students on the school lawn. We missed your entry and exit at gate. We have nothing but wish for you to be with us; sharing your dreams and aspirations. We miss the fun with you and run after you. We miss your cheers and dribbles on the playground. We dearly miss your smiles and stories. We miss your voices and ideas. Your art and handwriting too. No matter how unintelligible and indecipherable they are, they are dear to our heart. “Only know the lights when it’s burning low” make better sense now.  COVID-19 labored hard to interrupt the assumption and popular understanding of education and schooling though it took us by surprise. Schools, the cradle of future Bhutan is missing her visionaries, thinkers, writers and artisans. Leaders, planners, and makers of ...

In the drab domesticities of ordinary  I dilute my sacred self over and again. Bullied by goals and hollow aspirations The gifts and possibilities are killed. The negated goodness of self, Scattered under the carpet of perspectives, Endures the struggle to preserve. Self, the temple of divine, Conquered by curse of pounding thoughts, Given itself to the earthly drug and dirt, Relishes harboring a will of its own. Sanctity of self, Denied of his supremacy in pretense And falsification of worthiness, Verity of sacredness is devoured by denial. Sanctity is consoled as bereaved. Yet, this scared self, Pushes himself to being, Seeks to empower his weakness, Beckon the truth, Radiate the power to heal, Redeem the sanctity, and Reclaim the honor To restore the scared self. Note : This poem has no formal format and does not follow any standard.

As the clouds are preparing its downpour.  Here I stand, Under the ramshackled gazebo, roofed from thatch and hays, Grossly engrossed  In my silly understanding of the noble text. Here I stand,  Amidst the buzzing flies tolerating insect bites, Grossly engrossed  In the interpretation and misinterpretation of humankind. Here I stand, In the friendship of majestic stupa, listening to the humming tunes of flattering flags,  Grossly engrossed In remembering and forgetting what I read.

For centuries powerful empires embarked on restless search for resources. They were ruthless on their dominion(s) and expeditions, wars and conflicts became necessity for survival. Europe became hothouse of military, economic and political power struggles by fifteenth and sixteenth century. By 1770’s James Cook expedition swept away the civilization of south-western Pacific region . “…worse fate befall the natives of Tasmania. Having survived for 10,000years in splendid isolation, they were completely wiped out, to the last man,woman and child, within a century of Cook’s arrival.” Tasmania native are, now, the subject of historical study and lecture series only. Cooks expedition and political situation that followed pressed the delete button on Tasmanian culture, civilization and whole of their existence. For around 45 years world experienced one of imminent threat from power struggles and two locus of global power. Let lone survival of humanity, even the existence of planet itself w...