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Menchu of Menchuna: A Hidden Gem in Tobesa, Punakha

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Nestled in the serene village of Menchuna, Tobesa, Punakha, lies the mysterious and historical site of Menchu. As its toponym may suggest, Menchuna is a place where tradition and nature intertwine in fascinating ways. Once renowned for its medicinal hot springs, Menchu has a story that reflects both the resilience of its people and the enduring allure of its natural gifts. Here’s a journey into the intriguing tale of Menchu and its place in the heart of Bhutan. The Legacy of Menchu: A Once-Prominent Hot Spring Menchu was once celebrated as a revered hot spring, its waters believed to hold remarkable healing power with medicinal as well mineral properties. For centuries, the people of Bhutan trekked to Menchuna, as it is ideally situated near traditional Punakha-Thimphu trek trail. The hot springs, with their mineral-rich waters, were a vital source of therapeutic relief, providing solace and healing to countless visitors. The Struggle and the Change However, as is often the case with p
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Trees of Eastern Girls at Thowa Drak ༼ཤར་ཕྱོགས་མའི་ནགས་ར༽

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There is so much charm in hearing the stories we never heard but there is nothing that fascinates us more than validating the stories and legends we heard. My parents narrated stories and folklores that lived throughout my life and I always carry this huge urge to validate and testify the stories to satisfy myself. One satisfactory testimony of the story I heard is one of the many living legends of Thowa Drak, a famed spot that cling to the highest rocky cliff to the north of Tang, Bumthang མཐོ་བ་བྲག་ལྷ་ཁང་ Thowadrak, one of the four great holy cliffs of Bumthang, famed by meditators, faith seekers, and pilgrims from all walks of life, is full of amusing legends and stories that awestruck everyone who pay visit to the temple or hear about it. The most important story from Thowa Drak is enthralling story of Guru Rimpoche performing miracles though divine powers to subdue vicious demons and summoning them as Dharma protectors. The second legend of Thowa Drak that never fail to entice us
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Mythical Temple of Lugi Raw ༼ལུག་གི་རྭཝ༽

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Lugi Raw Temple Have you heard of Lugi Raw? Many haven't. If you are one of them you are on the right platform. This is for you.  3200 meters above the sea level, secluded among the towering mountains that feed Tshachuphu river, surrounded by fragrant cypress, juniper and pine trees, the temple of Lugi Raw (Rawa) is mystically yet snugly tucked at the heart of perilous cliff. Once you are at the temple clouds scudding overhead and the eerie silence of the surrounding perfectly blends with mysterious existence of temple. The old and rugged structure looks straight from the mythical era of 10th century. Very little is known about this temple. That is no wonder since the temple was established sometime between 10th and 11th century by some renowned Buddhist master.  Ngog Chöku Dorje (C@Mar Ngog.Org) The huge rocky cliff on which temple sits is believed to be meditation cave of Guru Rimpoche. The founder of the temple, however, is attributed to Lama Ngog Chöku Dorje (AKA Ngog Ten Choe
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Busyness without Business? A corrective reflection

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Six years into the teaching service, I have never felt relaxed and accomplished. I hardly had time for myself. Every evening, right after school, I feel so exhausted, even to prepare a refreshing cup of tea. It takes at least an hour for fatigue to leave my body. Somewhere in my mind being busy has acquired new status, and it has been wrongly synonymous to being important and productive. However, series of introspection revealed that, at the end of the day, nothing great has been achieved; sometimes it has not even been attempted, I decided to look up and write this piece. Why was I usually busy? In lieu of doing something, I have actually experimented with too many trivial activities that are neither part of my goal nor organization’s requirement. I have normally packed my days to brim which are typical of adrenalin junkie. The trickiest part of getting trapped in adrenalin junkie is that we are in busyness even without any serious business. I now realized that a day fueled by adrenal
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Lost

Even at our best, we lose. Our busiest business is of course to search for the lost Sometimes, we lose buffalo we have. At other times we lose buffalo that is ours. We even lose the buffalo we don't have. We search them all. Tediously? Oh No!  Joyfully... Only to lose ourselves
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Why I write this blog even without reader and follower?

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One thing that every blogger crave, care and boast about is number of readers and followers they have. Number of follower is proportional to their circle of influence, or atleast assumed that way. Yet here I am, writing, but without followers and readers. It takes buckets of courage to write which I derive from story of astrophysicist and Noble Laurate Dr. Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar. Today, I write this to remind myself of his great story.  Subramanyan Chandrasekha r Dr. Chandrashekar was a brilliant astrophysicist and remarkable man who achieved stellar success in his field of his interest. Despite his stellar success in later part of life, he worked in relative obscurity when he came up with revolutionary ideas and discoveries because scientist took about 30 years to accept his ideas and works realted to stellar evolution. Despite rejection of his work, scornful remarks from his mentor, and disappointment he faced, he overrode the momentary failure by focusing on subject of his inter
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Embrace Blended-Learning or Face the Failure

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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 phones. We have not learnt the lesson. This can never lead us to victory. Peop
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Education during COVID-19: An Introspection

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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 Bhutan in making are a pause.
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My Sacred Self

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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.
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Reading

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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.
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Survival Through Leadership : A Tribute

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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
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Why should we become great teacher? (A Reflection)

Teachers should not aspire to produce enlightened students if we live a constipated life. Teachers must live an enlightened life to produce enlightened students. We must first become great teachers to have great students and great education, but how should I become great teacher first? This question irks me every day. In the wisdoms of His Majesty the King, “Good is not good enough.” Mediocrity is not our trait, it is not even ‘good’ because we live in a great nation. We have great leadership in the form of His Majesty the King and great vision is already vouchsafed upon us in the timeless wisdoms of their Majesties. When the nation has great leader ad great vision, if we however have only good teacher expecting to produce great students, we as teachers, are nowhere close to the logic. Jim Collins, an American author, consultant and lecturer said, “Great vision without great people is irrelevant.” If teachers settle to just being good teachers, we are pulling down the national visi
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Teaching Habits that Helped me Reduce Waste of Energy

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I eat four heavy meals a day from Monday to Friday. I do this to replenish the depleting energy that result from tiring teaching hours. However, I realized that eating four meals a day does very little to replenish the lost energy. To sustain my interest in teaching and to hone by teaching capacity, I had to undergo habit diagnosis with deep introspection of my daily teaching habits. Today, I will share with you some practices and habits that helped me replenish my energy from morning till evening every day, all round the seasons. 1. Have fun with students Most of the time I was too much into rules, maintaining the order, disciplining the children, managing the class, controlling the noise level and running the class smoothly. If I am not in one of those, I was into far serious business of making myself clear. As I engage and hang on more and more to such practices, I have failed to realize what I now realized. I hardly liked what students enjoy and students seldom enjoy what I
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Call for Regulation of Regional Tourism

“…When Bhutan opened to foreign tourist in the 1970s, our leaders resisted the temptations to harness the quick fortunes from mass tourism and was instead was prescient to formulate a visionary policy of High Value-Low Volume tourism. The wisdom of our tourism policy has led to the emergence of a strong Brand Bhutan - an exclusive destination.” -His Majesty The Druk Gyalpo Ever since Bhutan started welcoming foreign tourist in 1970s Bhutan became one of the top scorers as an exclusive tourist destination. Our country was able to harness the immense potential of tourism under the precondition of comprehensive planning and visionary leadership of His Majesty The Fourth Druk Gyalpo Jigme Singye Wangchuck. With “High Value-Low Volume” tourism policy, tourism is one of biggest revenue earners that contribute to our economic development. The cautious planning and visionary policy not only generated substantial revenue but also shielded us from many of the negative impacts and pitfalls o
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