How I see Social Media

   
    Ever since the introduction of internet in Bhutan in the year 1999 with the first internet provider DrukNet, Bhutan unlike other countries has seen tremendous advancement in the frequency the internet is being used by the people. This tiny thread has brought everything before us. It brought the world closer. With the internet, people felt that we live next door to  mighty America. Thimphu became the first place to have internet access and slowly the access reached Phuntsholing and Trashigang as well. 

     There used to be days when our grandparents felt that it was some kind of magic that we could see what's happening in the other part of the world. And even to this day, their admiration for the network is so unimaginable. Video calling is one thing that shock them, while it is but a very normal thing for the youngsters. This shows the advancement internet has made so far. And who do not know what internet is today? And very soon, this could be the first word that the newborn might speak out, and it wouldn't be any wonder still, because internet has become a part of our life. 

     And with it has made the social media one of the most talked subject of the era. It has become a talk of all levels - public, kids, teens, elite, educated, politics, irrespective of gender and status, social media, Facebook in particular has become one thing that a person can't live without. Facebook was launched on February 4, 2004, initially founded in 2003 on October 28 by Mark Zuckerberg with his college roommates and fellow Havard University student Eduardo Saverin. And initially, it was limited just to the Havard University. But now it has become one of the biggest website in the world. 

     It is still not clear about how Facebook came into this small landlocked kingdom, but today almost every Bhutanese people has a great relationship with this social networking site. And it becomes a very confident statement that whoever has internet access, they own at least one Facebook account. It doesn't really matter where they stay and who they are, but Facebook has become a biggest change in everyone's life today. Office goers, the first thing they do upon reaching their office is 'open Facebook'. Be it students, they keep themselves busy with Facebook on their phones. It is the same case with the housewives, excepting the illiterate ones and of course the old people. They have the least idea about what Facebook is, but they still are active on other sites. Wechat is one popular app used by all ranges of people. Now considering the age and the innocent nature of kids, they deserved a well nurturing time with their parents and sibling, but they too have found out a way to be together with - Facebook.  And the recent fashion has it that politicians also manage their own official Facebook account/page. Figuratively, the trend has been very encouraging, considering the fact that almost everyone is very much active on social media, particularly on Facebook and Wechat.

     Social media has been very helpful in disseminating the news and information. It has become the fastest way of sharing and gathering information. Bhutanese people don't have to worry about not knowing anything all because they are active on Facebook and Wechat. While lot some use Facebook and Wechat in the most efficient and positive way, there are also people who tend to misuse it. And at times, it has become very risky to share information on Facebook. While we believe that we use it in the most friendly way and to the fullest, we somehow tend to neglect the norms and breach the terms knowingly or unknowingly. This has been one lesson our concern authorities have been trying to convince people to use social media in the right manner.

      The recent time has been a lot of hassle and some even made it up on the national headlines.  Lots of accusations, cases and fightback, Facebook overflowed with just one talk - Justice. While in the past there has been so many cases of social media being misused, the recent defamation case put up by a business man against an Independent journalist will be remembered by all. Use of wechat also made it to the National Headlines for unlawful sharing of sensual videos. Few who were caught were also punished according to the terms of the Penal Code of Bhutan. The necessary actions taken by the concerned authority somehow brought an end to the wild influences people were upto. While people did it for fun, they were unaware of the fact that they were committing crime by sharing sensual videos. Well, people were at least made aware of such Law that forbids the act.  A defamation case for sharing a story by an independent journalist invited public uproar. Nation was informed about it. There wasn't a soul who wasn't informed about the case. Almost all the people who heard about the case stood by her, and supported her because all of them have just one thing on their lips - people's right to information and freedom of speech, opinion and expression which is stated clear in Article 7 of the Bhutanese Constitution.

      From this we can deduce how powerful and fast social media can be. And I believe there might be a time when everything is done through social media. If used in the right manner, social media can be an ocean of knowledge, but misusing it will let us drown in its depth. 

Dear Son

Dear son
             The day you showed yourself into this beautiful world is the happiest day of my life. I can't compare and remember any other days that was as happy as the day you were born. You brought all the happiness possible from the pace of your creator and bestowed upon me. You are the apple of my eye. You are and will remain the most expense gift ever that this life gave me and you will always be the closest person in my heart.
           

             Honestly, I did have lots of worries prior to your enter to my heart. I worried for your mother who took all the pain to carry you for more than nine months. Since the first month of your conceive, she has the worst nightmares ever. She could not sleep properly for the whole journey of her pregnancy.  She would wake up suddenly every night because of the sickness. She could not eat and drink well. She could not do her work. We even had to go to hospital several times because she had the worst morning sickness. You have to understand all these. I as your father didn't have much to do. I wished I could share her pain but it was just out of my reach. You have to understand all these that your mother, with so much hardship, even risking her life, brought you to this earth. You owe her a lot - in fact your life. 

             

               Son, you also have to understand that life is not as easy as one thinks. It's more than that, but remember it is in your hand to create memories in it. It depends on your will, whether to make it beautiful or leave it the way it is. You are your own creator. You can become whatever you wish to become. Believe me, life was hard for me too. I toiled in the woods, climbed the terrain, crossed the valleys, slept in the cowshed, fell down uncountable times, starved and suffered, but I managed to fight all the odds of hardship and somehow managed to anchor the ship in a safe place. These are all before I met your mother. 

               Your mother and I had a very strange affair. I liked her in our first encounter but she was not very sure about loving me back. She was young bud of Spring - gentle and charismatic, lovely and cute. I loved her, but my status was all that I feared for. I was poor, and so were my parents. Comes from a very simple but they are humble. Let me be honest, I am kind and good at heart. Your mother didn't care how I looked, but all she cared was how I was. She loved me too. She spent lots of years in isolation. Didn't listen to anybody who said bad about me. She was never judgmental about where I came from. All that mattered to her was that I am a gentle and a humble man. There were times when people whom we never knew, the so called anonymous would create a Tug of War. They interfered, many of them whom I can't name. Created all the mess that wouldn't ease the cut, but we somehow overcame all those odds and now we have anchored here, at the safe place. We are thankful to ourselves for being true to each other.

              Son, when I say 'safe place' don't consider it to the fullest meaning. If I have to name a place unsafe for us, it is this world. We made it anyways and I don't put the blame on anyone. But as long as you are with us, as long as you stick with the morale doings, you are safe. And I have all the faith on you, because you are one such person that defies the plain meaning of ordinary. You are one man in this entire world that keeps me awake. Now you turn 3 months, and I already see a great being come to me. You show us all the signs that you are someone who will become a great human being. I trust the way you are and I believe in you. No wonder what and how, you won't let us down. And some day when you read this, you will realize how grateful I am to be your father. We spend sleepless night just to make you feel the comfort, just to keep you safe. Whatever we do, it's just for you and yourself, because we want to see you grow into a good man with good heart. Believe us, we have all the joy to have you that nobody could and nobody can give.

              Dear, I have seen the world and it is the most beautiful place, I say. And twenty years from now, I see a completely different world. And believe me, you will be one among the millions. By then, you will have grown and become the man yourself, and I, an old grownup dad. I have seen people, who abandon their parents, who  do the un-doable and who speak the unspeakable. I hope that you won't be one such man. And like every parents do, I will live with hopes in my heart that you will be there to pick my fallen staff, you will be there to comfort me when I break down and when I am sad. I will breathe with this hope that you will be by our side, when we need you the most. We will live with the best hopes and expectation from you, and son, don't let us down.

             Son, make yourself the best man as possible, so that everyday, you live with the smiles all around you.

With Love
Your Dad

KHAMSUM DRADRELL (14 weeks)

My Wise Friend

So long the whiskers on your muzzle have grown
From beneath, but you always grin young
The coat of your eyes hath not from last summer stretched
Those pair of green moons doth it always hide
Till the next beginning, it shan't make a leap
I need no thoughts to pen down my verse
About one which I carefully chose from all
One fool might have mistaken the Gem
Whose jaw but never rest in silence 
Who left but no man un-laughed
Who along with joy all the days lived full
But a day will chariot on its fledged wings
To voice to the ears, all that was true
So soft, as though it is the drop of wild honey
And cry their name to crown the silent world
'O, wise friend, with a coffer of joy one is made'
I ordain you on the knoll, and this announce
That thou art one best man cub I watched grow
To the most charismatic friend I have ever known
Who once an old fool lost, one such of a priceless
I take no resemblance to Macbeth you say
Not that John with the beard, who 'The Flea' wrote
Not even Keats, who very well hath those Odes versed
But a common hand verse the joy upon a friend as YOU

Disaster - a greener pasture for Cabbies

          With the beginning of the new year (fire male monkey year) 2016, our country has been facing series of natural calamities which most were far beyond human control. The forest fire - it hit the national headlines with thousands of acres of forest being destroyed in a wink of time. But thanks to our great leaders. Their leadership was enough inspiration for our people to unit and combat any mishaps.  Bhutan lost a large forest cover to fire, however, with all the possible help and support from the police, army personnel, Dessups and public, the destruction could be minimized.

        And now, with the season ripening to a harsh summer, our darling country is going through rough times. With incessant rainfall, rivers are raging through the delicate valleys. Most parts of the country faced series of roadblocks, floods and landslides. Students took all the risks to report to the schools and Colleges. Patients had to be carried on the back through rough and unfriendly weather. But thanks to our father, our savior and the godfather, our king has been personally assessing and visiting the affected sites and monitoring the situations. Despite the worse monsoon, not many human casualties reported. No doubt, Bhutan is in the safe hands. And we take pride to have our king at the forefront of all the dangers. 

          But how sad it is that this rough time has given a lot of good times for some group of people. 

         The recent headlines in the medias has really upset whole lot of people. Even our prime minister has been so concerned with the move taken by some cab owners, especially in Thimphu and Phuntsholing.  When our people need them, when it is the time we come together and unite, it is disheartening that they have already taken advantage of the situations. From the recent reports by BBS, most of the Taxi operators in Thimphu has increased the fare by three folds to reach Phuntsholing. When the actual fare is just Nu. 500, they now demand Nu. 1500. 

       What kind of humanity is this? What kind of people are we? And what kind of motive are we driven with?

         Even though there were reports of unchanging price of vegetables in Thimphu, there were few cases where the price of chilli was increased from Nu. 40/kg to Nu.150/kg. People were helpless, they didn't have a choice with the chilli from India being banned. Loads of bad times came together, and we had no alternatives, but to digest.

         I find this very ruthless and disturbing. It is infact the saddest incidents that we are confronted with today. We agree and admit that most of the cab operators volunteer during the special occasion to pick and drop people for free. Did these same people come into the play? There's a lot of thing we need to ask ourselves before doing anything. 

          We live in a very small society. We are so small that we know each other so well. We need each other, but why this big play when we need each other the most? These are not millionaires traveling down, they are students. We agree that it's okay to increase the fare, because considering the danger and the difficulties, it looks authentic. But increasing by three folds. this is a daylight robbery!!! 

           And now we live in a situation where our own people rob us. How sad it looks!!!

         Anyways, big thanks to RSTA. They are confronting this serious sickness in our mentality. They have understood this as a wrong-doing and come to the rescue of the commoner. They stand behind us and we believe in them. What we do is just a simple call to the RSTA office and report the Cab Reg. number. We can't be treated this way, especially in the bad times. And it's time we fight against this injustice. 

        MAY THE JUSTICE WINS!!!

Your Woman can be Nut at times.

       And finally, I am writing this; not as an offense to anybody, but as a personal experience through life with this so-called Relationship. Something we tend to be very much calculative as time passes.

       I wonder if all the people (those in relationship and marriage, and preferably Guys) might be feeling the same thing that their woman can be nut sometimes. Because most of the one I spoke to and I know somehow have this same kind of things inside them but locked with the lock of fear to expose it out. I believe that might be because they might be treasuring their better half godly or t might be because they are sacred from that feminism that will outburst at them any time. 

       Now, the one thing that really pushes me through a lot of thinking and ruminating is the fact that Guys are always a loser. Believe me, we don't have justice. Nowhere and with nobody. You act wild with your woman, and you are fired. That's fine, but your woman acts wild and you pay the price? This is insanity. If you come across a man abusing his woman, everyone will be at her side and you too. The guy doesn't have anyone at his side. People talk bad about him and he becomes a trouble for the people, even to their eyes. On the other hand, the woman abuse a man acts weird and has all the fault, but again ends up being all alone bearing the fault and not being good with the woman. This is the treatment men go through in society.

       And how about that case when a man has to pay huge alimony to her wife for a divorce all because the wife was at fault? And men don't get all the share of things at home. 

       

        Where is the justice?

       As I was saying in the beginning, there isn't justice anywhere. And maybe this might be all the supporting factors women become Tough! 

       

       At the beginning of the relationship, each party has genuine feelings for one another. They feel no force on earth can part them. But as time passes, each one feels that they are trapped.
      What feeling is this?
      She has to win all the games, she has to boss over everything, she has to lead everything, she has to be the master of all, and most of all, she has to be  YOUR BOSS!!! After all, men don't have the right to do anything.  

Fancy Naming - Evolving trend in Bhutan

       'Are you a parent, a guardian, brother and sister to any newborn in your family?' Because I have a very interesting thing to talk about the trend that has been sweeping our people in the recent time; giving a fancy name to the new born.

       Even if you are not, it isn't any big matter, but you might have come across this trend of giving a fancy name to our child. It has in a way become a fashion in our place. If the name sounds very much normal, parent become very reluctant to name their child. And some also goes to the extent of taking years to think of a good name. This is fact!

       If we look back to our history, the names of our forefathers sounds rather weird. Some of the names sounds as if they are no names of people and rather of animals, rocks and trees. Tawmo for instance - this is a name of an old woman I know. Banthala is another one and Churpu,  these sounds weird and some names even brings goose bumps. But whatever the names people were called with, they look very common and ordinary.

       But change is the only permanent thing.

       You see, kids today laugh to hear the names of the people in those times. They find it amusing, while it has been a serious matter to those people. And it is just a complete contradiction with the old people who are still alive today.

       'What's the big deal with your name?' This is a common question old people ask their grand children today. They find if amusing too, which is but very much normal to the kids today.

       Kids born today are very lucky. They have all the extravagance of their life; starting from their bountiful names, because they would have lots of names. The fashion in which the names are being named is the most interesting part. As soon as the baby is born, they have a their pet name. Booboo, Bambam, Popo, Koko, these are the common names for a baby boy, the most common being Booboo. And what about the girl? It's more funny - Pooku, Lolo, Tukoo, Mukoo. 

       For god's sake, where do parent get these names form?

       This is stage 1 of naming and this remains their pet name. Parents are always in search of a name for their child. And this is every parent's belief that a child must have a Religious name. 

       Seriously!!! Those people didn't any of this mess and they still did fine. I don't know what this name has to do with our lives. Anyways, parents are always in search of a name - of course a fancy one. Believe me, we are in an era, where plain isn't anybody's choice. As a result, they take their kids to Lamas, for a name. 

       And parents are caught in dilemma and conflict, if they don't get a name up to their expectation. The instances where parents are content with the names are very less because all Lamas aren't fancy enough to think about the fanciest name and they don't have all the time.  Stage 2 is the conflict most parents go through.

       Now, what do they do if they are not contented with the name given by the Lama? Very simple - they coin all the fancy names and name their child. If this is the case, why do parent go to Lamas in the first place?

       'Confusing?' I know. It very much is. But the fact is, name has nothing to do with anything. It is our mentality that is making all this happen; the differences, the good and bad in the appearance of one's name. And who knows, this might lead to the undermining and stigmatizing the ones with not so good names.

An Unknown Woman

I don’t know why it is so hard for us to believe something; Not all, but those small fragments in the eyes and the words of the one we trust. Or better, the one we love. This place we live in has become so fragile. More than the word itself can explain and define. But our heart, the human’s, it’s more fragile than it appears to be.

Yes, that’s right. I see it in the eyes of all, and more precisely, in the eyes of one I love. The sense of trust and belief was far beyond the reach of her eyes. She believed the person she never once in her life met, and refused to accept the one she has loved for decades. Accepting me was like accepting a cold stab in her heart.

It breached the trust in between us. The bond we have built up with so much pain and vulnerability, it is no where. And our relation has become more vulnerable and it’s so much in stake. I still can’t explain how it happened in a glint of time. Just a call from an unknown person has ruined us both, and each day, we are going apart. I don’t know when we will be completely shut from each others sight. 

Oh! That must be fear, for a good description, for precise reasoning. But why from the one we consider everything? This is pretty not understandable. I can't really get this. 

So, she never believed what I said. She didn't see those truth in my eyes. It was all veiled by her guts to believe some other soul; she never knew.And I laid down, shivering my nerves out, not able to find a good way to make her believe that everything I was saying was truth. Surely, I felt those hard drops through my face. Frustration can sometimes kill people and it nearly killed me. I wanted to dig the truth  and show it on my hand, like a mold of damp cake. But that was completely impossible and I went blank.

Honestly, the way she behaved deserved a couple times of good slap on her face. She nearly deserved to be shot - right between her eyebrows. And the soul- a cruel and cunning one, who stroked her with cold stab in her heart truly deserved to be hanged. I was already seeing her head dumped in a pit fed by worms - UN-noticed, even by dogs. That was the extent of my anger and frustration. But that is not what a real man does. And I couldn't keep away that manly consciousness from me, just because I was ridden by frustration and her unwillingness to accept the truth. Eventually, I had to console myself, because no one did.

I never acted hard on my woman. So, she turned out to be a lucky girl that day and I had to believe in myself. Anyways, I didn't really care what she thought, because I knew the truth and the truth was clear and white. 

I wanted to walk out to unknown, to a far away place where no body bothered me. Where no body cared for me. That would have been like entering into the realm of peace -away from the bothering world of humans, and away from the jealous souls.  But as a man, I didn't dare to walk out, keeping a crying and pain stricken woman behind. I didn't dare to fight a war by myself, because I was UN-armed without her, I was incomplete without her, and because, whatsoever, after all, she was my woman. Somebody I chose to be with. 

And I waited for her favour - to understand the truth and to be the girl she is. Yet, the pain she hid in my heart was undeserved one, atleast by a faithful man like me