Many folks call just call me Phobjib. So much so that, “Phobjiba, Thimphu nam wong dho”? has become quite the standard question I get asked when I talk to some Thimphu friends over the phone. To be sure, I am happy about it all. After all, I get to represent Read more…
Two Days to 2024, and I find myself in the familiar surrounds of ama-ji’s home – a place I have grown to call my home-away-from-home over the years. I reminisce briefly back to 2013 when I came to this place for the first time. Back then, I was a rustic Read more…
For my March post, I wanted to write a grand exposition titled Drukpanomics opining on the economic policies that Bhutan can use to become a mid-income nation by 2034 as aspired-for in her upcoming Longterm Perspective Plan. Somewhere along the way, having procrastinated to an irredeemable extent, I realize that I Read more…
Wintry Phobjikha, dusty and barren, is a charmless place for the most part. One must admit it has its own idiosyncratic appeals, though. For instance, the tourists love to flock there to to see the endangered black-necked cranes. No wonder. The fun-loving 6th Dalai Lama of crazy wisdom fame, apparently Read more…
Two days after landing in Bhutan, I find myself on my way to Dagana – one of the more remoter districts of Bhutan. As the Toyota Coaster bus that I am travelling in winds its way up and down the serpentine roads on the undulating native territory, a thousand thoughts Read more…
“Brevity is the soul of wit.” While Polonius’ use of this famous idiom in Shakespeare’s Hamlet is highly ironic given his verbosity, the maxim is apt enough. To me, proverbs embody the pith of this Shakespearean saying. They are these truth-rich, bite-sized linguistic delicacies that bring much satisfaction to the Read more…
The serpentine Hill of Nobulok, light on one side and dark on the other, is an earthly representation of Yin and Yang separating the Vale of Tsigo from the Hamlet of Khemdro. Where it tapers down south, it is said to resemble an elephant’s trunk – a holy likeness that Read more…
There is merriment in the air as the people converse easily, shuffling around and laughing with abandonment. They have come to bring their milk to the community milk collection unit. As some of them ask me to troubleshoot their WeChat accounts or install the Facebook app on their phones, the Read more…
Ruins have always fascinated me. I remember a few year back when, as an intern at a local company in Mongar, I tried to clamber through the dense, leech-infested summer thicket to reach the old Zhongkar Dzong. Locals told me varying versions of haunting tales about the ruins, and its Read more…
Life seems rather uncertain in 2020. There are lockdowns, travel restrictions, business closures and failing plans all around us. And it is quite likely that for the most part, 2021 will just be 2020 on auto-replay. As the figurative rug is rolled away from underneath our manicured feet, it reveals Read more…