You have gained weight!

Lately I have been gaining a lot of weight which has been distracting me a lot because the clothes I wear do not fit me well. And I get exhausted after I walk a mile.

There are a lot of other factors that prove that I have really put on weight and the most accurate prove is my mirror.

Every morning I look at my mirror and the mirror looks at me. I can see that the girl in the mirror has chubby cheeks and a big belly (so unlike me) but I know mirrors do not lie. I have tried exercise but my laziness could not cope up with it. Then I tried dieting, but my craving for food could not put up with that too. So I finally decided that I don’t want to try anything and let nature decide for me.

After all I ate the same amount of food earlier and I was as lazy as now and I still was thin.

But my weight does disturb me most of the time and to add on that every time I meet an old friend or someone I know they always comment on my weight. “You have gained weight,” say some while there were others who say I have become fat.

A foreigner friend of mine truly said that Bhutanese are very rude because all they ever do is comment on each other’s weight even if they are meeting after a long gap. It was true and I realized I was also doing the same. It was true that whenever two friends met the first conservation they started with was weight. “Hey you have put on weight,” is then followed with other conversation such as how have you been and others.

After my friend told me this I started being conscious of what I said to my friend the first time I met them. I know how I feel when others tell me I have become fat so I don’t want other to feel the same.

MPs says drayangs & discotheques are problematic

The issue of draying and discotheques was brought up in the National Assembly on November 2, by Mp Chencho Dorji. He said that drayangs and discotheques were creating social disharmony in Paro.

MP Kinley Dorji said that the issue of drayang is not new. He said that the inconvenience started from the capital and has reached remote places like Tsirang. MP Pema Lhamo also said that most of the girls working in Drayangs are exploited and there are girls below the age of 18 working in drayangs.

Women are being exploited in drayangs, said MP Chencho Dorji. He said that in a way legalising drayangs is like legalising prostitution.

Lyonpo Pema Gyamtsho said that individual dzongkhags should discuss whether there is a need for drayangs and discotheques in their dzongkhags.

MP Tshering Tenzin expressed that one of the major problems regarding the drayangs were unclear licensing procedure. He informed that licenses for entertainment places were issued by BICMA while the bars inside entertainment places were sanctioned by the Ministry of Economic Affairs resulting in double licensing by the same authority.
Lyonpo Dorji Wangdi assured that the government can take in all the employees of drayangs and discotheques and provide alternative employment.

Opposition Leader, Tshering Tobgay said that Drayangs and discotheques benefit the government through employment and business tax. Such business also makes the economy strong, he said. “Drayangs also promote culture,” he said.

He said that there are also inconveniences caused by drayangs and discotheques but the government should not immediately downsize drayangs or stop renewing their licences.

While, some MPs said that drayangs should be banned most MPs said that it was important to formulate clear policies and laws rather than shutting down some entertainment places while allowing others to operate.

Expressing his views, Speaker Jigme Tshultrim said that it was important to reconsider the timing for the entertainment places and set forth not to issue new licenses in places where the entertainment places already exits to mitigate problems in the society.

Drayangs in Thimphu has employed more than 200 youth. So would it be realistic to close down the drayangs?

Till death do us apart

It was cold but walking along with the person she loved most was worth bearing the cold. Sonam had called Tshering to the centenary park because he wanted to tell her something important.

The time was 7 pm but dark because with winter the days got shorter. Both of them were there at the gate and they walked inside the park. Tshering looked at the lights which brightened they walk but Sonam was quite.

After ten minutes of silence, Tshering asked Sonam to tell her why he had called her there because she had to be home soon. Sonam coughed to clear his throat and looked away from Tshering. He then said it in such a low voice that Tshering had to ask him about it again. “I am breaking up with you,” he said for the second time.
Tshering did not know how to react because she did not expect this. She felt betrayed and felt like the world had come to an end. His promises of being together till death were all lies.

She had brought a ring for him because she was expecting he would propose her to marry him. Tshering turned away from him and wiped away her tears. She then turned to Sonam and asked him why. Sonam said that he was in love with another woman. The words pierced Tshering’s heart but she did not say a thing.

After a moment of silence, she turned towards Sonam and said, “I am glad you found love again,” and handed over the right she had brought for him. “I do not want to keep the rig because I had bought it for you and if I keep it, it will remind me of you,” she said.

Sonam took the ring and both of them went on their own ways.

Tshering had just graduated and Sonam was a corporate employee they were high school sweethearts. They had been together for six years. After XII Sonam joined the corporate sector and Tshering was in High school. Sonam’s parents wanted him to study but he wanted to join work. Tshering graduated from India but the distance never affected their relationship. Distance made the heart founder and their love stronger.
After their break up Tshering did not want to stay and work in Thimphu so she opted to become a teacher in a remote part of Bhutan. Her parents as always supported her decision and said she could do anything she wanted.

After teaching in Trashiyangtse for 10 years Tshering got transferred to Thimphu. She did not want to come at first but her parents insisted that she should. 10 years had not changed much for Tshering. She was still stuck on the day of the night her lover broke off with her in Thimphu. The daily activities kept her busy but the lonely nights took her to the same thoughts.

Who could the other girl be? Where did he meet her? How long have they known each other? There were a thousand of questions but no answers. After taking a lot of things into consideration Tshering finally decided to come to Thimphu.

She joined her new school and everything went on well except when she walked in town. She always feared that she might walk into Sonam someday and that she would not have been able to say a thing. A year went by and she never saw Sonam nor met any of her friends who knew him.

Time was catching up and Tshering was getting older, her parents though she should get married and she agreed to marry the choice of her parents because she no longer trusted her own choice.

Her parents always wanted her to marry Rinchen, a son of their friend. Tshering had never noticed Rinchen before but had heard of him, while Rinchen had secretly loved her after seeing her once during a family dinner.

Tshering and Rinchen married after a month and a small ceremony was performed where just a few close family members were invited.

A year of peaceful marriage passed and Rinchen was the most understanding and loving husband, Tshering could have. She had no more complains in life. Soon she gave birth to a healthy son. Rinchen wanted to name his son after his grandfather Sonam. And Tshering did not want to keep this name for her son.

For the first time ever the couple broke into a quarrel which lasted for a day. Tshering had never told Rinchen about her past. Both of them had made a promise that they will not ask each other about their past. So Tshering told Rinchen about her past and how her lover Sonam had dumped her.

Rinchen listened carefully and asked what his full name was. Tshering hesitated at first and then spoke out. “Sonam Tshering Dorji,” she said. After she said that Rinchen threw a lot of question on her. Where was he from? Where did he work? Where are his parents? And a lot more, this confused Tshering but she decided that once she started she might as well tell her husband everything.

“He was from Trashigang but he stayed with his adopted parents in Thimphu. I never really met them but he always said they were nice people. He worked in RICB,” she said.
Hearing this Rinchen broke into tears, Tshering did not know what happened. She did not know what to do. She just held up her new born and brought him close to her breast.

Later that night Tshering asked Rinchen about his weird behaviour and Rinchen said Sonam was his adopted brother. “But why did you cry,” she asked. “Because the heart which beats for you even today belongs to him,” he said. She did not understand a word he said and asked him again.

Rinchen’s family had adopted Sonam at the age of six, so how much ever they treated him well he always knew he was an adopted son. Sonam had cancer and would never tell his family about it. It was when Rinchen fell sick all of a sudden and required a heart transplantation that he decided to donate his. He had said that if they didnot take his heart he would die anyways because he had cancer. With lots of hesitations Rinchen’s family had agreed.

When Rinchen agreed not to talk about his past he did not want to talk about this.

HER STORY

Sangay was going through a rough time in life. His personal life was messed up. Nothing was working out well as expected. His lover turned wife and he had been having family problems for the past one year. Sangay was trying his best to compromise and sort out things until nothing seemed right except a divorce.

With a heavy heart he agreed to give divorce to his wife. He was willing to give his wife up but not his one-year-old son. His wife hated him and his family more than anything. All he could do was give her a divorce on the condition that he could meet his son whenever he wanted.

Nothing seemed normal after a divorce. He missed the warmth of her body in winter. He missed everything about his mostly his son. He resorted to addiction of alcohol and cigarettes. These were the only things that seem to make him feel lighter and forget the troubles of life.

Every night he emptied bottles of alcohol and packets of smokes, during the day he tried to do best at work.

It was at work that everyone tried to be extra nice to him because everyone knew what he was going through. He enjoyed the company of a particular friend from work, Tshering. Tshering was a friend of Sangay. They were working together for the past four years and they we good friends. Tshering’s life at the moment was the opposite of Sangays life. She had a perfect life with happiness all around her. Her boyfriend always kept her happy although there were a few times when he upset her.

Tshering always felt bad for Sangay because she knew he deserved happiness live anyone of us and tried her best to give him small happiness when every possible.

Never did she realise that the little happiness she gave him meant a lot to him until a day came when he proposed to her. For once she was confused. She always knew this was coming but had never thought of how she would deal with it. She had a steady boyfriend and could not afford to break his heart. After taking two months she decided to leave her boyfriend and be with Sangay. She had her own reasons. Her boyfriend could start over with anyone but it would not be the same for Sangay. Everyone deserved a second chance and she decided to give him the second chance.

Sangay's world changed after that. He was a changed person and always happy.

Things were going smooth and Sangay had all the time in the world for Tshering. He kept his time for his son too. But every time Sangay talked about his ex-wife Tshering always felt insecure.

He had a child that connected him to her even though he no longer loved her. Every time he went to meet his son Tshering was always insecure. Sangay had talked about getting married with Tshering but after she accepted him in her life the talks never materialized. He had a fear that if he married his ex-wife would not let him meet his son. Tshering had that fear too. But both of them knew there was no point holding back.

Tshering, sometimes felt that Sangay's son would grow up to hate her and she hated that thought. She had nights which were sleepless because of her thoughts. She had thoughts that sometimes would want to make her run away from life but at times they were so lovely she wanted it to last forever.

After two years of relationship they finally decided to tie the knot.

Getting married is every girls dream but Tshering was getting more than she dreamt, she was getting married to a divorced man with a child.

Winter Fashion

The feel of the cold wind on the face and the cracking of lips is enough to indicate that winter is here. And winter is the time when people change their wardrobe. People dress up differently every winter depending on the latest trend in town.

What is in the trend this winter?

Girls walk in town dressed in long sweaters and thick stockings with fancy flat half boots. A few prefer skinny jean pants to stockings. Last year it was full knee length boots. Some add on an over-coat on top of the long sweaters to keep themselves warmer. This is the trend among girls who have crossed teenage.

Some teenagers dress in short stylish coat, the Korean way while a few others dress to look punk, popularly known as the emo style. Jumpers with hoods, colourful coats are included in the emo way of dressing.

Boys mostly prefer short blazers type jackets, over jackets with bigger collar; they call it the Genji style. The leather jacket is still alive among boys. Jean pants are popular even in winter and for the shoes the tread is same for boys through the year. Some prefer ankle length boots while others like converse shoes or sneakers.
Most shops in Thimphu have already switched to selling their winter collections.

Mufflers and scarves are always in trend every winter

People do not just want to be warm but also want to look good at the same time!

picture from google

Collecting memories

When life takes twists and turns nothing is left except for memories. So the saying goes leave nothing but footsteps, take nothing but memories.

There is however ways to keep memories, I call it collecting memories.
I have had a lot of hobbies ever since a kid, my hobbies changed as I grew up and now I am left with some stupid ones.

When younger I collected stones, earrings, rings and then switched to collecting stamps, coins and then to letters, soft toys, pictures and then there was a time when I used to write down messages sent to me by my boyfriends.

My mother threw away my collection of stones, I lost the letters but I still have the coins, stamps, soft toys, pictures and I recently tore away the messages I had collected.

We have bad and good memories and I like to keep just the good ones. Of course some the messages were good memories because it reminded me of the time and the feels I felt those days. Funny, that these mean nothing to me anymore because the feelings have been substituted, and time has moved on. Memories replaced too.
I still remember where I got some of the coins and stamps from but any my soft toys were given to me by my loved ones so they have a memory each. Memories of birthday, valentine’s day, and many special occasions.

Pictures capture memories and that is one of the best ways to collect memories. Songs also refresh memories of the past.

The fire incident in Bumthang

Children have started going to school and people are trying to lead a normal life but life will never be the same for people affected by the October 26 fire in Chamkar town.
The October 26 incident is a nightmare for most Bumthabs and a few are yet to recover from the shock while most have accepted their fate and trying to start from scratch again.

The fire that started off from a mobile shop had left 267 people homeless but the timely intervention of the Government and Galpoi Zimpoen’s office has given new hopes to the people.

The victims of the fire are happy with how the situation was handled during the incident and after the incident.

The fire started at around 1:45 am and by 2 am the dzongda and Zimpon were on the spot coordinating to bring the fire under control. With just one fire engine, school children, monks, passengers plying through Bumthang, police, civil servants and the local residents all put in effort and the fire was controlled within three hours.
Right after the fire was controlled arrangements of food, shelter and clothing was made for all. The students of Chumey institute of civil engineering built shelter for 21 household immediately, some families are putting up in tents and a few are staying with their relatives.

People including the victims said that the situation was handled very well.
The ground has been cleared and work for construction of new houses has started. All those shop and house owners will receive equal plots each for temporary resettlement in the same location before they shift to Dekiling the new town area, which will take three to four years according to Bumthang Dzongda Sangay Thinley.
The people will stay in the make shift shelters till the construction is complete.
More than 300 army personals have been deployed.

“We are lucky to have been born in a country where the King and the government take care of the citizen like this,” said one of the victims.

Cause of the fireThe cause of the fire, which destroyed about 59 shops and houses, is not confirmed. While, most people say it could be because of short circuit a few say it is due to negligence. A handful of victims feel it could be intentional but they have no fingers to point.

This is the third such incident in Bumthang. The first incident took place in 1985 and the second in 2005. Sources say it was around the same time of the year during the Jambay Lhakhang Tshechu.

“This is the time when most people stay out late enjoying and drinking,” said one of the victim.

Damages causedThe fire has killed two, injured one and left 267 people homeless
One of the travelers travelling to Thimphu from Trashigang and a person working as helper in one of the shops died. While the body of the helper was given to his relatives no one came forward to claim the body of the traveler, so on 1000 butter lamps were offered for him by the dzongkhag.

The traveler was putting up in Hotel Sonam and during the incident of the fire he had refused to budge from his room because he was drunk.

The fire, which lasted for more than three hours, destroyed 59 shops and houses. The fire also damaged three parked vehicles.

The fire has also indirectly affected other shopkeepers. A few of the shopkeepers lost goods worth a good amount of money during the incident. One of the shopkeeper lost his flat screen TV during the incident while other lost clothes and other things.
Dorji, whose house was partially burnt, was spared by the fire but not by the people who robbed him disguised as helpers. He lost goods worth Nu 1.3 million. “There were a lot of people to help during which it was difficult to keep track of what was being taken where,” he said.

Some of the people helping control the fire did agree that such things could have happened because a few of them had seen people run of with others belongings.
Other damages are indirect like the prices of some basic commodities have gone up and getting a room has become difficult.

Dzongda Sangay Thinley said that most of the low cost hotels were affected by the fire so passengers are running out of rooms. “There are rooms available but now passengers do not have much choice of rooms,” he said,

Kidu His Majesty the Fourth Druk Gyalpo, along with Their Majesties the Queen Mothers, Minister of Works and Human settlement, members of parliament and Dratshang visited Bumthang to comfort the victims and express the support of the nation to the families the same day of the incident.

His Majesty the King visited the site on October 31 and visited the temporary shelters and assured the affected families that he will be stationed in Bumthang and will personally oversee the relief efforts that are currently underway. His Majesty expressed his wish to rebuild their homes and resume their lives as soon as possible.

His Majesty also visited the temporary shelters and met with individual families to assess their living conditions and other facilities built for them.
Nu 50,000, Nu 40000 and Nu 10000 was granted as kidu to the victims depending on their loss from His Majesty’s relief fund.

The people were also assured that free timber and CGI sheets will be provided.
The victims are also provided with food, ration, clothing and blankets by the Gyalpoi Zimpon’s Office.

“We are lucky to be born in a country where the king takes care of everything and is very much concerned about us,” said one of the victim.
BCCI also gave Nu 5000 each to the shopkeepers and there are donations from people too.

InsuranceSome 100 victims had insured with the Royal Insurance Corporation of Bhutan (RICB) and two victims had insured with Bhutan Insurance Limited (BIL).
RICB identified 12 of their clients and are still assessing the property damage. They paid off some of their clients with 50 percent of the sum insured the rest will be given after the assessment. “This is to support our client so that they can immediately start over again,” said Dorji Phuntsho the RICB Manager in Bumthang.
They have compensated Nu 3 million to their clients and everyday there are clients approaching them for their claims.

Insurance policy worth Nu 8475800 has been lapsed. RICB has identified five victims who have failed to renew their insurance policies hence making them ineligible for compensation.

“Since we are business people we forgot about renewing the policy and RICBL did not even send us a reminder,” said one of the victim.

RICB also paid off 39 households for the rural insurance scheme to the victims. There were three permanent houses that were paid Nu 100,000 while semi permanent houses were paid Nu 40,000.

The two victims insured with BIL were paid 60 percent of the compensation. One had insured for more than Nu 2 Million and the other had insured for Nu 1.5 million. “The rest will be paid after the complete documentation and assessment,” said Tashi Tenzin the manager of BIL in Bumthang.

Victims’ voiceChundu a shop owner affected by the fire recovered 60 percent of his household items but lost his entire stock from the shop. “It is touching to see that everyone is concerned, we will be able to overcone the difficulty and start over again,” he said.

Aum Kuenga Tshomo from whose mobile shop the fire started was not home when the incident occurred. Her son, daughter in-law and grand children were home during that day.

“By the time my children realized that the house was on fire it was too late to get anything out except the children,” she said.

Pema, 68-year-old, another victim of the fire recollects the night of the incident clearly. “I was sound asleep when my wife started kicking me and telling me about the fire. I cursed her for spoiling my sleep and when I woke up everything was on fire,” he said. “Had it not been for her I would have died.”

He also lost his vehicle to the fire but he is not disheartened. “I started from a scratch and now I am back to where I was. I am happy that I at least have a good capital now to start with. Earlier I just started off with a few amount of money,” he said.

However, most victims say it will never be the same.

My trip to lingshi

After attempting to go to Lingshi for the past few months, my mom finally agreed to take me and my friend along. But she warned me that it would be a tough walk.

For me waking up at 5 in the morning was tough. But call it excitement because I didn’t have problem waking up. At around 8:00 am we reached Mesizampa the base in Paro behind Drugyel, from where we were suppose to start walking. Ap Wangdue, the school cook of Lingshi, was there with three of his horses to carry our loads.

At first excitement took over us and we walked energetically but later we were slogging. After much hardship and cursing we finally reached Shingrab where we were suppose to halt. Was such a relief to be there that right after reaching took some snacks and rested my head. When I woke up I saw there were many other people seeking shelter for the night there. A man was on his way to reach two of his kids to school and he was talking about bridges being washed away. My mom asked me and my friend if we wanted to return from there. But I was persistent to go to Lingshi. After sharing dinner with nine others we headed to bed because we had a long day to take.

That night, the cat of the woman who gave us shelter jumped from the ceiling to the floor so many times that for once i though i was having nightmares.

With packed lunches and wished we continued our walk. Jumping from one stone to the other the sole of my foot hurt so bad that I though it was going to bleed. One energy drink after another, coffee, juice, I took all of them but still the speed of my walk did not increase but decrease.

I wished I had not come, I wished my mom never got posted there and I wished a lot of other things too. Finally it was time to eat, my favourite activity on the trip. We decided to eat at the Indian Army base camp but there was no one around so decided to go a little further up where our own army base camp was located. We ate there at Soe and continued our walk.

That night we made up to Soe School where our host were Tshering Dorji a teacher and his five year old son. Had some fruits in my bag which I gave him. I also had a mango in my bag and gave that to Ap Wangdue. Ap Wangdue looked at the fruit and asked me what that was. To my amazement, he had never even seen a mango in his life forget eating one. After I explained what it was the 55-year-old ate like a small kid.

After a delicious dinner we conversed for some time and then went to sleep.
That night the rats were running from one end to the other and disturbing my sleep.
The next morning, I was more excited and even though my leg hurt walked fast. Was so happy that we were nearing Lingshi but the walk uphill on the stone mountain Nelala killed all my excitement. It just drained all the energy I had and was making it impossible for me to walk. My mom encouraged me giving me lots of energy drinks and finally made it. We had lunch at the base of the mountain and that was when I got to pluck a cordycep.

After re-energising ourselves with lunch we started our walk. After a few hours of walk I could see the Lingshi Dzong in the mist, looked so beautiful. Seeing the dzong made us believe that we were nearing Lingshi but how much ever we walked the dzong remained in the same distance.

After slogging for a few more hours we finally reached near the dzong and from there we could see the whole of Lingshi, which just consisted of the school, dungpa office, post office, telecom office and a few houses. The view was just so amazing and the happiness of reaching the place cannot be expressed here. I that I forgot everything including the pain and the tough walks. That night I had a peaceful sleep.

It was a nice feeling

We always come across thousands of people in life and sometimes just a glimpse of someone stays in our memory forever.

Sometimes in life we think it is just us, who notice people and that we are not noticed. Every day I walked to school from the town and there was this man in his mid 30s. I saw him and particularly noticed him because he has long hair. Used to walk by his shop in the mornings and the evenings every day like many other 1000s of students did.

It has almost been 10 years now and just imagine how many students must have walked by his shop. A few weeks earlier I went to his shop to buy something.
He looked at me and smiled, I smiled back assuming that he was doing it for the sake of courtesy. Then he said he knew me. For once I though he mistook me for someone else but then he explained that he saw me walking by his shop everyday when i was a little girl.

I just didn’t know what to say. I just smiled back and said yes that was me. But it felt nice.

Khegpas

On our way home we meet a lot of people, as usual, but today I look at every person with suspicion. An old man is carrying a sack on his back. “There is a Khegpa,” I tease my friend. Deep within I do not know whether or not to believe the Khegpa rumours I have been hearing.

Rumours about Khegpas (human head hunters) have travelled throughout Bhutan it seems. My aunt recently came from Mongar. She said she heard that a small girl’s head was taken by a Khegpa there but no one had seen anything.

“It is in Mongar? I thought that happened in Orong, Samdrup Jongkhar,” said my uncle who had recently come from there. He had got calls from friends enquiring about the little girl because some heard it was in Orong.

Some people even know the exact number of heads the Khegpas need. Are they working as agents for them? Ha ha

The rumours have spread far too because my friends in India were also curious about it. Right after my friend called him mother to inform about his reach to his mother the first thing she told him was to be careful of Khegpas.

He wore a serious face when he told us about it. He said that his mom had informed him that a man was caught in his village for being a Khegpa but he had an official letter (permission) from the highest authority and nothing could be done.

I laughed hearing that but the stern look he gave me, was prove enough that he believed in it. I asked if I could contact anyone in his village but he was not ready to talk.

It is not in the villages that people have started fearing Khegpas but also here in the capital.

I heard that in some places villagers sleep with knife under their pillow. Some keep poisoned arrows and bows near their beds.

As far as I remember my mother used to tell me that a Khegpa would come along and take my head if I played till dark outside. She thought that would scare me and keeps me home but that never worked and thank God I never met a Khegpa too.

If khegpas really exist who are they? And as people say if human head is needed as sacrifice while building big projects and bridges so that they will last long where are all the rest of the body parts?

Why is it that no one has seen one till date?
I agree that a lot of the people go missing and in some case they are never found but that is not prove enough for the existence of Khegpas.
Photo kuenselonline.com

Drayangs are spreading

When I heard of 71-year-old Chojey Lhamo, visiting a drayang (bars with girl as entertainers) every day, I had many questions in my mind and really wanted to meet her.

After asking a few friends for her address, I was able to meet her.

Chojey Lhamo said that she found the drayang entertaining and spends a lot of her time there. Chojey usually lives in Babisa and when she comes to Thimphu to her granddaughter’s place, she never misses going to the drayang.

In the morning she goes to the memorial chorten and in the evening she sits in a corner of the drayang watching people perform on stage.

It has been almost one year that she has been following this routine.

However, she said that she has seen men misbehaving with the girls and that she does not like it at all. “Everything has good and a bad part and there are good and bad men,” she said.

There are people who say that the evolving drayang culture in Bhutan is not healthy for youth while there are also those who say it is entertaining.

I strongly believe that the drayang culture is soon going to become dirtier than expected. I know that the girls working there are not educated and have source of other income but they are also looking for fast money at the same time.

An aunt of mine offered a job to a girl working in the drayang as a sales girl. She said she would pay Nu 3000 but the girl refused saying she earned more than that in a drayang.

One of the high rank official said that Drayangs are a cover-up operation for prostitution but he won’t let me quote that. How am i going to make a difference then? I have written a lot about this issue but nothing has happened.

It this culture is not stopped right at the start, it won’t be long when prostitution will spread.

Whatever the circumstances may be statistics show that the draying culture is spreading to dzongkhags out of Thimphu.
The number of drayangs in Bhutan has increased. There are more that 22 drayangs in Bhutan now, majority of them being situated in Thimphu.

Snow fall in Thimphu

I was still sleeping warmly in my bed when a friend called me up in the morning of December 31. I usually don’t answer calls in the morning especially if I am still in bed. But I felt the urgency to answer his call because he was leaving for India in a few hours and he was calling from Phuentsholing.
“Are you still in bed? Just look out of the window,” he said and hung up. Still in my half sleep I woke up and looked outside the window and the scene was so beautiful. Snowflakes from the sky made everything look so romantic and beautiful. Everything around was covered with snow though not fully.
I woke my friend Eshu, who was sleeping next to me, to see the snow. She just had a look and went back to sleep. I was so excited but dared not to go out and play because I had a bad cold. I though I will play on my way to the office because even the snow cannot be a reason for a holiday in a private firm.
As Eshu and I started walking to work I saw children playing in the snow. The cold could not keep their excitement away. And then there were some naughty kids trying to hit us with snow balls but thank god it did not hit us.
By the time we reached office the snow started melting.