Being humane…

Every time I visit the patient guesthouse at the hospital, I realize how lucky I have been and how unpredictable one’s life is. I always return with a fulfillment of being able to meet the patients there and learn lessons from their lives.

When one patient can finally return home, there are many waiting to be put up at the guesthouse.

The guesthouse consists of all kind of patients. It houses permanently some old abandoned people, paralyzed people and a few kidney patients.

Lately there are 28 patients, including the old, staying there.

Most of the people there just live with a hope that some day they will be fine like anyone of us and be able to go back to living the life they once lived.

Jigme is one of the new patients at the guesthouse. He was painting a building, when he and his friend fell off. His friend died but he survived.

Jigme is paralyzed from below his waist and he cannot sit straight. Just a few months after this incident, his wife abandoned him and left their two-year-old daughter with him. He had no option but to give his daughter to some distant relative.

He is constantly worried about the life of his daughter but cannot do anything because his life does not seem stable at the moment. The only activities he can currently do are pray and contemplate death every day.

Hearing Jigme’s story made me realize and rethink about the institution of marriage. The though of a mother leaving her child with the husband and leaving them makes me angry but the thought of a mother leaving a young baby behind with a paralyzed father made think a lot.

But again I though this was a good example for us. Especially because it made me realize the impermanence of may things in life.

Every patient at the guesthouse has a heart-breaking story to share. It is not necessary to do something for these people one can just go and sit with them for sometime and that brings a smile on their face…

The Bhutanese cup culture

A colleague and I were visiting an official in the government sector, and we were discussing a few things. He called his assistant and told her to bring us some tea. He asked us if we wanted tea or coffee. “Black coffee please with sugar,” I said. My colleague said tea would be fine for him.

We were still into discussion when his assistant came back with a tray in her hand with tea and coffee. The officer was offered first in a shining, expensive cup while my colleague and I were given in simple plain cups.

 The official felt uncomfortable because my colleague also held a position equal to him although we worked in a private firm. He offered his cup to my colleague but he politely declined.

I do not know where and when this cup culture started from but it exists everywhere, even in our homes. At home we understand that people like to have personal cups but in meeting and offices you are offered a cup depending on your position.

During meetings even when people are sitting on the same desk tea in the cups offered are different. If the other person is sitting on a higher chair the different cup offered is reasonable but when people sit on the same level tea offered in different cups create discomfort.

Going by the cup, the host is always in a higher position because the host either has a fancy cup or a bigger one compared to the guest…