A Song to be Noted

I like this song ‘Complain’ from the film Bob Roberts lyrics, The Vandals. I am reproducing here in my blog. I have been busy these days and didn’t get time to write.  

Some people must have.
Some people have not.
But they’ll complain and complain and complain and complain and complain.

Some people will work.
Some simply will not.
But they’ll complain and complain and complain and complain and complain.

Like this: It’s society’s fault I don’t have a job.
It’s society’s fault I am a slob.
I have potential no one can see.
Give me welfare. Let me be me!

Hey, Bud, you’re livin’ in the Land of the Free.
No one’s gonna hand you opportunity!

Some people must have.
Some never will.
But they’ll complain and complain and complain and complain and complain.

I don’t have a house. I don’t have a car.
I spend all my money getting’ drunk in a bar.
I wanna be rich. I don’t have a brain.
Just give me a handout while I complain.

Or this: I wanna stay in bed and watch TV.
Go out weekends in a limousine
And dance all night takin’ lots of drugs
And wake up when I wanna.

Hey, Bud, you’re livin’ in the Land of the Free.
No one’s gonna hand you opportunity!

Some people will learn.
Some never do.
But they’ll complain and complain and complain and complain and complain.
Yeah, they’ll complain and complain and complain and complain and complain.

Phuntsholing in Winter

Winter is not so winter in a place called Phuntsholing. It remains one of the busiest place and is the commercials thrives during this time of the year.  People from highland move down towards lowland south in winter. Southern places like Phuntsholing, Gelephu, Samdrupjongkha, Samtse multiply the population, and during summer it is vice versa; the damp heat of the southern belt pushes most people upwards.

Phuntsholing gets the highest number of people during winter. People from all over Bhutan come here for numerous reasons. They come to bask in the warm winter sun. Most of them come for trades. They come here to sell oranges, potatoes, etc. They come here to do the shopping for school children. They come here for a visit. They come here to attend a religious ceremony which is held every year. Phuntsholing henceforth becomes crowded, dusty, and dangerous at times. A man got badly beaten up last time in the nighr for no reason.

Religious ceremony held by his holiness Namkhay Ningpo Rinpochea draws a huge number of people from all over the world; there are people from India (Sikkim), Nepal, and others.

Everything is good in Phuntsholing, except for money and staying place. Every household gets a number of guests; children, parents, relatives, friends, connected friends, and relatives. The house where I am staying has ten guests and there is a time, the number rises to twenty. So what a guest to attend! It looks like a Lochey (Religious ceremony in-home). The most critical time to be in this type of house and guests is sleeping and eating time. The meals are not prepared by one cook, but a number of cooks. Kgs and Kgs of rice are boiled in three big rice cookers. And during sleeping time, corpses lay on the floor; some even without mattresses and blankets. Such a hesitating home to be in. Everyone behaves the best to impress the host. And my cousin, our host is good. He doesn’t change. He remains the same throughout; simple and straightforward.

Now when I talk about change, I always think of change in a little weird way. People change. A few people change a great deal. One day there was a loudmouth non-performer who impressed bigger bosses with his lip services. He was a good friend, the same grade, same kind of standard. But when he got boss, the world turn upside down. Besides being boss and changing his attitude, he changed his attitude. He forgot his friend. He never talked. He never helped. He was useless to his friend. What is that change?

 I tell people, especially my students and when I have to say on some occasions that they mustn’t change. You can change, your idea must change, your living standard must change, and your attitude will change. But you will never change your heart. I tell them to be good. Good is the basis of all. Do good, be good and good things will come back to you. And this is how a host must be.

Chiphen Rigphel Project Training

The Chiphen Rigphel Project workshop commenced from 23-12-13 and will end on 1-1-14. The workshop is currently going on in Gelephu Higher Secondary School for ten days. There are 22 participants from two Dzongkhags; Zhemgang and Sarpang. As per the name list from the Ministry of Education, there were more than 28 participants. Many enlisted teachers didn’t turn up for this training. An obvious reason seems and some hearsay says it is because of the benefit that they are entitled to get. “Teachers who are coming from faraway places like Bjokha are devoid of mileage, porter pony, and others. They spent more here than what they earned here,” one teacher who asked to be unnamed said.

The participants are taught basic computer knowledge like how to use Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and basic internet usages.   It will equip them in the ICT world.

One of the resource persons, Mr. Dawa Tshering said that this project aims to teach daily computing knowledge. “We have many senior participants who have not work on computers before, but it’s satisfying that they show interest and learn considerably,” he said.

“Format painter, Excel filtering, Google drive, Wizards, and some others are new to me. It’s worth attending,” said Mr. Ugyen Dorji, one of the participants. “We have more days to go,” he smiled.

Here are some photos:

A Group Pic

Dawa doing presentation

Another one

So Engrossed

And Engrossed

Movies Move Mind

A few weeks ago, I watched a Bhutanese movie called ‘Acho Kelden' in Darla hall.  The movie is about general family issues. A couple gets divorced and leaves their children in a village, and one of the reasons seems to be the lust for the dollar, as Bhutanese always are. The story narrates about an infant's survival with the help of animals. Overall, the story is quite unique compared to other Bhutanese movies. But the sad thing about ‘Acho Kelden’ was the number of audiences turned up. I looked around and counted only 16 heads sitting on the ramshackle benches. The hall was like a ruined house- a ghastly one. There were few broken benches, dusty and grimy; it was all in horrible condition. Some of them sat on the cement floor in the chilling cold weather.

After watching ‘Acho Kelden’ and the condition of the hall, scores of questions came to my mind like,Why do most Bhutanese movies run in lost? Why is Bhutan not successful with our movies? Why are Bhutanese not skilled with better movies production? What is lacking in our entertainment?

Bhutan has a rich, different, and diverse history. We have so many untold stories. Our people are rich, each one of us has many things to share. Every stone, every tree, every valley, every hill, every mountain, every village has a story to tell. There are Galem and Singye in every hamlet, there is Amrish Puri, Phurba Thinley in every hamlet, there are unsung heroes. We are not short of a story. But we are short of audience.

I think we are not devoid of the market or audience and people who like to watch, but we are devoid of the good places to be screened. Back in my village in Pemagatshel, villagers are hungry for Bhutanese movies. I assured that this ‘Acho Kelden’ with the same amount of Nu. 50 would draw together more than a hundred watchers.

It is said that our culture and traditions get weaken slowly  because of media; entertainment medium like TV, live shows, films, talks, etc. These media have a great impact on our society, not only the social change in their ways of thinking, but they also change lifestyle. Therefore, we must choose movies to be watched. And for that reason, BIMCA censors movies. On the other hand, entertainment mediums are preservers and custodians of one's culture, traditions, and customs. Movies and documentaries are great sources of knowledge; not only do some of us imitate the best doers, but also believe at times. Therefore, in order to reach Bhutanese movies for our hungry audience, we must have good distribution in place and good entertainment places especially halls or theaters. Good buildings with good stages, good sound systems, etc.  It would also serve as a meeting place for local people. Local people, because the good halls should be actually in every Gewog or if possible in every Chiwog.

In this way we can promote our own films/Drukpawood, and promote our own shows, etc, educating our own type of traditions. Not only that, we would be creating so many jobs opportunities in this industry. And at the same time generate lots of money. We would have fewer drugs users and crimes as a whole because it helps to engage them and give them a second thought.

Our neighbor, India has a very strong and prosperous film industry because almost all - little towns have very good theaters.

Bhutan has not many good theaters; we have in Thimphu, Phuntsholing, Samdrup Jongkha and Gelephug. But these theaters are not really theaters, they are simple halls.  All these halls lack good sound system, the technicalities of sound and such. And the size and cleanliness of halls could put them in grade-G.

I have been thinking about our live shows, singing contests like Druk Super Star, Bhutan Star, Talent Hunt, etc.  The reality shows have been simple but simply have no quality compared to many shows. The low quality of filming, the low quality of sound, the low presentation of participants, and the drab background make the shows not that presentable for National Television.

I hope our government will look upon this matter and come up with good theaters. I am ready to contribute a small amount to build good theaters in our country.

And I hope live shows will improve the quality of broadcasting and I also hope the industry comes up with different types of shows, like drama, skit, comedy show, etc.  Singing contests like Druk Star, Talent Hunt is a good way of making money (unethical money!!!) without quality presentations and participants/singers.