thedawaring's blog

The 26 th of June 2014 Today, I am sitting on a roughly made wooden bench, at an old monastery on a hilltop above my village. The place is surrounded by tall lush green mountains. Prayer flags of every color are fluttering in the wind at the edge of the hill. I can hear countless number of birds singing their own songs. Thick silver colored clouds are hovering atop the hills in front of me. And amid thick clouds, a golden sun tries hard to shine. Melodies of river falling from the mountains add life to this already beautiful evening. The environment here is  pristine  beautiful, with tall trees and grasses everywhere.  At a place not too far from here, a lonely deer is howling. A cuckoo is crowing. A pack of sparrows fly by. Down in the valley, Farmers are returning from their days work. Everything is in harmony with nature.  There was a time when I use to desperately long for this exotically beautiful place. When I was in Goa, I use to miss every bit ...

On way to Merak... Many summers ago, one cold winter night, my father and I were taking rest under a huge rhododendron tree on our way to a nearby place called Merak. We made fire by collecting dried moss and broken branches.  We had our dinner that was packed into Bangchung by mother in the morning. Both of us were tired due to a long day’s walking uphill. As we lay on the bare earth covered with dried leaves for warmth, gazing at the open night sky, I could hear the splashing sound of a small brook that ran nearby in the woods. My restless mind was wandering to areas as vast as the open sky. I could smell the refreshing aroma of fresh soil of the forest and would take a deep breath or two to rejoice my senses.  There was a peaceful silence in the jungle minus the occasional howling of a pack of fox or a sudden gush of wind through the woods. Father was humming some old songs. I was watching the shooting stars fly from north to south and wonder where it must have fa...

Born to a simple peasant family and growing up in a far flung village in eastern Bhutan, it was beyond my imagination to hope for an opportunity to study outside Bhutan. I never even dreamed of life outside my beautiful village. But when I started reading lots of books, things changed for the better. Reading changed my life for ever. The habit of reading opened my windows to the outside world. The result of my voracious reading habit began to reward me in early 2010 when I was selected for Royal Government of Bhutan Scholarship to study in Goa, India. Today when I look back, the only thing that brought me out of my village and out of Bhutan is my habit of reading. After reading multitude of books, I could express my own ideas more clearly. This translated into getting good marks in Board exams and securing the highly competitive scholarship. Though I have miles to go before I sleep, I have at the least started my journey towards a better life-a life free of ignorance and delusion in ...

Goa is not only about beautiful beaches and towering churches. Goa has a lot to offer apart from sand, sunshine, sea, fishes crabs, prawns etc. If you happen to be in Goa some day, do not miss a chance to savor Pav Bhaji- a fast food common in Goa and Maharastra. It  consists of locally baked bread 'Pav' and curry of a sort made from vegetables and spices. Most of the fast food centers in Goa will have Pav Bhaji to offer. They season it with a sprinkle of chopped coriander and sliced onions. To enhance the flavor, they squeeze half a lemon into the 'masala'. The bread is usually warmed on a pan with a little bit of oil.  If you wish, they will offer you slices of butter with  warmed bread. Butter further increases the taste. But if you are conscious about gaining weight or if you are extra cautious about calorie intake, I would not advise butter. It tastes great even without butter. Normally, you will com...

It is Spring time in the wilderness of the Himalayas.  Here silence is free of cost. Here peace comes naturally without the need for meditation. Here the air is fresh and gardens are filled of multicolored and perfumed wild flowers.  I live in a little house by the river. The constant gushing sound of the river is the only music that I hear. The rumbling noise of rocks and logs being dragged by the water is the rhythm of my music. A deer snorts in a distance. Intermittently, a pack of jackals howl behind the hills alerting the wild goats while they graze on the lush green meadow. They raise their ears and begin to bleat signaling danger. In front of my little house made of wood, I see a swarm of bees sucking nectar from the yellow marsh marigolds.  It is the time of the day for my shepherd friend to visit me. He usually plays melodious flute from a distance to signal his arrival. His flute makes heartwarming music in the woods. The melody slowly echoes back deep t...

A Sunday in Goa… Last Sunday, I was seduced to the limit. No. Not by the beauty of a charming girl. But by the beauty of the world we live in. The last Sunday of January 2014 was increasingly becoming a monotonous one for me in my room.   I decided to stroll through the city of Panjim to save myself from boredom. After having a quick shower in the warm water of afternoon, I headed to the church. The road to the city was less busy. I walked into Kamat hotel for a steaming cup of coffee and a hot plate of Samosa with coconut paste. Having savored the delicious snack I went to the bank of river Mandovi. The sea was calm and peaceful. Garlands of red and yellow marigolds immersed by worshippers were floating on the water. I spent some time near the river watching boats zoom by and enjoying the salty smell of the sea. As the sun was mercilessly scorching me, I walked along the river seeking shelter beneath huge rain trees.  When I reached Kala Academy, a popular cultura...

Monpas of Chaling Many of you must have studied Khandro Drowa Zangmo in school days. I am sure. And many must have watched the Bhutanese film by the same name based on the historical epic. Towards the end of the epic of Khandro Drowa Zangmo, there appears a place by the name of Yue Pemachan, where the young prince Kuntu Lekpa rules the village as a compassionate and Buddhism-loving king. This historic place is identified to be the present day Chaling village in Trashigang dzongkhag. The only Pemachen monument that stood the test of time is in the form of a Chorten. People believe that the chorten was constructed by King Kuntu Lekpa himself. At proper Pemachen, there are said to be seen vast ruins of stone structures buried underneath the soil. Villagers believe it to be the ruins of the palace of Kuntu Lekpa. There were many instances when villagers dug the soil for construction and they came across huge rows of stone walls buried deep in soil. Recently they also discovered...