What I Value (Contd.)

My Parents – I believe none would ask me why I value my parents. I have no answers. It comes to me magically, as if someone has cast spell over me to value my parents. Needless to mention, they are the source of my being. Since birth, they fed me to make me healthy. They guarded me from falling into hearth where I would have become totally disfigured, plunging into water pool from where I am uncertain whether I would have floated normal with normal breath, falling off the cliff from where my soul would have wandered without body, and from falling into the hands and tricks of miser like Shylock resulting in forfeiture of eyes that enables me to see the sufferings of the poor. All that meant physical or emotional death. In person, it is better to have physical and emotional aliveness and activeness. Death of one part means imbalance in the behavior and outlook of a person. Perfection in such person, in any field, even if any, may be accidental. What I am now, whether deficient in height, in physique, or any perfection, is the love of my parents.   

When I witness young mothers changing diapers, experiencing hard times singing lullaby attempting to put child with irregular sleeping habit to sleep, passing day with dried lips like dried plums when their much loved child falls sick, and remaining speechless when their only child accidentally hits some object that causes bruises, I remember my mother. I get her and father’s picture of caring me and sacrificing everything for me. I weep silently. I remember my parents’ devotion. Will I be that devoted? I know, even if I let them rest without work giving full protection from heat, rain and cold, feed them continuously, and carry them on our back the remaining days of their lives, returning their love in wholeness is impossible. But, will I be able to return half the sacrifice they made for me? They are God in the form of human being; they are visible God, my God.   

My Teachers – My parents contributed my physical structure. I am well-built. But my teacher fortified my inner structure, inner and moral character. I see these to be very important because physical strength without moral character sometimes rise up as enemy to world or self. People with physical strength but without moral strength are proven detrimental to self and family. They grow up, like snake from harmless when young to deadly venomous, in adult stage. I deliberately decline to substantiate my statements with examples as examples can be varied, occurred or occurring in our country as well as other countries.

My teachers have shown me the windows in books through which I can see the whole world within a fraction of second. It is my teachers, male as well female, national as well as expatriate; who taught me to tread cautiously for every step we make forward, probability to fall in the pit is high. Whatever we see may not be genuine; we have to see through it. This is what my teachers taught. They gave me strength. They encouraged me to appreciate beauty. The power to differentiate between real and illusion is infused in me by my teachers. They provided me additional and magnifying eyes with which I can discern good from bad. They showed me the bad side of temperament which enabled me to control anger, restrained me from reacting sharply to any situation I found awkward. They are no less than my parents.   

My Family – They are my reasons for survival. They are my precious and rarest ornament. I guard them to ensure that they are not lost or stolen. As gratitude, in return I get pride, satisfaction, filial love which may not be available in any market for sale. I cannot afford to see my family image dwindling or sweeping away down the drain by the stream of fate. I constantly pray to Almighty above to bless my family with never ending happiness. I do not mind even if my family coffer is empty, the love and bondage we share must never cease to cast its perpetual radiance over our sweet lovely home. Providing basic necessity like food, cloth and humble shelter, not letting them fall prey to contempt and shame, not letting them exposed to biting cold, scorching heat and beating rain, becomes my obligation. I will protect it at any cost. Like George Santayana 1863-1952 (Spanish born American Philosopher, Poet and Humanist who made important contributions to aesthetics, speculative philosophy and literary criticism) I too feel that “The family is one of nature’s masterpieces”.   

The way I am – I am humble, maybe because I was groomed to become that way. I enjoy company of the birds with the feathers of my type. I hate hypocrisy. Since my childhood, I do not enjoy the company of a person who tells one and does another, and promises so many but not keep even one. No matter how realistic and promising the talk is, goose bumps rises in me and makes me skeptic of them, the moment I listen to such person. 

Certain ambition is necessary for any living being for living. I see it is an art to survival. I have ambition necessary for ordinary persons. Education has no end. It is continuous. If chance of sandal powder decks my way, I am willing to embrace and continue my journey. I feel I am sojourning at the moment. I enjoy reading and writing diary/journals/memoirs and scribbling whatever new perorations I hear, not because I want to ascend the height of Shakespeare or Wordsworth or Alexander Pope, but I pursue it as my passion to keep my interest for learning alive. Like cricketers having attachment for cricket games, and like crazy fools dying for lady love, my passion for writing is as simple as that, no big reason. There is no special agenda hidden behind it. However, if I may be permitted to place one step ahead, I simply want to learn to understand the reasons for my existence and its relation to this world.

Corruption is allergic to me. Even if it is harbored unaware somewhere within me, my conscience revolts against me causing disturbance and tremor like earthquake and shaken my whole body. Nightmare keeps me awake the whole night. I do not aim to sky rocket in my work, but in my own little ways, wants to do it with devotion, dedication and sincerity.

I am governed by my sets of principles. I do not wish to deviate from my culture, custom and tradition. I am strong upholder of old things but I must admit, I do not want to sideline myself by being extremist, hardcore conservative. I enjoy and feel much comfortable dealing with people politely, no direct confrontation, and no direct reaction. What a wonderful world our earth is, if I come across people who think alike, all the time and at every place?

NB: Everybody thinks and judges something from their experiences. What I have written above is purely my opinion based on my observations and perspectives. It is also not exhaustive. Contradiction in points and difference in opinions are not ruled out.  

Visit of NC Mr. Tashi Phuntsho - 13th August 2013

Good afternoon. First of all, let me extend our warmest and heartiest welcome to honorable dasho to Baylling HSS. It is indeed a great honor and privilege and rarest of opportunity to have a visit to our school from your honor, in this capacity. Thank you for not forgetting us.

In outlook, in the in-depth study of the matter, in dealing with people, and in finding solutions to the problems, I feel, no other person can make perfect substitute to dasho. I strongly feel that the people of T/Yangtse have not created blunder in preferring Dasho over other stiff competitors, as their representative to the hall of fame. Dasho, kindly accept our humble words of appreciation ‘Trashi Delek’ for getting elected as the 2^nd historic representative of the dzongkhag to the auspicious dream seat of National Council of the Kingdom of Bhutan.

Our school, our history, has close link with dasho. Right from the beginning, in his capacity as EMO (Education Monitoring Officer), no matter whether Dasho had time to visit other schools or not, he made it a point to visit our school. He unfurled an opportunity clearly in front of us to listen to his words of wisdom, brought many enlightening programs like ‘Concept of Instructional Leadership’ and ‘Guidelines to Positive Disciplining’ which enabled our school to distribute the jobs, assign rightful ownership that gave pride to an individual upon accomplishing their missions, and enabled our school to sail through sea or fly in the air overcoming all turbulences on the way, respectively. It is hard to forget the pivotal role dasho has played to steer our school through the roughest whirlpool of situation to safety and peace which gave us luxury of time for professional development and academic enhancement.  We are highly indebted to you for your generosity.

Even in times to come, we expect continuous visit and continuous influx of wisdom in our school. For the present, personally and as representative of school, I feel, it is a matter of unbound pride and excessive jubilation to have the honor of your gracious visit.

Thank you!

Vegetables Sale Deed

One of the important agreements, between the farmers of Sep and Durchen, and our school, regarding the sale and purchase of agricultural produce, brokered or mediated by Regional Agricultural Marketing and Cooperatives Office (RAMCO), Mongar, reached on 12^th August 2013. For school, the present deed struck is the revitalization or reactivation of our long dormant deal which was signed in 2007. The agreement reached then ceased to function when farmers complaint of payment delay, low rate compared to existing market rate and when farmers denied to sell during dry season with their expectation to fetch promising prices in the market. It was undoubtedly, a clear breach of contract terms. However, passing this incidence through the magnifying lenses, the terms and conditions set then were observed too weak as it did not have legal backings. The mediators were also not involved while signing an agreement. Owing to these reasons, when farmers defied and carried loads of vegetables towards market through school, school assumed the role of a passive observer and at the most viewed them with green-eye.

However, the present bond has legal backings. The marketing and cooperatives officer from Mongar made it crystal clear to both parties involved, farmers group and school mess members, that the defaulter(s) must undergo legal proceedings as per the law of the Kingdom. The officer opened the floor for negotiation by pointing out the difficulties farmers undergo while producing agricultural produce and the meagre stipend school has at the moment. He urged parties not to be too ambitious by quoting the rate either high or low which may, directly or indirectly, adversely affect one or the other. He made his stand clear by informing the members present saying that his job was to create conducive atmosphere between dealers to reach deal amicably to the satisfaction of both parties.     

The rate for individual item was fixed based on consensus from both parties. Most of the rate quoted by two parties, coincidentally were similar. The bargain, negotiation, and argument related to fixation of rate occurred much less than expected. The officer in-charge praised both parties for efficient management of time by quoting reasonable prices, easily agreeable to both. He was sharing the instances of tough time reaching the consensus in other places.

The actual demand and supply curve, in our school, would flow with the cracking of dawn from 1^st September 2013 and this practice, without complaint and alteration of rate, terms and conditions, would continue till December, 18^th 2014. 

The rates for different items are quoted below:

Sl #	Vegetables	Fixed Rate
1	Potato	15
2	Cabbage	15
3	Beans	30
4	Sag	12
5	Squash	10
6	Radish	8
7	Pumpkin	7
8	Peas	40
9	Cauliflower	25
10	Garlic leaves	15
11	Brinjal	35
12	Broccoli	25
13	Pointed cord	15
14	Coriander (Bundle)	5
15	Carrot	30
16	Cucumber	10
17	Pear (improved)	40
18	Passion fruit	20
19	Chili	40
20	Bitter cord	20
21	Ginger	50
22	Tomato	40
23	Asparagus (Kg)	50
24	Peach (local)	15
25	Plum (improved)	15

So far, in our school, mess in-charges get nightmarish time especially during dry seasons, attempting to provide varieties to students without compromising the standard and quantity. It was frustrating at times, when we failed to see our wanted items in circulation or failed to procure due to unreasonably high price and when students failed to draw correlation, despite repeated information, between the market scenario and stipend they earn. However, with today’s agreement, our fear of not getting as per our demand, our fear of soaring prices which may compel us to compromise with quality and quantity, are permanently yoked out of our strained shoulder. We feel relaxed.

There is absolutely no reason, and it is totally beyond our doubt, why this present scheme should fail like the one in the past. School administration owes immense gratitude to RAMCO for this noble and cherished initiative.          

    

A Song never Sung

Tshering Karma Tobden was eleven years old when he got into his pre-primary class. This incidence is not unusual. We may have a child who gets admission even later than that. How can a child from destitute and broken family, alcoholic parents and a place where there is no school in the vicinity possibly dream of getting admission in schools before that age? We hear of some incidences, especially of alcoholic parents who refuse to admit their child in school even if someone volunteers for expenditure. But, his case was different.

He had his parents, affluent, energetic and who loved being respected. They were living in a palatial building of their own. When people around grumbled of the soaring house rent, they remained unshaken. When other desperate tenants came looking for an apartment, they never spared a room even for a night. No matter how handsomely the tenants promised their monthly rent, the family never got allured. Why should they worry about few thousands when they had many millions in their coffer? His parents used to pride themselves for having blessed by the God of wealth. It is needless to say that they were self-sufficient. His parents almost remained aloof, cut off and like island from neighbors. Thought of necessity of interdependence was never born in their minds. Hence, it remained impractical. They never deemed necessary to maintain line, invisible but inevitable, with other community members.  It was parents’ feeling of pride, ego and shortsightedness that their family wealth would be sufficient for their only son and his family, the issue of Tshering Karma Tobden’s education was drifted apart many times. This explains lucidly why son became late for admission. Had it not for his uncle’s determined, hard gathered power of articulation that lay their son’s future bare in front, that won the almost heated debate over his parents, education at eleven would not have become possible. In fact, education would have remained fruits not tasted to the son. Thanks to his uncle, Mr. Dodo, mother’s elder brother, who literally fought against his introvert nature to outwit his outspoken father to get him to school. 

Tshering Karma Tobden was intelligent. His class teacher, Mrs. Reshma never misunderstood and misjudged this quality. On the first day of his admission, he was asked to introduce to the class. ‘My name is Tshering Karma Tobden. I never dreamt of coming to school but my uncle persuaded my parents to send me here. I love cycling and eating sweet oily cakes. I do not like this place, it is dirty’, introduced Karma. All friends in the class laughed. ‘The pre-primary child, not unnerved and making genuine observation was not ordinary, sure sign of intelligence’, thought and commented by class teacher. Teacher called for huge round of applause uttering ‘we have got intelligent and smart friend in our class’. True to his teacher’s words, he proved himself to be shrewd, apt and fast learner. He shot his grade from pre-primary to ten steadily like an arrow without missing the target.

A tinge of arrogance lay smeared on his behavior and the touch of its cruelty never spared his teachers. Matters related to his disposition reached principal’s notice several times. But, because he was good at studies, little pain inflicted by his ill manners was swallowed by his principal. He was given so many second chances. If the matter was related to his parents, they would, with ease, effortlessly and thoughtlessly, ask school authority to rusticate him from school. To send such brilliant and sharp student back home, like nipping the flower at its bud, was a great loss to teachers’ effort. Everybody in school had this breath. So, he was pardoned.  In the meantime, he passed his tenth grade in distinction. He was the top position holder, became everybody’s pride in his school. Everybody danced and enjoyed his achievement except his parents. The thought of having to send their child to boarding school inflicted unbearable pain and sense of loss in their heart. This pang was almost equivalent to fingernail being removed from skin.

However, the following year, insistence to send him to college to pursue further studies showered upon parents, from principal and teachers of Tshering. So, his parents had to give way, against their wishes, to the teachers’ relentless plea. The parents arranged to reach him to college. When other friends had transportation problem, Tshering’s family had two land cruisers. Perhaps to show their wealth, perhaps not, the family took both vehicles to reach Tshering to his college which was two days’ journey from their hometown. First day, son was with his father and the other day, he was with his mother. Thinking that their only son might be influenced by education and friends to forget his parents and wealth, both father and mother made doubly sure that their son was sufficiently briefed on the family wealth and his urgency to inherit and claim the ownership, even by forgoing his study, if need arise.

Tshering Karma Tobden took advantage of his family’s bountiful wealth. He never forgot the fact that they were wealthy. Without hesitation he mailed home to remit amount, no matter how much and frequency. He collected friends and acted as nucleus to the ones who needed his financial support. He supported them graciously.  His friends Samden Tshering and Nima Khendup had hard time thanking him for his generosity and accommodating heart, ‘Ka Din Chhe, wai. Da re che min, na chi ni lo tshong dai may - something like thanks, if you were not there, two of us would have been in big trouble today’, they would say most of the time sitting in the bar. Tshering Karma Tobden trusted his friends so much. His friends’ words later proved more effective than his lecturers and their actions proved sharper than the sword. His lecturers’ value-laden words entered through one ear and exited through another. It hardly created any impact in him. On the contrary, his friends’ words cut all his humane quality, if he at all had one. He lost interest in studies. He became irregular in class attendance. He lost filial love towards his parents. He treated his parents just as a source of money. He called them only when he was in need of money. It was kind of his parents who never demanded the reasons for his shortage of money. Sometimes he used to receive from both parents even though he had asked from one. He danced. His time at college was just like bathing in the pool of enjoyment, created by his parents’ money, alone or with friends.

Perhaps his dancing steps weren’t appropriate. He might not have placed his foot on the stable surface that resulted into losing balance triggering him to slip off and land on the surface with big thud. We cannot rule out the fact that he would have even stepped onto the feet of other dancers nearby provoking irritation in them. In the later period of his time in college, he became like contagious disease to others. All good persons avoided him. He became drunkard, almost drug addict, chain smoker, ever ready fighter and so on. At that juncture, his close associates too deserted him. He failed twice in his degree course. He spent five years to complete degree course meant for three years. Finally, when he completed it, he could make it with very marginal marks which did not fulfill requisite for jobs in the job fair. His parents convinced him that he need not wreck his mind dreaming of employment. They tried to make him relaxed by splintering his hardships to submerge in their wealth. They said, ‘You’re now legal heir of what we’ve. Son, enjoy yourself in merriment. You needn’t worry about finding employment in government enterprise or private company. All these meant working under them like servant. It is too low a stoop for our family’.

Unfortunately, one fateful day, his parents were driving a car for some unrevealed business trips. While returning, they met with fatal accident which triggered their car to plunge into the highly swollen monsoon river making it impossible for the son to retrieve even a piece of their flesh to place on a funeral pyre. It was a tragedy. The son’s condition became wretched. He never had an opportunity to listen or have the will of his parents about the secret source of their family wealth. His family pride, the way they remained aloof, bore negative impact against him. He was denied all accesses to neighbors’ generosity. Even while he had serious and useful matters to relate, people denounced it as hoax and disbelieved him. Neighbors ignored his presence and conditions. This inflected pain and sprouted thousand and one mixed thoughts from his mind. He inscribed his feelings in black and white, intended to be posted to his parents, whose whereabouts of course, he could not and never guess: 

A Song never Sung (Contd.)

Dear parents,

I know you have long left me to face the harsh realities of the world. But, I have become emotionally weak after your departure. I lack physical strength to suppress my frustration and grant status of refugee within my heart. I have to let it flow profusely through the curvature of my mind. Why should our neighbors pretend not to see me, avoid me like contagious disease or untouchable?  I do not understand the reasons behind their sordidness. If I am the cause, I am here; I am ready to undergo any penance to beg forgiveness. If you were the cause, will they forgive me? I regret to learn why you had been selfish not to leave any space for me to be pardoned by others.

I am sorry for misunderstanding created in you. You thought that you sacrificed everything for me. But it was I who sacrificed everything. My uncle used to praise me that I was young, cute and handsome. By my uncle’s description, I deserved to be loved by all. I never got the love I deserved. Instead, neighbors crept away seeing my footsteps on their direction. Do you remember, my uncle also once praised me saying I had good vocal and that I could perhaps become one of the best singers. I never sang a single song in my life. I was discouraged. Despite my ardent feeling to unearth your possible reasons for discouragement, I come across the fact like you never wanted me to become popular. You may agree or disagree. If I had the potentiality to become popular singer, where was the logic not to become great musician? I feel singers and musicians are homogeneous.  Did you create orchestra for me to become one?

My teachers praised me asserting that I was intelligent and sharp. I have certificates dumped in my iron safe to qualify and certify my teachers’ praises. But, have I become one like my teachers envisaged? What must be the cause, if not so? The curse is my malevolent stars that made me take birth from your womb and fall on your laps. Would I have different source of birth, different parents, I know, they would have been dejected if I did not accomplish my mission of becoming what I deserved. I had ingrained potentialities of becoming scientist, doctor, engineer, architect, teacher etc. Otherwise, there were no basis for my teachers to qualify my intelligence with stamped certificates and mementos. You may then wonder why I couldn’t become one. I repeat that your words of discouragement obstructed my mission. Penetration through the obstruction posed by your discouragement became absolutely impossible for my fragile, immature and undetermined mind.   Your advice, most of, no-all the time, to me was to leave school and come back home to inherit wealth. You stuffed me with abundance of money to lavish with friends. Your greatest lesson to me was to have insatiable love for money. You taught me to marry my life with money. I have indeed learnt to love money. But, I hardly find meaningful application of it in relation to this world. By this, I find one feeling dawning in me that you did not have any vision beyond money and wealth.

Had I joined monk body and taken vow, I would have been in the process of getting enlightened. I would have balanced my need and greed. People would have flown in hordes towards me to seek solace and peace. Had I joined arm forces, I would have become national hero, dedicated citizens and remained in history as unequal patriot and martyr. Though my body is doomed to vanish, my name would have remained imprinted in the solid rock of history for endless future generations of children to read.  Now, all these feelings branches out and ages in my mind, obviously to decay with my body.

I could not even become your faithful son. I am sorry for the unexpected epistle of this nature. I write all these not to trouble your heart but to remind you that if you ever come back as my parents, you must come to aide me accomplish my unaccomplished dreams. You must encourage me to stand on my own feet. You must encourage me to look at things positively. My mind would be as fragile as it was. You know what best for me. I know, you may get loads of pain, difficult to carry, if you chance to unfurl my letter. But, my dear parents do understand that I write this as its concealment in my small heart threatened to burst my heart open. I do not wish to die till I complete the 49^th Day rituals of your shocking demise. I do not pray for different parents than you, should I have boon of one more life!

Yours lonely son,

To this I attest my name,

Tshering Karma Tobden .        

              

School Rimdro

Spiritual dimension, especially school rituals have long been in aestivation in our school. We could not invite any religious master, like in the past, to give us any religious discourse in the first academic session. We had to remain dry. I almost felt like having reached the desert where I could see numerous mirages but not the real pool of water. We had to reside with heavy psychological pressure on our shoulder, with constant fear of amiss, and with constant inner prayer to Almighty above not to let the sun of good health and happiness set in our school till we find time to arrange rituals where we believe, we get opportunity to converse with our protective deity in person to negotiate our health, conducive atmosphere for study and path to good works. The reason(s) which disabled us to arrange spiritual programme was/were purely our preparation for the 13^th July 2013 historical election where we witnessed shocking, but not impossible aftermaths.

However, on 10^th August 2013, we could get out of our suffocating aestivation and got fresh air to breath. We conducted school rimdro, Sher Nying Doog which is assumed so important for students and any budding great soul. The ex-umze of Rigsum Goenpa, who was invited to preside over our ritual interpreted that Sher Nying is common to all four sects viz. Karyug, Nyingma, Sachap and Gaylup of Buddhism. It became common only because of the fact that it has endowment of unimaginable spiritual strength. To students, he informed that Sher Nying would protect them against tentacles of wrathful diseases, present before person good atmosphere to study and prepare, and enables one to write examinations successfully and gradually fulfills one’s unaccomplished expectations.

With the conduct of rimdro, heavy load placed on the neck of administration which made administrator and his team weighted down like yoke on the neck of oxen, got relieved. I felt freed and relished. I have heard of news, some years back, cropped in one school, of parents complaining against school authority for the sickness of their children in school citing the reason to be school’s non conduct of annual rimdro. Though we are in 21^st Century, we still have parents and communities who see the indispensable and unexplained curative spiritual power vested with rimdro. Parents may be right, or wrong, in asserting that assumptions and associating the sickness of their children to not conducting ritual, but we must not remain defiant and complacent. It is one aspect of our tradition and custom with which we have come a long way. It has now formed its root in our heart. Hence, it is now part and parcel of our life. Not finding moment to conduct it always means remaining with imbalance of some part of our anatomy which may result into ineffective or incomplete actions.  

Our present rimdro became highly successful. Its successes can be attributed to the wholehearted and unwavering support rendered by teachers, students, parents and community around. Thanks to all members for coming closer at the crucial hours of need.     

              

Life is a Dream!

If asked, different people would take liberty of asserting different opinions and expressions pertaining to life. The type of experiences one have had, the type of contact one came across and the type of person one is, greatly influence the way one perceives live. Pessimistic and optimistic view , bad and good outlook, matured and immature mind, and in what environment one was brought up, would have stuffed various experiences in persons which may extend superior role in unfolding the perspectives of life. The disabled, disadvantaged, orphaned and broken children who had never-ending rippling hardships will talk about life being hard beyond belief. The pampered, luxuriate children, affluent families, and the ones who only enjoyed bed of roses will talk about preciousness and glorification of life. I will not be surprised to hear people praising life as either attractive like rainbows or cursing life as dull and suffocating like dungeon. Life is all that.

However, should anyone ask me what life is, I would in an ordinary way, describe ‘life as a dream, insubstantial thing’. In dream we see multitude of conjectures: trying to overcome swift river resulting in proving ourselves too weak against strong current, climbing the stiff cliff with indescribable fear of falling off, total strangers for reasons unknown chasing us, and sometimes enjoying the mirth of birthday or wedding ceremony. These strange encounters, both alluring and detestable, in dreams hardly bear resemblance or significance when awake. Some vanish without leaving any trace. A man of power does not remain on the pedestal of power throughout. He falls tragically forcing him to stoop to the level of commoners. The unbearable pain that sprouts out of heart is swallowed with force to project fake smile upon the onlookers. I regret such incidence of unreliable and double-standard dream. Children, no matter how grown up they are, feels secure and safe in presence of their parents. But, separation, without mercy separates them. Their love knots, which existed in between them since birth, break apart. Children are often separated, with utmost pain, from parents by different promises they have and by cold icy hands of death.         

Life fleets fast like fleeting meteor. We see it rising from one horizon and in a wink of eye, disappears it before or in the next horizon. What significance does it have in between the horizons? People becoming alcoholic, drug addicts, growing aggressive and quarrelsome, creating disharmony in society murdering people and vandalizing religious artifacts, and having inflicted boundless glumness because of failures resulting in many suicides – mention of all these in newspapers have become common sight. In the same token, actions of noble deeds like donating kidney saving lives like Gods, contributing cash and kinds for reconstruction of fortress of great magnitude, helping the poor and needy, running a charity, volunteering to sacrifice life for the security and sovereignty of nation, and commemorating victories with discos and lavish drinks, occur in this world. However, all these, I view it as dream. Nothing lasts forever. Great accomplishments soon turns out to be the most useless, waste of time the next moment. Human mind is the most inconsistent and corrupt mind.    

Elderly persons need not be dejected thinking of imminent death, child need not wish for early adulthood and marriage, rich need not be proud and poor need not be ashamed. To me, both winners and losers are no different. A twist, which occurs unexpectedly in the course of life, changes the whole destiny. It displaces us and places others in our place.  A river, when flows from the perennial source through the human settlement providing invaluable services, the inhabitants residing alongside these rivers  praises it by generously giving names like the holy Ganges, the fertile Nile, the cruise Mississippi, the mighty Danube, the largest Manas and so on. But, when it submerges into sea through the mouth, nobody attempts to reclaim the river that was once the source of their livelihood. All occurrences and happenings in life are unnecessary hassles. It is an illusion devoid of interest and attraction. Both noble and ignoble are short-lived. Sooner or later, all categories of people are seen blatantly flowing towards the pyre of death.

Why should we live then? What have we to do? I do not have direct answers to these questions. However, if I am granted the boon to offer my opinions, I present the following: I have read and heard Buddhist masters, reincarnate and highly revered, and ordinary yet renowned, commonly say that we are born to practice virtues and discover paths to self actualization. This philosophy may be same across all religions and faiths. Equally competent masters of other faiths, I believe, may also be transmitting the same messages to its worshippers.

No other animals, including the ones who can emit human language, are bestowed and blessed with the same opportunity to practice and understand good of life. We are fortunate. We must avail and must not let this atypical opportunity slip off our hand. We heal the pain inflicted in us in dreams. We do not have advantage to cling on to pleasant memories in dreams. Similarly, whether we are willing or not, sooner or later, we have to bid final farewell to the world. We enter through one and exit through another. But, before that fateful time, following rituals, observing strict penance, passing through ordeal, living with dignity may enable one to leave behind good legacy. Legacy -that can be appreciated by everyone. Lord Buddha, an enlightened one is remembered today as a prince who renounced luxurious palace life, warmth of family love and all worldly pleasures.

The path we follow may obviously be little different, the salvation we arrive at may be slower, and the distraction we face may be more on our paths demanding us to be cautious in comparison to the Enlightened Beings like Lord Buddha and Lord Guru Rimpochhe. Still, I strongly feel that we may have ways out of this dreamlike life, if sought with sincerity.   

I am not preaching here. I am alien in this world and matter. I do not have concrete evidence to substantiate any point I may mention. I rather halt here abruptly. Should anybody accuse me that my sentence is incomplete then it is to be understood that it is intentional.    

The whole point of my writing is to implant curiosity in readers that only the wise is respected and remembered. We become wiser by following the trails and footpaths of the wisest. In respect to the fact of philosophy that the merciless death knows no age, no position and no boundary to lay its hands on, I feel, time is ripe, both for young and old, people of position, people of different regions to plan and execute good deeds. The deeds, everybody deem good may help an executers get peaceful exit from this illusory world. In conjunction, his or her name would remain imprinted for another dreamer to see!