Three Medical Discoveries

Some of the greatest scientific discoveries were accidental, coincidence or unexpected therefore trust me on the following three personal discoveries I have made over the years. But don't ask me about the scientific logics behind my theories because I was never in good terms with science subjects since high school.

1. Kezang used to have a strange skin disease. The moment she exposes her skin in sun it begins to itch and she would scratch until her arms and neck swell and turn red. She would then have fever and sleeplessly painful night. This disease kept her indoor most of the time and when we had to go out she had to wear full sleeve shirts.

Safi

We showed it to the best of dermatologist in the country, and one of them even gave her a ointment he personally ordered from abroad. But it didn't help. Finally it was concluded that she was allergic to sun, and only remedy was to avoid it. Can you imagine a life like that?
One day she had some tummy problem and a friend recommended SAFI. It's herbal syrup meant to purify blood. God knows how this would help tummy problem, however she tried it obediently for a week. I don't know if it oked her tummy but the next time she went out in sun she was surprised that her skin didn't itch. We tried staying in the sun for a longer time and still she was fine. We brainstormed for hours to find what helped her and it was finally the herbal syrup. We tested it again to confirm and now it's almost two years and she is fine. But she always keeps a bottle of safi handy.

2. It's rather a funny discovery, and I hope the company doesn't sue me. Dabur Red tooth paste is also herbal and gives out very good aroma of familiar herbs. The red color and the roughness in the paste really make us feel that it can whiten our teeth, often it appears to do its job well. It became popular when I was in college and I believed in it strongly.

Dabur Red

One day my sinus got infected and it became really bad. It was always bad in the morning. My nose was always on the run and it didn't need reasons to block the air passage. Soon smelly discharge started coming out and I thought my head was rotting inside. I took tonnes of medications. It took me over five years to finally get rid of the disease with a set of medicine from Taiwan.
In last few years with my good nose I had discovered that when I brush with Dabur red toothpaste my nose suddenly becomes itchy, it runs and sneezes and I could feel the sensation I had when I first fell ill. I tried it again and confirmed that this toothpaste has something in it that is not good for nose.
Later I talked with many people who had bad nose and many of them were Dabur Red fans, I suggested them to change the toothpaste and I received good feedback. But if you have strong nose please keep using the toothpaste because I don't want to be sued by the company.

3. Silagee is a local mineral extracted from some sort of soil/rock found in Dawakha in Paro Dzongkhag. People drink solution of Silagee for various disease but what amazed me was how it cured ulcer in my brother in-law's mouth and throat. By now you must be wondering how many sick people I have in my family but that's the reason why you should believe me, because only the sick knows what helps best. lol.
My brother in-law's mouth ulcer is really ugly, it begins in his throat and covers his tongue and even the lips. When he falls sick he can't even talk well let alone eating. Hospitals helped him recover but it kept relapsing until one of my aunties gave me a bottle of silagee. He tried it and believe me it worked magic. He was fine until last time when he ran out of stock. He called me up to find where he could get this medicine from.
I called my aunty and found out that a lady called Aum Gyem sells it from her home somewhere behind Changlam Square in Thimphu and I was given her phone number (it's 17636459, in case you need). I went there and called her and she made the delivery. The small bottle shown in the picture costs Nu.700, but it's worth the cost I tell you.

Silagee

***Disclaimer: The above three discoveries are not to be treated as absolute facts because firstly it was based on an ordinary man's knowledge, who failed in science in school, and secondly human bodies are different in many ways and what worked on us may not necessarily work on you. But because the products are herbal there is no harm in trying if you have similar diseases.

The Day I Met the Prime Minister

It's exactly ten days since I met the Prime Minister of Bhutan in his office. In these ten days I have tried structuring the story in hundred different ways just to make to as humble as possible but I couldn't beat the humility with which his excellency invited me to meet him in his office. I at one point didn't want to write about it at all but I don't want to deprive my daughter from reading about how lucky her father got one day in 2013. Therefore the following story is written just for the record.

The Leader who walks among us 

I had received tweets from the then Opposition Leader and I would reply with ease and also would post comments on his blog like we were friends but after he became the Prime Minister I suddenly became hesitant about being at ease. I didn't have the opportunity to meet any of the former Prime Ministers, not even in the public gatherings, and therefore the idea of facing one or even communicating with them is relatively new to me. Besides I am just an ordinary teacher who is not used to much privileges.

On August 1st, when His Excellency sent me a tweet asking me to meet him before I leave Thimphu, I panicked and I didn't know how to reasonably make a reply. I had always wanted to meet him because he was the inspiring force behind my blogging passion. He introduced my blog to the larger Bhutanese readership on his blog in 2009, after then I took blogging seriously. But the excitement of meeting the great blogger is heavily outweighed by the fear of having to face the prime minister of the country.

Everything seemed like a dream and only sound that I heard was that of my heart beating fast as I drove to the office of the Prime Minister. I only realized I was carrying a funnily small khadar when I was readying it before I entered the office. A guard at the door offered a bigger one but I declined because I wanted to offer what I came with.

I was soon seated next to the Prime minister, the place I wouldn't brave to be in even in my wildest dream. But life had this huge surprise blessed on me. I had the honour of talking about about my workshop in Thimphu, my school, my blog, various other ordinary things. His excellency surprised me by asking about bBay on Facebook and other little things I did in school. I was deeply humbled that he noticed and cared about little things we ordinary people do in our lives. The initial fear has completely melted away, it was the same old Tshering Tobgay I have known on Blog, Twitter and Facebook. The prime ministership has made him more charming than powerful. I could feel strong energy in his office but the moment I saw him my muscles relaxed.

My workshop team was gathered at a small restaurant in the town and among them were two Singaporean consultants who had expressed deep wishes to meet our prime minister. I conveyed that to his excellency and I was completely taken aback when I was asked to call them and see where they were. I was then asked to wait with them at the restaurant and expect his excellency. My team couldn't believe it actually happened that evening. We got the opportunity to sit and talk with the prime minister for over two hours in a very ordinary restaurant without any bodyguard or protocol.

Singaporean Friends

My blogger friends who were scheduled to meet me the same evening were upset when I couldn't join them for the football match but I surprised them by calling them to the same place. The prime minister recognized most of our blogs and left with an unforgettable advice:

"You are thought leaders, Whatever you write, our youth will believe. For that reason, think and reflect and go slow."

Bloggers: Some of us from that Night, some already left

Picture of a Bhutanese Woman

In 1986, my cousin's wife recollects, she was asked by a western photographer to remove her tego and pose for him with her jewellery shown, during Paro Tshechu. Many years later someone came with a magazine cover with her picture on it. I don't know if it's the name of a Magazine-Arcarama 86. She was sixteen then. She has preserved the picture and can be seen on her wall even today.

1986

24 years later another photographer, this time a Bhutanese professional photographer, got a shot of her during the same festival in Paro. I know it's by Yeshey Dorji because I saw the picture on his blog. I even printed a copy and given it to her. Recently when I visited my cousin, his wife was showing me a book in which her picture has been published.

So, I was wondering if there is something special in her looks that captivates the keen eyes of photographers and perhaps to them she is a picture of a native Bhutanese woman.

2010

She still regrets her inability to go to school because of her grandmother but her passion has taught her to be a weaver, tailor, business woman, and a wonderful mother. 

Emergence of New Culture in Thimphu

There are a few things I bet even most Thimphu residents might not have known that happen in their city in the depth of the night. It was a big surprise to me and thought it would be a pleasure to share it with you.
Thimphu has the best nightlife culture which has a long history down to the times before television and internet, and even today the culture has only become bigger and stronger. Interestingly it's not as fearsome as it look from outside Thimphu. People are in their own peaceful world unless you call them out for a fight. Gone are the days of gangs and fights, so it seemed to me in last three weekends of expedition here. However this is not the real subject of surprise.
The surprise element is in the following:

1. Every Night club has their own regular visitors crowding the place and on special occassions there are hundreds more joining. Bhutanese Economics problems is a joke among them because everybody has so much money to drink. Drinks are very expensive but nobody minds paying. The bigger concern is not money because it keeps rotating, it's the number of young citizens lavishing their productive age on drinking. Sometimes, lost in the drinking crowd, I get a crazy feeling that the whole Thimphu is drinking.
2. 24X7 Business might sound like another joke to the early sleeping country, and I saw pitying the 24X7 shop on Changlam a few months ago. Well in these three weeks I realized that the lone shop does bigger business than any other shop in the town. At odd hours, when people are tired, hungry and thirsty that shop is their oasis in the night desert. Such business has growing potential in Thimphu.
3. And last but the best is What happens when all the parties are over, that after 2 AM in the morning; Dozens of cars gather in the parking below YHS. People just come there to cool off before going home(?) There is no one organizing or controlling it, it's amazingly instinctive. There are drunk people and young people full of energy but they keep it truly peaceful. It's a place for courtship(?) because I see young people moving around looking for potential friends (you know...) Then from nowhere comes a man with food for sale, perhaps breakfast for the hardworking people at 3AM. He has packed fried rice and tea, and business is good for that opportunist. 

Everything is amazingly new to me and I was like a lost tourist trying to make sense out of things more than enjoy them, but eventually I digested it as a need of time... 

Twitter Friends in Thimphu

Last weekend three prominent ladies on twitter- Aum Tshewang Tashi(@norththimphu) the vice president of BKP and born activist, Sonam Ongmo(@sonamongmo) the international journalist and editor of The Raven and the beautiful entrepreneur Chimi Zom Dorji(@czdorji) planned to overwhelm me when they called me for a debut meeting. 

I was excited and worried by the threats they made on twitter: "Don't Chicken out", but it was actually me who made it there first. I was prepared to run away if they really meant their threats but the latecomers were truly honorable and graceful. I loved every moment spent with them.

Then came in the true hero, Madam Karma Choden(@476Kaycee), another sage on Twitter. She made a thundering entry and overwhelmed three ladies. I was prepared but the ladies weren't expecting the sage to be so loud that they had to cover their ears throughout the gathering. They paid for the mischievous intention against me. They are only thankful that twitter has no option of posting voice tweets. They finally surrendered and chickened out with bruises on their arms and bells ringing in their ears. They hated me for not warning them but I was innocent, I was worried myself you know and I enjoyed the expressions on their beautiful faces.

Kuchey, We Surrender!

Days later I regretted, because I realised that I had spend the whole time laughing and drinking without talking anything significant with the ladies, but you know ladies never finish their own chats. I am looking forward to another meeting with them over coffee but time flies swift in Thimphu and I have my duties calling from Bajothang.

With graceful Chimi Zom Dorji

I am in Thimphu for the last two weeks working on the Education ICT Master Plan, and I will be working partly for this project for the next four months. Keeping the guilt of not being in the school aside, I am enjoying every day in Thimphu with my family.

Perhaps the History of Mojo Dog

Mojo Park is undoubtedly the most happening night club in Thimphu. Having heard about it so much I have been there thrice since December. The last one was yesterday at their Summer Gaga. Unlike hundreds who were passionately participating by coming in theme dress and screaming along with bands, I was a mere visitor in my jeans and jumper standing in a corner. I am yet to understand and live the urban culture but I love observing and appreciating small things happening in big places.

There was a fat white dog outside Mojo Park Gate and I have seen him every time I went there and assumed he lived there. The regular visitors fondly talk to him and allow him to sleep between their legs. Of many dogs there what makes this white dog their favorite? The interesting answer to it is that dog hates cops. He growls and barks at the sight of cops. I have personally seen this happen twice. Cops on night patrol make their presence at the club gate when it's about time to close down, and the dog barks at them with dedication as if he was trained to do that.

I have no idea about how this dog actually learned to hate the cops but the very character that made the canine popular among visitors made him unpopular among the cops. Last night, It broke my heart to see three cops waiting at the club gate, long after it was close, to put an end to this poor dog. I was waiting for a friend to return to pick up another friend whom she forgot to take along, which made me an eye witness to the brutality. The poor dog knew what was going to happen to him and was feeling very insecure without his hosts, who already left. He took refuge under the bench I was sitting  and was making pleading sounds. The cops closed in and asked us to move aside to avoid accidental hit. My friend protested and so did a hippie Band member (The drummer of the last event) but the cops were all set to finish the animal. He took one big hit on his back but managed to escape, crying in pain. The cops went chasing him and what happened after that will largely depend on his luck.

When Mojo Park opens on Wednesday if the fat white dog is seen around know that he has escaped a murder attempt, and that it's your love that brought him back to you. Perhaps it's time to untrain him. But if your favorite dog doesn't appear this Wednesday, that's what happened to him. Please pray for him. I will come around to check on him too.

PP Teacher Forever

My Aunty, Madam Lhaday, is over 90 kg and does little or no physical exercise but what keeps her healthy is her job. She teaches Class PP in Dechencholing. She has been teaching Class PP for last 30 years. Some of her PP students are now principals, directors, senior officers,... Today she is teaching children and also grandchildren of her once PP students. Her hair has turned grey but nothing has changed in the way she teaches and deals with children... Watch the video to see what I mean:

Meeting the Greener Friend

Karma Yonten, the founder of Greener Way and of course the winner of Global Entrepreneurial Award of the year, is a friend of mine on social media for quite sometime. I was following his greener way with admiration and shown interest to meet him. Thus it happened last weekend at Simtokha. We sped past each other on the narrow road and both of us pulled over and began conversing like we knew each other for ages.

We met again yesterday over coffee and shared so much within the short span of time he had in hand. He is a young man who has already seen so much of life in so many different shades. Listening to the stories of his journey before he found the Greener Way is heart wrenching yet so inspiring. He is still struggling despite all the name and recognition but he is built to survive out of the comfort zone. He is among the few Bhutanese who will go down in history for having dare to think and work differently. When are we going to break out boxes?

Politics in the Kitchen

Politics is the last topic I want to discuss during the election time, not because I-am-supposed-to-be apolitical but because I can never do justice to the subject. Whatever I write can offend as many as I can please, and I so far didn't see something called political middle path. Truth, like gold, maintains its property but can be molded into different shapes under the political hammer.

Food taste good on such oven

Spending endless hours reading everything political figures, supporters, critics, and parties write on social media I realized Bhutan is full of Political Pundits. It's hard to digest that we are citizens of the youngest democracy in the world.
This time, Critics have pushed politics right into the kitchen. I don't know if there is anything political about the Cooking gas subsidy withdrawal but the timing was shockingly suspicious. Just a week ahead of poll what else can be more damaging. Kitchen is the heart of a home, mood of a family is cooked in the kitchen and when politics comes into the kitchen every member of the family will have to taste the salty political food.
Big lesson to learn: next time you want to hurt a nation, remember to hit the kitchen ;)
I, personally have two months at my disposal before I begin to think about what next to do because I have two filled cylinders in my kitchen, which is why I sound so cool. By then I am hoping subsidy will be back in place, but if it's not I seriously can't afford another refill. I am not going to pay so much for stinking gas. I would rather sell my two empty cylinders and buy a nice electrical stove. For once I want to make myself believe that we are rich in electricity. Now, don't joke about increasing power tariff- that would be a national insult.
I am now starting to wonder how much a plate of momo will cost by next month because I remember cab drivers increasing the fare by Nu.50 when petrol price inflates by Nu.1. I think we should order for momo cooked on electric stove.
If subsidy withdrawal sustains then scrap dealers will make good money out of metal cylinders because Nu.1200 is still big in rural Bhutan. They will surely go back to forest and collect firewood, after all food taste good on mud oven.

Monthly Birthday Gift to my Daughter

My daughter, Ninzi Tshomo, in her three and a half years of the journey into life has only seen the best part of human life. It was her luck that she came into our life when Kezang and I are of the right age to become parents and when two of us are well settled in life to offer her the best. It was our luck that after the day she was born we got to see the best days of our life. She was someone on whom we could invest all our love and harvest unlimited joy. It’s a perfect life we are living, but this perfect moment asks me an imperfect question: Will this last forever?

                                           Compilation of Ninzi’s Self-made videos

It’s a very simple question, yet it breaks my heart. Everything that begins somewhere will end anywhere and nobody knows where and nothing can stop. As long as I and Kezang last she will be our princess but the sad reality is that we are designed to perish. My greatest fear is that the princess might have to face life on her own someday before we could make her ready.

If such a day comes sooner my daughter will be made to pay for all the good times she had with us, because we have lived for today and have done nothing for her tomorrow. There is no home she can call hers, not a patch of land to set her feet on and no savings to shelter her from the hard reality.

Ninzi VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

As young parents, we threw lavish parties on her first two birthdays but on the third birthday it suddenly occurred to me that my daughter would need more than just a birthday party because life is not a birthday cake, it’s rather like the candle on that cake that is blown off when the crowd sings. 

So on her third birthday (29th Nov 2012) I signed my daughter’s education insurance policy papers and sealed it with a big kiss. I can’t buy her a house or land but I have readied her college fees that day. On her 18th birthday she will receive her first premium of over hundred thousand ngultrums to pay for her college, and every year she will receive the same amount till she completes her college. On her 21st birthday, she will receive the full bonus and have four hundred thousand at her disposal until she decides what to do with her life. Every month on her birthday, i.e. 29th, I gift her with the monthly instalment. If someday I live no more the insurance company will still have to pay her college fees, as is mentioned in terms and condition. 

If I am lucky enough, I will pray for that and even the insurance company will pray, to see my daughter go to college, be there on her graduation day, then perhaps we will use that money to go on vacation every year, and on her 21st birthday she can buy a car for herself and take Kezang and me on a ride because by then my Santro car will be too old.