Along Phuntsholing – Samtse – Tendu Highway

Covid pandemic has caged physically and the academic workload has sealed mentally within the boundary of college campus. The craving to go out was impatient. Wander within the campus was adequate and bored. Finally, rays of hope risen with drastic drop of number of positive cases and college relaxing the containment mode.

Overhead signboard at Chukha - Samtse boarder

Casually, the idea to go out to a place never visited before popped up; the name of the place – Samtse! Discussion further enhanced to stretch until the furthest – Sibsu. Yet, the final destination was to the extreme end – Tendru.

Namlakha 

A moment break at Namlakha, the highest point on Phuntsholing – Samtse highway enlightened on various places the highway passes through and the view of lowland was wide and clear. Far into and through village unknown, the view of beautiful mountain ranges ease from the rays protected by blanket of clouds.

Mesmerizing beauty of green paddies from Chengmari until Tendru made the day on top of the newly resurfaced road.

Beautiful paddy on the way

The halt at old Gola bazaar and the taste of Puri breakfast with local special curry was yet another memoir to remember. However, Changmari cake that is said to be the first homemade cake in the country was the best.

Gola Bazaar Puri and Chengmari cake

Journey to and fro from Phuntsholing township development site until Amochu bridge was gruesome and rigour. Hot weather with cloud of dust is not a good combination.

Backed into the campus, the same old work with new perspectives and energy, the wander begins yet again.

If you want to gain enough of the subject – Construction Management, College of Science and Technology is not a wrong choice. I am proud first batch of students studying Masters in Construction Management; 6 years of gap after my undergraduate from the same college. Welcome to pursue Masters in Construction Management. However, profound disclaimer is, unlike Australia and other universities of foreign countries, there is no handsome remuneration or part-time job, but you get the full monthly salary if you are government and corporate employee. 

You are likely to be rich enough with subject knowledge after 18 months! 

College campus

 

རྩོམ་རྗོད་ཚིག་བདུན་མ། - ༡

ཡིག་ཚང་ཕྱི་ཁ་འཐེན་ཚེ།

མཛེས་པའི་ཁམ་ཤིང་སྟེང་དུ།

རྡོག་མ་བཏགས་ཏེ་ཚོ་ནུག།

ཟ་འདེད་བསྐྱེད་བའི་བསམ་བློ།

གཏང་སྟེ་བཟའ་བ་ཞིམ་སྦེ།

ཡིག་ཚང་དབངཔོ་ངལ་སི་སི།

ཤིང་གི་གནམ་དུ་རླུང་སི་སི།

 

ཁམ་ཤིང་རྡོག་མ།

 

If I die young....

Thank you, people, for making me believe that such people do exist in this seemingly mundane world. If I die young, I wouldn’t have to face knowing all those grievances that they have to claim for.

People say life is all about experience. It is all about serving others. I am serving others, and I don’t mind getting lost in that service.

Today, people express one opinion, but tomorrow they may express a completely different one. Here in front of me they will promise, and tomorrow they are otherwise. People are unbelievable. Today the river is flowing down, and tomorrow it is the same. Here in front of me the sun rises from the east, and tomorrow it will be the same. Nature remains unchanged. It is people who change, not nature. If I die young, I won’t have to face the dishonest nature of a timid mind.

Within not even a year of my working life, from grassroots to the top, I got to climb. The journey got to deal with all about fear and challenges. Why should the root be strong? And why should the tree topple if the roots are not strong? We stand united. Divided we fall. If I die young, I won’t know the reality of united we stand.

Democracy isn’t all about shouting grievances. It comes with responsibility and accountability. I am not responsible for teaching you democracy. I am responsible to serve you as best I can. Let democracy flourish, not be blemished with autocracy. But first understand it and act. If I die young, I wouldn’t have to bear the grumble of misconstrued democracy.

Sun, as it claims, is fearless.  Through my lens...

The sunflower claims the sun for its own and is idle and firm where I am. From the mild bud to the sunny, fearless flower, I will accomplish my goals and embrace life fully.

Life is all about experiences, and if I die young, I won’t experience what it is.

Tingtibi, Zhemgang, Bhutan

Everything is new at Tingtibi. Foremost, the place itself is new for me. Go to the office, bazaar, and hospital; people are new. The work and office that I am going to head again are new. As I look in any direction, I can only see those huge mountains that block everything and even the mobile network, again a new thing to experience. The only old I could see is when I look beyond, at the beautiful sky. 

The pristine nature is inspiring to live in. The beautiful Mangdechu River flows beneath the arch bridge, and it is refreshing to stand on for sightseeing. A little above the bridge is a small town plateaued on the slope. Every corner of the town has a small branch office except for the Bank of Bhutan. 

Beyond those huge mountains, to explore and see what exists, travel to Trongsa, Zhemgang, and many new places in Zhemgang is yet to be prepared. Soon I will leave for a hot spring excursion. I have many more beautiful places to explore and add to my list of life experiences. 

For now I wish you a happy weekend. Enjoy~ Forget not to wear your smile~

Very Inspiring Blog Award

For those of you who have been nominated, please follow the rules of this award as listed below:

1. Display the Award on your Blog....

2. Notify back to the Blogger who nominated you....

3. Say 7 points about you.

4. Nominate 15 Bloggers for the award, link them, and inform them about the nominations.

It is a pleasure that versatile blogger Damcho sir nominated me for the “Very Inspiring Blog Award.” The terms made me confused. Confusion plunges me to contemplate, am I inspiring? Yet again, many more inspiring bloggers nominated me for the same. I want to thank Langa Tenzin (Law Student), Sherub Pelmo (Law student), Kezang Wangchuk (student), Karma Wangzom (Engineering student), NorbuWangchuk (Teacher), and Rima Reyka (A mistaken Bhutanese with utmost love for Dragon Kingdom). It’s been a long time on the blogging journey. It is in my interest to follow my patient, and someone conferred those awards is not, I expect.  Anyways, I want to thank Damcho sir for the award, and I am committed to being a regular blogger, though I am far from being inspirational.  

I am sorry for responding late. I was busy in the new place, adjusting to new people and the environment for my new job. I had to eat every last morsel after auditors in the guest house. Sometimes everything new is challenging. 

Now let’s begin, and I will lecture on seven points about myself! 

7 points about me

•  I am Sangay Duba, but I like to be called Sangay Cholden since the latter sounds cool. I am from the remote village of Shokshi Pangthang, Wangphu Gewog, under the Samdrup Jongkhar district. I am second among seven siblings.
• I have completed my degree from the College of Science and Technology with a major in civil engineering. Currently I am working with the Department of Roads, Regional Office, Tingtibi, Zhemgang, under the Ministry of Work and Human Settlement. I was not a bright and intelligent student back then in school and college. The outcome of what I am today is all due to the motivation and inspiration of my great-father. 
•  My only interest back then, in school days, was to play Chinese checkers. It was a simple game yet enjoyable. To dance, play, and become famous is not in my instinct. Basically I am a shy guy. I yearn to play football. I am not the best in games, yet not the worst! 
• I am an easygoing person. Whatever you say are your opinions. Whether it interferes with my way or bothers me in any sense, I am not reactive. I am an agreeable person. Sometimes that is the extent of my kindness and warmth for others. Truly I am compassionate, helpful, and not very suspicious of others. I am religious. 
• Luckily or unluckily, I am not a social butterfly. I am not chatty and sociable unless I know someone well. Maybe I am an introvert confused with shyness, lol! But I am not lady-like either. 
• I enjoy adventure. I am curious and appreciate art, imagination, and new things. I am open. It is not difficult for me to change personality depending on the nature of the situation and the person with whom I deal.
• I am serious about my work. I only react to sincere and punctual people. That is the very bad thing I am obsessed with. Yes, I am decisive and sturdy with the decisions! 

Here are my nominees. To revert to seven points about you for who already got the award is your choice.

1.   Monu Tamang (www.monutamang.blogspot.com)

2.   Langa Tenzin (www.langatez.in)

3.   Sonam Tobgay

4.   Lethro Darlo

5.   All Things Good (www.good-allthingsgood.blogspot.com)

6.   Riku Dhan Subbha (www.rikkuwrites.blogspot.com)

7.   Sherab Tenzin (www.sherutenzin.com)

8.   Madam Launna (www.lettersfromlaunna.blogspot.com)

9.   SuperLux (www.baredmysoul.blogspot.com)

10. Writer Robyn Campbell (www.robyn-campbell.blogspot.com)

11.  Madam Rima Reyka (www.reeverking.blogspot.com)

12.  Damcho Wangdi (www.dumchowangdi.blogspot.com)

13.  Sherub Pelmo (www.sherubpelmo.blogspot.com)

14.  Ugyen Tenzin (www.uttenzin.blogspot.com)

As I reminisce

I was in a room, alone. Winter was cold. The night was completely silent. On the topmost floor of the hotel room, I suffered, covered with a thin black blanket.  It was emotional suffering. The place was known to me before, and yet it was nice to see that it hath changed within those past few years. The year was about to end. It was the end of 2013. I was at Trashigang, on the way to Mongar for my Job Training. 

The brand new 2014 was a welcoming call when I was involved in my professional training. I was at Lingmeythang, Mongar. 

Wonderful birds...

Started by January, with motives beholds must

Little chirping birds and the sunrise and set busk

That was the moment seize, beauty of stunning birds,

Innocence of little girl, old granny, and granddad.

Takila, else tall thy stand, I, upon my life, feel lucky

Yet February, thou tell the tale of January; I feel wacky.

 At the start of February I felt wacky. I went home to meet my parents. Lucky it was; my village is connected with a road, and unlucky I was—no vehicles plied on the day I went home. I had to walk for hours instead.

Visit to Takila and nearby places at Gyelposhing

Sweet wench in hamlet, a night hunter shall not fear

Thy fragrance, wooed with sweet tone, overwhelmed with love. 

When it was time for February to say goodbye, I had to report back to my college for the last semester. It was a wonderful time to unite again with friends. Once again, March arrives with intensity, struggling like a horse burdened with heavy loads. The marathon for the last semester with project works, tests, assignments, viva voce, and project reviews, and writing conference papers has begun. It was challenging to escape college life as quickly as possible. 

But for my best buddies, we were always together

Jigme Tenzin, now lecturer at JNP, he the proudest

To shower his unending philosophies,

Draw forth thy argument, Thinley Tobgay;

Finally, we shalt think on prating whilst study.

It was a good time passed with good buddies. 

 

The college life~

Not everyone finds studying engineering to be their passion. It was a hard time that passed with hard work. When I received my graduation certificate, I felt a sense of relief.

Simple A3 paper brought much smiles and glory

At the very end of June, thus new challenges activated. 

July went by with me thinking about whether to prepare for the entrance exam for the Royal Civil Service Examination or not. Finally, August activated me to be more august in its new beginning. 

 

Graduation day~

Much hated with no option but to face,

In between contemplation, it was yet again a step ahead moved.

After the preliminary exam for RCSE, I travelled to Tsirang. Tsirang was a wonderful place to live. It was where I discovered happiness in society through strong bonds of kinship. 

September was busy preparing for the main examinations for RCSE. Finally the big day rushed in. Exams started in the middle of the month, and viva voce at the end of the month of October. Again, it was the moment to relax and enjoy. 

With nothing planned to do and engaged, I travelled to Paro and spent a few weeks enjoying the takeoff and landing of airplanes. 

 

College days, with friends

I went to Gelephu in the middle of November. I was invited to teach construction management for university graduates at Nyenjor Institute of Technical Skills and Human Value. It was the best month for teaching and learning. 

In In December, the last month of 2014, I found myself increasingly worried about my results. The big day came. Yes! I made it through RCSE. It was a sense of relief and overwhelming joy. 

 

With my student trainees

I resigned from the institute on 24^th December. At the very last day of 2014, I got my appointment order from the chairperson of RCSC. I chose to work with the Department of Roads under the Ministry of Work and Human Settlement. 

Thou art shall frame a journey welcome.

The rise and fall art in arena of thy existence,

Rough and fair by its nature become.

The same shall be 2015 profound

Players’ art complete to play a lovely life beyond. 

2014 was a wonderful year.