Thimphu Tshechu gathers huge crowd annually and this year was no exception. It was hard to get one small space to sit and watch. There was few spaces but it was either reserved or covered by stagnant water. My son and I had to adjust on the wall and interestingly it was vantage point. I loved the cool breeze and swirling mask dances. It was lovely place to watch people, dance and atsara (clowns) all at once. However, my son didn't like my place as he was not able to spot atsaras nearby him. Later, I found out that his only wish was to see Atsaras and enjoy their humor. 

The sweltering heat was unbearable for two of us and our only hope was "Suns Screen" ointment that we applied to protect from sun burn. We believe that we won't getting anything without hardship or effort. So I resisted the scorching heat believing that my little effort will bear virtuous fruit for me one day. 

After the Tshechu, it was time for us to refresh in the town. We started our walk from Lungtenzampa road after parking my car at the TashiCell office. Little did we know that walk will be terrible along the Norzin Lam. The place was literally packed with thousands of people looking for Tshechu sales. We could hardly walk pass any people without rubbing others' body and seldom bumped into other. I felt the Thromde officials should have restricted the use of big tents to keep alley wide open for the people to walk freely.

The whole stretch of Norzin road was jam-packed and we immediately find our way to the clock tower to breath some fresh air. There I bought two bottles of Coke and it was indeed, refreshingly fresh. So scorching Tsechu and refreshing Coke in the afternoon made my day. Thank you Coke, things really go Better with Coke!.



The news of fire that killed two innocent boy in Phuntsholing ripped apart my heart into pieces. I was just putting my own children in their situation and it hurts a lot. I could feel my heart freezing in coldness. I can feel their fear and hear their desperate cry for help. At this moment I only wish if that tiny door that decided their fate was left ajar, they could have been saved by the neighbors. Time and again, we’ve seen countless fire disasters and officials don’t take much time to guess the cause of inferno. The victims here are all low-income people and such squalid settlements don’t have proper electrical fittings. Needless to say, even electrical wiring in some of the modern buildings in the capital are poorly fitted and hardly maintained posing great risks to the occupants and to the neighbors. The owners and the tenants should look into such matter to avoid such avoidable mishap. I hope all the victims of this fire disaster get a new home to live. Amid such misfortune, HM and Gyeltsun traveled all the way to Phuntsholing to console all the victims and the victims have every reason to enliven their hope and veil their cruel moment.

"May their soul rest in peace in the realm of Ultimate Bliss. May your HM and Gyeltsun live for eons and may numberless sentient beings receive much happiness and peace from your compassion.”


All are worried and most worried are the people of Khaling. They've been revering this site for many years and too see their place of reverence or worship disappear is something that they can’t even think of. While many theories have been put forward to explain about the plummeting level of once feared Dangling Lake. People believe that it is because of climate change and some believe that it is because the sanctity of Meme Dangling's abode is defiled by the highlanders. I’ve never been to the lake but picture clearly shows that it is shrinking as we can see the lake bed. Meme must be shifting to his new and tranquil earthly abode be it mountain, tree, river, cliff, lake, so on and so forth but one thing is clear he’ll not abandon his worshippers as Meme is our guardian deity. The lake is drying up but our faith isn’t. It’s time to create fresh lake in the heart of every worshippers of Meme so that we remain inseparable with Meme like our body and shadow. It’s time to rejuvenate your faith on Meme. “May his earthly abode regain its natural aura and continue to grant the wishes of the believers.”
Dangling Tsho Before (Photo Courtesy of Ozhen Dor-Ji on tumblr.com)
Dangling Lake Now (Photo courtesy of Kuensel)

Yongla Gonpa was founded by Jigme Kundrol, the disciple of Rigzin Jigme Lingpa. The ridge overlooking the great Indian plains is believed to the abode of vajra indicative of wrath and it bore the quality of resistance against war. Jigme Kundrel was from Wang, Thimphu. He fled to Tibet after serving as the in-charge of meat store in the Trongsa Dzong. He felt deep regret and sorrow as he had to slaughter countless animals. 

Photto courtesy of S. Chhogyal (flickr.com)
He received many teachings from Rigzin Jigme Lingpa and after many years, he was instructed by his great master to go to Lhomon "the country in the south" where this particular place existed. He came to Bhutan and settled at Wanthangla in Ura. He mistook that particular place as site prophesied by his master. However, Goddess Dechen Gyelmo appeared and pointed towards Yongla Gonpa. She instructed him to go there  as it was the prophesied place and where he could benefit the needs of the sentient beings. At Yongla he was prophesied to receive the blessings of "Dorji Phurba" (Vajra-Kilaya) doctrine of Buddhism and would be able to restrain conflicts that would, otherwise, prove to be harmful to the sentient beings.

After reaching at Yongla, he meditated and turned the wheel of Dharma amidst many eminent and ordinary people.  
My first career started as an ICT Technical Associate in Ministry of Finance. My actual placement was Monggar but they sent me to Samdrup Jongkhar. God knows why they changed my placement abruptly. The journey to SJ takes two days via Assam and Bengal. It was expected, the extreme summer heat of SJ. It is literally hot in summer season in SJ. We had to keep ACs and fans on all day to keep us cool in extreme heat. At home it was only fan that rattled whole night. 
Photo Courtesy of panoramio.com
It was a different moment to live in a world completely different to me; climate, people, and everything was different from Thimphu. I was not able to get a decent place to live amid housing crunch. I had to live in a two room flat and it was terribly hot and noisy when rain lashed on the roof. So, I use to visit my friend at Dewathang. There the climate was much cooler and pleasant. It was perfect getaway from a busy and scorching heat of SJ. 

After serving my probation with Department Revenue and Customs, I decided to resign as I was offered a job in Thimphu by TashiCell. 
I was on tour to Bumthang and it was a perfect chance to visit those holy places blessed in different times by different extraordinary beings. Most of the sacred sites are accessible by road. So if you've plan to visit Bumthang for any reason, plan to make sacred pilgrimage to holy sites in around Bumthang valley. 

 Chhodrak Gonpa, Tharpaling is a principal residence of Kuenkhen Longchhen Rabjam.

 Life size statue of Kuenkhen Longchhen Rabjam on the ridge over looking Chhume and Chhokor valley. He composed little verse treatise on the hidden land, Bumthang called the Flower Garden : A Profile of the Celestial  Hidden Land of Bumthang. 
Kenchho Sum Lhakhang was built under the supervision of Bamir Thrizer, the minister of King Thrisong Deutsen at the behest of Guru Rinpochhe.
Kuje, a place where Guru Rinpochhe meditated and subdued local spirit, Shilging Karpo and bounded by an oath to protect Buddhism.
The reincarnation of Kuenkhen Longchhen Rabjam, Terton Pema Lingpa discovered numerous hidden treasures from this lake.
These are few collections from my travelogue but there are many places one should visit not for sightseeing but purely for spiritual reason. 

After resigning from Department of Revenue and Customs, I joined TashiCell as a Technical Officer in 2007. I was assigned to work under Internet Service Provider Division. So career started with pulling cables, mounting switches, routers and servers, to say the least, even ascending 40 meter towers to install outdoor internet back-hauls. Anyways, it was good exercise but not for the faint of heart to work on the dizzying height. After few years my department recruited more Technicians and I was relieved from such onus. After that I was recommended to focus only in software configuration and field support. One year after the commercial launching of Mobile and Internet services, our Internet customers increased in Thimphu and Phuntsholing. We even received request for connection from other Dzongkhags but we could not readily give our services as the equipment cost escalated beyond customers' financial reach. 
Shopla Repeater Station for Tashila and Gogona

In TashiCell, I could travel everyday to different places of Bhutan; exiting ropeway  ride to Tashila, icy cold trek to Shopla Repeater Station, journey through the muddy trail to Nangsi Gonpa and the list goes on and on.  But my memorable tour is my tour to Dubey Dangra to setup internet connection for Tendu Middle Secondary School. The uphill hike from Tendu to the site was strenuous but it was worth shedding sweats. The school didn't had internet access for many years and I was happy to connect this remote school with rest of the internet world.
Frozen in the winter snow.

Later on, after the introduction of Wireless Distribution Systems in Thimphu and in Phutsholing, many customers switched to our service and thereon, internet subscriber base of TashiCell increased  by manifold. With TashiCell I learned many new subjects like Radio Technology, Ethernet Technology, GSM Technology, Last Mile Technology and Wireless Distribution Systems. 

 I was able to learn quickly as most the work in the field required practical implementation. So if you want to learn quickly and if its possible, do it practically after learning.  Thank you TashiCell for giving me a wonderful opportunity to work with you all. 
The journey to Namdroling, Bylakuppe was spiritual journey within and outwardly, pilgrimage to the land where a great living Boddhisattva once lived, taught, guided and spread Buddhism after fleeing his homeland, Tibet. He is none other than the great omniscient H.H Penor Rinpochhe who entered into par-nirvana and he is now reborn in Tibet. The journey started from Bangaluru Satellite Bus Station and it took more than 5 hours to reach Kushalnagar Bus Station. It was during one of my training in Bangaluru that plan to visit Namdroling suddenly came into my mind and it was a perfect opportunity to visit blessed place which otherwise is literally not possible.

Main Relic from left: Guru Rinpochhe, Gautama Buddha, & Tsepamey
I was not alone, my friend and one friend from Myammer, who was a devout Buddhist decided to go there. We were in Kushalnagar Bus Station and my friends breathed a sigh of relief as they were able to spot few robbed monks and nuns in the town. They felt that we were heading to a wrong place but I already knew that we were heading on to a right direction as I saw numerous Tibetan mansions surrounded by prayer flags. I even saw engraved "Karmapa Kheno" on the huge flat rock by the stream. I was quite sure that we were close to Namdroling, our final destination. Our last mode of travel was in Auto Rickshaw and it was just five minutes drive from the nearest Bus Station.

We made it but I was worried about the lodging as I forgot to book a room and I didn't wanted my friends to worry about that either. I went to check room at Paljor Dhargay Ling Guest House and the in-charge told me casually that all rooms are booked by the visiting guests. He knew that I was from Bhutan and he told me he would adjust one room for us. After few minutes, he gave us a room key and we left our backpacks in our room. Finally, I was in the courtyard of Golden Temple and it was serene. I went straight into the old temple, prostrated and prayed their for few minutes. I walked around the Drolma Lhakhang and then to the site where funeral rites of Late Penor Rinpochhe was held. The monks were playing football, screaming for quick pass from their friends in Nepalese dialect. 

On the next day, the program was more detailed. We requested one Bhutanese monk who was running a grocery near the Guest House to be our guide. He accepted and visited all the monasteries in the vicinity of Golden Temple. In the evening I went to circumambulate stupa in which the relics of Terton Minjur Dorji are kept.
Stupa containing remains of Terton Minjur Dorji.
On the third day, I personally went to meet my new friend to thank him for his help and started our journey back to the busy world of Bangaluru.  
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