The Americans Vote for Us

Tomorrow, November 8 2016, will decide the fate of Americans of the US. Millions will go to polls to elect their 45th President. Who wins, Republicans Donald Trump or Democrats' Hillary Clinton, is a headache of Americans. I don't have power to vote nor do I influence the people through my opinions or whatsoever. When I don't even have a influence in my nation than just a right to vote how can I have influence on the most powerful nation's election.
     However with Americans influence all over the world, the impact of whoever becomes the president elect tomorrow will be felt across the globe. Therefore though I don't have a right to vote, I have a right to pray for Americans to vote for a candidate whose national interest and policy runs parallel with global peace and prosperity. The Americans' votes are powered with global mandates and responsibilities as much as they are charged with every Americans' voice and dreams.
     Now the dust of the campaign has been settling and the people may be seriously meditating over who to vote. May they also think of us who are helpless in the fate of the election but share a bit of aftermath of the election. 
     The Americans vote for us too. The American leader is our voice too.

Our Plants are Growing

Others may think that I am working extra when they see me watering the school flower gardens some evenings. But  watering flowers is not a work for me. I simply love it. I love to see the plants grow when I care them.
     This year my spring and summer share of hardwork paid. The flower gardens that we developed in the school have been successful with all the privet growing. The privets were planted on trail basis referring some ways of plantation from the Google and experiences shared by others. At first I tried right in front of my residence. Having seen the plants growing well under my constant care, I took my gardening further to the Cub den that was just taking shape. I was happy to get some helps from my colleagues and children. For about a month I had to water the plants every evening. And then came the rainy season that the plants got watered freely. The children did timely weddings. Similarly my colleagues tried in other places and they too are successful.
     Last week during his visit, our DCDEO Mr Sonam Wangdi was impressed with our progress in flower gardening. We are also thankful to our former principal Mr Sonam Wangchuk who introduced the privets in the school. I had seen him coming back with loads of the plants everytime he went out for meetings and workshops. It took great trouble to have the mothrrlode of the plants in the school. Sometimes monsoon rain washed way all the nutrients in soil that the plants disappeared. But the principal didn't give up. He came up an Idea to fence the gardens with concrete box. So the cooks were assigned to develop concrete boxes around the gardens to retain the nutrients during heavy rainfall. As a result the plants began to grow and now we don't have to bring the plants from anywhere for our new gardens. We prune the overcrowding and overgrowing plants and plant them in the new gardens.
      This year under my leadership I couldn't afford concrete retention fences around the newly developed gardens. However we mulched the plants with grass and other dried plants to retain nutrients and moisture. The mulching we did helped in growing the plants as we expected. And to fill up the disappearing plants we had raised nursery in noodle and chips wrappers. Just last week we filled up the spaces in our gardens with our nursery plants.
     Hopefully the plants would turn into spectacular hedges in a year or two. The ones grown under Mr Sonam Wangchuk's leadership have turned into great hedges providing great treat to both outsiders and insiders.
     we will keep caring the plants. I remember planting those privets when the farmers were busy planting cardamoms. Our plants are growing. May be the farmers cardamoms are growing too. In a year or two, the farmers' pocket will bulge with cash out of their cardamon and our heart will brighten with happiness and satisfaction out of the spectacular hedges shaped through our collective effort.

Hope My Hope will Live on

Autumn 2016 has stepped in bidding  goodbye to the summer that had made us to experience both extreme wet and hot weathers. Of course the autumn has already set in going by the physical change the unexpected change in weather brought in. Following about more than a week's continuous torrential downpour, the sun had been hooking us with its hottest rays. The bushes in summer by nature are impenetrable by us fearing the wilderness of the bushes themselves and multiple dangers lurking in them. But this summer had seen bushes clearing long before the approach of the autumn. The people in the community were seen visiting the forest without any fear of meeting wild creatures. I don't know whether the summer experiencing sudden shift in weather would go on well with the health of the global weather or not. Without even a dust of knowledge on climate science, commenting on weather and climate change is beyond my range of knowledge. However as a responsible global citizen and moreover with some drops of love for nature in my DNA, I was bit concerned about how plants and animals would have received the sudden weather change, long days of wet weather followed by long days of hot weather.
      Whatsoever had been the matter, the summer bid bye with a moderate rainfall towards yesterday evening and the autumn takes charge with a moderate rainfall too.
     I welcomed the autumn with some incense of mist streaming out of the forest carrying away my mind this morning when I was putting on my shoes on the verandah. Having to run household chores in the absence of my wife, I hardly get time to relish morning freshness and beauty. However my eyes meeting mist streaming out and climbing up the small mountain made me forget the piles of my day's work. That was my hope that the autumn will pass on productively.
     Hope my hope wasn't crushed under the peach tree at my residence which fell down in the evening right in front of the boys who were retiring to their makeshift hostel in the evening.  Fortunately the tree fell down before they crossed it. (They have to pass under the tree) Good number of our chilli plants were crushed and no other casualties. The tree used to bent generously with delicious fruits in summer following its pink bloom in spring. Now we are short of a peach tree and so will be for the squirrels who used to rely on the tree for peaches. Few days before the peaches are fully ripe, the squirrels used to visit the tree frequently passing through the roof of my residence even at midnight. Their homes must be in the woods behind the residence. Often they come jumping from tree to tree for the fruits available near our residence. Nowadays they are for gauvas. During peach season they are for peaches. Now with the tree fallen down helplessly, the squirrels have to look for other trees next year for their meal as we will have to for fruits. Apart from being a source of fruits for us and meals for squirrels and bulbuls, the peach tree had been home, resting and feasting place for many birds, insects and rodents. It also had been the holder for passion fruit climbers. Now we have think of growing passion fruits somewhere. At the same time we have to look for a pole to string the rod for drying cloths because till today the tree had been holding an end of the rod.
     Although the tree was gone unexpectedly, it would never be found useless till it disappears completely due to unavoidable force of nature. I have already thought of its use. I am thinking to put some of its parts in the cub den to grow orchids and others as bean stakes. Moreover how many seeds it might have produced and then the seeds germinated into new plants? The tree is never gone. It will live on till it gets extinct with unexpected change in weather like the one we experienced last summer. So a tree is more than what most of us see it as just a simple and single sort of thing. 
      The tree will live on and so will be my autumn's hope of productivity and efficiency to deliver best service to the stakeholders of my current work place.

The Rain Treat

The light showers in the afternoon today and yesterday were much awaited treat to everyone after more than fortnights of dry and torrid days. After wreaking havoc in most parts of our country especially in the southern regions, the rain refused to show its face for more than 17 days. Although hot and dry the days had been, the nation got enough time to recover the aftermaths of one of the worst monsoons ever. The things are now almost fallen into shape. But the plants and trees seemed in dire need of water. I have seen the flowers around wilting and earth wrinkling with cracks due to continuous sun shine. The heat had been intense everyday that sweats streamed even when we are not working especially during electricity blackouts. For the wilting privets around our national flag in front of the administrative building, I had to water every evening. Since yesterday I don't have to with the come back of the rain. Moreover the children won't have to struggle to break hard bouldered earth in the school agriculture garden for their up coming gardening works. And the farmers' corn will germinate better with a touch of rain. Perhaps plants and trees would have been watered free of cost.

The Best Story of My Weekend

I tried to write a couple of stories for children yesterday. I referred some children books to draw some ideas and insights to get started with a story. 
      Of four stories I could write with some difficulties, the following story came out as best I could write:
    
     We are all back home in an evening as usual.
     Dad is back home from his office.
     Ama is back home from her stall.
     Brother is back home from his college.
     I am back home from my school.
     From a supermarket, dad brings some packed milk.
     From her stall, mum brings some burgers and other junks.
     And brother brings some canned juice and packed tea.
     May be, this evening too, no whiff of of family cooking at home, I mumble.
     After our normal few minutes  private times of showers and changes, we are back in our living room.
     Father opens his computer and glues his eyes on the monitor. Mum watches TV toying her smartphone alongside. Brother muffles his ears with the earphones and busy at the PlayStation. I resign to my room to do my homework. I am struck some where with my mathematics problem.
     "Dad help me with my homework please." Dad comes in, hands me his smartphone, turn on home WiFi and suggest me to browse through. He leaves and I google my problem.
     In few minutes, mum shows up in the room with a burger and a glass of milk.
     "Are we not eating together today too? Mum."
     "Dad is busy and so is your brother. I am busy too and so you are."
     I munch the burger and drink the milk yearning for home cooked food from my father or mother's hands.
     Then I tiptoe towards my brother.
     "Acho let's play a while."
     He hands me his joystick and let me play a game at his PlayStation while he fiddles his smartphone.
     Then I am tried of the screen glaring at me. I pop into the living room where mum is still watching her serial.
      "Mum, come and tell me a bedtime story please."
      She comes and handover her iPad to me putting on a Disney's animated movie.
     "Apa did you really help me with my homework???"
      "Acho, did you really play with me"
     "Ama, did you really tell me a story???"
     "Parents, did you really cook that dinner???"
     I muttered and turn off the light.

The story is realistic, isn't it???
    

In the Name of Physical Beautification and Development

Sometimes, it is very difficult to work in a small school with small children when it comes to physical beautification and physical works. With most children little taller than the length of spde, shovl and pick axe handles, it is very challenging to materialize most of the physical works as planned. To have an ambience of a child friendly school, physical beautification is must to make a learning environment inviting and congenial. But beautification doesn’t come up naturally without investing our physical works. Although natural beauty is a true beauty that cannot be surpassed by any human-made beauty, wilderness is not a treat to most of the modern eyes. And as a result we have to scratch and butcher, chisel and shape, cut and crop, every natural thing around us to suit our eyes. In the name of physical beautification, most trees and plants are denied of their wilderness. Weeds and grass which falls in the vicinity of any human settlement are not lucky. Weeds are either cut or weeded out on regular basis and grass are mowed timely not excluding fates of privets that are pruned or trimmed as and when they penetrates the shape a gardener shaped. 
     Our school too has to commit all the above mentioned sins to suit the moods of all of us. If left in wilderness, outsiders take bad imprints of the school. And for the insiders, we feel that the environment is not safe and pleasant for learning and living if left in wildness. The task of transforming every natural things around us takes tremendous hard physical works in a small school like ours. It is hard to garner support of the community's people with the priority of their scheduled work at home. And the people are not that prosperous enough to sponsor some important projects in the school. Worse still, our school is surviving on shoestring budget that we are helpless to channel some of budget towards physical development. And government's planned developmental project doesn't cover everything that we dream to have an ambience of child friendly school. As a result, all beautification works and petty developmental works falls in our hands. Inch by inch, we have to share our physical energies to fall everything in the shape that is presentable to others and inviting to us.
     The last weekend saw us developing a badminton court suitable for our children to develop basic skill of playing the game.  It is our aim to make all the games facilities available to our children. But in the small playground already in place we cannot divide the ground to play all the games. Yes we can make the ground to play multi games and let the children play the game in turn but most of the children especially the smaller ones land up not getting opportunity to play at least a game in a week. So with every game having its place to play, most children are immersed in a game or two in a day. Those who are not allowed to play football can move to other games. 
     In a torrid heat of August, in our attempt to develop the badminton court, countless drops of sweats dropped off from us and countable blisters appeared on our hands. The children were willing to help us but they were helpless as always in terms of major manual works. It was really pitiful to observe our children seeming exhausted in few minutes not being able to dig with comfort with tools' handles almost their height. As a result they were given lighter work to haul the dug earth taking their own time. I was really proud of my colleagues working hard to shape the bushy garden into a playground. After toiling for more than hour, we were satisfied with the ground falling in a place to develop a badminton court. In a shade we had pineapple juice prepared by our lady colleagues who toiled equally with those children assigned to weed flower gardens and cut grass around. We decided to continue the work inch by inch without taxing our bodies much. The coolness of the shade by the generous trees around dried our sweats and refreshingly cooled us. No matter how much tried we were in the middle in the day, something taking shape out of our own physical contribution, earned us at least a good nights sleep.
 

In the Name of Physical Beautification and Development

Sometimes, it is very difficult to work in a small school with small children when it comes to physical beautification and physical works. With most children little taller than the length of spde, shovl and pick axe handles, it is very challenging to materialize most of the physical works as planned. To have an ambience of a child friendly school, physical beautification is must to make a learning environment inviting and congenial. But beautification doesn’t come up naturally without investing our physical works. Although natural beauty is a true beauty that cannot be surpassed by any human-made beauty, wilderness is not a treat to most of the modern eyes. And as result we have to scratch and butcher, chisel and shape, cut and crop, every natural thing around us to suit our eyes. In the name of physical beautification, most trees and plants are denied of their wilderness. Weeds and grass which falls in the vicinity of any human settlement are not lucky. Weeds are either cut or weeded out on regular basis and grass are mowed timely not excluding fates of privets that are pruned or trimmed as and when they penetrates the shape a gardener shaped. 
     Our school too has to commit all the above mentioned sins to suit the moods of all of us. The task of transforming every natural things around us takes tremendous hard physical works in a small school like ours. It is hard to garner support of the community's people with their priority of their scheduled work at home. And the people are not that prosperous enough to sponser some important project in the school. Worse still, our school is surviving on shoestring budget. And government's planned developmental project doesn't cover everything that we dream to have an ambience of child friendly school. As a result, all beautification works and petty developmental works falls in our hands. Inch by inch, we have to share our physical energies to fall everything in the shape that is presentable to others and inviting to us.
     This weekend saw us developing a badminton court suitable for our children to develop basic skill of playing the game.  It is our aim to make all the games facilities available to our children. But in the small playground already in place we cannot divide the ground to play all the games. Yes we can make the ground to play multi games and let the children play the game in turn but most of the children especially the smaller ones land up not getting opportunity to play at least a game in a week. So with every game having its place to play, most children are immersed in a game or two in a day. Those who are not allowed to play football can move to other games. 
     In a torrid heat of August, in our attempt to develop the badminton court, countless drops of sweats dropped off from us and countable blisters appeared on our hands. The children were willing to help us but they were helpless as always in terms of major manual works. It was really pitiful to observe our children seeming exhausted in few minutes not being able to dig with comfort with tools' handles almost their height. As a result they were given lighter work to haul the dug earth taking their own time. I was really proud of my colleagues working hard to shape the bushy garden into a playground. After toiling for more than hour, we were satisfied with the ground falling in a place to develop a badminton court. In a shade we had pineapple juice prepared by our lady colleagues who toiled equally with those children assigned to weed flower gardens and cut grass around. We decided to continue the work inch by inch without taxing our bodies much. The coolness of the shade by the generous trees around dried our sweats and refreshingly cooled us. No matter how much tried we were in the middle in the day, something taking shape out of our own physical contribution, earned us at least a good nights sleep.