Kuenza's Diary

I have nothing good to write about. I have been talking with Luzee on the phone for a long time. We were sharing our woes -- we know actually it is through such opening up that happiness can be shared. I know she is going through some hard times. Office and home and so many associated stress. I have been having the same stress too. These days, there is no weekends for me. And it is so hard to get a respondent for the survey in Thimphu. In the village, a gup or a tshogpa knows everyone in the village, but in Thimphu? A person staying in a building doesn't know his next door neighbor. And these days, my task is to hunt them down. Those people in Thimphu who are in the sample for GNH Survey. It is one hell of a task. I don't know if I'm enjoying it or getting frustrated. But there surely are times when I have to go home with severe headache that won't leave until I take a tablet of paracetemol. I have not logged in on my blog for a long time. Today, my colleague Tshoki h...

Sangay Khandu is 20 and he was enrolled in school only this year. He is proud he is going to school. Ask him to sing and he gets lost in the melodious praise of Aum Jomo (their deity), after a little hesitation. As soon as I heard about this guy, I found my ears perked in more than mere interest to see him. I wanted to know what he dreams to be. His parents separated soon after they gave birth to him. He grew up with his grandparents in a place called Kiliphu, which is two days walk from Merak. Though he thought life ought to be more than what he saw in his village, he never heard of school. But to his craving heart came an answer. His uncle, (his father’s brother) who works as Merak BHU Caretaker brought him to Merak. And this year, he got himself enrolled in school. He does small business such as selling biscuits, maggi and wai wai to raise money for his schooling. He proudly says he wants to become a doctor. You cannot laugh at his dream. If yo...

It rained the whole night yesterday. Heavily. I’m about to write about a goodbye I said this morning and just when I thought I have dealt with it, I get an sms from this person. Uh, nice, should I say? And now, I’m biting my lips, chewing my nails and hitting myself on my head. But ok is all I can say. What is gone is gone. I can only embrace what comes. I knew this person for just two days and for strange reasons I don’t want to know, I felt like I knew this person for a long time. For a lifetime will be a little exaggeration. I felt warm being in his company. It is like, for once, after a long time, I could converse with a wise man. Like I was saying, it rained heavily the whole night yesterday and it continued till this evening. I don’t know if it was the weather, or this goodbye that was waiting. I felt so unhappy. I felt heavy. When some enumerators asked me to declare today a holiday, I really was tempted to. But of course, responsibility is responsibility! How I hate having t...

I appreciate the energy men have. I really do. They carry heavier load, walk faster and they do have more stamina. As soon as they reach a new place, they make an acquaintance. It is just not in them to sit idle in a room. They will dump their load and walk out, visit a nearby shop, make friends with a female shopkeeper, or they just drink. And this character always keeps them spirited.  The next day at the Kangpara: The tiredness was gone. My friends went to Kangpara Lower Secondary School. They told me that the inter-house sports competition was going on. That day, it was the girls’ football match. They asked me to come with them but I didn’t want to. I couldn’t help wonder at the change that has taken over me. I really did not realize I have grown so old. It is not that I wanted to act old. I could see that the interest in me and the interest in my friends were completely different. I marveled at the long way they have to go in life. They ...

We reached Kangpara totally worn out and tired. We were so hungry we were collapsing. We wished that the Gup had prepared Suja and Zow for us. We wished about hundred different dishes. After we crossed the Ngera Ama River, when we asked the passerby how long the Gup’s office was, he said, it was just half an hour. But it stretched for more than two hours again. By this time we had not the last ounce of energy left in our body. It was foolish of us to have not taken packed lunch. We took it easy. Finally, breathing hard, hungry, fatigued, we walked into the Gup’s office at 4:30 p.m.  My colleague was so, so, so hungry. As soon as he has taken off his luggage, he had disappeared. He went to look for food in the nearby houses and luckily he had got it. I do not have the appetite for noodles. My appetite goes down and feel like vomiting when I think of noodle. So when I walked into the Gup’s Clerk’s house, where my colleague has begged for food, I had the last one kg of luck left I gu...