So Far Away

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 guess. I could eat the last small leftover food. Others took noodles. 

When we reached there, we did have a good time. Unlike our stay in other gewogs, there was enough water here and a good bathroom. Despite the cold, each of us took bath. The Gup is impressive. He was waiting for us at the gate, shaking each of our hand, welcoming us to Kangpara. But of course, that did not drive away our hunger. 

His house is two hours away from the office. That night, he did not go home. He stayed back at the office and made sure that we had everything we needed. The minute we said we needed something, he had it delivered to us. Wow! My friends started rating the gups we had met so far and they said, he was the best. He indeed looked like the best. People in the community said, he was active and is a very good diplomat. 

The Gup’s Clerk’s wife is one hyper talker. She welcomed us; she said, if we called her, she would have taken our order to prepare lunch for us. So we requested her to prepare our packed lunch for the return trip to Thrimshing. Impressive; she did. But I forgot the one kg of butter I bought and kept in her refrigerator. We wanted to have suja that evening but none decided strongly about it and so the butter was left there. The next morning, her shop was packed with people who had come for the meeting because the Dungpa was visiting, and so, in all the confusion, I forgot it. 

The walk back was too tiring as well, but this time, we had our lunch and that took us back without fatiguing us. Back in Thrimshing, we could not wait to get away and travel towards the north of Tashigang district. Maybe because I’m from the North—I did not find the south of Tashigang so nice. I felt so lonely there. I couldn’t understand why the Thrimshing Dungkhag was located so far south of the village. It is like the place is dumped by the riverside. The place is called Phegpa Ri. What a name too. I don’t mean to ridicule it; I’m sure people from there love this place just as much as I love my village. But for the one week I was there, I just couldn’t get my heart like it. And I thought, I was lucky I’m not from there. But the good thing is, I craved for fruit and like my prayer was answered, the next morning, a young boy from the village sat outside the house we have put up in, selling peach. I ate lots of peaches and that gave me the energy. Otherwise, I would have disliked the place even worse.