Tuesday, October 31, 2017

My Home is no more

My parents worked so hard to first get a land where they could farm. Then they worked so hard to build a house of their own. Their hard work paid. They made a name for themselves. They built two houses; more if we are to count the houses they help build for their children. But for what?

We could argue that if they did not work that hard, their children -- my siblings and I could be doing something different, and earning our living in a different way. They worked hard--all for us. They taught us humility. One thing that rings in my mind still to this day is that, we are humble people and we should always remain humble. I could say we have lived it.

What hit me hard was this picture that my eldest brother sent me from my village:



I cannot believe that the place that I called home and the place that lives in me has become like this. I had to look at this picture again and again -- closely. The landscape itself looks changed and it is nothing like I remember from my childhood. Our home, the house that my parents built with hard work and where we had so many happy occasions of Tshechu, annual rimdro, and different family gatherings is now in ruins. All we can see are those walls.

I had to talk to my brother to confirm that it is our home--and that the home that lies deeply crested in our hearts with the memory of all too familiar smell of food cooked by our mother is now in this condition. That night I could not sleep well. I cried. My brother did not want me to show the picture to my mother because he thought she would feel unhappy and troubled. But she was strong. She accepted the law of impermanence and the events that caused all this. But I could not. I thought of my father. I wished he was with me. I often think of how wonderful and happy it would be if both my parents were together with me today.

I often dream of my home. In my dreams, I am driving a car -- and I see that we have a motor road right above our home. And then I heard the news that there will be a mining for rocks going on above our home. Maybe one and half kilometers above it. There will be road. There will be economic activities. But this landscape will be destroyed. The thick vegetation will be gone. I hear the mining is to be carried out by the State Mining Corporation Ltd. I am not sure if the people in my village are happy about it but from the way I see it, only few may benefit. And now, I feel torn and defeated that this home I once knew will change forever -- and it may not even be spared the natural decay and growth that takes place after the ruins.

The nostalgia is so strong as I write this that I wish I could change everything and go back to what I held dear as a child and make this a home again.

Thursday, October 5, 2017

Importing list of contacts at once on iPhone


This is for those who are looking for a way of importing list of contact addresses at once on your iPhone without having to add one at a time. Having joined a new organization, I had to have contact addresses of more than hundred staff and I did not want to tediously type in one by one on my phone.  But first you must have this contact list in excel format or in some form of list on your computer.

1. If you have the contact list in the excel format, convert it into csv format
2. Now convert it into VCF format online on this link: http://www.artistec.com/pages/CSV2vCard.html
2. Follow the instruction on this link
3. Once you have the output of your contact list on that link in the VCF format, copy and paste it in a notepad
4. Save it with the file extension .vcf
5. Log in on icloud using your login credentials
6. Go to Contacts on the homepage of your iCloud and then go to settings





7. Click on import and choose the vcf file you just created. 
You will now have all the new contact addresses you wanted on your phone, right there!


When I was on the Verge of Quitting

I am writing this post one year and one month after my last post. I buried writing as a past hobby, or a habit. I buried my urge to write as...