My Random Thoughts and What, world "around" me "looks" like.

RNR Sales Out-let: An Invitation to Future Problems

2012-09-27T13:16:00.000+06:00

As one travel between Wangdue and Thimphu, one would come across good number of small houses constructed near highway at specific intervals. Each houses has a proudly displayed signboard (RNR Sales Out-let). It is heartening to see that some of the out-lets were being utilized to the maximum, but some already shows the sign of abandonment.

An elderly lady selling roasted Maize

While I like the concept of erecting such structures, to help our farmers sell their agricultural and horticultural products to the daily commuters, it is at-times quite disturbing. I will come to the point. RNR Sales out-let definitely provide good shelter and better platform to our farmers to sell their produce to the customers in one of the busiest highways of Bhutan. Thus, it is a noble initiative undertaken by the Ministry of Agriculture and Forests.

I am for the concept of RNR Sales out-lets. The problem I have with the sales out-let is improper planning and in-adequate facilities. For instance, not even a single RNR Sales out-lets are equipped with proper parking for the vehicles, forget toilets. Each and every sales out-lets has vehicle(s) parked, creating in-convenience to other drivers. Suppose, if about three vehicles are parked in front of one sales out-lets than you have it, Bhutan National Highway will be closed to traffic for sometime, but worst would be banging each other’s cars trying to negotiate way.

One of the many RNR Sales out-let. Sorry I don't have recent photo.

I would have appreciated construction of out-lets after constructing proper parking space as well as erecting toilets near each out-lets. Such initiatives and planning would not only ease traffic but also contribute to the environment of our country in its own ways. Customers can relax after hectic driving and sitting in the vehicles, enjoy fresh fruits and vegetables and relive themselves of the “Nature calls” without any hassle. But, current facilities are no better than not having anything.

Current sales out-lets creates a problem to other travellers. The best thing I could do as an observer is to pray that nothing happens and the facilities gets used to the maximum.

I wonder if Department of Road has been consulted, if so, how Road people gave clean signal to go ahead with the construction of sale out-lets without thinking of traffic congestion.

Most Comfortable Place on Earth

2012-09-17T21:06:00.001+06:00

(It has taken nearly four month for me since I last wrote an article in my blog. This is my 50th article and what a shame on me as it took me long time to post. My long days of absence from blogging does not show my "dis"-interest in blogging, it was just that, my days were very busy and it is getting busier. I gained all my strength to stop working for sometime and write something today).

Have you ever been asked by your friends, “What is the most comfortable place on Earth?” The question seems foolishly simple, but if you try to think carefully and try to answer, this “simple” question, it would force you to scratch your head several times before coming to the concrete answer.

Typical toilet structure in rural Bhutan

I faced a similar question few years back and I couldn’t answer it. This question made me to think for several hours until my bladder was filled with un-wanted liquid, which urgently needs to be expelled from my body. Yes, you got me right, for me the most comfortable place on earth was and is TOILET. That is the reason, I always stress on keeping my toilets clean and free of stinks. Someone right coined toilet as “REST ROOM”.

Unfortunately in Bhutan, cleanliness of toilets gets least attention. The general notion of us is, toilet is a place where un-wanted materials are disposed and why should it be clean. If-fact toilet is a place where we relieve ourselves. Have you ever realized that, after visiting toilets you could always see yourself smiling with great relief? It actually is overlooked by many of us, forgetting the real value, toilets have to offer.

Toilets in Bhutan have always been a problem to our tourists. An article came out in “Yahoo News” in March 8, 2012 titled “Bhutan toilet stinks, tourist says”. I wasn’t at-all surprised to read the news as they reported the truth. I have always blamed public toilets in Bhutan. Concerned agencies in Bhutan construct public toilets, but its sustainability and maintenance has never been given importance. Have you ever-visited public toilets in Thimphu, Dochula, Yotongla and many others, if not, you should. You will find out for yourself. For instance, after the fire incidence in Bumthang, officials came out with smart idea of constructing a public toilet in Chamkhar town. I am not sure how many make use of it, or, I would rather phrase it as, how many might have used it? Only after a month of erecting the public facility, I was heading towards the toilet to relieve myself, but to my surprise loads of stools and stagnant urine greeted me right from the entrance of the toilet, forget the stinks, the looks itself was disgusting. What a shame? I won’t blame people who erected the facility without considering its sustainability; I would rather blame people who use it. But, on the other hand joint efforts of maintaining the cleanliness of such facility will be very much appreciated.

However, I would still go for the idea of constructing public toilets wherever possible but with proper planning and keeping in mind the sustainability and maintaining clean facility for the public to use. Public toilets in Bhutan should be constructed using cheaper materials like wood instead of erecting huge concrete houses consuming lots of space, an eyesore to us. Public toilets in Bhutan should not be dark, I am wondering when will we start to appreciate light and make more window“ed” toilets. Every public toilet in Bhutan should be manned to maintain cleanliness and to collect some fees for using the toilets. The fees should be spent in purchasing soaps and toilets papers.

Let us act now before Bhutan becomes famous for the stinking toilets. Let us act now to make someone’s most comfortable place, indeed a comforting area.

Leaning towards world of Photography

2012-06-05T22:10:00.000+06:00

Realizing myself as a bad blogger, I thought I will upload some of my photos to continue my blogging experience. Of-late I have been really busy, busy that I was pushed out of my blog for quite a long time now. I have many topics in my mind to write, but nothing seems to materialize with the amount of work I am currently tasked with.

Here are some photos I took.

My Dog, Galoma

Sonam Yangden, My Daughter

Primula sikkimensis

Going back to where it came from

Tsa-tsa

Jakar Dzong over-looking Chamkhar

Bhutan and Highway

2012-04-17T14:50:00.001+06:00

As you drive from Bumthang to Thimphu or vice versa, you will pass through beautiful RED Rhododendron flowers in full bloom and often making you to gasp for more oxygen as you tend to forget even to breath after looking at the beauty of the nature. The scientific name may be Rhododendron arboreum (I will have to check). But, at times even the beauty of nature seems to be surpassed by human carelessness of littering the beautiful landscape and famous BUMPY highways of Bhutan, not forgetting the slipperiness of road formed due to accumulation of mud on asphalted road from widening activities.

Highways: I can understand the bumpiness in places where road widening is occurring or where road sunk due to some geological and topographical characters. What irks me is the bumpy ride one experience in newly asphalted road. I can’t understand why the road engineers along with road contractors are not chipping in extra effort to level the road for the comfort of everyone. I wish that, road gets lavelled face after the completion of road widening activities.

Typical view of Bhutan's road

One problem that bothers me as an environmental conscious citizen is, stone and sand quarry situated right next to the highways. I find it very difficult to understand, how people get environmental clearance to extract sand and stone from places very near to the highways. The overarching problem of such quarries are road disruption, chances of shooting stones hitting the passerby, making the highways unstable and making it prone to mass wasting during monsoon season, etc, etc, all leading towards increased chance of accidents and loss of life. I feel that quarries should be at-least a kilometer away from the nearest highways. Adopting such strategy would prevent the ugly look on our landscape formed due to massive un-organized extraction of resources.

It is at-times disheartening that either our “count-less” number of environmental and conservation policies does not mention such strategy or may be the problem lies with implementers. As one of my friends notes that, “penalties generally are based on ‘face by face’ and not on ‘case by case’ basis”. I think my friend’s phrase has very big meaning.

My only prayer is, please improve our highways not only on the wide-ness but also on smoothness. Provide our motorist an enjoyable ride and not bumpy head spinning ride in Bhutan’s never ending beautiful snake wining roads.

(Keep the Rhodo flowers on their branches, rather than the bonnets of vehicles and using it as a means to warn the passersby of the narrow road. The moment you pluck the flowers for your vehicles be mindful that you are depriving birds and insects from food. Offer all the flowers in its entirety in the nature itself rather than inserting on monuments: Sherub, UWICE)

His Holiness Nyamkhai Nyngpo Rinpochhe visits UWICE

2012-04-12T20:33:00.000+06:00

Rinpochhe Consecrating the lhakhang and Sertog

His Holiness the Nyamkhai Nyngpo Rinpochhe visited Ugyen Wangchuck Institute for Conservation and Environment (UWICE) today (12-04-2012) upon the request offered by the management of the institute. Rinpochhe was invited to bless the Institute as well as to inaugurate the newly built small lhakhang (temple) in the courtyard of the dzong, where utse (four storied central tower) used to sit before it was brought down in 1994 or1996 due to safety issues as the timber in the building started to rot, since maintenance was out of question (the universal problem, budget issues).

Brief history of the dzong:

Lamai Goempa Dzong

Lamai Goempa dzong, where UWICE is housed at present used to be the summer residence of first king of Bhutan, Sir Ugyen Wangchuck, one may rightly say the name of the Institute has been honored in the name of Bhutan's first king. With time the dzong was inherited by one of the princesses. There are some incomplete stories on how the dzong was handed over to Helvetas Project, who repaired the dzong and used the structure as training institute for forestry logging and cable crane activities. After the Helvetas project, the dzong used to be office of Central Machinery Unit (CMU) and Office of the Divisional Forest Officer (DFO). The two offices were joined by UWICE in 2004 after the instruction came from Lyonpo Sangay Ngedup, the than Minister of Agriculture and forest, erstwhile Ministry of Agriculture. In the year 2007, CMU and DFO offices were shifted giving way for the Institute to take over the dzong. Since than, UWICE has been playing key role to maintain and repair the dzong along with the construction of new infrastructure.

Lhakhang in Lamai Goempa and Rinpochhe’s visit:

Rinpochhe

The lhakhang was constructed in the year 2011 but sertog (golden pinnacle) was not installed for the lhakhang. Ourlhakhang has five feet statue of Amitabha Buddha. Preparation to install sertog started months back and only today we were able to materialize our goal. Sertog was installed starting 6.00 AM today. Exactly at 9.00 AM His Holiness arrived in the dzong. I was fortunate enough to go and receive Rinpochhe in Kharchu Dratshang (Monastery where Rinpochhe reside).

After arriving in the dzong, Director, faculty and staff of UWICE received and ushered Rinpochhe to conference hall where he transmitted Nyundro lung to the people who have come to receive his blessings. Rinpoche has also purified our dzong and staff construction area.

For me it was surely a life time experience. My only prayer is may Rinpochhe be born again and again so that generations to come will get an opportunity to meet such a personality and get blessed.

Biography of Lord Buddha "Old Path White Clouds" by Thich Nhat Hanh

2012-03-27T21:51:00.000+06:00

I have been passed this book to read by one of my seniors, probably knowing my passion for reading, in-fact reading anything from science, biographies, fictions, philosophy etc. At first glance, I thought when will I be able to finish this reading as I am also reading a book by H.H. Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse Rinpochhe "What Makes you not a Buddhist" and Min Jin Lee's "Free Food for Millionaire".
The book is pretty thick with 572 pages excluding appendix and chapter summary which if considered it comes to 600 pages. This is one book which seems to have covered almost every life and struggle of Siddhartha Gautama, the Lord Buddha, an Enlightened one.
The book starts with the chapter "Walking just to Walk". At a glance the title of the chapter does not seem to make any sense but as you drill dipper and flip pages as you go, it makes lots of sense. It seems to be the first teaching of Lord Buddha, the awakened one. The deeper meaning of "Walking just to Walk" is dwell in present and know what you are doing, including even breathing out and breathing in.
After reading the book, I discerned that, Lord Buddha was the first person to work against the caste system that existed in India and other areas. During Buddha's time, people with "low caste" didn't have privilege to study any text, rather they made living by doing odd jobs like tending water buffaloes and other odd jobs you can mention for the rich society of people/higher caste people. Lord Buddha didn't differentiate people between high and low caste instead accepted all people wanting to study with him as Bhikkhu (monk) and Bhikkhuni (nuns). Thus his disciple were from all walks of life. Some were merchants, kings, prince, princesses, hermits, brahmins, water buffalo tender etc, you can go on with the list.
The book contains teachings of Lord Buddha in simple language, which makes it quite easy to understand. The book also explains "emptiness" as explained by Buddha.
Lord Buddha went through many sufferings and obstacles. Some of his disciples abandoned him with the intention of starting another teaching which Buddha took very calmly, but finally all those abandoned disciples came back to his refuge.
The books drills into answering many confusing questions like "Love is Suffering" and "If love is suffering, how would one learn without loving what he/she is learning or doing". In order to make his teachings easy to understand, Buddha picks up example from our daily activities or some musical instrument.
I am deeply moved by the content of this book, though I had some problem with slight grammatical errors, but if given a chance I would make this book a text book for some religious monastic schools. I know students in monasteries learn biographies of Buddha, but I think "Old Path White Clouds" will do the justice.
I would recommend everybody to read this book, be it people who aren't buddhist, as all religion teaches the same thing after all.

Non-Wood Forest Products (NWFPs) or Non-Timber Forest Products (NTFPs)

2012-03-23T11:20:00.001+06:00

Both Non-Wood Forest Products (NWFPs) and Non-Timber Forest Products (NTFPs) refers to what is earlier known as Minor Forest Products (MFPs). The use of "MFPs" terminology has been discontinued as it seems to greatly mis-guide the produce. For instance collection and trade of Cordyceps (Ophiocordyceps sinensis) by high alpine dwellers and even Chirata (Swertia chirata) in the east (Shigkhar Lauri) contributes more than 50% of their annual earnings, which of-course is clear that these forest products doesnot justify to be called as minor.
NWFPs and NTFPs are two very similar yet different terminologies adopted to address these produce of forest other than timber. In short it includes everything besides timber.

Rattan Shoot

In Bhutan we use NWFP and it is defined in the National Forest Policy of Bhutan, 2011as, "NWFP means resin, varnish, katha, kutch, plants, flowers, seeds, bamboo, bulbs, roots, leaves, grasses, creepers, reeds, orchids, cane, fungi, moss, medicinal plants, herbs, leaf or mould, or other vegetative growth, whether alive or dead; wild animals (including fish) and the parts or products of wild animals, including the skin, hide, feather, fur, horn, antler, tusk, bone, bile, musk, honey, wax, and lac; and boulders, stone, sand, gravels, rocks, minerals, peat and soil". Now, if we understand definition, no where in definition incense stick, dapa, fuelwood is mentioned. Does it mean that fuelwood and even incense sticks are classified as timber? If these aren't classified under NWFPs, are we saying that fuelwood is not a "wood" or fuelwood is timber. Are we also stating that raw materials used to manufacture incense stick and dapa are not "wood"? Common!!!!!.
In short I am leaning towards NTFPs as it could even include fuelwood, dapa etc to NWFPs.

Flying Squirrel

2012-03-20T12:20:00.001+06:00

It was January, 2012 and 8.00 PM.

Hodgson's Flying Squirrel licking something on Asphalt road.

I was on my way to Gelephu from Bumthang. I was pretty tired driving nearly 280 kilometers in the geography of never ending winding and narrow roads of country, Beautiful Bhutan, the safe heaven for diverse flora and fauna. I have also lost incredible elevation while driving from Bumthang to Gelephu. Bumthang is at an elevation of approximately 2800 meters and Gelephu at 300 meters above sea level, whenever one passes through such a diverse ecological zones within short period of time, it is natural to feel excited experiencing the sudden shift in the environment and biodiversity.

Before it disappeared in the dark

After driving for nearly 9 hours my back started not to cooperate with me, making me to rest and drive diverting nearly fifty percent of my attention to my back pain. I crossed a place called Jigmechholing (600 mtrs) still complaining and not happy with my back pain. It was at then that I noticed something moving on the road. At first I thought it may be a dog, but on a closer look, it was an amazing animal I have never seen or never bothered to look at it. It was licking something from the road. It was Hodgson's Giant Flying Squirrel (Petaurista magnificus). I was so excited that I spent nearly four minutes taking the picture of this magnificent mammal before it crawled to the left side of the road and disappeared in the dark. It was such an exciting moment that I forgot I had a back pain for the rest of my journey.

Policies in Bhutan

2012-03-16T13:52:00.001+06:00

For the last two days (13-14th March, 2012) I was attending a workshop in Paro. It was yet another workshop on policy and adaptation issues. The title of the workshop was "Legal and Policy Tools to Adapt Biodiversity Management to Climate Change". The workshop was beyond doubt very informative and interesting. I have learnt many new things and understood various adaptation issues that countries across the globe is adopting to combat "climate change".
I was surprised by the number of "acts", "rules", "policies" that exists in our country. Bhutan is indeed bestowed with great natural habitat and forest cover, handed over by our ancestors who strived very hard to leave behind the environment in the way they were handed by their fore fathers. The conservation this far surprisingly came without the existence of any rules/acts/laws. The conservation came with the existence of total anarchy. I think Dzongsar Jamyang Khentse rightly pointed that "best way of living is anarchism".
It is really hard to believe the number of laws/rules/policies that exist in our country, but are rarely followed. What is bothering me too much is the framing of laws which are never bothered to implement or follow. What is the use of framing policies when there are always some people above the law?
With the existence of countless number of laws/acts/policies, there are same number of contradiction between various laws, giving birth to conflicts between laws which ironically are supposed to reduce same.
If i could try to list some examples of failure of rules/acts:
1. Sometime in 2006 or 07, Thimphu City Corporation started to employ quite a good number of environmental inspector with the task to impose fines to those people who litters the area.It all started with great pomp and show initially but with time it has finally vanished as i expected when it all started.
2. Another classic example is "visioning Bhutan free of plastics". Plastics in Bhutan was officially banned sometime in 1999, but if you look around even after more than a decade, we can see people freely using plastics carry their shopping goods.

In short I am saying that, when there are time and resources to frame policies, we should also have time and guts/strength to implement it. Bhutan has so many good policies and rules but we just lack implementation. Bhutan receives appreciation for policies and laws, let us strive to receive same for implementation.

Palden Drukpa.

Trek, Ura to Panbang

2011-12-13T15:53:00.004+06:00

Our Horses and Horse-men

On 24^th November, 2011 a group of enthusiast, I may be included, hopped in the car at 4.00 AM excited about the up-coming hike. We were equipped with GPS, Cameras, Tree Borer and a Butterfly net. By 7.00 AM we reached Khandopang (3399 mtrs of elevation) and met our horses and horse-man. Expecting chilly I was in my long under-wear, sweater and a jacket, which I obviously had to shed after hiking (losing elevation drastically) for couple of hours.

Sometime I like to be in Uniform: Rafting

An Elephant Ride

The first day of the hike was a test of our ability to withstand the tough terrain and strength of our leg and ligaments. Our objective was to reach Thek-pa-leng from Khandopang, but our energy, leg, ligaments all seemed not cooperating with us which made us to camp in Murgang. Murgang is at an elevation of 1814 mtrs and is by the bank of downstream Chamkhar chhu which flows from Chamkhar, Bumthang. It is this first day of the hike which proved to be very tough. Narrow roads carved through the steep slopes/cliff and a deep gorge made it tough for us let alone continues descend till we hit our camp site for the first day. The condition and the “type” of trail left me spell-bounded and made me to think, how on earth someone ever thought of constructing this trail. I was told by one of our horseman who happens to be cattle herder from Tangsibji, Bumthang, that they lost many cattle in the process of migrating after having fallen down the cliff; beyond doubt such accidents are prone through such rugged terrain. In the first day itself we lost almost 1600 meters of elevation. It was like falling from the cliff.

The second day of the hike was gentle with few “bumps”. We planned on reaching Shingkhar but our plan flopped as we had to put up our night in Tholay situated at an elevation of 1737 mtrs, two hours before Shingkhar. Tholay is vast area of paddy fields without any houses nearby. I am told that the paddy fields belong to the people of Shingkhar. That night we camped in the paddy field overlooking the deep gorges and beautiful forest. What a beautiful night it was!!!!!

The third day of our hike took us through a village named Changkar. I caught up with a man, 80 years old, to ask briefly on the Shifting Cultivation activities practiced in their village. I observed that all the houses were provided “Solar” lighting by the Thrumshingla National Park through Integrated Conservation and Development Program (ICDP). What is sad is, all the solar lighting failed to work after certain years. After about an hour from Changkhar (1783 mtrs of elevation) we hit Shingkhar (1459 mtrs of elevation). All most all the people in these two villages were seen working in their buckwheat field. After our lunch in Shingkhar we hiked for another two hours and we were in Wamleng (1345 mtrs), our home for the night. In Wamleng too we camped in paddy field overlooking Shingkhar and Radi (on the opposite side of the river).

Day Four: We started at 8.00 AM with the objective to reach Nimshong (1743 mtrs). It was an interesting hike. From Wamleng we descended till we hit the river and again ascended to Nimshong. It was 3.30 PM by the time we reached another paddy field of Nimshongpas . We decided to camp in the paddy field (Daga) as Nimshong was still two hours from Daga. Daga is a beautiful location to camp. It is from here that we could clearly see all-most all villages of upper kheng (Shingkhar, Thrisa, Wamleng, Bardoh, Khomshar and Nimshong)

Day 5: After hiking for one hour from Daga we heard the sound of the bull dozers driving its way towards the monastery; we were on motorable road finally, but no vehicles just bull dozer. The road to monastery and Shingkhar diverts right before reaching Nimshong. Day five was the longest hike, we could reach our campsite just before dark…uh!!!. We camped right before reaching Buli (1693 mtrs of elevation) in a place called Golingthang (2133 mtrs). Besides being the long day hiking it has been a toughest hike as we had to cross a pass (Malaya), 2596 mtrs.

Day Six: The easiest hike of all. Within an hour and a half from Golingthang we were in Buli. After lunch our hilux was there. We decided to halt a night in Buli and spend time visiting the Buli Tsho (Lake). We went to Buli Tsho and offered our prayers.

Day Seven: We were in our hilux and drove to Praleng (887 mtrs) via Tingtibe. It was 4.30 PM by the time we reached Praleng due to the road block (because of widening). We packed whatever is required and headed towards Dunmang (365 mtrs above mean sea level) Tshachu (hot spring). After one hour of steep descends we were in Dunmang, very well furnished and equipped hot spring. But, mind you, there are no places to pitch your tent. Fortunately we acquired permission from the Zhemgang Dzongkhag (District) official to spend a night in the guest house; which was great.

Day Eight: Our day began very early. We started to hike back at 6.00 AM and took us two hours to reach Praleng after which we boarded a hilux till Pantang (237 mtrs) (newly constructed road going to Panbang, 152 mtrs above mean sea level). We hiked for another five hours from Pantang till we reached Chen-gar-zam. Hooray!!! A private Mahindra Bolera was waiting for us. It was just an hour drive from there till the bridge leading to Panbang. We spent one day in Panbang (Day Nine).

Day Ten: Early in the morning I went to Manas (111 mtrs of elevation) to bring rubber boat till Panbang as we were planning rafting till Manas. At around 10.30 AM we were all on the boat and rafted towards Manas which took us one hour to reach Manas.

We spent three days in Manas, hiking and also enjoyed Elephant Safari.

It was a great hike, a holiday, a work, an enjoyment etc. In short, it was little bit of everything.

Preparing for the hike

2011-11-14T15:48:00.000+06:00

Come 17^th November, 2011, two of my professors from the University of Montana, the USA will be in Paro, Bhutan. Their visit to Bhutan this time is in continuation to the grant that we received for my masters degree study. This time the hike would be very important for me as the data I would collect during this hike would probably serve as a baseline date for my doctoral study, which is why I am definitely excited about the hike.

Professors will be in Thimphu for quite some time attending the International Climate Summit that the Institute (Ugyen Wangchuck Institute for Conservation and Environment) is organizing (14^th -19^th November, 2011).

My professors and I hiked in some interesting places in Bhutan. We hiked from Drugyel in Paro to Damji in Gasa and Tongtophy in Trongsa to Reutala in Zhemgang via Jangbi, Phromzor, Kuda, Nabji, Korphu and Nimshong in 2008. In 2010 we hiked from Nashiphel in Bumthang till Chajeyna (4700 masl) and back. The entire hikes were not just for fun but to explore the possibilities of my future research sites and to help me with the techniques to conduct interviews with the community.

This time the hike will be from Ura in Bumthang to Royal Manas National Park via Panbang, my home town. I am particularly very excited about the hike as the opportunity will be used to collect data on the fuelwood consumption across the altitudinal gradient in Bhutan (Temperate- Sub-tropical zone). Along the way, the efforts will also be made to understand the famous AILA (believed to be local guardian who takes care of the families’ property).

Brothers and Simple Living: Are they Happy?

2011-10-19T08:57:00.000+06:00

Simple living encompasses a number of different voluntary practices to simplify one’s way of living happily blending with the environment where one lives. Buddhism encourages living a simple life and shying away from materialism. It is said that, the more wealth one possesses, we shed more happiness. I think it may be true to a greater extent. For example, if we own a kilogram of gold, diamond etc., most of our time and peace of mind will be disturbed for the fear of getting it stolen from the lockers or losing it.

Che-nga-la and Chu-dru-la in Chamkhar Bumthang.

Bumthang, the place known in Bhutan for its spiritual habitat has two brothers named as Che-nga-la and Chu-dru-la, which directly translates in English to be Fifteen and Sixteen. I don’t know from where the peculiar name has been derived. They may be in their mid fifities. I still wrack my head and ask elderly people of the community to find out if their real name is what we address them or do they have another name? In my eyes they seem to be happy externally, but I always remember to question myself, are they really happy? If they are happy, what makes them happy? And what do they have to be so happy about? Perhaps Buddhist principal of ‘Simple life keeps one happy’ is true.

Che-nga-la and Chu-dru-la can be seen often walking in and around Chamkhar town. No one seems to know where they live or what they eat, but for sure they eat decent meals during festivals and rituals, since they will be seen whenever certain festivities occurs in and around within the 10 kilometers radius from Chamkhar town, which falls within their walking distance.

Most of the time, the two brothers wear similar type of gho (traditional Bhutanese dress worn by men) and hat. Unfortunately the photo I have doesn’t show them in similar type of gho. They are always seen walking bare footed with approximately two millimeters of dirt on the gho and hemchu (pocket formed when gho is worn) filled with mysterious items. They will be seen most of the time during festivals entertaining people by singing and dancing for some money. Almost all the street dogs follow the brothers wagging their tails. Such a gesture from the dogs indicates that the brothers might be feeding them. But the question in per se is what are they feeding? From where are they getting foods to feed animals?

What is even more striking is, they are healthy and never seems to be falling sick. According to health personal maintaining cleanliness, eating and drinking proper food and water is the sole factor to live healthy. The statement of the health personal contradicts how the brothers live, yet they are healthy.

So next time you are in Bumthang, look for the brothers and try to get in their shoes. You would see yourself asking so many questions on so many things.

Let us all learn to live happily with what we have and what we are provided. Let us remember Frank Buchman’s word “There is enough in the world for everyone’s need but not for everyone’s greed”.

2011, The Royal Year

2011-10-12T23:04:00.001+06:00

Courtesy: Rox Features

Courtesy: Kuensel

Year 2011 has been the year of the ROYALS.

On April 29, 2011 in Britain, Prince Williams married Kate Middleton in style, leaving people from all walks of life spellbound. People have remarked that it has been a “stylish marriage”. The Britain’s royal wedding was broadcasted live in almost all the visual news media I have known. The fever of the wedding started from November 2010 when Prince William announced the marriage dates.

The wedding seems to be truly in a traditional style but for 3 billion witnesses. I guess it was an ancient customs tweaked by modern developments. News media’s showed millions of people lined in the route of the royal procession and another half a million in front of the Buckingham Palace to watch the Bride and Groom kiss on the Palace balcony.

I was in the USA watching the entire procession of the royal wedding. I was speaking to one of the professors on the wedding, where he said that he couldn’t believe his eyes and ears that people still seems to be taking “Royal” THING seriously. I was surprised by what he said “I have also been intoxicated by the word ‘royal’ and is starting to make me royal today”. I said to myself, WOW!!!

Tomorrow, exactly after 167 days (five months and 14 days) of Britain’s royal wedding, Bhutan will be witnessing historic event, the wedding of His Majesty the fifth king of Bhutan Jigme Kheser Namgyel Wangchuck and the royal bride Jetsun Pema.

Though Bhutan is a small country in the heart of the mighty Himalayas and the royal is recent compared to the Britain’s royal family, we still see lots of attention around the globe. The only visual news media of Bhutan, BBS (Bhutan Broadcasting Service Limited) reports today “October sees more than 3600 tourist” of which majority are to witness historic royal wedding.

So, on this joyous occasion of royal wedding, I would like to wish our Royal Couple the very prosperous and happy married life. May the Drukyul, the land of Thunder Dragon enjoy the peace and prosperity under the dynamic leader of the royal couple for all times to come.

PALDEN DRUKPA

GYEL-LO.

Earthquake, Myths and Facts

2011-09-19T13:00:00.001+06:00

It happened again almost at the same time it happened last year in eastern Bhutan....is it a mere coincidence or some sort of cycle has developed?, we never know.!!!
After busy and tiring Sunday (September 18, 2011), I was lying by the side of Bukhari (Improved wooden stove to warm room:- Swiss Technology) reading "The Heart Of The Buddha" by Chogyam Trungpa Rinpochhe, when I heard the strange sound of rattling ceiling of the 40 years old Swiss built house in Lamai Goempa, Bumthang, Bhutan. My wife was preparing evening green tea and my daughter was watching a television program.
The violent shaking of our house shook my wife and made her nervous which made her to shout our names out. I tried to control the situation and stayed calm, but the subsequent shaking which continued even after we vacated our house and the simultaneous rattling sound of the Institute's entrance gate and violent shaking of the electric pole by the side of our house plucked my calmness and threw me in the world of nervousness too. Expecting the after-shock we remained ourselves outside the house facing the chilling temperature of Lamai Goempa for another half an hour. Right after experiencing the strongest quake in my life time, we made desperate attempt to call our families and relatives to inquire about their well being and to inform about our own safety-ness. Even the B-mobile services failed to cooperate with us during the situation.
Our neighbour has an elderly women. She was shouting at the top of her voice in the house, we had to call her outside in-case the house fails to stand strong. When I tried to figure out what she was shouting I was taken aback. She was shouting in Sharchop-kha (Dialect spoken by Eastern Bhutanese), Se-Wa-Na (We have known), Yong-Khe-Wa-Na (We are afraid of you). After she subsided her emotions, I asked her why she was shouting all these, and this is what she answers, "Our forefathers told us to speak out such words of nervousness during earthquake to please the deity who shakes earth in order to stop earthquake and prevent destruction. According to forefathers, a deity hold our earth by his mouth, hand and leg and when-ever he is not happy with the people and whenever their is pollutions or any wrong doings, the deity out of anger shakes the earth". I was stunned with her answer and thought for a while. I guess it was the most amazing answer I got so far.
As a child I have seen my grand parents shouting Naka, Naka (earthquake) during the whole process of earth shaking. They would stay in the house hitting mortar with pestle simultaneously shouting Naka, Naka....instead of rushing out of the house. Such indigenous practices are always skeptic, but we should also remember that our forefathers have faced similar situation with similar practices. It may look in-sane but if we take time and think over it carefully, there might be some interesting scientific relations. One may be to discourage pollution activities; we never know. Such practices are popularly known now a days by the term Traditional Ecological Knowledge.
According to the Geography class I attended during my high schooling days, earthquakes are caused by the movement of tectonic plates and when ever the plates collide. Seismologist would know the exact location of where the earthquake would strike but no one would be able to predict when it might come. The early warning system has the capability of predicting earthquake only seconds before it strike. One of the most advanced countries prepared to face earthquake is Japan. Even Japan failed to predict the quake and tsunami which claimed lots of lives.
If we take time to think properly, it is not the natural disaster which is harmful to human beings, it is the man made structure which is killing when disaster strikes. For instance, during earthquake, the buildings and bridges collapse, the gas pipes and radiations tank ruptures which ultimately proves hazardous and is responsible for taking lots of lives.
Thus, I would like to question here, is it the natural disaster or the man made structure and facilities that is responsible for taking people's lives?

Bhutan- The GNH Country

2011-09-15T16:15:00.000+06:00

Bhutan, the land of thunder dragon, the last shangrila, the GNH country, the land of peace, the land of smile, etc., is how people around the world talk about or know about Bhutan. It Is indeed a country loved and respected for culture and environment, and Bhutan is beyond doubt a peaceful country with peace loving people.The white dragon in the flag signifies the purity of people and peacefulness of the country.

Bhutan Flag

But, if we reflect a month before now, we would sense the rate of crime, accidents, suicide, burglary, rape etc. topping the news of the country, which of-course is not so social news. Frequenting such news questions the peaceful of the country.

Being a true Bhutanese, if we question about our own country and her relation with peace, Bhutanese indeed fails to co-exist with GNH values of our country. I am not generalizing here. I feel that frequent incidences of such activities are occurring due to the bunch of ignorant, greedy, self centered and un-employed people, whose existence cannot be avoided. Another reason would be the negative influences made by some television programs which convey ambiguous meanings especially to our younger generations accelerated by current employment crises of the country. Only if Bhutanese could change mind-set of segregating the so called blue collar and white collar jobs. If such change can be observed, we would have our younger generations interested in taking various jobs replacing thousands of expatriates. Such change is mind-set would be able to employ our younger generations, which in turn would provide income, which is proportionate to the rate of crime (just my thoughts, no research done).

Beauty of Nature blending with culture

The rate of rape case, murder etc., has been rampant in the country within the last one month. This sometimes inserts question mark in my head. Is Bhutan really a peaceful and safe country??? I feel that every citizen of the country should ponder over the question and try to bring change to the society and the way our people think. Unless Bhutan improves and shed dirty minds from Bhutanese, the charm and craze of foreigner to visit Bhutan is bleak.

Buddhist myths and conservation

2011-09-08T16:45:00.002+06:00

I have been silent for quite some time and now it looks like it has become routine for me to refrain from blogging. But, it, in no way depicts my declining interest in blogging and reading what other bloggers write. It is just the time and environment which is preventing me from blogging (especially writing). This is an article related to what has appeared in the www.kuenlselonline.com

The article ‘Reds’ all for ‘green’ conservation in kuensel online issue of the 7^th September, 2011 (http://www.kuenselonline.com/2010/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=20695 ) drew my attention to the subject. I think the article justifies what it is aiming to convey and makes clear statement of the subject. Much appreciated!!!!!

Prayer flags on poles. Source: http://www.buddhanet.net

Quite recently I have seen improvised prayer flags which are very environment friendly. When you drive from Trongsa to Bumthang, you would pass through a place called Dorji Goempa. It is here, where improvised prayer flags can be seen. The communities of that area did a wonderful job of saving poles for prayer flags which beyond doubt qualifies as an exemplary religious activities blending with environmental conservation, thereby getting in line with two of the four pillars of the Gross National Happiness i.e. Preservation and promotion of cultural values and Conservation of the natural environment. If I try to describe how the prayer flag looks, it has a center pole made of steel/iron anchored firmly in an area with prayer flags. The main pole is surrounded by numerous prayer flags whose one end of the thread is attached to the top of the post and another end secured to a nearby bushes or tree branches. Such prayer flags, according to me, have beyond doubt saved good number of poles (trees) from being felled for the purpose of erecting prayer flags. I think a community innovative of such activities should be recognized and encouraged by the government so that rest of the country follows the same.

I can’t appreciate more with Dratshang (monk body) of the country, when they stated the non-obligatory of erecting 108 prayer flags for the departed soul for his/her merits (Kuensel online issue of ‘Reds’ all for ‘green’ conservation). But, as stated in the article, it is always difficult to convey the bunch of skeptic, blind faith-ed hard core religious believer convince and change the mind-set towards what religious bodies are stating unless some highly respected influential religious figure could step in and convey the same. My solution to “those” people would be to go for the improvised prayer flags and erect required number of flags around the main pole. I feel that enforcing such strategy would not only save some trees but will also fulfill the desire of those who wants to follow the traditional Buddhist routine of erecting 108 numbers of prayer flags in the name of a departed soul.

Improvised prayer flags. Source: http://jamesgritz.com

The use of incinerator to burn dead body should also be encouraged. This would save good number of trees from getting chopped in the name of cremation. I would support the idea of installing incinerator in each crematorium and also to set an example of new technology acceptance by some influential religious personal.

If we think from the Buddhist perspective of “killing is sin”, what, we as a Buddhist are doing is oxymoron. Since plants manufacture foods, it breathes, it reproduces and also it grows, plants has the quality of living being and plants are beyond doubt living things. Thus, considering from another angle, we are killing so many living beings to cremate and erect 108 prayer flags for the cause of one living beings. I feel it would rather bring negative merits than gaining good merits. I strongly believe that such statement from respected religious figure would convince those bunches of people who are not willing to accept the technology and supports the conventional activities.

Above all, I feel that it is a positive sign to see Buddhism blending with environmental conservation.

The Mighty Manas River and Future of "SHE"

2011-08-02T15:17:00.005+06:00

The Manas River is a trans-boundary river in the Himalayan foothills between southern Bhutan and India. It is named after Manasa, the serpent god in Hindu Mythology. It is the largest river system of Bhutan, among its four major river systems; the other three are Amo Chu or Toorsa, Wang Chu or Raidak, Puna Tsang Chhu or Sunkoosh. The total length of the river is 376 kilometres, flows through Bhutan for 272 kilometres and then through Assam for 104 kilometres before it joins the mighty Brahmaputra River. Mighty Manas River is formed by merging two rivers, viz. Dangme Chhu and Mangde Chhu in a place called Dung-du-me brag and Un-dhala thang in Panbang.

Confluence of Dangme Chhu and Mangede Chhu

and also showing Bird eye-view of Panbang.

Source: Google Earth

The river valley has two major reserve forest areas, namely the Royal Manas National Park in Bhutan and the contiguous Manas Wildlife Sanctuary encompassing Project Tiger Reserve which constitutes a UNESCO World Heritage Site declared in December 1985. The Royal Manas National Park boasts of being the home to Golden Langur and some yet to be discovered plants and animal species. Recently a team from Ugyen Wangchuck Institute for Conservation and Environment in Lamai Goempa, Bumthang has identified 13 different Tigers within the area of just 200 square kilometer, signifying the high density of Tigers in one area. The team has also recorded 7 different species of wild cats in the area. There are about 36 different species of cats in the world, signifying that Royal Manas National Park itself has nearly 20% of the wild cat species.

I spent my childhood with Mighty Manas River in Mothanguri (13 kilometers before reaching Panbang and where border stone is located). Manas River was the life line of people living in Mothanguri. Manas River taught me to swim, row wooden boat, the river also functioned as important source of fuelwood during the summer months. As a child, I would always jump in the river and swim. I have seen people from the other side of the border fishing without crossing the border’s hypothetical line, even in the river. Many a times, I had an opportunity to see Water Buffalos, Gaur, Wild Elephants and even Tigers occasionally walking by the banks of the river. I sometimes feel that, my close association with nature might have made Forester.

RSPN (Royal Society for Protection of Nature) newsletter in 1990’s claim to have seen freshwater Dolphin in Manas, which I have always remained skeptic as I never saw one, even after drinking Manas River, washing dishes, clothes and swimming in the river for countless number of time.

Manas River has remained the same since time immemorial and served many people in the Indian plains of Assam. The majestic river would split into two after reaching Indian border. But, with time nature had another plan. In the early 2K’s the Manas River faced massive floods with grave consequences. The river stopped flowing in two directions as it used to after crossing the border, causing massive floods in the plains of Assam. At present one side of the area, where water used to flow is completely dried out (Figure). Is it because of the global warming? No one has the answer to it.

Manas River after crossing Bhutan Border.

Note the dried river bank.
Source: Google Earth

Now, with time and the so called development, tributaries of the river is facing too much disturbances with the establishment of hydro-electrical plants, leading to tapping the river and disturbing the natural flow of the river, meaning ecosystem disturbance. With government’s objective of tapping 10,000 MW of electricity by 2020, the Pristine Manas River will not remain the same. Such an activity questions the policy of Gross National Happiness that Bhutan adopted. Our government is targeting at achieving something compromising the ecosystem, one pillar of the Gross National Happiness. Since the government has already started to dam Puna-Tsang Chhu, I would personally appreciate if the government dam the river completely in three or four places, instead of damming all the rivers of Bhutan. Now, with Mangde Chhu project coming up, one of the tributaries of the mighty river will not be same in times to come.

The river might be crying and the ecosystem in the river might be begging to leave them as they have been living for centuries. Human’s are definitely super power but lacks the brain to think about others, Human’s are self centered.

Growth of Rhododendron and Rhododendron as source of Energy

2011-07-12T17:06:00.002+06:00

Laying a transact to estimate biomass

A typical camp of Cordyceps collecto

It was May 25, 2010, I landed in Bagdogra international airport (india) on my way back from USA for my graduate thesis research. Upon arriving in Phuentsholing I saw my daughter waiting for me and my wife to reach. It was one of the best-“test” days which I dare not to forget. My happy day was short lived as I had to leave to Thimphu the very next day as I was informed that Cordyceps (see "Floral and Faunal gallery" for photo) collection has already begun and only 15 days was left to legally harvest the much coveted medicinal mushroom. On 26^th I drove to Thimphu (as I left my car in Samtse with my Ajang and Ani) before leaving to the U.S. By 11 AM on 27^th I was done with whatever I needed to do in Thimphu and moved to Bumthang. I spent a day in Bumthang shopping whatever I might need in the harsh alpine environment.

On 29 May, 2010, I was on “DRUK 11” towards Chajeyna to study “Fuelwood consumption and production in alpine Bhutan”. My first two days of hike was not much of a problem but on the 3^rd day, when I was over 4500 mtrs, I was gasping for air. I think I suffered by not letting my body to acclimatize to the elevation after moving from Missoula, USA which is barely at 900 mtrs above sea level. After toiling hard I was finally in the camps of the Cordyceps collectors, where I spent two days of my research familiarizing with the collectors and observing their daily schedule.

Rhododendron sample

People would start their day at 3.00 AM everyday by preparing breakfast and pack lunches. After which they would hike for another hour and a half to collect Cordyceps. I was wondering why they can’t camp in areas where Cordyceps grows and enquired to find answer. The answer I received was quite interesting. I was told that, they were afraid of the poachers across the border that generally out-number the Bhutanese collectors and I also realized after some time that Chajeyna was the last available source of fuelwood.

The species of Rhododendron which was growing in Chajeyna was Rhododendron aeruginosum, which was being exploited at a larger extent by the collectors. On an effort to study the annual biomass accumulation by each Rhododendron I carried out destructive sampling in which I felled about 25 stands of the shrub. I carried ten samples of Rhododendron in an effort to study the growth ring and age in the laboratory.

Cordyceps collectors carrying harvested Rhododendron wood

The age analysis and annual diameter increment of the R. aeruginosum startled me. The annual diameter increment was 0.6 ± 0.04 mm per year and it took 161 years to achieve diameter of just 8.1 cm.

I displayed all the ten samples during the nomadic festival (March, 2011) in Nasiphel, Bumthang, so as to create awareness. I made people to guess the age of the wood sample and disclosed the age. This discovery questioned themselves on the future fuelwood source while harvesting Cordyceps in the mountains. If the current rate of fuelwood consumption continues in Chajeyna, I estimated that the area will be devoid of woody perennial in less than 13 years of time.

Note: If anyone is interested to read my thesis, please contact me.

Me, My Dog (Ga-lo-ma), Cat (Che-po) and Women House owner with Rosary beads in Thimphu

2011-07-01T21:28:00.001+06:00

Ga-lo-ma

I was in Thimphu recently for a treatment as my back started to give some problem. I stayed in Thimphu for four days. I have a dog and a cat (I don’t know what breed they are). I could not find anyone trustworthy to leave my pets which compelled me to take them with me all the way to Thimphu with me from Bumthang.

In Thimphu, I put-up myself in my sister’s house. The building is relatively new, 5 storied and well painted. Three days went by, everything was fine. It was fourth day, 6.00 AM, I was with Ga-lo-ma outside the building. There were many passers-by who appreciated Ga-lo-ma and tried talking to him. I was playing with him, when I was interrupted by a lady in mid-fifties. Before she talked to me, I already noticed her about 5 minutes counting rosary beads reciting Om-Mani-Pad-Mi-Hung.

Finally she spoke:

Lady: where are you staying?

Me: I live in Bumthang.

Lady: pet dogs are not allowed in the building (I realized that she was the house owner)

Me: (Startled) Why?

Lady: Because one dog brings another dog.

Me: But I always keep my dog with me in the house and not outside the house unlike other pets. I think there is no question of bringing another dog in the house.

Lady: There was also another dog here last time, which I made to be transferred to a Goemba.

Me: Really? Laso la..

Chepo (trying to get sun-light): Balancing act.

I gave up justifying and accepted what-ever she said as I only had a day to stay and I have to admit, I don’t want her to kick my sister. It was indeed surprising to see a lady with rosary beads in her hand speaking with dis-respect to animals. It is sad to see our people ignorant and not respecting animals. I feel that, people who love animals should be respected; after all it is what religion teaches. I don’t blame the lady, as she cares her new building and doesn’t want her building to be seen as a place of stray dog and cats.

BUT,

It doesn’t make sense to speak bad about animals/others with rosary beads in hand and holy recitation in lips.

Cordyceps

2011-06-16T17:06:00.000+06:00

This article is part of my thesis “Fuelwood Consumption and Production in Alpine Bhutan: A case study in Wangchuck Centennial Park, Bumthang, Bhutan). I have also worked on uses of Cordyceps in Pharmaceutical industries long time back, but could not trace out as of now. If people are interested I will try to re-write it and publish it. I have also cited references, in-case if any readers is interested to explore further. I will also try to provide papers to those who are interested to know more about the organism.

What is Cordyceps

Cordyceps sinensis is an Ascomycetes medical fungus with a long and illustrious history. The genus Cordyceps is mostly entomophagous flask fungi belonging to the family Clavicipataceae (Winkler, 2008). Although it is not actually a mushroom in the taxonomic sense, it has been regarded as a medicinal mushroom for centuries. The name Cordyceps comes from the Latin words “cord” and “ceps”, meaning, “club” and “head”, respectively (Holliday et al., 2005). The Latin word accurately describes the appearance of this fungus, whose stroma and fruit body extend from mummified carcasses of insect larvae, usually that of the Himalayan ghost moth belonging to the genus Thitarodes (Hepialidae, Lepidoptera). A recent DNA analysis of the genus Cordyceps found that C.sinensis was not the same as C.militaris thus the genus has been changed to Ophiocordyceps (Cannon et al., 2009; Boesi and Cardi, 2009). However, I will refer here as Cordyceps because it continues to be the most common and widespread name. In China, Bhutan and Tibet the literal translation of the name is “summer grass and winter worm” (Holliday et al., 2005).

Fungal Part of the Cordyceps (This
is what the collectors sees)

Cordyceps is harvested over much of the Himalayan plateau and is a highly prized remedy in traditional oriental medicine. Over the past decade its financial value has increased many folds, with collectors being paid as high as US $ 12,500.00 kg^-1(Cannon et. al., 2009). The fungus is a coveted medicinal product in traditional Tibetan and Chinese medicine, and is known in the west as “Himalayan Viagra” (Gould, 2007). Cordyceps appears annually between the months of April and August when it is harvested (Holliday et al., 2005; Gould, 2007; Winkler, 2008; Cannon et al., 2009) and thrives only at altitudes above 3800 m in the cold, grassy, alpine meadows on the mountainous Himalayan Plateau of Tibet, Nepal, India, Bhutan and the modern Chinese provinces of Sichuan, Gansu, Hubei, Zhejiang, Shanxi, Guizhon, Qinghai, and Yunnan (Holliday et al., 2005; Winkler, 2008; Cannon et al., 2009; Boesi and Cardi, 2009).

Cordyceps in Bhutan

Cordyceps has been a resource in Bhutanese traditional medicine for many years (Cannon et al., 2009). In recent years, Cordyceps has become one of the most expensive mushrooms in the world fetching up to US$ 6126.00 – 10,450.00 kg^-1 at an auction in Dodena, Bhutan in 2007. (Wangchuk, 2008). The Royal Government of Bhutan legalized Cordyceps harvesting in 2004 (Cannon et al., 2009) and it is now legally harvested extensively throughout alpine areas of the country. Managing Cordyceps harvesting has proved to be extremely difficult because the high alpine areas are very remote with major collection areas near the border of the Tibetan Autonomous Region of China. Many Tibetans illegally cross the border to gather the fungus, and there are not enough forest personnel to monitor collection and enforce regulations (Cannon et al., 2009). Enforcing regulation also presents a dangerous situation for forest personal. Bhutanese Cordyceps collectors report that hundreds of Tibetans illegally collect in Bhutan and, a RGoB (Royal Government of Bhutan) Forestry monitoring team apprehended 13 Tibetan poachers in 2007(Wangdi, 2008).

Just before removing dirt

Cordyceps harvesting regulations have changed dramatically over the years. In 2003 harvesting was allowed only in the Lunana area of Bhutan (Tshitila, 2009), but in 2004, the policy allowed limited collection by yak herders whose herds traditionally grazed in the pastures where the fungus occurs in the country (Cannon et al., 2009; Royal Decree, 17^th June, 2004- RA Online). Various measures were implemented in an attempt to manage harvesting, including a ban on any collecting except during the one month period of mid-may to mid- June. In 2008 the policy of allowing one person per household (yak herders as well as those households located within the Cordyceps growing gewog) to harvest the fungus was modified to allow all members of a household permission to collect (Gould, 2007; Wangchuk, 2008; Cannon et.al., 2009). In 2009 the rules were revised again permitting up to 3 people per household the collection rights.

Very little is known about the biology of Cordyceps, including its abundance, distribution, and effects of harvesting, which raises questions about the sustainability of harvesting. In addition to the direct impacts associated with harvesting Cordyceps, the large number of collectors hiking, camping, cooking, and disposing of human and other wastes in sensitive, high alpine environments undoubtedly have environmental effects. However, none of the potential environmental effects associated with Cordyceps harvesting have been investigated.

(Cleaned Cordyceps picture can be seen in "Floral and Faunal Gallery)

References:

Boesi, A. and F. Cardi (2009). Cordyceps sinensis Medicinal fungus: Traditional Use among Tibetan people, Harvesting Techniques, and Modern uses. Herbalgram ; 83: 52-63.

Cannon, .P.F., N.L. Hywel-Jones, N. Maczey, L. Norbu, T. Samdrup and P. Lhendup (2009). Steps towards sustainable harvest of Ophiocordyceps sinensis in Bhutan. Biodiversity Conservation; 18: 2263-2281

Gould, R. (2007). Himalayan Viagra, Himalayan Gold? Cordyceps sinensis brings new forces to the Bhutanese Himalaya. Tropical Resource Bulletin. Vol. 26.

Holliday, J., C. M., and S.P. Wasser (2005). Cordyceps. Encyclopedia of Dietary Supplements.

Tshitila (2009). The Current Scientific Knowledge on Cordyceps sinensis and Research Needs- The Bhutan Case. Presented during the Regional Conference on Cordyceps Management and Marketing; 20-24 April, 2009, Bumthang, Bhutan.

Wangchuk, D. (2008). Cordyceps sinensis: is domestication possible?. Kuensel; Bhutan’s National Newspaper 2008.

Wangdi, S. (2008). Report of the Forestry Monitoring Team for Cordyceps collection. Field Report Submitted to the Bumthang Forestry Division.

Winkler, D. (2008). Yartsa Gunbu (Cordyceps sinensis) and the Fungal commodification of Tibet’s rural economy. Economic Botany; 62(3): 291-305

Lesson from My Fishing Trip

2011-06-16T09:41:00.000+06:00

Rainy Lake

I strongly believe in religion and support all the noble acts, but avoids unnecessary and craze to receive “wang” from every religious figure that I encounter. Everyday I start my day with water and butter lamp offering and reciting short prayers. I believe, this keeps me going and makes my day worth.

As I child, I had my own catapult which I used to hunt birds just for fun. It was fun for me during that part of my time but not for the poor birds, probably about 3 birds I remembered hitting. I guess I was not turning out to be good human being than. The change in my attitude towards them came when I was in class IV. From the very beginning of my life, I was trained as a cook (probably, this may be the reason of my passion towards cooking and my craze to try and prepare different cuisine) to prepare meals to my Lt. Grand Father who would spend his time meditating. Once, I set a trap to catch fish which would come right by our house during summer as there used to be small pond by our house. I happened to catch a bag (100cm X 50 cm) full of fish (size of fish: 15 cm length and about 20 cm diameter). Before I could harvest the fish, my Grand Father came to know and made me to release all the fish back after whipping two or three times sharp on my butt and back with small cane stick. It was a bitter experience but I am thankful that he nipped such an activity from me while in the state of bud.

I didn't fish!!! I was just posing to the camera..haha...!

I was a transformed kid and when I was in class VI, I was appointed as a prayer captain in the school. I tried to learn the art of using a Drel-bu (bell) and memorize as many prayers as I could. I could proudly say that, even now I recite those prayers which I memorized that time. I was sincere, good and hard working and continued with my childhood character. Thanks to my Lt. Grand Father. He left me (when I was in class VIII) before I could repay him for what he did to me. Has it not been his strict rules, training on daily chores, and frequent Drig-lam-Nam-sha (daily etiquette; I hope it is the right translation!!!) class, I would not have been what I am today.

Recently, one of my professors in the US asked what we (three Bhutanese) would like to do after we defended our thesis. One of my friends, promptly said “fishing”. The day of the fishing arrived, professor arrived with his SUV (Honda CRV) loaded with a Canoe, two chairs, few bottles of beer and some dried fruit and snacks. Soon, we were heading towards Rainy Lake from Missoula (it was an hour drive). Rainy Lake has Cut-throat trout and only three Cut-throat trout is allowed to harvest in a day by a license holder according to the US fishing and hunting laws.

Cut Throat Trout
(Note the typical red colour mark under the operculum of the fish)

The fishing trip was a great success for us but not for the poor fishes. But, we realized that, they were dying of starvation as their stomach was literally empty. I consoled myself saying, “We probably saved the fish from torturous dead of starvation.” I may be wrong, but that was the only way to console myself. Though we killed the fish, but we also thanked the fish for providing us with protein, omega 3 fatty acids and of course filling our stomach by sacrificing itself. I think only animals have the capacity of performing Lue-ke-jin-pa (offering one’s body to satiate someone’s greed or liberate someone from suffering).

It was yet another great lesson to me. When animals have the power to sacrifice themselves why can’t humans give away whatever excess he has to provide comfort to someone un-lucky.

Cruel, Lively, Innovative. The Interesting Brain of Human

2011-06-04T21:20:00.002+06:00

Source: http://hubpages.com

Have you ever wondered on what Sir. Issac Newton formulated as his “THIRD” law of motion, “Every action has equal and opposite reaction”. I read somewhere that, one new and young brain trying to prove it wrong. I am sorry I couldn’t follow it for long. But, as for me I guess “Third law of motion” proves its validity everywhere in our day to day activities and new inventions.

Human beings are known as “super power” and I guess whosoever coined that term has undergone in-depth analysis and proposed the phrase. But, super power in what?? It can be defined and looked from various angle by different people with different brains. May be construction as well as power to destroy the natural beauty (thinking right) and again trying to get back to natural beauty, though artificially (probably thinking, what one thought right earlier was wrong). That is the power possessed by human beings to alter things in his/her own desire with the brain that he/she possesses.

There are brakes as well as gas pedal in cars. Brains of human being are very important in innovating new technologies but cruelty of brain comes with the innovation too. If I cite few examples. Someone made computers, which has become necessary machine now a day. But, the brain which made computers and its softwares made viruses, which forces one to buy anti-virus. Such brains have “business” intention. Another example worth mentioning is, “Youtube”. We can’t download movies, and other clips directly from Youtube, but some brains overcame the restriction and came out with a website from which we can download anything one want to download from youtube. There is a PDF file creator but there is also PDF writer. Someone made bullets and some made bullet proof jacket.

It indeed is true that, for ever action there is equal and opposite reaction.

Questioning the purpose of life

2011-05-27T13:36:00.001+06:00

I guess I have taken a long break from blogging. Quite long that some of my blog’s reader might have drawn conclusion of my losing interest in blogging. It wasn’t intentional but my busy schedule barred me from doing so. Today I forced myself a time and thought of writing what has bothered me for quite a long time.

Source: http://www.youracreator.com

Did you ever ask yourself, what is the purpose of life? Why am I born? for what? Such are the questions capable of making you feel dumb headed animals. For the past few years these questions have been and still troubling me.

Why am I born? The biological answer is to reproduce!!! The answer from the religious perspective will be to help all sentient beings liberate!!! From parents’ perspective, they needed a child to help them during their old age, as they would prefer to live with their children rather than “old aged home” before they breathe their last. If you ask anyone, you would land up coming across countless answers but nothing definite and convincing.

As for me, I don’t have any answers to that and the best way I could answer is, scratch my head and move ahead. May be there is no answer to that, unless some philosopher ponders over it and come out with consensual answer. But, their (Philosophers’) answer may go wrong for religious people, it may go wrong for easy going people.

May be, the question would remain confusing for infinite times to come or may be the purpose of life is to, “to confuse ourselves”. May be it is time for me to put an end to the question and work on something productive before it drives me in-sane.

Bhutanese Drivers

2011-05-16T19:39:00.000+06:00

A Professor in India (one of my Professors) remarked, “I trust your way of driving, but I don’t trust the driver coming from another direction”, when he was given a lift by one of his friends. Over time, I started to realize that his “16” word has more meaning than I imagined and condenses everything.

It is always scary to drive in Bhutan’s never ending snake winding narrow roads accelerated by the Bhutanese “style” of driving. We (Bhutanese) lake sensibility of driving and respect for another driver. Disrespect and mutual understanding between the drivers may be the rationale for increasing number of accidents in the country.

Source: http://www.movetransport.com

Honking has become the part of Bhutanese drivers. Honking is imperative, but making use of it in right time and place is more important. It is disheartening to see people honking for everything, right from teasing those people walking to embarrassing another driver, instead of honking in turnings to warn another driver coming from opposite direction. This situation may not improve in Bhutan. Once (2008), a tourist remarked that, his driver was making use of honk in wrong time and place. Probably he may have referred to the similar quality of the driver.

Another embarrassing quality of Bhutanese drivers is driving in high beam at night. It is acceptable to use high beam while driving on highways provided there is no cars in-front or coming from opposite direction. Drivers in Bhutan do not respect pedestrian and never gives way to them. Last month, as I was driving by memorial chorten, I spotted a group of people waiting (by ZEBRA cross) to cross the road. I stopped my car and signaled them to cross the road. That is when, a brand new “Land Cruiser” honked and overtook me nearly throwing the pedestrian who were crossing the road.

Even if we don’t care our lives, let us care the life of another driver, who may be going to attend his/her parents birth day or returning after buying present for his/her child a surprise birthday gift. Let us not spoil somebody’s happiness.

Research in Line (Dissapering transhumance and change in mindset of nomads after development)

2011-05-14T11:11:00.001+06:00

Note: This not a scientifically written article, it is just the summary of what I have submitted for approval to CORRB (Council of Renewable Research of Bhutan). I received the approval and will be heading to the field for about two months (starting August, 2011). There are no citations and references. If anyone is interested, I will give the citations and references.

Title: Disappearing tradition of transhumance and changes in mind-set of nomadic communities after developmental activities

A typical nomadic village in Bumthang

Introduction: The transhumant yak system is limited to the alpine-cool temperate areas around the world. Throughout the Tibetan areas and northern parts of Bhutan, India and Nepal, nomads are an important element in the local economy and society. It has been reported in the number of literatures that, in high altitude grasslands of Bhutan, yak herding is an important source of livelihood for the nomads. Yak herding is one of the dominant activities for the pastoralist who prevails in ten of the twenty dzongkhags in Bhutan, benefitting roughly 1400 households. High elevation herders have been practicing migratory cattle grazing as forest dependent livelihood strategy from temperate to sub-tropics of Bhutan for more than 1300 years. Livestock movements are generally season bound and related to fodder availability, births of animal and growing season, and herders are reported to respect and follow their age-old traditional migratory routes to respective designated pastures in various altitudes.

In general, yak herding involves migrating from winter pastures (3000m and 3500m) to summer pastures (3500m – 5000m), where summer pastures are usually grazed from June to September and winter pastures from November through March. Migration is a strategy adopted by herders to overcome extreme winter conditions in higher altitudes (which translates to a shortage of resources and to exploit economic opportunities at lower elevations. The animals are moved from one grazing site to another, usually between 4-6 weeks depending on the number of sites and situation of fodder availability. Through the long history of using grazing sites, herders have developed some basic thumb rules to determine the time and duration of grazing on particular sites. Usually, the productivity and vegetation types do not differ significantly from year to year and herders move the animals after grazing for approximately the same number of days every. It is reported that nomadic community as a whole is suffering from the shortage of herders since younger generations opt for modern education and aspire for career in white collar professions to their age old nomadic lifestyle.

Rationale: It is noted by various researchers that very little is understood with regard to migratory cattle and its impact on the household subsistence economy in Bhutan. There are reports that, residence of Sakteng depends on livestock husbandry as their only source of livelihood but in recent years, farmers of Merak have started to grow agricultural crops (potatoes) in their home gardens, signifying the change in cropping pattern. With access to education for the younger generation of the nomads, future of nomadic activities are bleak as young people are reported reluctant to continue with tradition of their forefathers, and opting better opportunities in urban areas. One literature reports; people of Soe and Yaksa in Lingshi switching from herding to more of a settled lifestyle. The change in such approach and agricultural practices may have been influenced with the advent of socio-economic changes, bringing easy access to health, education and markets for the nomads.

New house built in yak herder's village

With the initiation of various developmental activities, Bhutan in general has undergone dramatic changes over the decades in embracing modern amenities and technologies. However, owing to distance and isolation, nomadic people were deprived of developmental activities for a very long time, but are gaining momentum. If this phenomenon is left unchecked, there is every chance of mass rural-urban migration leading to loss of rich culture and traditions and exposing to threats of illegal occupation of the high elevation rangelands as highlighted by Bhutan’s Minister of Agriculture and Forest during the nomadic festival in 2011.

Kuensel reported; people of Merak and Sakteng buying electrical appliances for they have been promised electricity by June, 2011. With the advent of various developmental activities in the nomadic areas of Bhutan, it is foreseeable that, there may have been changes in how people are adapting to the developmental activities.

Main objective: This study is intended to find out the change in migration pattern of nomads with time and their mind-set with coming of developmental activities. The study will specifically focus on:

a. How societies respond to development; Change in livelihood pattern (coming of farm road, electricity, schools etc)?

b. Change in numbers of yak herders and yak numbers?

c. Migration a decade ago and now?

d. Issues on border encroachment?

e. Issues on Tsamdro?

Expected output of research: The report of the research will be out latest by June, 2012. The ambitious aim will be to get it published in some peer reviewed international journal if not, I will try to get it in Center of Bhutan Studies Journal or RNR Journal.

I am really exited about graduating. I will try to post something on my graduation soon.