Penstar

Beginning of a New Year?

2012-02-19T15:17:00.000+06:00

Losar issue Losar is here again. And it is time for people to enjoy. Have fun. Eat and forget anything that troubles them. Those days Losar was considered the beginning of a New Year and was celebrated thus. But today, it no more feels like one for the educated lot living, working and raising family in towns and cities. They celebrate New Year on January 1. Of

What's in the color?

2012-02-19T10:35:00.001+06:00

(Penstar photo) Taxi drivers are complaining again. This is nothing new, I think. But this time, I think they are far more rational than their authority. Of course we feel what RSTA is attempting to do by trying to implement a uniform taxi color is in the best interest of society. Well, I hope so. It is for uniformity. No doubt about that. And I think it would look so

Ignore or Implement it?

2012-02-15T16:10:00.000+06:00

Picture: www.australianhimalayanfoundation.org.au The month of February is here once again. And it is time for children to go back to school. For some it is their first day at school. For others it is like going back to their second home. Some children would have just turned six years old this February. Some may have added a few additional years in their age so that they can attend school

That noodle rendered me sick

2012-02-09T10:10:00.000+06:00

Dough being kneaded at a restaurant (Penstar) Yesterday I had to accompany my wife to the hospital to remove her nails. My youngest brother accompanied us too. I don’t know somehow nails always cause problem to my family. Just like mine, my wife’s toenail tended to grow outward and started to enter her flesh. It was giving her an extreme pain. Anyways, while coming back, we felt like

Some Pictures

2012-02-03T14:53:00.000+06:00

Here are some pictures I took in the previous year.

Let's stop making fun of our National Language

2012-01-27T15:18:00.001+06:00

A screen shot of Kuensel article (27/01/2012) Private newspapers are complaining once again and rightly so. Please don’t mistake me for being an enemy of our national language. In fact I have always been an ardent supporter of the idea that Dzongkha needs to be promoted, in my own capacity. Newspapers were forcefully made to carry out the burden of bringing out Dzongkha editions. When

A Small Giant Resolution?

2012-01-04T22:16:00.001+06:00

Press conference: A mock session (Pictire by Penstar) Welcome to my first post of the year! A very Happy New year to all my readers. I am so sorry I could not wish you in time, but anyways please accept it now. Happy belated New Year! Well, just like other years in the past, I decided not to have any resolutions this year. But I long wished I could stop chewing money. And I really wanted it

A single account for all BOB branches with 2012

2011-12-31T09:55:00.000+06:00

What a wonderful way to begin yet another year! Unlike in the past, you can now do all transactions with a single BOB account from any branches in the country. Earlier the bank charged its customers half of TT charges when you deposit or withdraw money from branches where you do not have accounts. (TT charge: Nu. 2.5 for every Nu. 100,000/-, minimum being Nu.20/-) For

For Quicker Financial Services

2011-12-28T14:25:00.000+06:00

Photo: Penstar Collection Another development in 2011 that we can be proud of is in the field of delivering financial services to the public. Now if you have one ATM card, you can withdraw cash from any Automatic Teller Machines (ATM) of any banks in the country. This means you need not at all have to bear the burden and hassle of carrying cash in your hemchu. Thanks to Bhutan Financial

Parental Preaching

2011-12-27T16:10:00.000+06:00

With so much pride Being parent has been one fulfilling experience and I am sure all parents agree with me. But sometimes I don’t understand how parents become so irresponsible that they neglect their children. And I have also often heard men talk of leaving everything related to kids to their wives. That's not right. As parents, I feel both the husband and wife are equally responsible

Please meet my Grandma

2011-12-15T14:37:00.000+06:00

Still going strong "My grandmother, like everybody's grandmother, was an old woman," writes my favorite author Khuswant Singh. Of course that's a crude way of describing one's grandmother, but I am sure he meant it well when he wrote that line. I find it so funny and can't get over with the expression. My grandmother is 87-year young (I borrow the term from Bhutan Youth). She is blessed

When Dawa Dema went missing

2011-12-15T10:22:00.004+06:00

Dawa posing for me Last night she went missing. This made me restless. I could not imagine her being in the streets when it is very cold outside. The thing about winter in this border town is that it gets deep into your bone and you have so much pain afterward. I did not want her to be out in the dark at that hour when no one was on the road. I worried that she might get trampled over by the

Utpal Academy - Bhutan's first All-girls High School

2011-12-14T12:58:00.004+06:00

Academic Block Welcome to Bhutan’s first all-girls school. Isn’t that wonderful news to all our parents? Certainly, as a parent of a one-year old daughter I am excited about the coming of a school exclusively dedicated to the needs of girls. Our girls need special treatment, which we can for sure entrust the responsibility to Utal Academy, Paro. Dinning Hall I really like the name – Utpal –

Welcome to Phuentsholing this winter

2011-11-30T16:13:00.002+06:00

Suddenly, Phuentsholing is become a noisy city filled with people from different regions of the country - all with one big purpose - to attend a two-month Wang-lung-thri ceremony from His Holiness the Kyabje Namkhai Nyingpo Rimpochhe. Thanks to His Holiness, this sleeping border town would stay awake this winter and get blessed. Starting this week, people started pouring in and this afternoon, we

Lack of communication - an Update

2011-11-30T12:19:00.001+06:00

Today there is another announcement in Kuensel. It was of course from MoIC. The written exam, which they announced to be conducted on November 30 now stands postponed. The ministry, I was told, called all the shortlisted candidates asking them to be there in Thimphu. Many I assume must have rushed to the capital yesterday. But now, it is cancelled? How did that happen? If deadlines can be as

Lack of communication in the Information and Communications Ministry

2011-11-29T16:06:00.002+06:00

On November 9, 2011, MoIC announced availability of a number of vacancies in the Department of Civil Aviation to be placed in the country's four airports. The last date for the submission of application was November 25, 2011. The ministry announced the names of the shortlisted candidates only on 29th November 2011 Kuensel issue and not on 28th as informed earlier. A screenshot of MoIC website

On the Road to Education

2011-11-28T16:13:00.007+06:00

Every evening, I find my neighbor waiting outside the apartment for her two children from their evening tuition. And my neighbor has been doing that as long as I can remember. As a young parent myself I can understand how concerned she is of her children. It is jungle out there. Any rushing cars can make our children no more. Doing well and performing exceptionally beyond what is expected is

Chewing money and rising inflation

2011-11-23T16:56:00.010+06:00

Penstar Photo The recent issue of K2 covered almost everything that you need to know on the custom and trend of chewing doma in Bhutan. The articles familiarize its readers starting from how doma, paney and tsuni are prepared to wrapping trend to the hazards it poses on the chewers to what doctors are saying about the habit to what doma-khamdo is known in English, etc. And pictures captivate

What is in the name - yet again?

2011-11-22T09:40:00.006+06:00

A few years ago, Nidup Dorji started with Bhutan’s maiden reality show Bhutan Star, which was apparently inspired by Indian Idol. But the organizer could not continue the show in the following year. A few years later, Kencho Wangdi launched his own version of the reality show and called it Druk Star. It displeased Nidup Dorji. He thought it was copyright violation or whatever the authorities

Model Leaders for the 21st Century World

2011-10-22T11:19:00.002+06:00

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Happy Royal Wedding, my King and the Queen!

2011-10-12T23:04:00.000+06:00

Every time I behold His Majesty shake hands with people from all walks of life on the national television and hold the hands of old people, who shed tears of happiness not being able to contain the joy on meeting their king, a large lump forms in my throat. It happens every time I am shown that scene. And I find that I am unable to control my tears. This is when I know how

In preparation for the BIG Day

2011-10-10T12:54:00.002+06:00

Stalls being built If you somehow happen to be visiting Phuentsholing or permanently residing here, you won’t regret your being in this gradually turning dusty border town especially when the nation comes together to celebrate the Royal Wedding. The big event would unfold in Pungthang Dewa Chenpoi Phodrang and Changlingmithang national stadium, but to commemorate the auspicious occasion, the

Investing in Sports Infrastructures

2011-10-08T12:20:00.000+06:00

Photo Courtesy: http://www.raonline.ch  Days are gradually getting shorter nowadays and the paddy fields are slowly yellowing in our villages like the autumn sun itself. For farmers this is the time to harvest their hard work for having toiled both in the rain and shine the whole summer long. But here in the heart of Phuentsholing town, there is nothing to harvest although

The hallmarks of our nationhood

2011-10-01T09:33:00.000+06:00

Dorji Penjore's latest book to hit the market In 2009 The Centre for Bhutan Studies (CBS) organized a three-day National Storytelling Conference. Scholars from home and abroad presented papers on the importance of folk culture. They pointed out the need to revive our rich oral tradition. Hundreds attended the program and it was truly one big national event. People from

Promoting our Creativity

2011-09-30T12:38:00.000+06:00

The role of our national language or any other national language for that matter is to bring citizens of a nation together as one big family – one big family that communicates in one common unifying language. Language is the carrier of a particular culture. But in essence, the purpose of having a language in the first place is to provide for a medium of communication for a