Happy Blessed Rainy Day

Thruebab- The Bhutanese Social Holiday

The Blessed Rainy Day literally means the flow of blessed cleansing water. In layman's term it is called 'thruebab'-the holy precipitation shower from heavenly Buddha Nangpar Nangzoed on the earth. It falls on 15th day of 8th Month in the Buddhist Calendar. This year, Bhutanese are going to celebrate thrue on 22nd September. That is exactly on 9th day of 8th month of Wood Female Sheep Year, 2015. On this day, people keep aside their daily bustle of activities and come together to celebrate. In a year it is one of the social occasions for the Bhutanese to take a day leave. Similarly, the people from Ladakh in India, Nepal, Tibet, Mongolia and some parts of China observed the day in their own way.

It is believed that during the Blessed Rainy Day, the whole water bodies on the earth turns into a holy water that acquired elixir like potency to cleanse sentient beings of all negatives and misdeeds of the past bad karma. As soon as the morning comes, people takes bath to purify all their defilements and demerits either from the direct tap water or bucketful of stored water.

I could vividly remember when I was a boy, a night before 'thruebab' my mother used to tell us to keep a bucket with some varieties of flowers outside the house. At night the blessed rain showers and bucket will be full of holy and purified water. Early in the morning she will make us to wash our face and take bath. We also offered the collected holy water as water offering to the god in the altar with the burning incense. My mother has a strong belief that the holy and purified water on 'thruebab' will erase the negative obstacles of us and pick up faster while in learning.

In our context, 'thrue' is a day marking the end of the monsoon season. It marks the end of the farming season and the beginning of the harvest season. As the 'thrue' is observed as a national holiday; the Government offices, Schools and Institutions, and Private Organisations remain closed for the day. Families, relatives and friends from the far distance and nearby gather together to have foods and drinks. Traditionally, families gather together to celebrate the day together since the permanence of their lives is not sure. Together they pray and make a wish as they will meet again later. 

After the foods and drinks the day was celebrated with the various traditional games like archery, khuru, and doegor. The team are formed from different villages and match are conducted where it promotes the preservation of culture and tradition which is one of the pillars of Gross National Happiness. But it was seen as taken blase by some people because of their work load pressure. Our younger one will forget soon and coming generation will never know as such occasion was there before,in turn this may lose our culture and the identity. 
On this very important occasion let me take a privilege to wish you all my dear parents, relatives and friends a "Happy Blessed Rainy Day"! 

Happy Blessed Rainy Day

Thruebab- The Bhutanese Social Holiday

The Blessed Rainy Day literally means the flow of blessed cleansing water. In layman's term it is called 'thruebab'-the holy precipitation shower from heavenly Buddha Nangpar Nangzoed on the earth. It falls on 15th day of 8th Month in the Buddhist Calendar. This year, Bhutanese are going to celebrate thrue on 22nd September. That is exactly on 9th day of 8th month of Wood Female Sheep Year, 2015. On this day, people keep aside their daily bustle of activities and come together to celebrate. In a year it is one of the social occasions for the Bhutanese to take a day leave. Similarly, the people from Ladakh in India, Nepal, Tibet, Mongolia and some parts of China observed the day in their own way.

It is believed that during the Blessed Rainy Day, the whole water bodies on the earth turns into a holy water that acquired elixir like potency to cleanse sentient beings of all negatives and misdeeds of the past bad karma. As soon as the morning comes, people takes bath to purify all their defilements and demerits either from the direct tap water or bucketful of stored water.

I could vividly remember when I was a boy, a night before 'thruebab' my mother used to tell us to keep a bucket with some varieties of flowers outside the house. At night the blessed rain showers and bucket will be full of holy and purified water. Early in the morning she will make us to wash our face and take bath. We also offered the collected holy water as water offering to the god in the altar with the burning incense. My mother has a strong belief that the holy and purified water on 'thruebab' will erase the negative obstacles of us and pick up faster while in learning.

In our context, 'thrue' is a day marking the end of the monsoon season. It marks the end of the farming season and the beginning of the harvest season. As the 'thrue' is observed as a national holiday; the Government offices, Schools and Institutions, and Private Organisations remain closed for the day. Families, relatives and friends from the far distance and nearby gather together to have foods and drinks. Traditionally, families gather together to celebrate the day together since the permanence of their lives is not sure. Together they pray and make a wish as they will meet again later. 

After the foods and drinks the day was celebrated with the various traditional games like archery, khuru, and doegor. The team are formed from different villages and match are conducted where it promotes the preservation of culture and tradition which is one of the pillars of Gross National Happiness. But it was seen as taken blase by some people because of their work load pressure. Our younger one will forget soon and coming generation will never know as such occasion was there before,in turn this may lose our culture and the identity. 
On this very important occasion let me take a privilege to wish you all my dear parents, relatives and friends a "Happy Blessed Rainy Day"! 

Bastard or Fatherless child?

Fatherless Child or Bastard- Are they not Bonafide Bhutanese Citizen?
I feel awkward to say bastard to a child who is brought-up by a single parent. It is an offensive and serious crime to say, when the child was born having his/her biological father and mother. How can one should say, a baby will born without a father? And they are called 'bastard' because they don't have a father. In our dialect 'Bastard' refers to as 'drang', and it's an abusive and humiliation to describe it. In literary, 'Bastard' is a old use to a person born of parents not married at the time of his/her birth. Instead, they are called illegitimate or fatherless child.

It is common where a single mother and a fatherless children in the village. When the mother could not identify the child's true biological father. And the father don't want to accept the truth and cannot take her as his wife thereby refusing to accept a child as his own blood. Such was a evil sin which makes a child to suffer and do not get warm love & care that cause morally disappointment in later age of a child.

Just a few weeks ago, I was dumbfounded when the young School going children humiliates one of his friends on their way to the School. A boy was shouted to a girl; "Poor bastard, you don't have a proper bag to put your books". It was raining, may be she was his classmate. She remained silent and shows her sign of assistant from him. As they headed off, I was asking to myself; Are they children of next door neighbour? Did his parents teach such conduct in that way? Because a girl was a fatherless child and look down. Usually people gullible and deceived a single woman in the village when the child was born without a father. It's a common to all and every time happening. Which creates social stigma and alienation in the society, giving more pressure of distress and exclusion to those innocent souls. 

The fatherless children are more jeopardize to get into danger. They may get into the drugs & alcohols out of disappointment, fighting & suicide, thief and robbery. Lack of financial supports may results a child to drop from the School, whereby he/she cannot pursue for a tertiary education. This a serious issues which requires urgent attention from the government side to care and support them. Because the fatherless children are also born as bonafide Bhutanese citizen. Why should these innocent souls left neglected and make to suffer?

Not very recently, I have witnessed a pitiful incident in one of the Schools. I was going to enroll my uncle's son during the admission day. A young and charming woman was also there with her six year old son, who was seated behind us silently and fully bowed her head down. When everyone was making full-swing. I didn't notice making her head up. In my discursive thought, I guessed she has some problem to discuss. I went to her side and asked in a low voice. 
I was astounded, when she says; "I could not registered into the census of my son, he's six years old now". I asked her, "why, what was happened to that?".
She turned almost red and said, "I have no marriage certificate, and couldn't registered of him into the census". She added, "His biological father refused to accept him as his son".
For the moment I was confounded by hearing that. And fortunately, the School finally approved his admission despite in needs of his documents. 

Such was a pitiable condition, it requires dire intervention from the relevant stakeholders of various spectrum. But the problem will remain as it is and may become the worst, if the matter is not take as seriously. When the concern authorities are not involve to care those innocent single woman in the village. How can they expect to file a court case and determine their child's biological father? Since settlement in the court takes a long time. How does a poor and single woman can face an accrual of huge expenses? 
In the village level, they have a Local government and Dungkhag court to take defence. And further Dzongkhag authorities to appeal. The authorize agencies must not expect a innocent souls to defence by them individually. They are backward not highly learned. They can't go and do DNA test which it incur a huge lump-sum of expenditure. For a rustic villagers like them, it's too expensive and huge amount where they can't afford it.

But the question is, why the siblings are call 'Bastard'? Are they not offspring of human? Do they have feelings and are not hurts when abused? Would he/she can be your friend?
"You may have both the parents now. And you are born and brought-up by them under a Kangaroo care. But how can you assure to escape from the death and live permanently with them"?

I prostrate to you-Jetshen Jampelyang

Jampelyang(Manjushri)- The Divine God of Wisdom

ཨོཾ་ཨཱ་ར་པ་ཙ་ན་དྷཱི།།

Jetshen Jampelyang-is the god of divine wisdom. He is known as one of the Rig-sum Goenpo-the three lineage holders of Buddhism (Jampelyang, Chhana Dorji and Chenregze). In layman term, he was also refers to as a genuine Buddha who transformed into the important and historical figure of Buddhism, and was a Bodhisattva who helped to preach doctrine to all the sentient being with the Buddha. As history says, he was supposed to have come from the China to Nepal where he split the mountains in the south creating the broad fertile valley of Nepal. 

Ever since my first day in the School Jetshen Jampelyang was my god of wisdom-where I used to pray to him everyday in the morning. Throughout my entire fifteen years of schooling was fully devoted to him, grabbing his holy wisdom and knowledge while in the process of learning. Today across the country in various Schools, students pray to him every morning before they can get into their daily lesson. Because learning simply do not take place with ones little effort, there are ignorance and defilement to ward off. As the Bodhisattva of wisdom, distraction and negative barriers are erase by the divine power whereby, students receives immense blessing of wisdom and knowledge. 

One may not have a prophecy to see him in a solid form but he is always with us in a various manifestations. His blessing are in the form of wisdom that one receives while in the process of learning. Even to this days, whenever I find the portrait or image displayed around of him. I would never turnover without reciting a sentence of prayer to him by folding my hands into one. As Jetshen Jampelyang is the guardian protector of students, I have a solemn devotion in acquest of an intellectual knowledge, retentive memory and a sharp mental perfection. I pray for you, the flaming sword you hold in your right hand to cuts off all my afflictive emotions- negativity, ignorance, arrogance and greed all the times to come. May you cut all difficulty or knotty problems of mine whenever I involve in the law of righteousness by your burning sword. The spiritual book that holds by your left hand on the blue Lotus, confer me immediately with the blessing of divine wisdom and knowledge that shine brighter ever. May you always be the lord of Dharma, and turn me to a son of Dharma lover. 

My Mother's Illusory Arranged Marriage

 -My 84 year old Grandma: Pema Lhaden's Narration

When my mother was in her mid twenties
Thee arranged her marriage with Dawa-
A son of Aum Pelden from a nearby village.
Indeed, She was not willing and reluctant to go
But, how can she refuse? My old grandma!
After all it was your instruction to do so.

They celebrated wedding in the traditional way
Soon after the wedding, she was taken there.
And that was a traditional system before where;
Bride have to leave to her bridegroom's dwelling.
Despite being guest, my mother was their bride then
There they lived together, and kinship was developed faster.

Tragically, time didn't allow to be together with her dear one
She felt in merely departure, losing of ones darling forever; 
Leaving her lonely in the cyclic existence, only with a wounded heart.
He went to serve as a soldier, leaving her charming darling behind
How can he disobey the order? It was a Royal decree- 
Which was a compulsory service to the government then.

She didn't know that she will face a misery-a hardship
There, in the absence of her pathetic Darling!
My faithful maternal was treated as slave and exploited;
Such was a heartbreak punishment, her aunt had imposed.
She has completely lost her fair appearance and shaped,
No mildly right was given to her and justice was not at all there. 

Fortunately, for a poor mother like mine,
She has her compassionate mom-My old grandma!
She was impatience when her daughter was mistreated,
She burn into fume and bristle, when their bride was harassed.
There, she promptly summoned back my helpless mother,
When captured in the thorny hand by those ghastly families.

I was born and brought up in the old hut of my grandma,
Her mothering effort for me are immense, with love and care.
Indeed, she was my first erudite guru back at the home;
She taught me the life skill and its practical knowledge,
How to respect the elders and cultivate bond with the buddies.
I could vividly remember her last wish once given to me;
Never forget to return gratitude to the ones parents,
And to serve with dedication to the country and people
I Vow to thee-My old Grandma! I'll fulfill your all wishes. 

                               Found in my old Diary: Written in grade XII, 2012