Tuesday 21 December 2010

Winter of 2013


During the snowfall in Feb 2013
It is winter and schools and students across Bhutan are on their winter vacation. My sons too are on vacation. The cold winter days and the fact that I don't need to be on my sons' duty mean re-scheduling of my daily life.

The days are shorter and the sleeps longer. Between the Korean kerosene heater and the chinese electric blanket one tries to find warmth in the harsh Himalyan winter. At this altitude the afternoon wind can be harsh. The sun, which geography has taught us tilts towards the Australians at this time of the year, seem artificial. It is bright and sunny...but where is the warmth??

This is also time to 'neighbour-up' ( a phrase I have designed to mean...steal into your good neighbour's place towards evening and wait until they invite you over for dinner). But then, in return your neighbours also 'neighbour-up' to you. It has to be reciprocal.

Winter also reminds you of the volume and quantum of construction activities going on around in Thimphu. When the bitterly cold and crisp air blows up into a wind and deposits some micro silica in your face and 'hemchu', you know where it came from. It is from that heap of sand and boulder on the pedestrian path.

Christmas is here or so! We have a saying in Nepali, which translates as "to a blind ox...it is neither full-moon or new moon". Yet I know the significance of this auspicious day. Some of the finest people I have met or know are from the community that celebrate yuletide. Merry x-mas folks...I mean it from the bottom of my heart!