Gaviscon

I present you in a tray
Both life and purpose per se
The best I would say
It is a gay disposition
And Profusion in life
That finds purpose in your strife

Never paid attention to warnings
Instead left myself to fate
Crying and then praying
Laughing like a lover
Wishing it not to be over

Undefined life's purpose be
Unidentified life may be
Facts of life
Is warning for naive
Broken mirror is a sign
Will fade with time

And it goes... "the broken locks were a warning
You got inside my head
I tried best to be guarded
I am an open book instead
I still see your reflection
Inside of my eyes
That are looking for purpose
They are still looking for life..."

Let's prevent virus from taking its toll

“ Money isn’t that important, except when a lack of it stops you from being able to help a Loved One who is suffering,” Jane- Ann Crowley a college friend of a sufferer told a community newspaper called Canning Times.

Theda Myint a broadcast journalist is suffering from Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (enduring chronic fatigue). It started when she contracted Hongkong flu while she was on a trip to England in 1999- a viral infection caused by Influenza A Virus (H3N2). Hongkong flu pandemic of 1968-69 killed 500,000 Hongkong residents, more than thirty thousand died in United States, and in Australia Influenza and pneumonia is the 13th leading causes of death.

34-year-old Myint need not necessarily have to join the list, even though the paper says that the basic of human activities like speaking and sitting are physically exhaustive with her illness. There are stories of sufferers from around the world who have survived the suffering. She could too, if we joined to help her.Her friends and families have rallied for public help. Ms Crowley has started fund raising effort and collected a humble ten thousand dollars for medical expenses and treatments, which could hit hundred thousand dollars. Her monthly treatment cost is at one thousand dollars now. She survived the suffering so far, with more of us coming together to support her I believe that she will make it.

Well I am not trying to touch upon the fact and report to you. When I read the paper this morning, the story touched me and went online to find more about her. She has a Facebook page and her fans are taking initiative to reach out to people who could help her in anyways possible. I joined the club. I thought I would upload this article in my own page and let my friends and family know about her. We could do a lot in our own small ways, for instance pray and put collective positive thoughts on her behalf, drop a dollar or two in her account and some of us could also reach out to an individual, groups, and institutions, which could help, let’s do so. We could stop the Virus from taking its toll. Not with Theda who is in dire desperation for the second shot at Life.

Home- back home

Richard, 65-year-old immigrant from South Africa is a construction worker in a five-storied building in the north of Perth city and there are many others who are in his league from all parts of the world to make few more dollars and a good life.

35 years ago, Richard came to Australia for a better life, which he has now (better than he would have in SA). He was 25 then. Today he has a job that fetches him AUD $ 37 an hour. He lives in a rented house.

“I have another four to five years to work” he says, you can’t go on working in a work like this, it would have been easier if I were a teacher or any work that would not require physical strength.” He adds in his accent with a trace of South African and Aussie in most stances.

Richard is an Indian by root, but his accent and language betrays his blood. His English language is good, he speaks with proper intonation and careful use of words. It had helped him to acquire a permanent residentship of Australia.

I asked him if it was easy for him to come and settle down in Australia. He did not even hesitate to say life was better here, then and now. He is right, this is a great country as it is possible to own a 50 plus inch plasma Television for a person who has not been to school. He is planning to buy a house and settle down in an area where he lives now- the Northern suburb of the city.

“ It would probably cost me three hundred thousand dollar plus,” and referring to the building he was working on and he added, “ you know, the top floor of this building would cost million dollars and prices falls as you come down.”

He is currently working on a building being constructed as a part of existing retirement village of the RSL care centre. It is located next to the Edith Cowan University in Perth, WA. The residents of the centre have all the facilities that one could dream of on their retirement plans. Most of the residents drive convertible BMWs, Audi, Mercedes etc. They have gardeners, cleaners, and fresh bread delivery every morning and other utilities one requires for a life during perfect holidays.

“ This life is possible for us if we won a multi-million dollar jack pot,” a New Zealander shouted when we saw a gray haired man pulling from a corner with a bright green Lamborghini.

Everyone laughed out loud and swearing the most famous word among workers, which qualify as any tenses in grammar.

A 32-year-old New Zealander, Brodie is one of the many among his countrymen to make some Australian dollars. He was a chef for the last ten years working in restaurants around the country and his own. In the past, he had come to Australia and worked through recruitment agencies, where major part of his earnings had to be shared between agency and him. It gave him one advantage in this visit; he used his personal relations he had made then to get a job without having to go through recruitment agency. 

“I also had restaurant jobs lined up,” he informed us. “ I called Frank (supervisor) and he had a job for me and took it,” he added, “ restaurants demand odd hours of work and this is good.”

Brodie is here with his wife and his two daughters are back home. He has his plans too. He sends few dollars back home and save the rest to buy a house in New Zealand. The interesting part of his current work is he gets to cook too.

Every Saturday, workers collect five dollars each and Frank tops up a bit for barbeque. Brodie does shopping with the money and enjoy barbecuing to serve heaps of food for his mates at 9:30 am. He is good with his hands as he chop tomatoes and mushrooms with a skill of pro. He makes it look simple as he spreads olive oil on the stove and bacon over it. Ten years have taught him how to treat food for good taste. It becomes evident when Smoko shed becomes quieter than ever when workers work on their share of barbecue, omelettes, salad and sausages for another fifteen minutes. Quiet a food for five dollars.

Fifty to sixty thousand dollars is a fair amount of income in a year- the skilled construction workers are expected to make it in Australia. They can afford to spend on goods that have brand and style. Paul comes to work riding a Harley Davidson, which he bought as a second-hand ride for thirty seven thousand dollars. There are others who spend money in private parties, casinos, booze and women (this is a whole lot of another story).

Australia is a land of opportunity for those who have skills and willing to leave home for a new one. Settlers and Immigrants usually have a look of disbelief when you inform them that you want to go back home than stay here. I can understand them; they have come with an intention of staying here with all their gears. For some one like me why do I call home, if I wanted to stay away from it.

Sleepless nights and painful days...

Alalla! Amaaa! huunuuuu… I am up. It is one in the morning. I hold my breath to decode the waves carrying communication of pain. It is human reaction to whipping, and a child, not over five, screaming out of fear. The horrific cry is coming from the house next to mine. One is obviously a mother and other one is a boy.
Ama! Ala! Amamaahuuuuunu…
There is sound of glasses and porcelain wares breaking as the abuse continues. I contemplate between going back to sleep and preventing violence against woman and child. I hold back within the serenity of my house.
Last time I tried to play the role of a responsible citizen, in my previous neighborhood, I was accused of having an affair with woman being abused. Husband got back at me, questioning my intention.
Anyways, the on going fight is not between gladiators, nor any of the fight I had witnessed in the past. It is always a drunk or a possessive bastard thrashing guts out of his wife.
Mother and child continue to cry with inflicted pain to last their life. I believe more so with the child.
I have, as a child, grown up witnessing unpleasant affairs. I worry when it will stop. So many children are exposed to domestic violence in many forms.
A five-year-old girl, who lives in my neighborhood told me a recent story.
“Uncle, you know that Didi who works upstairs, she has marks all over her body- she has bruises on her waist,” she added, “she was whipped for a minor reason.
I had heard of the incident- babysitter who worked and lived with the family for the last seventeen years was punished for curry that didn’t turn well-  I let her continue.
“We all make mistake, and she had made small mistake and she was punished very badly.” She concluded,” this uncle is bad than I thought, so bad of him to beat someone who cooks food for him, looks after his baby, cleans his house and clothes.”

I thought so too. Not fair. It wasn’t fair for that woman who was crying for help, when I was dwelling in my old house, either. She was going up and down the stairs, crying and asking for help. She was beaten, robed off her mobile phone to prevent from informing the police, by her husband. Concerned, when I came out of the house, she asked me to help her inform the police. I went inside to get my phone and called 113.
“Hello,Police la?”
“Yes this is police.”
“There is a woman in my building who is seeking your help.”
“Could you give me your name and address,” police from the other end added, “and your phone number please?”
I diligently gave all the information I was asked. Fifteen minutes passed and no one turned up. The woman begged me to call again. She was worried her husband might come back and beat her again. I pushed the call button again.
This time conversation with the police did not start well. Never the less, police from the other end explained why they did not react to the call I had made earlier. They receive too many of it, all pranks. They took my number again and he informed that the patrol will arrive in five minutes.
While I was waiting outside for the police, a man was coming towards us. I asked if he saw police who were suppose to come here. He pointed to the group of them who were in the nearby junction.
“They are there,” and he asked, “who called them?” He was sincerely interested and polite in his tone.
“I called them because woman upstairs requested me.” I informed him, “she was crying and calling for help.”
He did not say a thing, but he looked at me for a while, and left.
By then the policemen were nearing the building, I went ahead to introduce myself. One of them started talking with me and rest left for the house after I told them where it was. By the time, police was satisfied with what I had to say, we went inside the house of the woman. Husband was building his own case.
“Who is this guy who called the police, now you have to tell me and the police here,” he was interrogating his wife, “what is it that you have with this guy?”
Husband was the man whom I had inquired about the arriving police earlier.
I was infuriated by what I heard. Police did not pay any heed to what he said and took him away. I was told had he will be locked for few days.
Well the story of abuse continues. A primary school kid in his essay on happiness writes, " I am happy." He adds,"I am not happy when my father and mother fights."
The number of incidents and related offenses are growing too in Bhutan.
In 2009, the reported cases of assault, battery and related offenses were 565 , highest among the nature of crimes. The reported cases of such cases were 440 in 2008.

Scarecrow

Road was bumpy, dusty and the truck was old, my wife and I had difficulty holding ourselves to the seat- we were on to visit a house of a probable baby sitter in a village nearby Gomtu town. Local boy who was accompanying us informed that sometimes the difference in time is negligible between on wheels and by foot. It took us more than an hour.

Driver dropped us at the end of the road opposite the village; we were supposed to go on foot from there on. As we started to discuss the remaining journey, a man came to inquire what we were up to. We found out from him that most of the girls from that village worked in a Dolomite mining company few yards away from where we stood. It gave us temporary relief of not having to walk up to the village which appeared closer than it really was.

The girl we were going to see had an experience and worked with two families at two different times in Thimphu. She was carrying seven bricks stacked on her head in a construction site. The site was filled with dolomite dust, heat from the southern sun was on, and the risk of injury did cross my mind.

We waited for her to return to get the next stack of bricks. Her friend informed her (with whom we had conversation in her absence) that we were there to discuss new opportunity for her.

Her response was FLAT no. She would not say why, but insisted on a new stack of bricks for delivery. Her friends told her to hear us out and think about it. She would not. She earned eighty ngultrum per day, we offered her more. Discussed perks, advance payments, and rest. She told us that she would not work for anyone, and particularly not anyone from Thimphu.

We were loosing words of attraction and reasonably better proposal to change her mind. She would not listen and all she said was she did not want to go to Thimphu.  We decided to head back.

In the nearby camp, we talked to the some of the women who knew her and her stories. They told us that she had gone to Thimphu to work for some Dasho, where she worked for nine months. She was deprived of sleep because she had to work late and get up early. She cleaned house, cooked for the family, family gatherings, archery matches, washed clothes, she was abused physically and verbally and worst of all she was made to eat food prepared for pet dogs. So they were told. She ran from that house.

After few months in her home, she was send to another house because additional income was a necessity. Her father was wasted pain in the neck, and mother too sick to do anything. This time they were more promises, more money and less work. She was convinced to give a second shot.

Her stay did not last for few months (four months to be precise) she was accused of stealing, abused in all manners, refused telephone calls to her brother and payment for her work. She fled never to return.

So having heard what she went through, we gave up the idea that she might change her mind. Local boy kept telling us, he will continue to pursue her and we told him he should not.

On our way back, we further probed into her stories. Well we doubted on such cruelty. We could not rule out altogether, story could be true with little exaggeration. We feared what if it was true. Spiteful treatment of human being floated among the dolomite dust throughout our way back home. 

Bhutan's GDP Fiscal Year 2009-10

The Gross Domestic product of Bhutan in the fiscal year 2009-10 was recorded at 7.6 percent. The accelerated performance in the construction and service sectors contributed to the major portion of value of the goods and services produced in the country. 

The tertiary sector was the main contributor to the GDP growth followed by secondary sector and primary sector.  The service providing sector, including community and social services, transport, storage and communication showed a robust growth. The overall performance of agriculture also shows an improvement.

 Mining and Quarry, Electricity, Hotels and Restaurants show a decline comparing to the previous fiscal year.  There is also a substantial decline in the Manufacturing and Private, Social and Recreational services in 2009-10.

According to the Annual Report of the Royal Monetary Authority of Bhutan the Bhutanese economy is expected to grow at the rate of nine percent for the rest of 10the Five-Year plan. 

Sunny day and Sunday may not fall on the same day.

Rain, Rain, Go Away, if Jigme had a way he would want to gather his harvest on a sunny day. 

Every year, towards the end of September, Blessed Rainy Day (Thruebab Duechen) is celebrated in Bhutan for several reasons. On this day, all the water resources are believed to be pure enough to wash away accumulated bad Karma. Thruebab, for many years, marked an end of Monsoon and farming, and the beginning of harvest season. After 23^rd September this year, Monsoon did not end and harvest could not begin, shower continued in all parts of the country through September and October.

In Paro, farmers are unable to harvest their crops which were left to dry for threshing due to prolonged monsoon.  Farmers in Bhutan started to cut paddy for threshing following the age old tradition and belief that monsoon season would end after Thruebab Duechen. This year weather is taking an unfamiliar toll in a country where way of life is pretty much roadmap by the past experiences and certainties.  Sun did shine for a day or two after Thruebab, barely enough to cut paddy, and rain continued there after without a sign of an end. Farmers helplessly witnessed their post harvest losses.

In Tsirang, Barsha wished the rain away on Dashain. She could not recall any of her past celebrations on a rainy day, and dearly wished for bright and sunny day, after her year-long wait for the festival. Most of her family and relatives postponed travel and waited for the atmosphere to clear to receive Tika from the next Keith and Kin. Jigme and Barsha had a very little knowledge about why the rain would not go away.

In the past, precipitation in the northern Bhutan was recorded at about 40 millimeters mostly snow. In the temperate central regions, a yearly average rainfall of around 1,000 millimeters, and 7,800 millimeters of rain in the southern region. Thimphu experienced winter months with high possibility of snowfall (December through February and March) with an average rainfall of 20 millimeters a month, which increased steadily thereafter to 220 millimeters in August with a total annual rainfall of 650 millimeters. Jigme’s decision and Barsha’s expectation is based on these facts, which have not remained the same.

 

In the last few years rainfall stats of Bhutan have changed, which could fairly be concluded from the continuing rainfall experienced towards the end of October and without certainty of snowfall in the main Thimphu City this winter. It leads to lot of question for the future, what would be the new reference for the farmers to make decisions? What kind of expectation should a new generations have, who are use to the past experiences?  How prepared are we to avoid post harvest losses in the future?