Little story of my life

Little story of my life

I come from a far flung village in south eastern Bhutan. When my cousins and friends in Thimphu saw mobiles and laptops as soon as they were born, I was just a little dark boy running after cattle and herd of goats with filth -laden knees along the terrace of paddy field. They travelled in the car long before I saw how they looked like. When they washed their clothes in a washing machine, I was wearing the same clothe I took off the previous day. I   have never operated a washing machine not because I didn’t want to but never have my parents been able to afford one. I don’t know how to operate it. I never used laptop until I reached college because I never could afford one. I used to hesitate using others. When rest of the youths typed love letters on a computer, I used to write official applications with a Chinese pen. When I first saw computer in class eight, I was just wondering as to how it would operate.(There was time when my principal called me to his office and tranfered a song on a drive and gave it to me. Seeing him insert that another computer I was like, oh my god what an amazing thing was that. I wondered what that small thing from which music played, could be).

When I was went to boarding school in 2008, which was turning point of my life. I used computer thenI learned how to switch on and shutdown the desktop when I was in class 11 thanks to CHHIPHEN RIGPHEL project. By the end class 12, I used to type a word after five minutes after searching alphabetic letters. (There was a time when once I thought there was no letter “Q” on the key board.)

When many people married through phone, I just heard the name. I saw mobile phone when I was in class seven when a friend of mine came from Thimphu. Until then, I used to get mixed up between mobile phone and a calculator. I did not know what voucher was and used think that money was inserted from some holes. (My elder brother once asked a friend of his from Thimphu who was in the village, as to where the money was inserted-we used to mistake balance for money). When I qualified for class 11 with good grades, my dad gave me six thousand to purchase a mobile. Since then, I have been using mobiles starting from keypad wala to the touch screen wala, thanks to my parents. (I take this privilege to gratify my parents for buying me a standard phone despite them using simple phone like NOKE 1600).

Until I came to Thimphu in 2009, I never saw an Indian toilet, forget seeing European toilet pot. Until then, back in the village, we used to defecate inside the bush or the clumps of bamboo. We used to wipe our butts with broad leaves of BHATEY (a plant that grows in southern foothills).When I came to Thimphu, there was another historic time when I went inside the toilet and found none. The high standing pot with a closed lid disguised itself to be a sink to wash face. After a few minutes of searching, I confirmed that I mistook toilet for a face washing sink. After discovering that toilet could be as high as European pot, I squatted on it.  However, I squatted keeping my legs on the pot and felt so uncomfortable to empty my bowels. By the time I found toilet, my bowel was fine and I excreted a little. After wiping my butt, I did not know that there was button/handle for flushing-I used around one and half bucket of water to finally flush it. (Last time when my dad came, I taught him as to how to use the toilet before he was confused).

When many people used Dettol or other quality soaps, I used OK soap to wash clothes, lifebuoy that I hear people use it for bathing their dogs in some other countries, to take bathe. What were jeans pants, I never knew. I never saw until I went to boarding school. Until then I used to wear a half pants that used to have hook button. It was an orange shirt that we wear during summer, I have worn after my mum bought me for the first time in life. Then, Bata slippers were the cheapest of all and my mum would buy me a pair which I used to wear with great care. Until I went to schools, I never brushed my teeth. Even during my time brushing of teeth used to be done by the twigs of a plant called “kadam”. Perhaps, it was a failure on my part to never have updated things. We chose our life the way situation demands and that has a big bearing in our future. I must not be as lucky as others, but I am happy for what has happened to me. I learned a lesson for life and that has shaped me in becoming who I am today.