INTRODUCTION

Perhaps there are many people who share  similar experiences like I do,  yet  when a problem befalls on you, it feels as though you are are the  only person undergoing such intense pain. Because you can't tell how much it hurts- the depth and magnitude, your experience is limited to yourself. The kind of feeling I am enjoying today is blend of fear and confidence; happy and not so happy one.

BACKGROUND

Having had  undergone unprecedented phase of life earlier, the current time that flows seem to be in my favor. Although nothing can be said in terms of warranty how long this good news would last, I pray Almighty gives me enough blessings to see the light at the end of the tunnel. One of the primary reasons as to why I located myself to Thimphu was for investigating the fertility status of self and wife. Having been married for more than four long year, with two devastating miscarriages- one in January 17, 2020 and another in January 3, 2022, the subtle pressure I was feeling on the need to posses a child was getting intense. But there was something that was obstructing the flow of my dream-fullfilment. So, following a gynae-cological recommendation, I carried out my semen analysis. While the first one done sometime in October was very disheartening wherein  I was found Oligozoospermia- a condition when your sperm count is lower than 15 million per mili-litre of semen, the second one that I did was promising one. The second semen analysis I did was after taking clomiphene for the period of three months. In addition to it, on the recommendation of the doctor, I  also tried taking walnuts a day for at least two week or more. Perhaps, all of these helped. 

A GOOD NEWS

A happy news happened to strike  my ears in June when she was due for her monthly period. My wife informed me she hadn't had period for a few days. However, given the experience of the past when she miscarried just a few days after we started rejoicing, we didn't bother much. We wanted to wait for sometime before we conducted home pregnancy test. On 20th June, my inquisitiveness to understand exactly what it was overcome. She was positive on the home pregnancy test. But as said in the beginning, to a skeptical heart, there was nothing that would bring you cent percentage delight or excitement. 

I have been  counting days- day 46th, 47th 48th, and today as I write this, its 76th day today, corresponding to 10 weeks and 6 days. I just wanted to keep account of the fact that Uma is pregnant since day 26. This is just 20 days after missing her send period. 

 The Electricity crises in Jomotsangkha

INTRODUCTION

I don't exactly remember when Jomotsangkhag got it electric supply for the first time. My parents and relatives, when asked, say that it was there before I was born. And I was born in 1990. Therefore, electricity supply in Jomotsangkha must have come sometime in 1988 or so. However, as unreliable as it was then, the supply was from Assam, India. Because it was regulated by the people in Assam, the power outage would occur any time of the day or night. When required badly, there would be an outage. And even today the situation is no different, although the connection from Bhutan has already been done. 

FREQUENT OUTAGE

Having been born and Brought up in Jomotsangkha, erstwhile Daifam, a place in the extreme East, attention from the policy makers seem to be negligible, or minimum, if at all.  Perhaps, because Daifam has just around 8899 population, with just 1202 households, BPC might not have shown its keenness in solving the ever linger issue. Also, adding to the never-getting solved issue as this, could be the location of Jomotsangkha from Bhutan side. I am sure it would cost BPC a huge amount, taking the heavy power transmission lines from Samdrup Choling side. I have every now and been hearing people complain of erratic power supply and frequent outage. As per the medical coverage on the outage following are the times there was power outage. And the response BPC personnel gave in all the time was the same: accessibility issue due to thick vegetation, swollen river and continuous rainfall or lightening strike, gusty wind etc. 

The  power supply to daifam, as per the information shared by BPC on its website, Jomotsangkha's line  is a 33 KV emanating from 132/33 KV substation in bhangtar on  total distance  of 260 KM with 175 Transformers in between. Since Jomotsangkha Dungkhag consisting of Langchenphu, Serthi and Lauri Gewogs,  received power supply from Bhutan, sometime in 2014 end since then there have been so many complaints of outages as follows:

On 10th October 2015, a media coverage  by the Kuensel titled: "Lauri and Serthi still in the dark", it was reported that there was no power supply for more than a month. It furthers states that in the same year, Serthi was without electricity in April and Lauri February. 

On 24th  June 2017- Kuensel again covered a news titled: Erratic power supply irks jomotsangkha residents". Similarly on 5th October 2020, BPC uploaded on their website informing the general public that electricity supply was disrupted  since 27th September. Taking 18 days, the power supply was restored. 

BBS also covered a news on 18th May, titled: the power supply in Jomotshangkha Dungkhag and its three gewogs of Langchenphug, Serthig and Lauri is restored at around 3:30 this afternoon. Electricity supply in the Dungkhag was cut off since 15th May.

In the BBS coverage of  June 22, 2022 issue  titled: "Persistent power outage in Jomotshangkha infuriates residents", It reports  the three Gewog were without  power supply for 17 days.  While the same situation reported by BPC on its Facebook page states that power outage that commenced since  was  10th  September was corrected and power restored on 27th September 2020.

Surprisingly, in all the notification and clarification BPC has provided states that the power blackout happened due to heavy rainfall, gusty wind, flood, landslides, animals attack and lightening strikes. And the reason for them to take long in find faults occurred due to inaccesbilty, thick forest, fear of wild animals, swollen river and etc.

Trypanophobia

Of late, I have started feeling that Diabetes might have been knocking the door of my health. This was following some vague signs of Diabetes, that I knew being a Google Doctor.

And today, I just wanted to get myself checked. (Although, I have changed my dinner time to 6 PM from 9 PM as one mitigating measure incase it's because of eating too much- a blunt thought I have).

Today, I availed an appointment(ofcourse with a support from known one) and did a blood test, which I was thinking of doing since some time. However, I forgot that, to get the result, the toughest stepping stone to drawing blood was getting my antecubital fossa(part opposite to elbow) pierced. Although, it's not a mere fear of getting pierced that bothered me, the sight and the size of injection that did . Or perhaps it's the combination of other incidents of childhood and now that contributed to this pathetic feeling.

I am sure, I am not alone when it comes this weird fear of injection that's called Trypanophobia. Many of us have been a part of child- frightening tactics at home or in neighborhood that could also have been fueling this fear.

Whenever a child nagged her/his parents about not taking meals or not listening to parents, many of us would frighten a child by telling them we are from health and have carried an injection to inject anyone who cried or didn't listen to parents.

Or even in my personal experience, I have often deterred my cousins from following me to Bazar by telling them that I was going to hospital to get injected and if they wanted the same they might follow me.

So, the bottom line is, almost everyone of us consciously or unconsciously have been feeding our mind into thinking that injection is a very scary thing, by way of frightening children or through own personal experience of the past. And that translates to reality when we near an injection. And same happend to me. Trypanophobia!