Thursday 26 November 2009
God-Fearing, Self-Respecting Thimphu Citizenry
It was seven O’clock and at this time of the evening, the streets of Thimphu were illumed by different colors of light and the Thimphu populace moved in a zombie trance, the purpose of which was hard for an average intellect to pin down coherently.
Our hero, Tashi, resembled the crowd in the respects of zombie movement but he moved past the only movie theatre in the city with quick steps. The legendary movie hall is said to house Nilkamal plastic chairs and mosquitoes enough to suck a single viewer down to skins (keeping in mind, mosquitoes are not interested in bones). Rumor has it that a doctor while watching a premiere once remarked “The infesters here in the theatre could put the blood bank in the national referral hospital to shame!” And the doctor never went near the theatre in the future, not because he disliked the movies shown there, but for the fear of mosquitoes loitering freely in the hall. (I even heard he drafted a letter requesting the people responsible for traffic rules to make stringent laws for the traffic to be followed by the mosquitoes there. The responsible people are busy discussing this issue at the policy level, which is consuming most of their waking hours. The traffic issues in Thimphu can wait).
And thus, our hero passed the theatre unhurt. He heaved a sigh of blatant relief once he approached a nearby Pan Shop. As is the trend, he pulled down his voice to a mere whisper and snorted, “Four pieces of Wills cigarettes please” handing over a twenty ngultrum bill.
The tobacco business in the country has shot up since the ban on tobacco was imposed by the government. And even, the ban on tobacco has made the public more gentle and whispery. The twofold upside of the ban- good business and gentle citizens!
The flip side of the ban on tobacco products is best left undiscussed here.
The aum in the Pan Shop did a ritual latest to its fashion but in such dexterity that Tashi wouldn’t have noticed it if he was a new buyer to the product. The aum, pulled from under her armpit a packet of cigarettes, chanted “Om Mani Padme Hung” which came so naturally to her; pulled out four pieces, and handed them over to Tashi nonchalantly. The natural chanting of the aum raised doubts in Tashi if it was a holy-day. But then, he waved away the doubt keeping in mind, Bhutanese are god-fearing people, and those “Om Mani Padme Hung” should come naturally to the Bhutanese citizenry.
From the corner of the town where he bought the cigarettes, Tashi moved into the main street, lighted a cigarette and started smoking near some policemen, already having forgotten the aum in the shop and her chants. And such is the quickness of man’s forgetfulness which can only be attributed to too many things looming in his thoughts. And his thoughts were full of beer- and many bottles of them too.
The next moment saw Tashi negotiating traffic, nearly hitting a car in Brownian motion but he was glad enough to hear someone in the car just shout “Jedha, Watch where you are going!” and he disappeared into what looked like a bar. In the bar, like every self-respecting Bhutanese, he took to frightful drinking long into the night!
Our hero, Tashi, resembled the crowd in the respects of zombie movement but he moved past the only movie theatre in the city with quick steps. The legendary movie hall is said to house Nilkamal plastic chairs and mosquitoes enough to suck a single viewer down to skins (keeping in mind, mosquitoes are not interested in bones). Rumor has it that a doctor while watching a premiere once remarked “The infesters here in the theatre could put the blood bank in the national referral hospital to shame!” And the doctor never went near the theatre in the future, not because he disliked the movies shown there, but for the fear of mosquitoes loitering freely in the hall. (I even heard he drafted a letter requesting the people responsible for traffic rules to make stringent laws for the traffic to be followed by the mosquitoes there. The responsible people are busy discussing this issue at the policy level, which is consuming most of their waking hours. The traffic issues in Thimphu can wait).
And thus, our hero passed the theatre unhurt. He heaved a sigh of blatant relief once he approached a nearby Pan Shop. As is the trend, he pulled down his voice to a mere whisper and snorted, “Four pieces of Wills cigarettes please” handing over a twenty ngultrum bill.
The tobacco business in the country has shot up since the ban on tobacco was imposed by the government. And even, the ban on tobacco has made the public more gentle and whispery. The twofold upside of the ban- good business and gentle citizens!
The flip side of the ban on tobacco products is best left undiscussed here.
The aum in the Pan Shop did a ritual latest to its fashion but in such dexterity that Tashi wouldn’t have noticed it if he was a new buyer to the product. The aum, pulled from under her armpit a packet of cigarettes, chanted “Om Mani Padme Hung” which came so naturally to her; pulled out four pieces, and handed them over to Tashi nonchalantly. The natural chanting of the aum raised doubts in Tashi if it was a holy-day. But then, he waved away the doubt keeping in mind, Bhutanese are god-fearing people, and those “Om Mani Padme Hung” should come naturally to the Bhutanese citizenry.
From the corner of the town where he bought the cigarettes, Tashi moved into the main street, lighted a cigarette and started smoking near some policemen, already having forgotten the aum in the shop and her chants. And such is the quickness of man’s forgetfulness which can only be attributed to too many things looming in his thoughts. And his thoughts were full of beer- and many bottles of them too.
The next moment saw Tashi negotiating traffic, nearly hitting a car in Brownian motion but he was glad enough to hear someone in the car just shout “Jedha, Watch where you are going!” and he disappeared into what looked like a bar. In the bar, like every self-respecting Bhutanese, he took to frightful drinking long into the night!
# posted by Sonam Phuntsho @ Thursday, November 26, 2009 
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