Friday, January 11, 2013
Tuesday, December 25, 2012
Losing community vitality
With
internet age breaking into the every aspect of our life and the civilization, I
am awestruck by the simple fact that we have changed the whole system of our community
and life style. We are into what we proudly call as Social media during most
part of our day apparently trying to construct the social web and also keeping
in touch with our friends. World’s most of the population are into facebooking,
tweeting and in various forms of media and the ones who are not into these are
most probably deprived of internet facility. However the question that goes
unanswered is that are these things really a form of social interaction which
would make our life thrive if not better?
Few
months back, I attended this symposium organized by Japanese architects. There
was already a so much of outsider coming to Bhutan and reminding Bhutanese
architects about traditional architecture of Bhutan that we have to listen from
our peers about young architects not trying even to know about our culture and
traditions which are deeply rooted in our architecture. They went and went
basically trying to teach us the same thing which we have been looking at since
we took keen interest in architecture. However amongst many Japanese architects
who presented their works and case studies of Bhutanese architecture, what
caught my conscience was when their team leader started his presentation.
He
started his presentation by showing the picture of a great Japan tsunami 2011. He
begin by saying that Japan is proud and boastful of their technologies which
has earned the fame of being one of the best in the world which contributed in
changing the whole pattern of civilization, however when there was big
disaster, these technologies did not help- mobiles phones were off, electricity
was not there, cars couldn’t ply because of the flood and debris collected over
and the only thing that helped was people. People
helped people.
It
was such a big realization that it made me think over about how I don’t know my
immediate neighbor even after staying in that same building for 6 months now
let alone the whole tenants. And that I have not even tried to know them. We
live in such a small community and yet we don’t know people around. I keep in
touch with my friends in social media and all, but I have never bothered to ask
the name of the person who stays in the next flat. What if such disasters occur
some day, I won’t be able to ask for help to my friends who stay far away. Even
when some of our friends unknowingly leave us latched inside the flat, we have
to call our friend and wait for him to reach the house to open the door. It’s a
pity that we are busy trying to catch our friends online but do not have a
social interaction with people who are at immediate distance. We go for
clubbing and partying, but we have never thought of enjoying a simple gathering
over a dinner with friends and relatives.
Although
the Japanese claimed of community vitality that which is still existent in
Bhutan, I feel we are already in the losing phase. We are turning into unsocial
aliens, not even animals because animals have a big sense of togetherness and
that’s why we say flock of birds, herd of cattle, etc.
The
price of building a community is expensive until we are in adversity.
Wednesday, November 7, 2012
To be good, it must last
“To be good, it must
last” was the phrase which caught my simple mind. It was during one of those
days after I finished 12th and was in a school representing my
younger brother’s result day. The guest of honor was a district magistrate who
while giving away the prizes to the students, who have out-stood others in the
exam, made a very big statement to those young kids gathered in front of the
school. I really do not know if students understood what he meant or not, but
for me it kind of came as a very good food-for-thought.
How many things abruptly succumbs to a change of failure and
suddenly good thing they once stood for is evaporated in a thin air? How many
heroes end with a big tragedy when they meet their nemesis? How many of us are
not able to keep up our good works or achievements? It’s as easy as to say that
nothing lasts longer and that’s the beauty of everything in nature.
Today as I stand here looking at the same articles in a blog
for about more than a month, I get a bizarre feeling whether the blog that I
loved once so dearly is in dire need of my attention? And I get a guilty
feeling of those days when I even forgot to check the blog, and I am here
shamelessly trying to ask forgiveness for not being able to update and keep the
life breathing healthily in it. And of course to those bloggers with whom me
and my blog grew up, I am sorry to have not updated my blog and has left the
space for this long.
Of course, in the stage where I have just begun my life, the dreams and the works occupy most of my time. And it’s become tough to keep the strings of other things in life uptight and updated.
Now I understand what the phrase meant and what magistrate
then was trying to tell the young kids. To be good, or to earn the quality if
being good, one must continue the good spirit of doing good things and never
let the good things slip away. Just being good at one time and gradually losing
the quality doesn't qualify to be good.
Written November 07, 2012 by Sogyel
BloggingSunday, September 23, 2012
Charlie Chaplin story
Let me share this
wonderful parable told me by my friend, Navin Rai when we were together in
college. It kind of shows how world is filled with wrong judgments made
intentionally by few people fueled by pretext of acquaintances, family
relationship and misuse of power and whether the ignorance and quality of the
jurors also attributes the birth of such judgments which goes on to create the
series of effects on the world is left to the judgment of my readers.
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Picture courtesy : http://4.bp.blogspot.com/ |
Charlie Chaplin, the
famous man who we know for the laughter and comedy told through the pure
silence once disguised and participated in a “Charlie Chaplin Look-alike”
competition. Now for my readers, who are not aware of such competition, then
allow me to enlighten you with what it meant by ‘look-alike’. You see, there are many of us who look like certain celebrities,
and we are sometimes famously called by their names as well. So our Charlie
here went to participate in one such competition where people who looked like
him were competing for the title of a person who looks like him.
Funny enough, the
result was astonishing. Charlie Chaplin stood third the “Charlie Chaplin
Look-A-Like” competition.
Whether he disguised so
much so that he completely looked different or whether like it happens in many
places much to the dismay of an honest winner, or the jurors were corrupted,
one can draw one’s own conclusion, but the message was so clear.
World is filled with many such wrong judgments.
Written September 23, 2012 by Sogyel
Literature, StoryThursday, September 6, 2012
And the life has begun...
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Picture courtesy: http://qnaoflife.files.wordpress.com/ |
End of anything is
always succeeded by the beginning of another.
Like a boy joyously
entering the manhood, I can safely assume that my manhood has begun. And before
all of you jump into drawing your part of remarks regarding my statement, let
me make it clear of what I meant by manhood. In a clear concise, it’s my life
outside the school walls. It’s a life where I have to set a goal in life to do
something and make finally a life of my own, you know with all things like enough
amount of wealth to lead life sufficiently, a good responsibility towards
serving parents, relatives and the government, and of course a beautiful wife
to settle down and have loads of kids.
I believe in everyone’s life, there comes a
time, where we have to deal with thing, a kind of road-not-taken which we
assures ourselves with even though we really don’t have a clear picture of what’s
awaiting us at the end of the cross road. I have had mine and I think it’s safe
for me to assume that it’s the right decision I have taken in my life. I don’t know
where it will lead me, but by not trying to sit for government civil service
exam and by committing myself in a private sector, I like to believe that it
was right for me to have forsaken the advices of parents and senior friends and
tread along the path and let life sail smoothly.
Life so far for me has been
me trying to fit into someone’s system, heed to someone’s order and repeat someone’s
history. I have had nothing of myself so far in reaching at this level. And I feel
all those involved in making me what I am today has indeed done an incredible
job. However, after completing the five years of college life, as if for a
change in the way I want my life to be, I took a chance and I shall take it
further, and hopefully live my life fully.
Today I am thrilled
with the fact that after all those years of getting amazed with architects and
their wonderful creations, I am here trying to make myself a part of my own
history so that someday I would be able
to tell the tale of my life.
Written September 06, 2012 by Sogyel
lifeSunday, August 12, 2012
Written August 12, 2012 by Sogyel
Random Thoughts
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