The yield from a toothless paper

"Life is like a camera, just FOCUS on what's important and CAPTURE the good times, DEVELOP from the negatives and if things don't work out, just take another SHOT”- Anonymous

This is one brilliant quote that possesses the magnetic muscle to lure my attention throughout the seasons. It keeps me moving always.

Last Friday, on acceptance of my toothless research paper, I was invited for an oral presentation at the 9th Siam Physics Conference. This is an annual event convened in Thailand to crossbreed the professional ideas between the scientists, researchers, teachers and students from both national and international zones.  Held at the Rajamangala University of Technology Isan at Nathon Ratchasima (North-East of Thailand) this year, it was 8 hours ride by train from my university. 

The long journey to a completely new place was tiring and terrible though. And travelling the whole night has burnt all the calories of my enthusiasm and liveliness to a certain degree.  But even at the time when the whole world has slept, one reason kept my nerve awake: A chance to present my paper in the presence of top-notch gangs of physicists.

The train station at Hau Lam Pong, Bangkok

Trying some typical Thai noodles

Giving a shot

Registration of the participants

Fortunate to have a banquet session with a Canberean Guest Speaker

Thank you for your hospitality: Khun Byo and Proff. Pum

I spoke on the small survey study done with my friend under the guidance of my Physics professor Dr Suchai Nopparatjamjomras. I don’t claim to have been very successful in presenting my work but it invested in me a high sense of pride and confidence. After my presentation was over, few even came up with their cameras to take a snap with me. I felt honoured to have been in the circle of those world-class presenters. 

The 3 days conference kept on adding new names into my memory. I met people from all walks of life and from every rung of the careers. I captured those beautiful moments that kept on fleeting. I became friends with some powerful keynote speakers, professors, international students and hosts. The yield of happiness and satisfaction I derived from my toothless paper was beyond compare because I could capture the good times within a shorter span of my life there.   

"Good things happen when you meet strangers"- Yo Yo Ma    

Yo-Yo Ma

R

When the world remembers the Dragon Kingdom…

The summer equinox, March 20, will literally be a day where the entire world will remember Bhutan for one reason. This is the exact day where the 'Land of the Thunder Dragon’ will be tagged in almost all the possible sites that human can stretch. And there’s no doubt that the name of the 4^th Dragon King Jigme Singye Wangchuck will invade the front pages of every newspapers.

The reason’s so simple but unique. It is the most common reason that every social animal endeavors to attain it. And the reason is “HAPPINESS”: the currency of our life.

In the lines of Bernard Baruch, he asserted that:

Millions saw the apple fall, but only Newton asked why.

Concomitantly, countless people heard of happiness, but only King Jigme Singye Wangchuck hunted what.   

The Father of Gross National Happiness: His Majesty the King Jigme Singye Wangchuck

Bhutan was bestowed with such a legendary monarch who always knew that at the farthest end, it is the happiness that is craved by all. In his farsighted vision, the 4^th Druk Gyalpo Jigme Singye Wangchuck realized that happiness is the only key to unlock the charisma of one’s livelihood. So uniquely, he redefined and invented the guiding philosophy of development for this small Himalayan kingdom, popularly and globally known as the Gross National Happiness. 

 

The brainchild of the 4th Dragon King: Gross National Happiness

Video courtesy: Click on LINK

Gross National Happiness, referred briefly as GNH, is a holistic approach of our developmental path that ensures economic wealth along with the organs of emotional, spiritual and psychological needs in place. It is the kind of happiness that is derived not at the cost of well-being of others.

This brainchild of His Majesty the 4^th King of our country has originated with a matchless beauty. To him, all kinds of economic developments should encompass spiritual, mental, psychological and emotional wellbeing of the people.

GNH disagrees with the fact that, highly revolutionized nation’s claim of their economic might may necessarily guarantee the fulfillment of one’s inner happiness. In other words, it is does not believe that the people who live in a developed country are the ones who are always happy, even if their life is comforted with all automated basic needs and wants. Therefore, soon after his enthronement in 1972, his popular phrase “Gross National Happiness is more important than Gross National Product” resonated the entire nation and the world late recently.

GNH is a kind of happiness that is deemed measurable under the yardstick of four primary pillars:

a)  Sustainable and Equitable Socio-Economic development

b) Preservation and Promotion of Culture

c)  Conservation of Environment

d) Establishment of Good Governance.

To measure those four pillars, there are 9 domains and 72 variables employed. The 9 domains are as follows:

1.    Living standard

2.   Health

3.   Education

4.   Time Use

5.   Psychological well-being

6.   Community Vitality

7.   Ecological Diversity and Resilience

8.   Culture Diversity and Resilience

9.   Good Governance    (To know more click on LINK)

In 2008, after the Bhutan’s smooth transition to a constitutional democratic monarchy, the Bhutan’s first democratically elected Prime Minister Lynchoen Jigme Yoezer Thinley became the brand ambassador of GNH. He exported the entire leaflet of a GNH plant and made the leaders chew it. Later, he has proposed on behalf of his King and the country to add ‘Happiness’ as the 9^th Millennium Development Goals.  

Viewing this paradigm of development practical and imperative, the United Nations unanimously decreed March 20^th as the International Happiness Day on 12^th July, 2012.

So today, with extreme pride and happiness, I on behalf of my King, Country and the people, join the entire world in celebrating the International Happiness Day. Let happiness prevail throughout the entire world forever. 

 

                                          Bhutan- The Last Shangri-La  (Video courtesy: Click on LINK)

It is noteworthy to leave the message from the Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on the International Happiness Day, 2014 (Courtesy: Click link))

The twin concepts of happiness and well-being increasingly feature in international discussions of sustainable development and the future we want. 

Many countries are going beyond the rhetoric of quality of life to incorporate practical measures to promote these concepts in their legislation and policy-making.  These good practices can inspire other countries so that measuring and accounting for broader well-being, and not simply national income, becomes a universal practice.

Happiness may have different meanings for different people.  But we can all agree that it means working to end conflict, poverty and other unfortunate conditions in which so many of our fellow human beings live.

Happiness is neither a frivolity nor a luxury.  It is a deep-seated yearning shared by all members of the human family.  It should be denied to no-one and available to all.  This aspiration is implicit in the pledge of the United Nations Charter to promote peace, justice, human rights, social progress and improved standards of life.  

Now is the time to convert this promise into concrete international and national action to eradicate poverty, promote social inclusion and inter-cultural harmony, ensure decent livelihoods, protect the environment and build institutions for good governance.  These are the foundations for human happiness and well-being

“Whoever is happy will make others happy, too”- Mark Twain

When is ILLNESS not the King?

Dear Illness,

Do you remember that for how many years did we archive our promise?

The promise that you will never invade my body and experiment with the strength of its immune system. The promise is that I will labour with the physicians and follow the footsteps of their advice to keep myself free from your visits.  

But there wasn’t any time in records that I have been free of your dust even if I was breathing inside the bottle of a strict medical directive. In many of my worst moments, I can recall myself choking with the smoke of your nasty interference. Since then, I started to hate my life because you happened to be one organ of it. 

Even at the time of writing this note, I am bearing the brunt of four different pains. Had my body been a guitar, it would probably have produced the world’s lamentable sound by using the four strings of these worst pains.

So, my dear Illness, what more do you want from me?

The fact that you annex my body recurrently makes me believe that you have seen me as a promising human bank to invest the hard currency of any illness. There wasn’t any year that you missed to visit the bank of my health and deposit your recurrent amount of illness.  

Waiting to hear seemingly the new illness this time again

After you have conquered the main powerhouse of my stomach using Helicobacter pylori some years ago, I stopped taking proteins and carbonated drinks because doctors reminded me that they were your best enemies. Not to mention alcoholic beverages, even drinking a cup of tea has been a forgotten story thereafter. They said there is a legendary history that you get so infuriated when a person knowingly takes these substances. I heard of the worst territorial violence you initiate due to the intrusion of such materials.

At the same time, those clinicians reminded me not to forget to take the right amount of a balanced diet to escape from the gravity of your attack again. I did it for years now yet, you are never hesitant to raid on me.  

I don’t remember I learned the history of any king, powerful and dominant though, to have demanded the whole lists of Dos and Don’ts like you. At times, when you just insult my health repeatedly, I feel like you are coming to say: When is ILLNESS not the King? 

“Illness is the doctor to whom we pay most heed; to kindness, to knowledge, we make promise only; pain we obey” Marcel Proust

The Love that stings

Hi dear, you are one month old
After you have left me
To another part of the world
Where I am not able to see

We are far, but not by heart

Our Love’s still alive and growing

Livelier like an old famous art

Of any extraordinary human being

When each night falls,
I know it’s time that calls
To infuse in me those breathing strings of pain,
And fatigue my cardiac muscles with sprain

Often I hear: Absence makes the heart grow fonder

And these lyrics sometimes make me wonder

Because everything I’ve seems to have lost

Including YOU at its worst

Sometimes, I really wish you be near
To feel the bleeding drops of love from your dear
Because the thrust of this agony is unable to bear
And aches my heart which sometimes may tear

You are my angel, hope and spirit

Everything of me is in your credit

The world to me in your absence is all emptiness

Nothing alive, all dead, a real mess

When you are gone and been apart
Right from the moment when time made us depart
Everything you said and made me say
I remember every scrap even to this day

Now, nothing I can say and do

Other than saying I LOVE YOU

And will be loving you forever

Let anything happen, good or bad, whatsoever

“Your absence has grown through me like thread through a needle. Everything I do is stitched with its color” - W.S. Merwin

The Con Man near the Grand Palace

This semester, I am undergoing a course titled “Innovations in Science, Mathematics and Technology. In this course, each candidate is required to develop an innovative model that can be used to teach a concept in any science discipline.

Since I have majors in Physics, I am working on how to make my children learn ‘Energy and Energy Conservation’ with a help of a modest learning unit. And to develop it, I was in a dare need of a sensor that could effectively record the speed and time of a moving object because doing manually always ended with a fatal error.  

On the advice of my professor, I headed to a city called Khlongthom, where I can presumably get the sensor. Located almost 90 minutes drive from my university, Khlongthom is one of the most congested markets in Thailand. It is full of bustle here.

Owing to its bulkiness, I was confused about which point to start. And it was rather so funny that I entered from one point only to reach the same entry. I hunted for the right sensor and still, people gave me the other. They barely spoke English and I could never speak Thai other than some basic numerals.

Fully frustrated, I surrendered searching for the sensor and went to attend the call of my stomach. No sooner did I realize that I was hungry, I have finished swallowing the lunch.

I boarded Bus 1 from Phuhurat popularly known as India Market and exited at The Grand Palace, the official residence of the Kings of Siam since 1782. This is often one place in Thailand where it is always flooded with tourists of all colours. 

While waiting for another transit bus, I enjoyed sightseeing the beauty of the Grand Palace. As I was sitting near the bus stand, I saw a man trying to capture my attention. He was feeding the flock of pigeons. The pigeons have been so acquainted that they even climbed over the whole length of his shoulders to feed on the maize seeds he held on his palm.

I was amazed by the closeness of these birds. And suddenly, I saw the man waving his hand forward, an act of inviting me. I told my friend to take some snaps while I feed those pigeons.

The man offered me 2 packets of maize seeds where each packet might not exceed more than 20 numbers in total. The pigeons were so active that they raped those tiny plastics on my hand and took away all the seeds before my friend can click a photo.

The man smiled and gave me three packets more. I reserved two in my pocket and opened one. The trick favoured this time was that my friend caught me in the camera with lots of pigeons over my body. I gave him the other two packets and warned him to pose for the photograph. We did it with lots of fun. 

As we laughed and was about to move out the man came closer and asked for the money. We told him that we didn’t know it wasn’t for free. I asked him the price for each packet and he said 300 Baht. (1 USD = 32 Baht and 1 Baht= Nu. 2.1). 

We tried to convince him that the price was too high for those packets containing barely 20 seeds. I didn’t want to argue with such people in this world who have never heard English in their ears. So, I risked by saying that we will pay 20 Baht each for those 5 packets used. He was adamant.  Each word of ours rather drew him closer to our nose.

I saw many people around us watching the daylight robbery. To cut the scene short, I took out my wallet to pay him 300 Baht. Since I was having a denomination of 500 and 1000 Baht, I took out 500 Baht and handed it over to him in a hope that he might pay me the balance.

However, to my utter surprise, he was putting the whole amount proudly inside his pocket. I demanded him to pay back the remaining amount and he threw 50 Baht on my chest. This fueled the anger of my friend and pulled him closer to us.

Fearing that it might possibly awake the people around, I managed to put a lid over the bottle of my friend’s anger. We paid him 450 Baht equivalent to US Dollar 14.5 for 5 packets of maize seeds anyway.

After fleeing the scene, I seriously prayed to God not to let him die but to grant him a humble life without cheats. I silently complained to Him that, even in an underdeveloped country like mine (Bhutan), people work honestly for their living. We never deceive strangers but rather extend our helping hands. We are Buddhists that we deeply believe in Karmic actions. I warned God that by keeping him in this Buddhist country, it was like keeping the hell empty because one demon escaped living together in this otherwise beautiful heaven.    

 “A cheater will always cheat, a liar will always lie and then they wonder why their life is bad?” Lara Loockx