Apologies! I know that I have been away for quite some time now – but there are reasons! Work being the major sucker 🙂 followed by personal interests. Moreover, my boss paid a visit 😀 I tried hard to spare time, then reversed some – but nothing worked! Anyway, the good news is that I’m back.
I did miss writing all this time & kept noting them as they happened. To begin with, I hope you are aware about Census 2011. Most state & central government employees have to compulsorily participate in this, over & above their routine responsibilities (pl note 0+1=1). The lady who was doing it in our area was an innovator! Instead of visiting each house & collecting data, she took an iterative, outsourcing model. She took the lift to the first floor, and walked down distributing a form in Marathi to each house. She very calmly told people that the form was very simple (I don’t know of a single govt form that is simple) & that one didn’t need to know Marathi to fill it (I don’t know how Bengalis & Malayalis bought this idea?) Suddenly people realized the importance of Maharashtrian neighbours, and fortunately each floor had one. After putting people to the job, she again took the elevator up to start collecting filled forms. I’m sure with this trick she managed to get home in time for lunch, which otherwise she would’ve had to couple with dinner. Just to note, that innovation is not necessarily rocket science.
Two notable things happened in the near past, both of which have affected our lives in one way or the other. The first thing: revised auto-fares. As Shubhojit said, this is one thing that makes you feel real poor. What I used to spend both way is what the 3-Tyre boogie now takes away one way. All thanks to the revision graced by skilled instrumentation engineers at garages.
The other thing – the symbol that our national currency got – actually makes me feel very proud. It is the symbol of globalization, equality & finally a distinguishing factor from other currencies with the same name. Some websites, like Burrp, picked up the symbol in no time. I’m just waiting for it to show up on currency.
After news about the symbol hit the stands, people questioned the kind of money that must have gone into its making. But I say, what’s wrong? If someone can spend tons of money raising statues in a city where people don’t have enough, Continue reading And the busy man has found time for his lost love
As instructed by Kinley, we were ready to leave the hotel for Taktsang – The Tiger’s Nest – by 8am. Breakfast again was typical; only bread, butter, jam, omlette, porridge for Indians. From the point we began trekking, we could see the Tiger’s nest right in front. But to get up there, we had to take a long & winding road up the mountains. You can rent a horse for Rs.500 for a return trip, and also buy a stick for support. At some points the path really gets narrow and with the horse’s tendency to walk at the edges, you’d be convinced to not take a horse ride. We were instructed to move towards the inner-side as soon as we saw a horse.No one is allowed to a take a ride on the way down; the horses come down empty, charging like bulls – almost without any control.
At the temple, Kinley picked a name for his new born daughter by pulling a string-tied page from a book of names; all names come either with Kinley (name of temple) or Chimi (meaning no-dog based on a mythical story). Ma prepared herself for tomorrow’s trek to the Tiger’s nest by grabbing a wooden stick from one of the trees. The struggle for chicken continued even at an Indian restaurant called Chula whose menu featured a dozen chicken preparations common to a Bombay restaurant. We had no option but to head to Hotel Pedling for our protein dose. In the mean while, 
We had mentioned to our guide Kinley, that although we weren’t atheists, we were fonder of nature than monasteries. I’ve seen quite a few in the North East, and my parents even more in Sikkim & Northern Kashmir. With this in mind, he drove us out of Thimpu along a road following the river where at one point, me & Chibu even got into the river climbing over some huge stones. To my misfortune, I slipped over a wet stone and the next minute, I was drenched in water close to ice-point right up to my knees. I was lucky to not get hurt or carried away by the river.
