Adieu! Adieu! Adieu! this semester. Today was the last class for the journey which began last year. Today, after spending almost one year to reach where I stand now, I should say, there is an undeniable eruption of joy deep within my heart. When I look back, the journey was not an easy one especially for me since I did my graduation in Education and I choose English Literature for my Masters Degree.
Last year, when I attended my first class I was virtually perplexed. Everything the Professors taught or spoke about sounded Greek to me. But for my mates, since they had B.A Honors, it was just the same wine in a new bottle. Not only the syllabi, the pronunciation of some of the Professors also proved to be a challenge for me. For me it was like trying to fit a square head in a round hole. My contemplation grew frail upon the choice. But, I resolved to flow with the wind rather than against the wind. I became more attentive in the class and what ever was taught, on top of that I started researching things on my own. It was then that out of that gloomy atmosphere, I experienced epiphany telling me, "Come on see! It's quite simple." It was then that I realized nothing was impossible. If you have the will, definitely there is always a way.
When I talk about all these things, people might take me as a hard working learner. But I would say I am otherwise. I bunk classes, as all the normal students do. I keep track of my attendance so at the end, I will have just enough percentage to write my exams. I facebook at least 5-6 hours a day. I never study for my class tests and never prepare my seminars beforehand. BUT I AM ATTENTIVE IN THE CLASS! I ASK QUESTIONS AND DEBATE WITH MY PROFESSORS! I AM NOT A PASSIVE RECEIVER IN THE CLASS RATHER IF I DON'T GET A CONCEPT, I BECOME A PAIN THE ASS!!!!!
So today, when i reflect on how i have fared in my journey which was filled with storm, rain and sunshine, I am very proud to say that I have gained a lot in this short span of time. I alone know how much I have suffered and sacrificed to reach this destination, yet, I would without any doubt say that, all I have gained and learned is just the tip of an iceberg. I know I have a long way to go but what keeps me going is the fact that I have crossed the starting line.
Without any hitch and false claims I can say that I am in love with LITERATURE. I am inspired by literature and it has seeped deep down into my bones. I have a dream; to devote my life in learning the works of all those great writers and never stop. But sadly, I know that this life time will never be enough for that. It will be very unfair on my part not to mention a very motivating and inspiring person in my life. In fact he is my idol and the main driving force behind all this changes in me. He taught us American Literature this semester and he is known as Dr. Kapil. I knew his worth from the very first lecture he gave. I was so excited that when my friends called me, I simply said, "This year is going to be different from last year. My God! the first class (since Dr.Kapil's class was the first class of the day) is simply brilliant. I love this class." And mind you it was not  hollow words, I really loved his classes to such an extend that till now I have missed only two of his lectures. I am really inspired by his knowledge and the way he looks at things and the way he taught us. I know that how much ever I praise him, it will never do justice to him. My language fails me when ever I try to describe him. To actually understand what I want to say, you need to attend his classes and listen to him speaking.
"All is well that ends well" as said by the great bard Shakespeare. The fact that the semester ended well makes me feel exhausted and relaxed at the same time, which I can relate to the feelings of a person sipping his/her evening tea reminiscing the hard day he had. Though this semester has ended for me it is not the end of the road. I still have one more year to complete but I have hoping against all the odds that in next two semesters I will encounter Professors like him.  

THE STONING OF SORAYA

Today, in order to save myself from myself I watched a movie which I had in my HD for a long time. Actually one of my friends encouraged me to watch it. The movie is based on a true life story of a woman who was stoned to death on false charges. I will not say much about the movie right now as I have copied the summary from google since I don’t have the luxury of time at the moment to write a review of my own.

“ Stranded in the remote Iranian village of Kuhpayeh by car trouble, a journalist (Freidoune Sahebjam) is approached by Zahra, a woman with a harrowing tale to tell about her niece, Soraya, and the bloody circumstances of Soraya's death, by stoning, the previous day. The two sit down as Zahra recounts the story to Freidoune, who records the conversation with his tape recorder. The journalist must escape with his life to tell the story to the rest of the world.

Ali is the abusive husband of Soraya who tries to get the village's mullah to convince Soraya to grant him a divorce so that he can marry a 14-year-old. Ali's marriage to the teenager is conditional on Ali's ability to save the girl's father, who has been sentenced to death for an unspecified crime. The mullah proposes that Soraya becomes his lover in exchange for protection and monetary support for Soraya and her two daughters. Soraya refuses. Soraya has two sons whom Ali wants, and who have both turned against her. In a scene where Ali comes home to confront Soraya, a violent argument breaks out, she breaks a dish and Ali beats her, all the while saying things displaying his sexist attitude. Some days following the incident, a woman dies. The mullah, the village's mayor, and Ali ask Zahra to persuade Soraya to care for the widower. Zahra suggests that Soraya may do the job if she is paid.

Soraya starts working for the widower, and Ali plans to use the unusual circumstance to spread lies that Soraya is being unfaithful to him so that she will be stoned and he can remarry. Ali also knows if Soraya were dead, he would not have to pay child support. Ali and the mullah start a rumor about Soraya'sinfidelity so they can charge her with adultery. One day while Zahra is walking in town, she realizes that a rumor has spread that her niece is being unfaithful to her husband.

Ali and the mullah need one more "witness" to Soraya's "infidelity" to be able to formally charge her, so they visit the widower at home and using threats manipulate the widower into agreeing to back up their story. Soon after, Ali drags Soraya through the streets, beating her and publicly declaring that she has been unfaithful. Zahra intervenes and takes her niece, Ali, the Mullah and the Mayor of the village to her house to talk privately. They bring the widower to the house and after he lies and says that they had engaged in adultery, a trial is pursued. Only men are allowed while Soraya is confined with some women in her house. She is quickly convicted. Zahra tries to flee with her and after realizing she cannot, goes to plead with the mayor for Soraya's life, even offering to switch places with Soraya. The conviction is upheld though, and as they are preparing for the stoning, the Mayor prays to Allah for a sign if they are not doing the right thing.

Before the actual stoning can begin, a traveling carnival van comes through and tries to perform their act. They are shooed away, where they wait by the sidelines as the stoning begins. Soraya's father disowns her as he is given the first stone to throw but he misses her repeatedly. A woman in the crowd pleads to the mayor that the stones missing are a sign Soraya is innocent, but none of the men listen. Ali takes up stones and throws them himself. Her two sons are also forced to throw stones. The widower is given two stones to throw but instead walks away. The crowd finally joins in. The stoning stops when she is believed to be dead, but after Ali sees that she is not and the stoning resumes. Soraya finally dies.

Zahra is heard narrating the story to the journalist about her niece. Around this time, the mullah and the widower are informed by Ali that his marriage to the teenaged girl is off, implying that he could not spare her father from execution. As the journalist attempts to leave with his belongings and collect his vehicle after it has been repaired by the widower, the mullah orders a Revolutionary Guard to stop him at gunpoint. They seize his tape recorder and destroy all of the tapes but as the journalist is leaving in his car, Zahra appears out of an alley with the true tape in her hand. As the journalist drives away he stops and grabs the true tape from Zahra and speeds away. Zahra screams that the God that she loves is great and now whole world will know of the injustice that has happened. The movie ends by showing the only known picture of Soraya Manutchehri, taken when she was nine years old.”

Dear readers please do watch this movie. It’s really heart breaking and I couldn’t hold my tears although I rarely cry. In this story you will come to what people are doing in the name of God. How religion is bent and molded to suit their taste. And interestingly the servant of God is the sinner.

And one thing I realized after watching this movie is that women born in Bhutan are indeed blessed ones.

DON’T LET ANY WOMAN BE BORN IN THE COUNTRY……..

I will surely very soon write my own reaction to this movie...but for the time being enjoy this....

IT TAKES TWO TO LOVE OR HATE....

Love and hate….something almost everyone has experienced yet, if we say you hate the person you love and you love the person you hate…people will start denying it. I too always thought how can you love and hate a person at the same time? Hmm…a question worth contemplation. But today, during American Literature lecture I become conscious, yes, love and hate go hand in hand. So I draw the conclusion that if you love a person, you hate him and if you hate a person you love him. Let me explain my perceptive.

Love and hate…is a pleasantly annoying dichotomy.  Sigmund Freud said that every lover is a hater. A person, who loves the most, hates the most. And if we relate this theory to our lives I guess every one of us will agree. If you have the capacity to insanely love someone then you also have the capacity to insanely hate someone. Today you love someone and tomorrow if something goes wrong you hate that person. We can say that love is positive hatred and hatred is negative love. Love is a kind of oneness. When you fall in love, you belong to someone thus creating a sense of being one. Hate is when the two wants to push away one another at utmost distance.

If we examine the lives of married couples….everyone thinks that since they are not divorced they are happily married. But is it so? Married couples are not necessarily happy couples though there are exceptional cases. They quarrel a lot, why? Because they love a lot. You might be thinking, quarrel due to love is bullshit….so let me elucidate a bit on this. Love is a dream world and marriage a real world. These two worlds collide with each other when they should happily merge. When you are in love, everything is different. You are treated as if you were queens and kings. Lover can hardly wait to meet his beloved. Lover has many praises and lovely words for the beloved. But then where does all this affections go when you get married? Well, after marriage first thing that replaces your love is a sense of possessiveness though in love also it is there, but the manifestation is not as strong as in marriage. They start quarreling due to the emotion of ownership which gradually leads to repulsion. Secondly, we expect our lover to act according to our taste and we have excess expectations. We become demanding owing to lack of sensibility. We think of our self only. So in marriage lover and beloved get the break to see each other at their best and at their worst.

“I'm selfish, impatient and a little insecure. I make mistakes, I am out of control and at times hard to handle. But if you can't handle me at my worst, then you sure as hell don't deserve me at my best.” 
 ____Marilyn Monroe

So guys if u can’t handle someone at their worst  then surely you should never fall in love, least it will only add to the hatred list.

An Unholy Realization In a Holy Place.

'Religion' is the most wonderful and pleasing a word can sound. The moment we hear this word, a kind of reverence, faith, hope, truth and calm overtakes our mind. We just want to get drowned in the warmth of religion and feel its soothing effect on us. But yesterday while on a trip to a temple, I realized people have corrupted the sacred word so much so that now religion is nothing but a hypocrisy.
Religion preaches a person to be humble, selfless and to give charity. Being greedy and desirous is against religion. But isn't it an irony, that in spite of preaching against being greedy, the place where religion is preached is adorned with gold, precious stones and with all the riches imaginable?
Religion in its pure form is not corrupt but people who practice it are corrupt. All over the world, the place where religion is taught is so magnificent and breathtakingly beautiful. People want to decorate, redecorate and embed the places with riches. But then again it is a paradox when most of the people who are very much alive and living in that country is suffering from poverty and an inanimate  place where charity is taught covered in wealth from head to toe.
In our case when a person dies we perform 'Gaywa' which we believe will take him to heaven. So, the more 'Gaywa' you perform, more is the chances that he will not remain in purgatory (khorwa). In other words the more money you spent for offering butter lamps, rites and rituals and donate money to lhakhangs and monasteries, more is the chances of him leaving the purgatory. This means eternal destination does not depend on the deeds you do rather it depends on how much wealth you can spare after you die. A man of wealth can commit  a plethora of sins still his eternal destination is heaven whereas if a poor man does the same he will be booking a one way ticket to hell.
Religion was, is and will be corrupted by people who are practicing it. People who are religious  drives prado and land cruiser, they take meals fit for kings and ask us to give up material things while they run after dollars.