NAMESAKE

 “Name sake,” I know some of you must have thought, “oh! He is going to talk about doing things for the sake of doing.” And you are right at this point, but I want to focus more on doing things for the sake of your name.

As the basic identity, we have as individuals, is our name, “Dessang” this word  comprising of letters, “d”, “e”, “s”, “s”, “a”, “n”, “g”, separates me from all of you and so does your name separates you from me and the others. But most of us don’t even care how our names are pronounced and spelled but we do care about the physical look we possess, and every now and then we are in the process, to look different and stunning. If wanting to look different and stunning  is the reason then lets care about our names more because the first thing somebody would know about you is your name. You may not remember the physique of Abraham Lincoln clearly but when someone says, “Abraham Lincoln” you will definitely know whom he is talking about.

Sometimes I feel that most of you too, like me feel that your name is important, because most of us like it when we have a different but yet a lovely name: the reason why some of us have created our own nick names. Nick names that are different from the common, so, that only you have the name, making it easier for others to know it is you- no other. On this, I know I don’t need to give examples, look at the person next to you and remember his or her nick names and you will understand what I mean. I too love when my friends call me “LUFFY” or “DD”.

If creating of unique names is to let others know it is you: to have no clashes with similar names. Then why don’t you work to make your name similarly different. “David Beckham”, who knows, how many David Beckham, are there in England but when you say David Beckham most of us will immediately think of the football star.

 In short what I mean is do something that people will attribute you to that name and others after you who possess this name of yours will be honored to share the same name. As a teacher too, we should work hard so that later people can say I want to be a teacher like…., just the way we refer to Mahatma Gandhi when we talk of a great teacher and here too your name takes the honour.

Before I end, let me quote a person whose courage is what I envy the most, Adolf Hitler, “when you are born, you are born with nothing but when you die you die with your name. So just don’t let your name be a name, make it a story.”
  

                                                 Beauty and beyond

I wrote this piece after I returned from the one of the most celebrated occasions in the country; the Thimphu Tshechu.

I didn’t force my unenthusiastic soul to labour through the crowd to find a place under the scrooching sun to view a little of the manifestation of the afterlife, which I don’t really understand. So I stayed home helping myself in making it feel like a real holiday. My idol holiday is the one I don’t have to get up until 10am, and have nothing else to think about than to think how to spend the time doing almost nothing.

But in the evenings when I had nothing to do I liked going to town to see this rare sight of Thimphu town being a horde of people; not vehicles. It was so much like its neighbour country; packed.

In the midst of the crowd, flashy dresses always stood out and never failed in getting my attention and many more’s. Especially when it was of the other gender one had to give it a look. Some were smart to be subtle while others were so caught off guard that they forget they belong to a more developed society, perhaps enjoying the perk of anonymity.

I wonder where all this flowered, silk, brocade dresses have been hiding all this time. They almost appear out of nowhere. It is like thousand marriages coincide and there are brides and grooms in this huge marriage room; the street.

I accept, the girls look more attractive, almost all of them and just for the record it is not being pervert if you are staring at beautiful people: it is called acknowledging. Frequently I had to walk purely on the instinct of my legs for my eyes were caught on so many well ornamented girls, like the compass needle to north. All those who were not worth the second turn were eye catchers. Beautiful dress, well make over face, and the shine of the occasion was perfect recipe for such beautiful cuisine.

But there in the crowd that caught me the most was this girl, I am sure she lives nearby for I have seen her many times. Like every other day she was still the least dressed person, even in the ramp of the occasion. That day she had poka dot pyjama pants, plain white t-shirt and a light pink sweater on, accompanied by her usual flip flops. Yet in all the decency of her dress, she caught me, she was the focus point of my entire universe of beautiful girls. She in a way shocked me.

She shocked me for there were more glamourous many yet she caught me most. All the ornaments and beautiful dresses with the magnificent make over was run out but her flip flops. It is here she taught me that beauty is not in what you show to people, it is not in your dress, not in your shoes, not in your ornaments, nor in anything tangible as the skin. It was way beyond and depth. It was beyond the façade. It was rooted deep in your charisma. It could not be explained or measured. It could only be felt and feeling it, is how you knew that she had it, she had beauty.

There was no container to contain beauty inside than the one who had it. Beauty was infact more complicated an adjective than it seemed but she had it. While us who didn’t have it, had to polish it with other means we knew.