Central Park

This is the Green Fairy in Central Park. [I don’t know what she actually is, so I called her the green fairy from her outfit]. She is there every day, in the cold, in the sun, not moving. The inclement weather has no effect in her stillness. At first glance, she can pass for a statue. But if you drop some donation in her handbag at her feet, she will blow kisses at you and pose for a beautiful picture. What ever her message is, I am  intrigued to see her there everyday. Stillness is her move. 

Meet the lady with the Violin. I have to tell you, as I was passing by her, a strange sadness overcame me. Whatever she was pulling on her violin, it sure was a sad, melancholy tune. She reminded me of some far away things that I can’t visualize. A look at her face, and you will see the magic of the tune she is riding on. If you pass by her, do drop some donation in the sheet spread infront of her. 

No, this kid is not merely playing and having fun in Central Park. He has a box labeled ‘Donation’ in front of him too. As he juggles, people stop in awe and can’t help admiring his talent. He is probably going to school. This kid sure has discovered his talent at a young age and is putting it to good use. Do not hesitate to drop some change in the box if you see him next time. 

If you are a music lover, meet the band. They are serious about it. They fill the air with some strange festivity in central park. Some change here too, please, if you may. 

And these people are from some Charity Group. As they sing and hum at strange vocal tunes, strangers are perplexed but to contribute some change to the Charity. Be good, support Charities. 

I haven’t seen a donation box placed for this guy. But, o my, I was amazed to see him on wheels with those piles and piles of bottles placed on his head. I stood watching him for almost ten minutes, and he never dropped it even once. Beat this, if you can. 

So, next time you are on a stroll around Central Park, do not forget to notice these wonderful souls. And hey, carry some pocket change. It doesn't hurt too much. 

Happy Thanksgiving

I am on my way to The City right now. No, I am not taking a day off on Thanksgiving day. I do not remember when I took my last day off on a public holiday. This is one sacrifice you make when you are working in the hospitality industry. The festive season has begun in New York, and the world over where everybody is geared up for lots and lots of fun. Unfortunately for anybody working in the service trade, this is the season where you break your backs and wear your heads out in making sure everybody is having great fun. 

On Thanksgiving day, families gather from every corner of the world to dine and pray over a fat Turkey. I know, poor Turkeys. But the bigger, the grander. I will be serving a lot of people tonight. Hopefully the party would wind up in time as planned. I have plans to go out and unwind myself over a bottle of Corona and maybe take a stroll in Central Park if I am not too tired. I have an invitation from my friend to join her family to celebrate, but I think I will skip it. I will be working late anyway and besides, I do not want to intrude into a family gathering. 

Happy Thanksgiving!




[Photo : I am not doing a Turkey, so look at my Turkey Face instead  taken on my webcam on my way to the city]

Photography

I have invested yet another fifty dollars on my expensive hobby, photography today. I added a tripod to my compilation. Please do not ask me if I took any pictures, I cannot simply make head or tail of photography. I have had my camera for a while though, and a mean looking one I have. I have been taking a few shots here and there, but it never came out as I expected, so it mostly landed up in the little trash can in the camera somewhere. Well, I have to admit I had a few lucky clicks once in a while without ever knowing how to get that same shot the second time. 

I never owned a camera when I was a kid and I was really “camera shy”. I still am. 

My first camera was a Nikon Coolpix that I bought in Bangkok. Trust me, it was an inexpensive one. Oh my, you should have seen me fumble with my new toy that day. I took millions and millions of pictures! Tall buildings, gardens, beggars, prostitutes, think of anything you can in Bangkok! Ok, it’s a little exaggerated, I am sorry, but my flash drive had only 500 mb of storage in it, and the AA batteries never lasted long enough. And again, don’t ask me for the pictures. I probably lost it all when i broke my computer. 

So, I went out with my camera today. I took more than 600 shots and finally formated the flash card to simply delete them all in one go. I somehow could not get a single good shot!  I know there is no limit to how well you could do a thing, but sometimes, it’s just not possible not to notice my own lack of brain. I was setting and resetting my camera all the while. The shutter speed, apertures, iso, f#stops, depth of field... (I think a few of them mean the same thing here) but these just won’t register in my head. I had watched a full hour of basic camera tricks on Youtube only to confuse myself beyond repair. I am hopping a good night’s sleep and it should all comeback tomorrow morning. 

I had considered taking some lessons on photography, but had to pass it on. Reason one being, I really do not have that kind of time. Number two, it’s my hobby and I enjoy learning it through discovery day by day. And number three, well, there’s no reason number three. 

I have great interest in Photography. I think it’s one way of expressing how you view the world and its little details. I enjoy shooting landscape sceneries, sunsets, city lights and close up of faces. Someday, I am going to have a website where I will host close up pictures of random faces from all over the world. 

Hello Again

I am back! Ok, first things first. It was just one of my  disappearing acts. Let me admit I can’t stay away from my blog. Every great mind needs an outlet and this serves mine in my own small world. Of late, I had been real busy. There aren’t enough hours in a day to do all the things I need to do. I panicked and posted a quick ‘Gone Fishing’ note on my blog, suspended my social networking profile on Facebook and settled for work. I did achieve a lot and made good progress. In the mean time, I have earned a lot of trouble for not keeping in touch with my dear and loved ones. My mom even went to the local psychic to find out what was going on with me. She had worried I must be sick or something. I guess I am a social dork. I am simply not good in keeping touch with people. I know I have a lot of explanations to do when I meet my family and friends. Some think I have changed. Some think I’ve become a snob. Some think I am deliberately staying away from them. But the fact is, it has nothing to do with anybody. I really don’t know how to explain this. Every time I sit on my computer to write an email, my mind goes blank and I never reach the end to click on the send button. This makes me wonder if I should go back to college and graduate. 

The past few weeks were great. I have finally gotten on track with my work. I attended a blessing ceremony in Queens by a Rinpoche. I met a few more Bhutanese. It’s amazing how many Bhutanese live in New York.  You can’t go around Queens without bumping into a Bhutanese on weekends!  I am also getting better in using the Subway and following directions. Well, I haven’t been a good boy all along. A close friend of mine is still mad at me. I made a silly mistake and that set her off. She wouldn’t understand. It’s a guy thing. I guess some things just don’t work. 

My associate is still a great talker. I like the fact that he fills the boring gaps at work but sometimes, I really wish he would just shut up and work! And leave me alone! I don’t mean to be rude but you don’t go on and on talking from 9 am to 5 pm.  There are times during the day when you need to zip and concentrate on your work. I know he can’t help it and I understand....

This reminds me that I need to jump in the shower and get ready for work. Hey, it's really nice to be back. And guess what? My laundry basket is empty too. 

Everything will remain sans I

Thank you folks, for visiting my blog

Thank you for your warm thoughts

Thank you, Thank you, Thank you

But I must take a break now

I will be gone for a while

Don't know when I'll be back

If incase you don't read my posts again

Be assured, you will be remembered

And till we cross paths in time to come

Stay happy, be healthy and keep smiling.

Little Rooms

I was cleaning my room tonight. I had been busy with work lately, and my room was beginning to get messy. The laundry started piling too. It took me two whole hours before I could put away my clothes and vacuum  the rug. Through the process, I began to fall in love with my room. I found a new realization that I was lucky to have this room all by myself. It is not a big and impressive room to brag about, but I had all the basic needs. I take pride in the clean pair of white sheets. The table lamp, which I bought off in Lowe’s has a glass base and looks good. The wireless internet has never failed in my room and keeps me connected with my loved ones everyday. The hot and cold air works perfect. The ocean mist blue walls are clean and without soot.I even have a separate drawer for my boxers. If you peep into my room, it’s just anything but an ordinary 10‘x10’ room with a bed in the centre and just enough room around to stretch myself. Let me tell you why I love this room so much.... 

I grew up in a farm house in a small village. I remember my parents did not own a house then. We lived with our uncle, my dad’s elder brother. I think I was around six when my parents built their house. I have vivid memories of a lot of ‘Doma’ chewing men and women working on our house. My dad and mom were a hardworking pair. Our house was up and beautiful in just about two years! Well, my dad did struggle for several more years to pay off the debts. But they did it. I got a big room to myself. Unfortunately, I did not get to live in it for long. I had to go away to school at the age of 12. I went off to Paro to continue my studies. I lived in a hostel and continued till I left high school. I forgot how it was to have my own room. I got used to sleeping in big dormitories where some hundred boys slept and woke at the toil of the bell. It was like a big family. We sleep-talked and wet our beds every night. We ate puffed rice under our sheets and lived out of metal boxes for closets. Even with the strict rules of the hostels, I was always a light sleeper. I woke up when my neighbor masturbated in bed. I heard the crickets outside. The stray dogs barked all night and I used to dig deeper into my bed as I thought they were being scared by the ghosts. 

As I grew up, I got used to sleeping on couches in the living rooms of my relatives. I had to wait till everybody went to bed so that I could make my bed on the couch only to be woken up by the earliest riser in the family. 

I decided I would live on my own when I got my first actual job in Paro. I was excited and overwhelmed. I was broke and just out of school in Thimphu. I had about a thousand Ngultrums on me which I earned from working on the Thimphu Expressway. My sister gave me a folding camp-bed and a thin mattress. I bought a bucket and a few utensils with my money. I was wishing on a miracle in getting a stove when a cousin brother of mine called and told me that I could use his stove. He was studying in the Teachers’ College then, and he was going on his winter break. I loaded my bearings on a bus roof-top and set off for Paro. 

I rented a single room next to the Paro Bridge. I set up my stove on one corner and put my bed against the ply-board wall. Talk about convenience, I could literally reach out for my stove from my bed! There was a small window on one side which opened into a dirty drain. My kind cousin let me borrow his cassette player. I set it up on the window sill. As I listened to ‘The Carpenters’, tears welled up in my eyes. I stared at the dirty walls and the empty pots. I had six hundred Ngultrums on me and that was just enough to pay off the room rent. I had folded my hands in prayer, requesting the house owner to spare me the security deposit. I sat there, fighting my hunger with tears, day dreaming of good food and nicer times. 

As night fell, the cold sipped in through every corner and crack in the room. I had no heater and no blanket. I layered myself with my “Ghos” and cried through the night. The stench from the common latrine next door hung heavy in the air as I lay there,wishing on the sweet embrace of mother sleep to free me from my tears and take me faraway into my dreams. 

Tell me your love story

I am once again tortured with this familiar feeling of love. I know I have written several times that I’ve forgotten what it is to be in love. I had even smirked at lovers in my write-ups. But let me admit it’s indeed no joke to stay up when the clock is ticking past midnight and definitely not when I have a long day at work tomorrow. I am almost crossing the thin border line (if there ever is one) of retardation and talking to myself. Thank heavens, my bedroom walls can’t speak. Otherwise it would be a painfully unfunny joke that it would spread. 

I had been in love before and I had been hurt. Let me admit that too. Now I feel like I am in a confession room and I am not even a Christian! This is what love does to you. Well, my experience with love is fully associated with this uncanny feeling of hate. God forbid, I am not a hater. But experience, you know, comes raw sometimes. Experience! I hate that very word tonight. It’s experience that has taught me not to wear my heart on my sleeve (Now that sounds like a woman! Spare me the rolling eyes.). But I am being serious. Love is such a pain in the .. you know what! 

You can call me a dork if you want to but I am going to admit again; I am not really good around women. You know, they are so fragile (I know I will be in trouble with the women readers for this line) and very sensitive! Please understand my plight. I simply don’t know how to act! I am sorry, I am making this piece such a drama with all the interjections after each sentence, but I am speaking my heart out. 

Talking to the table lamp doesn’t help. It cannot tell me if she feels as intensely as I do about her. Maybe she has already entered me into her boy friends’ list. Now, there’s a difference you see; A boy friend and boyfriend is different! My goodness, and I haven’t told her yet how I feel about her. Don’t ask me what I am waiting for. Guess what? I am secretly wishing she would read this piece and somehow, magically understand that I am addressing it to her! Such lack of bravery! This is totally not me, and not this American English too. 

Tell me your love story.