Let's wake up!

Politics is not my cup of tea. I am not a politician. I am a butler by trade. I have no grounds to base my political views. Sometimes I like to side on the independent thinker but accept the great leadership of the politicians to steer their nations towards betterment.

My trade requires utmost attention to details. I always say an architect with a butlers’ pair of eyes will build monuments. Now I am thinking why not the politicians and leaders too on the larger scale. I am always awestruck with the thoughtfulness and the abilities of the leaders around the world. Maybe this is a word to the wise and the learned.

I am deeply in shock by the recent tragic incident where seven little boys were drowned in my home country, Bhutan. From what I read, a whole community gathered to rescue the victims, but ill fate won the battle. The seven promising kids drowned that night, and the whole nation is in mourning. This is a moment of anguish in the Last Shangrila.

Let me pay my deepest respect to the souls of the victims and bereaved families. No amount of mourning and grief can replace what you have lost. It’s my loss too, it’s the Nation’s loss. Let me also show my admiration and respect to the prompt reaction of the families, the community, the police, the officials and the whole nation for their prompt reaction in the hour of the need. If only we could triumph victory, and not loss.

What strikes me right now is; We have advanced so much as a small country. We’ve built dams, roads and walls. We have changed and made history, We are debating our future on the tables of the Parliament and the National Council. We are wondering if we should go international and join WTO. But, we have overlooked our own basic safety. We forgot to build our own rescue team. We have helicopters for leisure but not in the hour of the need. We have been hurt many times and we had grieved. But we haven’t learnt still, that; ‘IN BHUTAN, BHUTANESE SHOULD BE FIRST!” not tourists, not anybody else. I am very sad, that it does not register somewhere up there, that the people need to be safe. Be it from domestic violence to the natural calamities to terrorist threats. I am not preaching what could have been done from my table half way across the world. But I believe what we cannot reach in action, we can contribute in thoughts. I fail to understand what we would do with all the trouble and toil of Gross National Happiness if the people are not safe in their country. We are bitching and moaning about unemployment and we cannot employ and train some rescue professionals. We complain about our youth abusing drugs and of violence, but we cannot provide a single swimming pool to a school or a community. Here we are, mourning in anguish, after some innocent kids takes fate just for some recreation.

I am not blaming anybody. But this tragic incident shook us hard enough. Let’s wake up.

Let’s stop everything for once. Let’s take a moment and ask ourselves, are we safe?