Going home...

I’m off to my constituency.

We’ll walk everyday, some days for more than 12 hours, to visit some 18 villages in Gakiling and Sombaykha. In these remote gewogs live some of our poorest people.

I’m looking forward to meeting our people: to give them my report on the second session of the National Assembly; to ask for directives for the third session; to listen to their problems; to discuss possible solutions; to investigate income generating activities; and to renew growing friendships.

Gakiling and Sombaykha are not connected by car road. And by telephone. So my blog will be quiet for a while.

Pictured is the treacherous tsha zam over the Amochu. Our villagers rebuild the bridge every year after the river subsides. It’s plainly dangerous. And it’s barely useable during the monsoons.

I’ve crossed this bridge several times. But the last time I used it, in October 2008, I froze in the middle of the bridge. I was terrified. And, thinking that a suspension bridge will replace the tsha zam by now, I’d secretly vowed to never cross this dangerous bridge again.

But construction of the new bridge can begin only towards the end of this year. So my promise will have to wait, till I cross the bridge a few more times.

More potatoes...

While traveling to Haa today, I saw several farmers planting potatoes. Some were done. Others, like this couple in Jabana, were just beginning to prepare their field. But all of them expect a good crop – the rains came just in time.

Solving problems...

Today is World Maths Day.

And children throughout the world are celebrating mathematics by solving mental arithmetic questions online. Their goal is to set a new world record in the number of questions they collectively answer in 48 hours. But the real objective is to make maths fun. And to promote numeracy among students.

Last year more than 1 million children from 20,000 schools and 150 countries set a new world record by correctly answering 182,455,169 questions in 48 hours. The organizers of the event already predict that, by tomorrow, another world record will have been set.

The competition began at 5PM yesterday. So the competition will go on for another 31 hours even as I post this entry. And that means there’s still time. Registration is easy and free. All you need to register and participate in the event is internet access.

Our ICT facilities are rudimentary, at best. And most schools do not even have computers. Still, where the facilities are available, make use of them. Go online. Register. And get a few students – yes, even if only a handful – to participate. We can set our sights higher next year. And perhaps even borrow the idea and adapt it for our specific conditions.

Why am I excited about World Maths Day? Listen to the pain in our beloved king’s voice as he commands that “Mathematics is one of our main weaknesses. We have similar weaknesses in Science and amazingly, even English.”

For more information go to the WMD website. Or read Maria Miller’s blog.

The Growing Bhutanese Middle Class...

I’m reading “The Great Indian Middle Class” a bestseller written by Pavan Varma, a prominent Indian, and India’s next ambassador to Bhutan. The book traces the emergence and evolution of the Indian middle class, and examines its influence on the development of India’s society, politics and economy.

The publisher calls Mr Varma’s work a “powerful and insightful critique” that shows us “how the middle class, guided by self-interest, is becoming increasingly insensitive to the plight of the underprivileged, and how economic liberalization has only heightened its tendency to withdraw from anything that does not relate directly to its material well-being.”

I wonder what Mr Varma will make of our own growing middle class. Will he see us as a powerful force determined to eradicate poverty? Will he identify us as champions of democracy? And will he conclude that we are true defenders of GNH?

Or will he discover that our middle class is also a “consumerist predator” that is motivated by self-interest and greed? That breeds corruption? And that is insensitive to the plight of our poor?

Weather dependent...

Yes! It snowed in Haa. And the land is now moist. So our farmers are working their fields in earnest, preparing them to plant potatoes.

Before the recent snow and rain, our farmers could not plough their fields – the earth was too hard, and much of the dry top soil would have been lost in the wind anyway. If the dry weather had continued, our farmers would have virtually lost the potato season.

So our farmers are happy. But their concerns are not over. It’s threatening to snow again. And if it does snow, and snows heavily, potato planting could be further delayed. Or potatoes could, if already planted, simply freeze. Either way, our farmers would loose.

Now I’m worried that it may snow heavily.