Intersectionsatlife

Culmination- 2013 It is with bitter-sweet feelings that I have to call Asian Institute of Technology (AIT)’s 120 th graduation ceremony a culmination of many things. Bitter, because this is the day when we will see many of our friends for probably the last time. Many of them, I am sure, will cross my part of the world one day, but then, there are so many I may not even manage to keep in touch. Sweet, because, like everyone else here, we will be together with families and loved ones once more. It was nice to see the insides of a classroom after about a decade or so; it was a nice break from the daily grind of a regular job, but it was not easy to be away from the loves of your life. Sweet, because the ceremony also falls on the 106 th national day of my country. Well, it’s over for now. As they say, till death, education continues. I am sure some of us may meet at a different part of the world, still in the quest of further knowledge. See you there! What did I learn? Tha...

From Bhutan to AIT, Bangkok! Yes, I come from Bhutan. That small nation that is ensconced between India and China, and the very one that introduced the concept of Gross national Happiness to the world. In Bhutan, we calculate GNH as a measure of the country’s development, and not GDP. Surprised? I do look like I am from India, or Bangladesh or Nepal. Depends on how you look at it. We are called the “Lhotshampas” in Bhutan, rather fondly, I would say, and loosely translates to “one from the southern fringes of the country”. Well, once upon a time my ancestors came from somewhere and settled in Bhutan.  But me and my family (and my grandfather before that) are firmly Bhutanese, although we also celebrate Hindu festivals like the Dasain, along with all the Buddhist ones. You see, in Bhutan, Hinduism and Buddhism are the two state religions, and English and Dzongkha are the popular two languages, apart from other vernaculars. Yes, English, because the education in Bhutan is all c...