TELL TALES

I was a pothead during my school days. What started as a show off back in 7th grade quickly became a habit by the 9th grade. I smoked very heavily during those days. So much so that the line between reality and illusion began to blur under the influence of marijuana. I was in my 12th grade. The exams are nearing and everyone is busy preparing for the upcoming board examination. For me, I was busy collecting the remaining marijuana plants to stock myself up for the long and dry winter months.  By November, the examination for classes 9 and 11 began. This means the teachers are occupied with the ongoing examination and we have a lot of window to flunk classes and go light up some blunts.  Over the summer days, I managed to stash a good amount of hash. So, one day a friend of mine came to school with a packet of cigarettes. I gave him some of my hash and he gave me half of his cigarettes. Cigarettes are a rare commodity. Excited, I hurried home. I have a quiet spot overlooking th...

It still hurts me to see Ratu in such a hapless condition. He was once a brave guy and fun guy to be around. Now, he can barely remember his own name. Ratu was cool and brave but a little negligent too. He would be up for any sort of heist without any regard for his own safety or financial profits. Tiger on the other hand would ask a lot of questions before agreeing to a certain job. In our line of work, bravery and courage is a must. A little bit of carelessness and negligence helps too. After all, we are but thieves and robbers.  One other thing about Tiger was, he was a little edgy all the time. He was always ready to start a fight and appeared to me that he loved the thrill of it. Whenever we went out, he would get easily riled up and before long we would be fighting some random people for no apparent reason. That's why we called him Tiger.  Anyway, Ratu lost his sanity and Tiger was nowhere to be found. I never saw him nor heard from him for a long time. It never occurre...

We hiked up the steep trail under the moon light. I felt like I reached the temple much sooner that night. We could see the bright city scape of Thimphu. The town was full of people and was busy with activities but here, up on top of the hill; overlooking the whole valley, anybody could see us but I was sure nobody would care to look. Its way too far and people are way to oblivious.  As we neared the temple, we pulled down our ski mask as if we are breaking into an apartment in the middle of the town.  We slowly walked inside the gate. The temple felt eerily quiet. I walked around the temple to make sure that nobody was there. After few more rounds, I rallied my two buddies and we broke into the temple. We took all the antiques and the golden statue, about 20 inches long. The antiques included an old cymbal, an old handheld drum, two golden butter lamps and few more other household items. We hauled them into three different loads. I carried the golden statue and they carried ...

I wasn't planning on stealing the statue, but I did. I never meant to smuggle the antiques but I did. I knew I might get caught, but I never did. I wasn't planning on stealing the statue, but I did. I never meant to smuggle the antiques but I did. I knew I might get jailed but I never did. People make mistakes, some live to learn from them, some don't. Some people, like myself, make mistakes and lives, but just to question our whole existence. An ordeal worse than death. If you die, your pain and suffering ends, period. If you were to live, live it, no questions asked. But to live and to question your own existence and doubt all your experiences? That's what I believe is living hell. I never believed in deities, spirits and all those "superstitions".  I dropped out of high school and have been doing odd jobs since then. I moved to Thimphu in 2011 to work as a construction helper. Since then, I got stuck in Thimphu. Living in Thimphu is not easy, especially wit...