On The Wings Of The Dragon: Part IV

Taking Tourism To The Top - a very catchy slogan. But for the slogan to be translated into reality, it needs a vehicle to ride on. To be more precise, the industry needs to ride on another even catchier slogan - On The Wings Of The Dragon. And there is where it hits a cul-de-sac. The journey ends even before it begins. Taking Tourism To The Top is a non-starter; unless the controlling interest - the government - sheds the accountant’s mentality and begins to get a grasp of the pivotal role the national flag carrier must play in the tourism industry’s journey to the top.

Druk Air is key to the success of the tourism industry. On The Wings Of The Dragon must ride the tourism industry, including every one of its ancillary services. Like His Majesty said in his 111th National Day Speech; “If, in the next 10 to 15 years, we achieve all our national objectives, the credit will go to our public servants. However, if we fail, it will mean that the public servants have failed.”

In the same vein if the tourism industry soars to the top, the credit will go to the Druk Air but if it fails to do so, the blame must go entirely to the carrier as well.

Bringing Druk Air into the DHI fold was a clear case of missing the forest for the trees. DHI is a conglomerate of commercial entities whose sole mandate is to generate profit. By the very nature of its function, the Druk Air is a breed apart - from other entities that go to make the DHI group. The Druk Air has a responsibility that is at a higher plane than those of other DHI companies.

If the tourism industry’s journey to the top must gain momentum, the first step will have to be to de-link the Druk Air from the DHI group and declare it a non-commercial entity. It must be called upon to carry out and perform its primary responsibilities - The3S: Service, Safety and Security. Thereafter, we must require the Druk Air to rationalize its fares.

The Druk Air has the capability to single-handedly thwart every effort the country makes - towards taking the country’s most vital and progressive industry to the top. By the same token, it also has the potential to be the major driver in the industry’s march towards the top. Sadly, the airline is currently going through a period of misguided perception. It is made to believe that it must make profits - even if it has to come at the cost of our national interest.

There is a need to make the airline realize that the pursuit of one single entity to make profit stands in the way of the progress of a dozen other entities. That is not correct - not particularly when the airline is a national flag carrier.

The Druk Air must act as the strong, able limb that strengthens the body - which is the tourism industry. Because if the limb fails, the body will wobble and fall.

My next and final article on this series will show how, in the pursuit of profit the airline and its master - the DHI - hampered the growth of the industry and even negated the improvement of service delivery by the airline.

On The Wings Of The Dragon: Part III

Druk Air is without doubt a state-owned enterprise with a commercial orientation in the way it operates. However, as I have demonstrated in my past article, it is sufficiently clear that the entity was established to pursue non-financial objectives - and not as an enterprise of profit. Not all enterprises that the state creates are profit-centric. In 99% of the cases, they are service oriented - they are either required to engage in areas that are sensitive, or they are required to perform a service that no commercial entities are willing to venture into.

A case in point is the Food Corporation of Bhutan (FCB) - another state-owned enterprise of the RGoB. This organization has a different mandate - it is not expected to make profit for the state. Its existence is solely for the delivery of essential foods to remote and underserved locations where enterprises of profit will not venture into. Through government subsidies, the FCB is expected to ensure food security - to deliver essential foods at affordable prices. Try and imagine FCB trying to make a profit!

Similarly, fighting a war is not the purpose behind the establishment of Bhutan’s RBA. It was created to make a statement. Royal Bhutan Army cannot be considered a war-like apparatus - it serves a national objective.

So, do airlines serve national objectives? They do - and in a variety of ways. Countries around the world have used their national flag carriers for a variety of reasons - some even for espionage, as the following will demonstrate!

Formed in 1924, Britain’s erstwhile Imperial Airways was specifically created to provide air links between Britain and its far-flung Empire. No profit motives here.

KLM followed suit - to provide air links to the Dutch East Indies. The Belgian Airlines - SABENA serviced the Belgian Congo. Air France’s predecessor - Air Union was floated to fly to French colonies in West Africa. Profit making was furthest from the minds of these governments.

The Malaysian government considered the Malaysia Airlines (MAS), “an essential instrument in the nation-building process”. Consequently, the carrier’s primary focus was in servicing domestic routes, rather than international ones. The reason was that Malaysian government’s focus was in integrating different regions as one nation - national integration. Profit wasn’t in its scheme of things.

All these airlines were established not as institution of profit - but as instruments aimed solely at providing control and prestige, and national integration. But ofcourse, some were also created as state apparatus for espionage.

During the Cold War era, the US government used the flight attendants of the defunct PAN AM – its unofficial flag carrier – to perform espionage duties.

Mossad regularly used the El Al, Israel’s national flag carrier for the same purpose. KGB agents infiltrated the state-owned airline Aeroflot to carry out intelligence and counter-intelligence activities. Even the South African Airways was used by the Bureau of State Security for espionage work.

Whether for espionage or for connectivity, national flag carriers were created solely to serve a national interest. Druk Air cannot be an exception - infact our national flag carrier has every good reason to remain a service apparatus in the service of the nation - because of all the airlines named here  - Druk Air is the only airline that CANNOT operate as an entity of profit. It is impossible!! Unless it does so at the cost of someone else.

Unless it does so at the cost of our national interest.

On The Wings Of The Dragon: Part II

One might wonder what was a minuscule Bhutan doing - entering the air transport business, and that too with one solitary, even more minuscule, 18-seater Dornier aircraft. Would Druk Air assist the country in the expansion of its foreign trade, through carriage of export cargo? With a payload capacity of less than 2MT??? Impossible! Did the airline hope to cash in on the burgeoning tourist arrivals? Not by a long shot - even two years after the commercial operation of the Druk Air began, the tourist arrivals  for the year 1984 was recorded at 1,900 persons. So then what was the reason for the start of the airline?

Not certainly for profits - it simply couldn’t be. The answer is simple: its establishment was necessitated for a purpose far greater than mere monetary gains. The airline was started to serve a national objective - to serve as a national flag carrier - as the country’s aerial ambassador - to strengthen national sovereignty - to make a statement of Bhutan’s nationhood. Since our territorial boundaries did not have a coastline, it was not possible for us to have a sea-faring vessel to fly our national colors over the international waters and spaces. Thus we choose to go with an airline to carry our national flag beyond our borders - to announce to the world that Bhutan exists as an independent and sovereign country - with independent territorial boundaries, a standing army, a national flag carrier, a national flag, a group of people, and a set of languages - the essential attributes of an independent state.

This assertion was vital. Just one year after his coronation, the Fourth Druk Gyalpo saw the state of Sikkim being gobbled up, unceremoniously. That brought clarity to what His Majesty must do – to save a kingdom for himself and his successors; to safeguard the continued existence of a nation state.

Bhutan’s first membership to an international body was to Colombo Plan - in 1962, followed by UPU in 1969. We became a Member of the UN system in 1971. Then followed IMF, the World Bank, and the SAARC in 1983. Then came the Nonaligned Movement, the Group of 77, ADB, the EU and host of others. Bhutan’s pursuit of international relations was relentless and dogged - so much so that by 1990 - nineteen years after being crowned King, Bhutan had membership to 119 international, regional, and special interest organizations.

It is clear that Druk Air was created as an apparatus of the state - to make a statement - not to earn profit. It just couldn’t make profit - not even now after 38 years since its creation. It is understandable - it simply does not have the economies of scale in its favor. Worst, nature is its indomitable adversary.

The following tell the tale.

The daily aircraft utilization rates in hours per day for US airlines in 2014, is recorded as follows:

JetBlue                 11.77

Frontier                11.45

United                  11.37

Virgin America 11.33

Southwest            11.01

Delta                    10.55

US Airways         10.01

As opposed to the above, what are the numbers for our own homegrown airline? - between 5 to 5.5 hours until few years back. Under the new management headed by Mr. Tandin Wangchuk, it is now said to be 7 hours – a quantum jump! But not enough - not by a long shot! Unfortunately, given the geographical setting under which the Druk Air has to operate, I am told that daily aircraft utilization rate of 7 hours is provably the best it can do.

But it is not just nature - the efficiency of Druk Air is further hampered by manmade calamities - of the most bizarre kind. Thus, given the adverse conditions prevailing, if ever the Druk Air makes a profit, IT WILL HAVE TO EXACT THE COST ON SOMEONE ELSE!

And that is exactly what is happening right now - the cost is being born by the tourism industry.

PHPA I Seeks Divine Intervention

Incredulous, a friend of mine in the US wrote to me a while ago, as follows:

Yeshey —

Is this for real? Divine intervention sought at PHPA1?

http://www.kuenselonline.com/phpa-i-seeks-divine-intervention/

PHPA I seeks divine intervention

My reply to her:

Hahaha .... basic human nature..... when everything fails, they turn to God for deliverance.

Bye and take care ..... I posted my article on Druk Air ... I will be doing few more.

-------------------------------------

For the past 4-5 years, I have been asking for the shutting-down of the doomed PHPA I project, to no avail. Now it seems like the Project authorities have nothing else left to do - other than seek help from God, to prevent it from falling.

Global warming is real - the kind of snow we have seen this year has never been seen before, not in a long, long time. Personally I like it - it is good. It is good for the farmers, it is good for restocking the depleted ice deposits on the high mountain peaks that are beginning to look naked. This will translate into more water to  turn the turbines of our many hydropower projects. But I fear that there is a clear warning here.

What kind of monsoon are we likely to have? Are we going to see unprecedented flooding? Are we going to see massive landslides? Are our roads and bridges going to be washed away? Are communities going to be disconnected for long periods of time?

Are we preparing for such eventualities? Does the Department of Disaster Management have the wherewithal to handle calamities at such scale?

I think this is a time to be wary.

On The Wings of The Dragon: Part I

The year: 1981. The location: Tivoli Court, 1A, Ballygunj Circular Road, Calcutta 700 019, India.

In a small dingy room without windows, sits an elderly sweat-ridden man, stripped down to his waist, hammering away at the keyboards of a battered Godrej manual typewriter placed on a low table. By the typewriter stands a half empty bottle of Bhutanese Changta Whiskey along side which stands a half filled glass. A rickety fan is swirling overhead - creaking furiously and churning out gusts of hot air. The man types away furiously, even as he sweats profusely - but he is oblivious to the oppressive conditions - he keeps smacking away at the typewriter all day long.

From within this dingy little room inside Flat No. 47 of Tivoli Court, Calcutta started the journey of the Kingdom’s "Aerial Ambassador" - Druk Air Corporation. The man was no other than Mr. P S Joseph, Resident Director, Druk Air Corporation. He was an uncommon man - difficult to like but easy to admire. He was brisk, hot-tempered, impatient, hard drinking, driven and dedicated - and feared. When he walked into the Calcutta International Airport Terminal building, airline and Customs and Immigration officials inside the building scurried off to hide behind pillars - so they may be spared his barks.

This is how the Druk Air started. The commercial operations began only in February of 1983, two years later. The management team of the newly formed national airline were:

Chairperson                       : HRH Ashi S. C. Wangchuck

Managing Director            : Ugyen Namgyel

Resident Director              : Late Mr. P. S. Joseph

General Manager (E&O)   : Dasho Sonam Tshering (retired Secretary, MoEA)

Commercial Manager        : Late Pema Tshering (Pema Sen)

The only aircraft it had then was the 18-seater German made Dornier 228-200. It made its epochal touch-down at Paro international airport on January 14, 1983.

I was then posted in Calcutta, as the Head of the Export Section of the Export Division, Ministry of Trade, Industries & Forests. My office was on the 3rd floor of Tivoli Court, Flat No. 51. I became good friends of Mr. P S Joseph.

Before the airline commenced its commercial operations, there was a long period of test flights between Calcutta and Paro. During those times, Mr. Joseph needed passengers to fill the aircraft. He came to me to help out. I volunteered to be on board those test flights. Not only me, I convinced my office clerks, peons, drivers and gatekeepers, even my personal cook to come on board ---  for a free ride to Paro and back. One day I even convinced Professor Kurita of Kobe University, Japan to take the test flight. Upon landing at Paro airport, the flight Captain asked us not to disembark the flight but invited us to take the flight once again so that he could test out different approaches and take off to and from the runway. I declined the offer --- I needed to use the loo. But Professor agreed. What he did not realize was that the pilots would be trying all sorts of maneuvers and landing and taking off - to be prepared for all eventualities. When the good Professor limped out of the aircraft at the end of the test flight, he was a miserable wreck - he was puking - his innards were tied in a knot and his head was a whirlpool - from all that twists and turns and dips and heaves the aircraft was subjected to.

Years later I realized how dangerous those test flights could have been. The aircraft was flying in areas that it had never flown before - the route was untested, the cabin was not pressurized, there was no flight guidance system to direct the flight to safety. But what the hell, youth was on our side and we were bursting with dare-devilry!

I have seen the birth and growth of the Druk Air - the one and only airline in the Kingdom that has the singular privilege and honor to wear the national flag on it’s aircrafts’ rudders. No other aircraft - whether national or international - will ever have the right to wear the national colors of the Kingdom of Bhutan.

Because only the Druk Air has the distinction of being called THE NATIONAL FLAG CARRIER OF THE KINGDOM OF BHUTAN.

Druk Air Corporation's jet wearing the national colors only a national flag carrier has the right to wear.

………………… to be continued

Are We a Thinking Society?

The self-appointed guardians of compassion and empathy - the religious and the righteous - will have you believe that the purpose behind imposing a ban on selling meat during the holy month (we are currently into one) is to reduce the slaughter of animals. Alas! They achieve just the opposite - it causes thousands of animals to be slaughtered days and weeks before their time. The meat lovers are coerced into buying a whole month’s stock of meat in advance! So what? The religion vultures are too ashamed to admit their folly. The rule stands - while rationalism takes a beating. This world is being taken over by the pseudo-religious!

A learned friend tells me that the term Goongtong is now passé - he says that the catch-phrase should now be Yuetong. According to him, it is no longer village homes that are being abandoned and left empty - in his view, the situation has deteriorated to such an extent that whole villages are now being emptied of human habitation. Wildlife predation is at the root of this problem.

But the authorities fail to see it that way. In recent times, there have been reports of elephants marching through human habitat - in some cases even close to urban centers. In one incident, an elephant crushed a villager to death - by trampling.  You cannot believe this - but the authorities called the cause of death a “human-wildlife conflict”! A hulking behemoth saunters in and crushes the helpless farmer to death. Pray, explain to me, how does a cowering farmer mount a “conflict” against a hulking colossus?

The popular belief is that the country’s Ministry/Department of Agriculture has the highest number of doctorates and researchers. And yet, recent reports in the media point to the fact that the forestry and agriculture sectors remain the most neglected and untended.

Dr. Phuntsho Namgyel is a forestry expert and analyst. In his recent article in the Kuensel dated 26th January, 2019 (http://www.kuenselonline.com/saving-bhutans-forest/), he actually opines that our forest is overstocked, that there is no cause for us to be proud of the fact that we have 83.90% forest coverage. In his opinion, this supposedly abundant natural resource is more of a burden than good. He in fact thinks that we should cut down our trees, if we are to save our forests.

Dr. Phuntsho points out that in 2015, we exported wood products worth Nu. 0.35 billion. As against that, we imported wood worth Nu. 2.60 billion. For a country with 1,001 million m3 of timber reserve, it is irresponsible to import so much wood, while our own are left to rot away.

Could it be that our doctorate researchers and experts in the Ministry/Department of Agriculture left the forests alone with the belief that trees are good for the environment and that it contributes to carbon sequestration? Were/are they clueless about the negative effects of overstocked forests - both for the environment as well as for the health of the forests? Why was such an important and abundantly available national resource allowed to go to waste? What kind of experts are they that they are unaware of the cause and effect of overstocked forests - on wildlife, on ground water stock, on the overall ecosystem?

Then there is this perennial stray dogs problem that we are simply unable to solve. The only solution to the problem that we have been able to come up with so far is: advise the visitors to the country to bring along earplugs. The DXers Magazine published by Gus Browning Enterprises of Cordova, SC, USA gives a graphic description of the stray dogs problem experienced by the radio amateur Gus Browning during Paro Tsechu in 1965. This means that this problem existing during and even before 1965, has been allowed to fester, even compound, since then.

At some point the Bhutanese society needs to start thinking - thus far there is no indication that we are a thinking society.

One More, For Our Men In Blue

Yet again another solar fencing project for our men in blue - this time at their open-air prison complex at Dawakha, under Paro Dzongkhag.

The Club President and the Superintendent of Police of Chamgang Jail inaugurate the solar fencing project yesterday at Dogar open-air prison facility of the RBP

Few of the proud Members of the Rotary Club of Thimphu participate in the handing-over ceremony of the solar fencing project to the prison authorities which was also attended by the Thrizin and Mangmi of Dogar Gewog. Members present during the ceremony were (from left to right): Rtn. Tashi Rinzing Schmidt, Rtn. Kesang Tshomo, Rtn. Sonam Wangmo, Rtn. Tsewang Rinzing and Rtn. Karma Gyaltsen. Also seen are (from left to right): open-air prison in-charge Dedrim Sonam Tobgay, Dogar Gup, Chamgang Jail SP Sonam Wangchuk and Dogar Mangmi. In the background is the infamous Dawakha Jail - now converted into an institute of learning.

Part of the 6 acres of vegetable farm that is now secured from wildlife predation with solar fencing

The open-air prison concept of the prison authorities is a noble idea where prisoners who have served most of their prison terms undergo a sort of a reintegration process - through gradual and limited access to free movement and normalcy. The dwellings in this prison facility are as normal as normal can be - there are no fortified walls, no ferocious guard dogs, no armed sentinels to keep vigil over the inmates. The inmates here are engaged in very normal and routine human activities such as gardening, weaving, knitting and, on occasions, jaunts to the nearby markets and towns. What is even more out of the ordinary is that 9 children belonging to some of the 25 all-female inmates domiciled in this facility, live within the bounds of this tranquil patch of human settlement.

There is something truly noble about the experiment called open-air prison. It is a dramatic departure from the traditional belief that people serving prison terms should be bound and shackled inside high walls with spikes and guarded by vicious bloodhounds. It is my understanding that this revolutionary concept helps the inmates re-orient themselves with their innate human nature that may have undergone turmoil and disconnection - as a result of many years spent within the walls of shame and dishonor. The permissive environs of an open-air prison helps to reintroduce the inmates to engage in normal human activities, feel emotions that are naturally human, help shed that stigma associated with being a prisoner. The freedom of movement and interaction, even while limited and controlled, help the inmates to realize that they have done their time for their crimes and that they are now on their way to being released into the societal fold, of which they are still an indivisible part.

In my capacity as the Club Secretary I have taken on the responsibility of implementing all of our Club’s many projects. Thus, I have had to visit the open-air prison 5 times since the start of the project - the last one being yesterday when I went along with some other Members of the Club, to hand over the solar fencing project to the prison authorities. 

Every one of my 5 trips have been trips of great emotional unease. In an attempt to be seen as being normal, I shared theirs meals, entered their lodgings, spoke to them, asked them where they were from, saw them weaving, knitting, packing chilies. I laughed with them and shared jokes with them - in an attempt to make them feel at ease. But despite my most earnest attempts, I could never shake off the feeling of being an oddity - a paranormal - among the lot who must be counted among the most normal.

Being in the company of these inmates reminded me of the bigoted nature of human society. The only fault of these inmates has been that they were foolish enough to be caught committing a crime. Had they not been caught, they would not be called criminals. There are more sinister criminals committing even more heinous crimes than these inmates - but they roam free, talk big, dispense religious sermons and give discourses in morality. They are counted among the leaders of society and captains of trade and industry. They pass verdicts on who is a criminal and who is not - while they themselves are bankrupt of morality and goodness.

The Rotary Club of Thimphu cannot hope to change the unfair nature of human society but we can certainly try and make life a little less painful and a little more livable, for some. It is our hope that within the confines of the solar fencing that we provided to the inmates of the open-air prison, they will grow vegetables and other foods that will go on to contribute to rebuilding their lives and restore their dignity - lost through carelessness of being caught in the act.

Pondering Over These Minor Anomalies

In the winter months, Bhutan imports electricity from India - at much higher rates than we export to them during the summer months. We pride ourselves as a net exporter of electricity and claim that our biggest economic activity is generating hydroelectricity. And yet, the Bhutanese people spend hours queuing up at the fuel pump - to buy imported fuel source to cook and heat homes. We are unable to afford the electricity that we generate.

Our farmers auction off thousands of metric tons of potatoes to Indian merchants across the border, during the potato-growing season. Then during the off-season, same potatoes are imported back into the country by the Bhutanese merchants - at almost double the price, to be consumed by the same people who grew them.

We are famous the world over as a nation of Ema Datsi. We consume chilies for breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks in between. And yet, we have to import them because we do not grow enough.

Every time I pass by the Hongtso Immigration Check Post, I am puzzled by the logic of its existence at that location. What is the meaning of it, exactly? Bhutan’s most visited place of tourist interest happens to be the Druk Wangyel Chortens at Dochula. This place is visited more than the famous Taktsang. It is within the  administrative boundaries of Thimphu Dzongkhag and it is not listed as a Restricted Area. Thus visitors to this place should NOT be required to obtain Restrict Areas Route Permit to visit Druk Wangyel Chortens.

The gate was originally installed as a forestry produce check-point. Even the person who was responsible to start it originally, is now dead and gone. This gate is a meaningless expenditure for the government and it certainly does not contribute to a happy experience for the tourists. If such a gate is needed at all, it should be relocated to a place where the two territorial boundaries converge - that of Thimphu and Wangdue.

Druk Air is Bhutan’s premier air transport operator of long standing. It certainly helped in putting the country on the tourism world map. But I fear that over time, it was allowed to digress from its original mandate and obligation for which the national flag carrier was created. Or, perhaps the government lost track of the principal role a national flag carrier must play in the overall scheme of things.

Calculated based on the average duration of visitors to Bhutan, today the airfare component works out to over 60% of the TCB’s Minimum Daily Tariff charged to every visitor to the country. This is atrocious. Every time the airfare is quoted to a prospect, they tell us that we are cheating. If Bhutan is to draw in increased international arrivals, we must rationalize the airfare of the Druk Air. The airline must function as a limb that complements and strengthens the body. Given its carrying capacity, it cannot be required to compete with the industry as a profit center. It cannot perform as a commercial entity - unless it does so at the cost of something else. And that is what is currently happening - the airfare of the Druk Air has become a severe deterrent - to the tourism industry’s aspirations for a buoyant growth.

There is a need to de-list Druk Air as a commercial entity - we need them to fulfill a larger national objective, and not be required to serve a narrow mandate of making profit that can only come at the cost of the nation. The basis of Druk Air's fare structure should not be calculated based on its operating and maintenance costs - other more important considerations must come into the equation. After all, let us admit it - given their fleet size and the routes they serve and the number of people they have to employ, the mathematics do not work - not unless they push the cost on to someone else.

It is all about economies of scale.

Sad News

I have just been notified that the website:

www.arkive.org

will go offline with effect from 15th February, 2019. It is sad - this website is a treasure-trove of information, particularly on the endangered species of the world. I am one of the over 7,000 contributors to the site - I donated one of my images to be stored on the site for posterity:

http://www.arkive.org/white-bellied-heron/ardea-insignis/

Please visit the site before it is taken off - some rare and stunning images of the world’s most endangered species are found there.

There Is Nothing Doubtful About What Is Imminent

The national newspaper KUENSEL reveals that a staggering Nu.3,950,000,000.00 (Nu.3.95B) is the amount reported as the financial irregularities in the hydropower sector. This means that in addition to being gagged and tied up in an eternal knot of economic bondage, every single Bhutanese - children, women, men, old, young, lame, mute, blind - have evidently been robbed of Nu.6,000.00 each, through all sorts of corruption and mismanagement.

That does not, however, seems to be our biggest worry. KUENSEL today reports that there was, yet again, a land slide at the PHPA I dam site that occurred on 22nd January, 2019.

KUENSEL's article on the landslide at the PHPA I dam site

How KARMIC and scary! Scary because my instincts don't seem to be misplaced - only two days earlier, I had gone to a small village called Japhu, with the express purpose of photographing Gaselo village that sits right above the dam site. Japhu village is on the other side of the Punasangchhu - right opposite Gaselo. For sometime now, I have been overcome by this instinctive feeling that sometime in the future the topography of Gaselo is likely to be altered beyond recognition, caused by construction activities down below, including a real possibility of a seismic activity. There is a need to capture and preserve an image of the village as it stands now, before we lose it all to the ferocity and devastation of nature. The following photographs were acquired on 20th January, 2019:

Gaselo village sits directly above the PHPA I dam site

PHPA Colony that sits right above the dam site 

Japhu village opposite Gaselo

For the past four years I have been hollering for the shutting down of the PHPA I. But it still stands - even as it is selectively ravaged by landslides and annual flooding of the Project's cofferdam, by the Punasangchhu. What worries me is the inconsequential and ineffectual attempt by the PHPA-I people to implement stabilization measures such as cable anchoring and reinforcing with cement concrete (RCC) micro-piling. These activities are obviously necessitated to mitigate a known and eminent danger of the right hill sliding down into the ravine. In other words, the project people are attempting to fight nature, instead of heeding its warnings.

The question is: can they?

I have been witness to cyclonic activities twice in my life - once in Japan and once in Thailand. I have seen the power and ferocity of nature - first hand. Against the might and wrath of nature, men can do nothing but be humbled by its power and scale of devastation. Men do not stand a chance against nature.

To me it seems like it is time to investigate the geology of whole of Gaselo, very seriously. Let us understand the extent of threat to life and property. If there is indeed a threat, let us be prepared for it. Do not forget that the whole of Gaselo area is located bang in the middle of a high to very high seismically hazardous zone. All it take is a minor jolt and a nudge, to bring everything tumbling down.

The seismic hazard map of Bhutan: there is nothing doubtful about what is imminent

Impossible Made Possible

I recently posted a photograph of Kuenselphodrang’s Buddha Dordenma on this Blog, with a snow-clad mountain looming large behind the statue.  Some viewers I am told is of the view that I did some digital darkroom magic, to render the image in the form and state that it was presented in.

The image that is the subject of discussion

This is not true --- I assure you that no post-shoot manipulation is involved. I am not trying to counter the criticism - but I feel that here is an opportunity to give the viewers some tips on photography.

I used a super telephoto lens to produce this imposing image. In simple terms, the primary purpose of the telephoto lens is to project the objects/subjects closer than they really are.  The mountains are there behind the statue --- but the eyes see them far away from the statue, which they are. In addition to using a telephoto lens to pull the mountains closer to the statue, I spent time (2 days) hunting for a location that aligns the statue bang in front of the mountains that I want to use as a backdrop. But finding the mountains to use as a backdrop is not the end …. I also need a location that has the right level/height from where to shoot the frame that I had already composed in my mind. As a trained photographer I can see in the eyes of my mind how I can dramatize a certain scene - using different elements that are already available in nature. I just need to put together the right tools and situations to bring it all together - to produce an image that most believe is impossible.

As you can see from the image below of Paro Taa Dzong, even that mountain behind the structure is nowhere as close as you see in the image. Here too I used a telephoto lens to draw in the mountain in the back, so that it is seen towering imposingly over the Dzong.

The magic of telephoto lens - you cannot see this scene with your naked eyes

But mind you, telephoto lenses are not always used for distant images and to draw in the background closer to the subject. In the following image of a lady in Rangjung, Trashigang, I used the telephoto lens for just the opposite purpose - to throw off the background. I used the lens’ elements to create what is called a shallow "depth-of-field”. The lens’ inherent capabilities helped me separate the subject from the background. You notice that the background is totally blurred and out of focus … while in the images of the Buddha and the Dzong, I used the lens to render the background sharper and closer to the subject.

In the following photo the green curtain-like background is actually the lady's paddy field where she was engaged in transplanting paddy. But through the combination of proper selection of lens' aperture and  physical positioning of myself just the right distance away from the subject, I managed to turn the paddy field into a smooth, glossy backdrop of green infused with a swathe of grey.

The use of telephoto lens to create a shallow depth of field

Safe Drinking Water For Two More Schools

The start of the new year - 2019 has ushered in a period of hectic activities for the Rotary Club of Thimphu. During this single month a total of five projects have been handed over to the communities in various parts of the country - one more will soon be handed over.

First project to be handed over early this month was the construction of 34 toilets in Ketokha village, Bongo Gewog, Chhukha Dzongkhang. Within days, in the same Dzongkhag, we handed over 4.34 KMs of solar fencing to the RBP’s Thrimsung Women Group in Tashigatshel, Chhukha. This was followed by a water filter project for the RBP’s Zilneon Nagyelling Lower Secondary School in Thimphu. This was reported on this Blog at:

https://yesheydorji.blogspot.com/2019/01/yet-again-one-more-for-our-men-in-blue.html

Within days following the handing over of the above projects, we completed the installation of two more RO water filtration systems with UV treatment units in the following schools:

Bajothang Higher Secondary School

Location                            :  Bajothang, Wangduephodrang

Class of School                 :  Higher Secondary School

Owner of the Schoo          :  Royal Government of Bhutan

No. of Students                 :  1,016

No. of Teaching Staff        : 70

No. of Support Staff          :         9

Total Beneficiaries .         :  1,095

Shaba Primary School

Location                            :  Shaba, Paro

Class of School                 :  Primary School

Owner of the School         :  Royal Government of Bhutan

No. of Students                 :   613

No. of Teaching Staff       :     34

No. of Support Staff         :       5

Total Beneficiaries          :   652

Mr. Stephen Frederick Jones and his wife Mrs. Valerie Lois Jones of Woodside, California, USA, funded the full cost of the supply and installation of the water filter systems in the above three schools.

Mr. Stephen Frederick Jones and his wife came to Bhutan on a ham radio/trekking trip during October of 2017. It was their first trip to Bhutan. For Mr. Jones, a ham radio enthusiast, the trip was the realization of an aspiration that he had held for over half a century - a dream to visit Bhutan and operate ham radio - ever since he made QSO in 1965, with the legendary American D’Xpeditioner - Gus Browning, then operating from Thimphu.

On their trekking trip to Jumolhari Base Camp they met up with a small local girl-child in the village of Soe Jangothang, named Sonam. They took an immediate liking to the girl and visited the local school (Soe ECR) where she was due for enrolment the following year. Upon asking the school Principal how they might contribute to the child’s education and welfare, the Principal said that the school needed a water filter. This was the start of the couple’s journey of giving and charity, in collaboration with the Rotary Club of Thimphu.

The couple offered enough funding to support the installation of a water filter in the Soe ECR, including half a dozen window curtains that the school needed. The installation of water filter and delivery of the window curtains were completed last year. If that were not enough, the couple went back home to the US and remitted additional funds to support the installation of RO water filter systems at another school - Betikha Middle Secondary School in Paro. The installation of the water filters in this school was also completed early last year.

The couple promises that they will continue to fund more filters in other schools in the coming years. This generous couple has the distinction of being the single highest individual donors to the Rotary Club of Thimphu’s humanitarian projects. In appreciation our Club has honored them with the following Plaque of Appreciation:

Plaque of Appreciation issued to the donor couple