Wherefore Art Thou Dithering?

One decision that should have been simple and straightforward - that of abandoning the construction of the Punatsangchu-I (PHPA-I) - the two governments of Bhutan and India continue to dither - even after 13 long years when it became clear that the geological make of the dam site was unsuitable for the location of a mammoth dam that would store few thousand trillion tons of water for the planned hydropower project!!! Nothing could have been more foreboding, than the first land slide that occurred on the right bank of the Punatsangchu-I dam site - during July of 2013. Since then, two more slides have occurred – second one in 2016 and the last one in 2019.

Punatsangchu Hydropower Project’s erstwhile Managing Director, R N Khazanchi, is credited with the masterstroke of proposing the relocation of the PHPA-I’s dam site to the present unproven and untested location, 1.4 KMs upstream of its originally designated location. This was a decision that one of the Indian experts had unabashedly called “the best example of deceit and dishonesty by the project people”.

In recognition of his exemplary ingenuity, Bhutan honored Khazanchi with one of its highest civilian decorations - the Druk Thuksey Medal - in 2012. Before he exited the Project in 2018, Khazanchi in turn gifted the country with the poetic coinage “geographical surprise” to explain the repeated slides that kept occurring at the PHPA-I’s dam site. If this project—against all logic—proceeds, and such landslides continue to occur in this conspicuously unstable locale, will it still be a “surprise”?

Here I am running the risk of being called an insane person - but I tell you … I get this very disturbing feeling that the two governments of Bhutan and India are actually waiting for something catastrophic to occur! If that is what it is – they may not have to wait too long for their wish to come true. We are told that the mighty Thorthorme Tsho (lake) in Lunana is all set to breach!

Let alone the danger of Thorthorme lake burst, the world has seen, and continues to see, natural and man-made calamities at a pace, and scale, that are so numerous that it is near impossible to keep track of them. To recount a few:

Topping the list is the US of A …. It has been hit by the most devastating calamity humanity has ever known …. in the form of Donald Trump being elected as their President. The world’s leading country has been hit by every form of catastrophe known to humanity – humongous Wild Fires, Storms, Super Typhoons, Tornadoes, Cyclones, Volcanic Eruptions, Earthquakes, plunging helicopters and crashing aircrafts etc. etc.

No country has been spared …. practically every country in the world has been hit by natural disasters brought on by Global Warming. Even more scary, the Himalayan region has experienced unprecedented natural calamities such as Cloudbursts, Flash Floods, Landslides, Earthquakes etc. etc.

Seismologists and geophysicists have long predicted that a super earthquake in the Himalayan region is long overdue. They offer the reason that it will be caused by the release of the accumulated tectonic pressure in the area where the Indian and Eurasian tectonic plates continue to collide. I understand that it is not a question of IF … but of WHEN .... the hit will come. But it is predicted to come … there does not appear to be any doubt about it.

So … can we be more responsible to ourselves, our future generations, and to those lifeforms downstream of the Project …. and finally take the decision to abandon the PHPA-I project for good?

We simply cannot continue to take the risk – it would be dumb to do so!

A Lucky Businessman

When my Dad was alive, I made sure that I visited him atleast once a year … if not twice. And, during those rare annual events, I invited him to accompany me on my daily bird hunting trips which he enjoyed. Ofcourse he was forever intrigued why, at times, I shot the same bird again and again and again. I did try to explain to him that every new frame of the bird’s image is different - I explained to him that sometimes the lighting is different from the last one --- sometimes the perch is different … and other times, the bird’s posture is daintier than the last … or that at times it is engaged is picking a fly or swallowing a berry ….. Ofcourse, he didn’t see the rationale behind all that …. He thought it was all a waste of time.

But during one of the many trips we made together, the old man made a comment that threw me off completely. He said:

“Yeshey, you know you are one lucky businessman … did you realize that?”

I was puzzled … and asked him:

“Why do you say that?”

He replied:

“You must be the only businessman in Bhutan who does not have to pay for his wares – you get them absolutely free. I mean you take photos of anything and everything you want … anywhere you want … any time you want ... and you do not have to pay a single Chhetrum for doing so. Minya?”

I said:

“True.... but you forget the investment I have to make behind the gear that I need – to photograph those wares. And, by the way, don't forget the time and the passion that I need to invest behind the endeavors ….. Wii bran hiining ... minya?”

Well … my Dad may have thought that I got my wares free … that I did not have to pay for them … but he passed away knowing full well that it didn’t make me a millionaire …. However, that said, the joy and the sense of fulfillment I got from photography is something else …. For proof … please see the following images of the moths I have been shooting in recent times – I dare say that it would have made the old man proud!

Auzatellodes hyalinata

Calluga costalis

Deroca inconclusa

Drepana dispilata

Iotaphora iridicolor

Lymantriine Moth

Macrauzata melanapex

Macrocilix mysticata

Maxates spp.

Ourapteryx contronivea

Pseudomiza obliquaria

Tanaoctenia haliaria

I apologize if some of the ID's of the Moths are wrong .... you know I am a novice at this ... I am no Lepidopterist.... if you know better ... please do not hesitate to correct me.

Confusion, Confusion, Confusion!

Dear …………,

The image you sent me is the reverse of Bhutan’s earliest milled silver coins. As you know, Bhutan’s first two milled silver coins were both issued marked with the date – “Sa Druk Lo” (Year of the Earth Dragon), and denominated “Ja Trum Chet” – meaning “Half Indian Trum” or “Half Indian Coin”.

Both of Bhutan's earliest silver Thalas struck in 1929 and 1930 carried exactly the same markings on the reverse, as above.

Thus, since both the coins were issued with identical markings on the reverse, it is not possible for me to determine if a coin is one of 1929 or 1930 - by simply looking at a coin's reverse alone - you need to send me the image of the coin's obverse - because it is from the obverse that I can tell you which year the coin was struck.
 
Further, as mentioned in my earlier mail of 2022, while the coinage year/year of release was marked as “Sa Druk Lo” corresponding to 1928 in the Gregorian calendar, the Annual Reports of the Director of the Mint, USA records that the silver coins were actually struck in 1929 and 1930 – NOT IN 1928 and 1929 as is popularly assumed.
 
It is my belief that the year 1928 is featured on the coins – because, possibly, the Bhutanese artist who prepared the designs of the coins had actually prepared the designs in 1928 and released them to the English Master Engraver - Mr. A P Spencer - for preparing the coins' dies. But it is clear beyond doubt that the coins were definitely struck in 1929 and 1930, as evidenced by the American Mint’s Annual Reports of 1929 and 1930. The Reports under reference is so exacting that it even gives the total monetary value of the total mintage - in US$ terms!!
 
Please also remember that the first 20,000 pcs. of silver coins of 1929 had a design flaw on its obverse … so another 30,000 pcs. were ordered to be struck in 1930 - in an effort to correct the flaw. Sadly, while the design flaw of the coin’s obverse was corrected, the Mint Master at the British India Government’s Calcutta Mint forgot to change the reverse die … so even the 1930 silver coins were struck with the same year “Sa Druk Lo” although it should have been marked “Sa Drue Lo” (Year of the Earth Snake).

By the way, as I wrote to you in my above referred mail of 2022, few hundred of Bhutan's 1950 nickel Thala were, by mistake, struck using the "Sa Druk Lo" reverse die .... but the Government of India Mint Master in Calcutta realized the mistake in time, and quickly halted further striking of the coins, and switched the reverse die with the correct one that read: "Chaag Taag Lo". That is why one of Bhutan's rarest milled coins is the 1950 nickel Thala with the year "Sa Druk Lo".

Talking of which, did you know that engraving of the Silver Thala's dies is considered Mr. A P Spencer's life's finest work? Imagine!

 
I hope this helps.
 
Bye and take care
 
Yeshey