….the morning that should be…Blessed Rainy Day is back..

23^rd September 2010, the Blessed Rainy Day that transcends every section of Bhutanese Society is back again. Greetings to all of my fellow citizens.  Wish you a wonderful Thrue Baab.

Here in Hyderabad, nostalgic self made a point to wake up early. I went out of the room heaving-in the fresh morning air to check if the bucket I left at the Courtyard the other night had collected  blessed rain water to rinse my body so that the external dirt is cleansed, whisk away the misfortunes, troubles, worries and at the extreme, purify the sins I have committed by the blessed drops of rain I have harvested in the Bucket.  

I was confident with the mindset that blessed rain not only rains in Bhutan but the entire world on this auspicious day. I was never deprived of this. I saw inky clouds have thickened the air. It was unusually cloudy outside teasing the bucket I had left wide open with occasional kiss of showers. It made my day; indeed a Blessed Rainy Day. I took shower chanting ‘thrue…thrue…thrue…thrueee…’ the legacy my parents ordained me to adhere. I closed my eyes and wished….I wish I were at home to share the festivity of this joyous day!

The very morning was marked just the way it should have been. We endeavored to entwine-in totally ‘Bhutanese’ in everything that was in our menu. A mouth-wateringly delicious pork ‘Thukpa’ was prepared by Namgay Om and Chencho Om who graciously sacrificed their sleeps to have it ready on time. It was totally Bhutanese in taste. The aroma of the ‘Thukpa’ wafting in the air around was mischievously hard for everyone’s nose to shunt away with.  Every one felt an urge to surge it down the throat. Everybody hummed…“it’s yummy”..having gorged in the much awaited Bhutanese cuisines. ‘Dresi’ was the other thing in our menu. Energetic and enthusiast manager of ours, Tshering Dorji, churned ‘Suja’ for almost half of the hour. A sip of it was refreshing, rejuvenating and absolutely ‘homecoming’ for it reminded our homes. ‘Dzaw’ and ‘Sip’ were the other items that were in our Menu. I salute everyone for initiating and materializing the bit of our plan successfully.

 We marked the day as it ought to have been. As a Bhutanese, wherever we are, we embrace the occasions we celebrate back home; we stay attuned to the whole gamut of our traditions and keep our national flag ‘fluttering high’ through the rhythm of breathe we inhale and exhale.

Had it been holiday, we could have resorted to ‘Khuru’, which unfortunately was not. After Thukpa session in the early hours of the day, we waded off to our respective classes.

Tashi Deleck