“Intrusion from the modern world was indeed minimal and made me be one with myself.”
But when I saw a porcelain toilet pot, the immediate excitement I showed made me feel so like the bear in the animation “Open Season.” I could hear myself say “Sweet porcelain.”
Ura to any one might not seem to be a remote place; the Ura road has a lot of vehicles pass through, the number of which you can’t just count on your fingertips. I have passed by Ura a number of times and always enjoyed the beauty of the place.
However, this trip was something different; I could this time enjoy the sound of silence and now and then the chirping of birds. I enjoyed the coolness of the rain in the evening and above all spending a night at a farm house and meeting my host family only in the morning.
As we city people always look for a quiet retreat away from city life every now and then, this trip was something I really needed, to rejuvenate with myself. Life as a journalist based in the capital is tiring; you are so caught up with work that you actually feel like a tourist whenever you visit rural lifestyle.
On the other hand, these rural based people unlike us said they always look forward to living in the city and dream of living life the city way.
The grass is always greener on the other side indeed!
I try to stay connected with the local people, trying to eavesdrop their conversation, taking pictures and trying to figure out what I want to write about. The best thing about being in the media world is that you are potentially touching the lives of thousands of people who read your write up.
But then there is yet another side of being in the media world. You always have to think twice before you start writing. Of course George Bernard Shaw has rightly fully said ‘A veteran journalist never thinks twice before he writes.” However, things aren’t just what George has said, at least not in the newsroom I work for.
Sometimes you take all the pain to write an article or rather you are forced to work on an article and then at the end of the day you look at the article and feel content in learning something new from it and cant wait for people to learn from it as well, and then a damn editor tells you your article isn’t going to go in.
This has happened to me many times and a lot of other journalists are going to support me on this one, except for the editors. Anyhow, I am not supposed to be complaining about work here but infact I am writing yet another article which will be turned down by some editors.
There is always a joy in meeting rural people, although Bhutan isn’t a very big country, somehow the rural-urban gap is big, quite noticeable.
Why do I feel this way?
Perhaps, that’s because I grew up in the city and I am accustomed to the city way of life. The further I go into the rural world; I feel I have more time for myself. No mobile connections, no television and no motors roaring.
I am trying my best not to sound like a tourist because my guide to travel writing tells me never to sound like a tourist. But then yes, there is no denying that you are a tourist or rather a domestic tourist the moment you set your feet on a rural place.
Everything about rural Bhutan is fascinating; I have travelled to rural Bhutan many times, on my own, with my family and friends. And never once have I felt I am done with rural lifestyle. When I look at the people and take pictures of their expressions, each face is an experience.
Photography!
Surely! This is one thing I love to do when ever I am out of the city.
Pictures that I take when ever I am travelling makes me stay connected to the experiences and lessons I have learnt from my travels.
There is a certain kind of calmness you feel as I sit out in the clean open air, with no traffic congestion, the irritating mobile ringtone of my cell phone (which I haven’t been able to figure out how to change it yet), no editors around to piss you off, no friends wanting to go out dancing and above all the clean environment.
It’s always just me and the beautiful nature surrounding me, no one and nothing else in between.
As the cool wind blows on my face, I can feel the coolness with a different feeling (definitely the feeling of being an actor in a Bollywood movie), the trees moving gracefully and no bright lights to disturb the beauty.
Such is the beauty of life in rural Bhutan, what more can a person asks for. Of course there is television, a nice bar to hang out on a weekend, a good bed to sleep in, a car to drive, a mobile phone (minus my irritating ringtone) to keep in touch with your friends, internet, a comfortable chair and table to write my articles and my annoying editors to edit my articles.
Sigh! There it goes the duality of life again!
If only my life was a luxury where I can get away from city life when I ever I need some quite moments and come back when ever I crave for a more luxurious life.
Rural Bhutan or urban Bhutan, Bhutan will always be Bhutan, always in one’s heart, where ever you go.
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