As per my word to Principal Sir, I came back to Bhutan after the Pujas, on the 22^nd. My family along with my recently widowed father-in-law came on the next day. Ultimately he was granted the road permit for a week till the 29^th of this month.

The problem with me has always been that I am quite shy when it comes to making requests to others and asking for favours. I could have simply asked someone to have my father-in-law’s permit extended for another week or so, or by fax and have it sent back. But instead I had to do it by myself. So I had to wait for the right time and moment. It was yesterday when the time seemed right for me. I found it on the previous day in the duty roster for the trial that I was free in the afternoon yesterday and though I had a class with XII SC ‘A”, I was going to be free due to the exam.

So just before the Assembly I asked Principal sir in his office if he would let me go down to Phuentsholing in connection with the renewal of my in-law’s road permit. Sir as always graciously consented to my request and then out of concern, he asked me when I was going to be back. I told him that I ‘d try to be back by the evening itself.

So right after the assembly, I informed our exam secretary, Lop. Gaza that I would not be available in the afternoon and in case the students had any problem with the English Paper-I, which was set by me, they had to send for Ms. Chencho Lham. I also made the same request to her while handing her the Marking Scheme. Just earlier, I had a talk with Ms. Pem Zam, one of our departmental colleagues, regarding the papers to be set for the Annual Exam for standard IX, She informed me that there are now four of us teaching English in the standard and expressed the desire to be excluded from the task as she is busy making paper-II for standard XI. So I had no other option than to ask Mr. Alex. It was finally decided between the two of us that he would set paper-II for IX, while I would take care of paper-I.

Right after the last paper was submitted by the student in the Agricultural Room being used for the exam purpose, I trotted to the exam cell where Lop. Gaza took over the papers from my hand and once he was happy with the arrangement of the answer-scripts and all, off I went to the Zero Point. Now very often I forget to express my gratitude to my spouse. When after a near bladder-bursting wait, Mr. Sangay Palden answered my call as a god-send, on my way to the toilet, I had called my wife asking for my in-law’s documents. She was waiting near the FCB sharp at 12.20 a.m. She had not only brought the required things but also a cake, in case I had to skip lunch on the way!

I hurried down to Zero Point as if my very life was hanging by a thread on getting a lift from there. While I was breathlessly waiting for a lift, I remembered Mr. Kezang, the Telecom In-Charge. I had requested him to recharge my broadband connection the previous day and was yet to pay him the money! So I called him then and there and informed him about my problem. On hearing it, he asked me not to worry and pay the money at a more convenient time. No sooner had I finished making the call than I could see a car coming and stopping near the sabji stands. I boldly approached them for a ride down and my request was not turned down! Later on, during the journey, I came to know that she is a geography teacher of Darla Middle Secondary School. It was a pleasant journey as we came to find out that we had worked in the same school (Wangdichholing Primary School, Bumthang) at different times in our lives. We also talked about our common friends and the people we know. She was extremely helpful and dropped me near the bus going down. She wanted to talk to the driver personally, but I did not let her.

The bus unfortunately, was packed and I had to walk up a mile or so for anything on four wheels going down! Finally it was one Mr. Krishna, a businessman from Punakha, who agreed to take me down in his vehicle. I was in for a shock when he dropped me near the immigration office in P/ling. There was not a single soul to be seen anywhere in the vicinity and the shutters must have be down not for an hour or so, but for some days! Only later I came to know about the Phuentsholing Tshechu. All the government offices were closed. Anyway, the office near the gates was still open. I approached the Officer-in-Charge with my heart in my mouth. Mr. Karma, the In-Charge, was extremely helpful and issued the new road permit after making a call to the Regional Officer.

On the way back, I had the club magazine printed and bound and as time was running out literarily ran to the Petrol Pump. It was already past 5 by then. It was another businessman who reached me back till Gedu (Sorry. I could not even ask for his name)! Having repeatedly kept glancing at his watch and found the time to be quite late, he talked to a truck driver on the way and asked me to get into that truck, if it was no problem. He also saved my number in his mobile and asked me to call him if there was any problem, with the promise of arranging a vehicle for me, if there was.

When the driver got me to the Zero Point at around 9 p.m., I wanted to pay him. He bowed down, refusing my offer. “Sir, please don’t talk about paying me.” He sounded as if by asking him about money and all, he was forced to committing a sin! It was only then I remembered Madam Dawa, one of my student’s mom, who had helped me a lot by running with a stick after a dog that came chasing me when I was going down from out of nowhere! And was I not scared thinking about the walk back up all by myself?

You bet I was. But God is always all merciful. Feeling pity on me for my agitated state of mind, he sent a vehicle just in the nick of time. I raised my thumb and the door opened. It was only after getting inside that I realized that the driver was none other than Mr. Chimi Tshewang, our ADO. He is not only a handsome man but also a very good human being as he always makes it a point to stop his car, whenever he finds anyone on the way!

That is how I came back to Tshimalakha and realized once again that The Almighty always wants this world to be a paradise. Whether we can keep it that way or not, is solely dependent on our mentality, morality, love and fellow-feeling.

P.S: Oh! By the way, I forgot to inform you, Reader, about my father-in-law in the first place. Peace-loving and amicable by nature, he wanted to leave Bhutan on the 29^th thinking about the trouble his son-in-law might have to go through in order to get the permit extended!