Gomchen Tharchen and Tharpa- A Tale from Jabana
Kinga
Penjor, EPB III
Gomchen Tharchen heard a lot about the popularity of
Lumi La tsho (lake) in the region of
Jabana and Dungna. One day, he decided to unearth the truth behind the
metaphysical power possessed by the tshomen
(mermaid) of Lumi La tsho.
One auspicious day, Gomchen
Tharchin scaled Lumi La and meditated near the lake for a night. Nothing
happened. “All are rumours,” he thought.
He returned home with regrets for wasting his time and energy. On his
way home, he met a dazzling girl. Upon enquiring, she told him that she was
returning from a Tshechu. During the
course of their conversation, he revealed his motive of visiting Lumi La tsho. The girl said, “Oh! The legend also
says that one cannot achieve one’s dream overnight. One has to stay for three
nights to know the supremacy of the lake. Please go back and see again.” Saying
thus, the girl continued her journey. What Gomchen
Tharchen did not know was that the girl he just met was tshomen in guise of a common girl.
In his determination to experience the power of the lake, he journeyed
back to Lumi La.
Upon reaching there, he dedicated the night in deep meditation once
more. To test his courage and concentration, the tshomen transformed herself into different creatures. She employed
every technique to divert his concentration. She invited him to a cup of
steaming tea in the middle of the cold night, asked thought provoking questions
about religion, narrated tear-jerking stories and cracked jokes that otherwise
would evoke full-throated laughter.
The same technique continued for the next two nights. But nothing could
distract him from his meditation. Impressed, the tshomen gifted him with a higher degree of liberation and wisdom.
In no time, gomchen Tharchen’s
popularity travelled far and wide. People from all walks of life respected and
revered him with unwavering faith and devotion, all except gomchen Tharpa who scorned his success.
Consequently, Tharpa developed a thought that he could outdo Tharchin in
the pursuit of higher liberation. With this thought congested in his mind, he
decided to follow the path taken by gomchen
Tharchin without giving a second thought of his own aptitude.
As expected gomchen Tharpa scaled
Lumi La tsho to attain the
liberation. Upon reaching there, tshomen
made him experience the same incidents undergone by gomchen Tharchin. No matter what, he also remained engrossed in the
meditation until tshomen placed him
on the pole. Startled, Gomchen Tharpa suddenly found himself
standing on a tall wavering pole in the middle of the lake. He fretted and
feared and lost his concentration. Then he fell headlong into the lake and
drowned instantly.
When the news of gomchen Tharpa’s
futile venture swept the region, all learned that one should not develop a will
to challenge others without considering one’s own ability. People learned that
one should not dream to achieve something great with bad intention.
The Melody in the
Moonlight
Galay Samdrup (III EPA)
It was the breaking of the early autumn. The moon beams
clothed the mother nature in silvery garment as I walked by the side of
meandering Pa-chu. It glistered like
a silver scarf, its rhythmic tone playing rapturous song as its tides splashed
majestically under the enchantment of the moon.
I took one long breath and started whistling a song, “There
is new wind blowing like I have ever known…I wanna love somebody, love somebody
like you.” I even tired singing, “Nye sem
tro mey bumo chey…” then I paused after someone came along my way.
Instantly, after taking a few steps, I remembered something tragic and my heart
cried for condolence.
Alas! What a deadly death my grandfather suffered. I had
seen his eyes blinking with hope and affection. Who would imagine that those
eyes would close for eternity? Death came suddenly to him. Death would come
suddenly to all of us. It stares at us with horrible eyes and clutches us at
the throat with sharp fingers and hurls us to the ground and tramples upon us
with ironclad hooves. This is death! I realised once again after my
grandfather’s death. Without further sentiments running in my head, I started
chanting prayers for the deceased since I was not rich enough to give material aid
to his family.
As I walked and chanted prayer, I remembered my scheduled
task – to make a call to an angel on this earth, who recently descended from
heaven to curse my love. With little hope and chilling fear in my head, I
reached my hand to pull the broken LCD cell from my pocket, which always cried
for money to bank in it. It is amazing that when I forget the cell number of my
parents, I could easily store and pick up the cell number of the girl, who
isn’t sent for me by selfish Cupid. With hesitation, I dialed…17801367 and planted
the cell phone to my ears. It rang, “trianng…trianng…”
Fortunately, from the other end the soothing and melodious
voice responded like a nightingale pouring down the healing song for a doomed
and wounded chap. At that moment, while she was at the other end, the pain,
weariness and melancholy disappeared from my troubled mind. My mind only bagged
a truck of happiness, hope and aspiration. “Despite its transience, this is the
power of LOVE,” I murmured.
I felt I was like a bird that flew out of the cage to the
light of freedom. I was like a withering flower brought back to life by dew
drops that dawn pours into its begging petals. Her voice was like a melody in
the moonlight.
But I blame for its haste. It flew like pa-chu just beside me and disappeared like a cloud that I had seen
just above me. I was alone again, shivering like a lily before the frolicsome
breeze of the dawn.
“You are mad,” it was a voice of girl. No, it wasn’t the
voice of girl. It was the voice of an angel because I used my ears which only
can hear the voice of an angel, not of human. I debated with my feeling and
then laughed, kicked the wooden box next to me.
“Ala
The Gold Digger
Norbu Gyeltshen, III Biology/HPE
“Fate hasn’t bound us, so you may go your own way for I’ve
started my new life,” said Ngedup with a scorn.
In a state of surplus love for her, Rigyel’s nerves froze,
and then he swooned. When he recovered, he found his friends peering at him.
Rigyel was not an easygoing guy from the childhood days
itself and his nature remained unaltered even now. As he was so deeply in love
with her, he was deeply disturbed. He never expected such a response from her.
Her thought never left him even as he ran out of interest in everything. A
minute of solitude felt like a lifetime as he brooded with a heavy sigh.
Ngedup never perished from Rigyel’s mind. In fact, she
stirred him up like a flower which responds to rain in spring. On the other
hand, Ngedup enjoyed herself with her new-found boyfriend, Dorji. Dorji,
employed in a part-time job, bestowed her with every object that caught her
fancy. Ngedup was near spoilt by his affection. But fate had other plans.
Being a trainee, Rigyel just managed to make two ends meet
with the little stipend he received at the end of the month. He had many things
to buy but still managed to spare some for Ngedup. After all, he did not
believe in leaving it to fate. But things never worked the way Rigyel wanted.
Ngedup, like a receding rainbow, never came back.
“Ngedup,” he remembered telling her once, “just think what
we were like a year ago. What made you leave me? I’m left with only questions
and no answers. Tell me why, please?”
There was no answer. Who would care to answer to a cheap
brat like Rigyel when she had found a handsome and rich guy like Dorji? She
discarded him like a rag doll.
Rigyel felt flabbergasted, and like a child, cried for many
days. But he soon realised that life has to go on, with or without Ngedup.
Rigyel graduated and soon headed for bigger things. Brought
up with a strict sense of discipline and imbued with positive attitude, Rigyel
worked to the satisfaction of his bosses. He was liked by many and did well in
all spheres of life. Being engaged in his duties, Rigyel wiped away the
synapses of his unreachable beloved to an utmost horizon and was left with no
remembrance.
Meanwhile, Dorji, a grade 14 employee had outgrown his first
flush of infatuation for Ngedup. The love, shown at the start, had turned in on
itself and was no longer recognizable. Her life was like a puny prey in the
hand of a powerful predator. She swallowed whatever hurtful things Dorji said,
for he used his hands if she reacted to his provocation. She worked day and
night to the tune of Dorji’s pipe. Life had turned bitter for her and every bit
of her pleaded: “Have mercy on me! What have I done to deserve this?” She could
take no more.
Elsewhere, Rigyel was in his courtyard watering his small
flower garden. “Once it attains its utmost beauty, it will wither away. It is
immortal,” he exclaimed in resignation, obviously comparing the life of a
flower to human mortality.
In his bemused state, he saw a lady passing, who had some
resemblance of the girl he once longed for and lost. He kept staring straight
at her as she approached.
Drabbed in an apparel of intricate green and red patterns,
she grew less attractive as she neared. On her back she carried a baby.
Her eyes stared at Rigyel as if imploring him to take her
back. Remorseful of some bad past decisions, she shed tears in front of him. It
was Ngedup. Rigyel bowed his head and waved his hand as if to say hello-
good-bye to his old flame. “Fate hasn’t bound us, so you may go your own way
for I’ve started my new life,” thought Rigyel sympathetically.
As Ngedup gradually disappeared from his courtyard, Rigyel
couldn’t help but ponder why woman fail to appreciate their man by character.
No comments:
Post a Comment