[Drugyal Tenzin] CHAPTER 1 A PARADISE

"I believed in miracles,"a strange,exhilarating voice echoed thrice.The hamlet of Phosorong was slient except for the voice that was spoken from nowhere.The flight of wind and the bustling of leaves were the sounds which were fairly audible.Paradise.A paradise it was in its majestic silence of cold wintry conditions.The world is a collection of paradises and my home is a sparkling paradise.

A sparkling paradise indeed.To the right were the centuries old temples of Yakgang and Pongchula.To the left was the seat of the Nyingma tradition of Buddhism,the kadam.The view downhill provided a magnificent map of the town of Mongar,the chief commercial and administrative center of the entire district.people of my heavenly village and from all heavenly Villages of the district came to town for commercial and administrative purposes.

My name is Drugyal Tenzin.'Drugyal' literally translating to 'Victory Dragon' and 'Tenzin' was a name inherited from my father.I have been blessed to get such a lovely name,I had always felt such pleasure at the pronunciation of Drugyal and the accent with which my friends called.Joy it was at the call of my name,joy at the call of me.

It was mid--January,a month after I had completed the class ten board examinations.I was not the brightest one in my class,not even among my friends.I had to work really hard just to get the points which my friends referred as 'blindly got',especially in English.The lurking exams had struck fear into my heart and it had taken a good share of the previous year.once schooling got over,atleast for a couple of months,it was time to live.And to live,meant to earn.

That winter,getting employed wasn't so difficult.Ap Dorji,a forty year old native of Phosorong was building a house of his own at Pongchula.My grandmother had advised me not to get engaged in such physical works for a vacation but she didn't mind me working for Ap Dorji.Ap Dorji was a very popular man among the villagers of Phosorong,a loved man and a respected personality.But he loved the serene atmosphere and solitude more than anything else.That quite rightly defined the location of his new house.

I was returning to my workplace.It was the middle of the day and I had come home for lunch.Ap Dorji,kindly enough,provided lunch to all his home builders.He was a virtuous man who believed in goodness.But rarely could I accept his lunch offers.My grandmother always preferred having lunch with me,and for that I had to walk to my workplace twice a day -- once in the morning and once in the afternoon.It didn't matter to me atall,walking.Having a meal with my grandmother gave me all the warmth,love and the strength I needed.

I was still wondering,lost in my own thoughts.That voice,that philosophical voice from the mountains.Perhaps it was a message for me to keep believing that miracles are possible.Perhaps that was a voice meant for me.perhaps,it was a reality ready to be unfolded.

My two hands were inside the pockets of my ragged blue jeans.My white shirt had become alot dirtier,probably to an irreversible sort of dirtiness.Hair all dusty.That didn't bother me atall,those stupid appearance stuffs.As long as I lived in a heavenly place,I was an angelic person.And ofcourse,laborers are meant to look that way.

"Drugyal!"I heard a call,someone calling me from close distance.A sudden flush of pleasure,joy,ran through my spine.Heads up,I saw a girl in blue tego and sesho Kira smiling at me."Yes?"I whispered,audible enough to be heard.My eyes were blurred and I couldn't recognize the girl clearly.She fastened her pace and came towards me.It took me a while to recognize her,probably because my mind was lost in wonders of the wondrous voice.

She was Dechen,a classmate of mine -- a fairly good--looking lady,fairly good in studies and a fairly shy lady.All fairlies were associated with her,enough to be referred to as 'Jack of all'.

"Hey,"she said,taking her branded phone out of her hand bag,"see here."she opened her Facebook account and showed me recently posted news by the education sector of the government.The class ten results were to be announced the next day.

"Whoa,"I was silent for a moment,"The results will be out tomorrow?Really?or is this just fake news that people these days are playing with?"

"It's true,because it's officially signed,"

"Oh!I am doomed now,"I said with trembles beginning to invade my body. "No,you won't be,"she said,"It's me who'll be doomed."

"Anyway,what's up?"I tried to divert the directions of our conversations. "Just came here to see how my uncle's new house is doing.I guess it's progressing at an excellent rate." "Oh!The one at Pongchula?"

"Yeah!"

"Yeah,it's progressing at an excellent rate.I mean,your uncle is such a good man and goodness is doing him justice now."

"Anyway,I have to go to Gyelpozhing today for a trip.Hope we meet,at the same school,in the same class,"said she,and whilst I looked into her eyes,she smiled.

"sure."

she fished out a piece of KitKat chocolate from her handbag and handed it to me.My dirty hands accepted it politely.we departed,but she left me with a busy heart.I couldn't even breathe,nor think properly.Things were becoming tensed inside me.Heartbeat accelerating,skin trembling and hair standing.Results were going to be out the next day.I had a big what if now.what if I don't get qualified?

Ap Dorji was a little confused at an unusual me that day.I didn't feel good.I was lost,taken away by the news that Dechen had brought.All errors from my exams were haunting my mind.I was just plainly doing my duty without even knowing what I was doing.I was at the 'stone structuring' section of the construction site whose primary duty was to shape stones good enough to be made into bricks.I missed the stones more often than normal and twice hammered my own hand.

He called me near his newly brought white Bolero car and looked at me in an uneasy way.He was sitting on a plastic chair placed infornt of his Bolero car.

"Drugyal?"Ap Dorji asked me,"What's up,dude?"

I didn't hear him clearly,so I kept silent.

"Hey,what's up?"he asked again.

"Nothing.I am just...just...just not feeling mentally well enough today.May I take rest for the remaining part of the day?"I stammered,quite unusually infornt of him.

"Oh!If you are really feeling unwell,you surely can.Take care of your health.Go home.or shall I drop you home if you are feeling unwell?"

"I can walk home,sir.Thank you for your concern."

saying that,I backed off slowly.Ap Dorji's facial expressions still displayed a perplexed figure.

I couldn't tell him what was going through me.Such were the conditions a simple result could induce.I went away,but not the way home.I went to the Pongchula Lhakang which stood a little higher up from Ap Dorji's house.

The breathtaking sight of Drepong village was a serene joy from Pongchula,especially with the ever fluttering and flattering wind flags.Houses were scattered beautifully on the gorgeous Himalayan Valley.I embraced that sight for a moment,feeling the wind brush my skin as I headed to the temple.

The Koenyer of the temple was outside,near a water tap washing his clothes.He was in his traditional red robes of monkship.He spotted me coming from a distance and then shouted at me,"Drugyal?Where to?"

"Hey,I want to offer a prayer in the Lhakang."

"sure,it's open."

"Okey,"said I,as I passed him.A koenyer would never let a stranger enter his temple without an eye.His principal duty as the koenyer was to take care of the precious relics,offer the daily prayers to please the deities and narrate the history of the temple to the faithful visitors.I had been at Phosorong my entire life and we knew eachother too well for him to feel insecure about me entering the temple alone.

Even though I had been to the place for almost everyday,I rarely visited the temple.It was as though God was sending me to the place where temples were built and yet,ignorance was getting the better of me.

I prostrated three times before the throne of the lama where a portrait if the Je khenpo was kept.Then,I prostrated three times before the precious Guru Rinpochhe statue.Those are a formality of a Bhutanese worshipping a temple and all Bhutanese are accustomed to such practices.

I offered my prayers in a fifty Ngultrum note before the statue of the great protector of Mongar,"Today,I come forth to your palace,this marvelous architecture.Last year,I had sat for the board exams and I have given in everything I had.Now,no power rests in my hands.But I believe in miracles.Bless me that I get how much I deserve.My grandmother won't be able to enroll me to a private high school.God bless me.Bless everyone.Let justice flourish.May all sentient beings be benefitted from my visit to this temple."

I kept my offering before the statue of the great protector and then slowly took a sip of holy water from the holy vase.I could feel the purity of the water subtly cleansing me.I took a bow before the great statue as I departed from the abode of the almighty.I was feeling a lot lighter and a whole lot better as I walked the way home.

Authors note.

as you can see there is fifty Ngultrum note and Lhakang words in the above texts so I thought you guys may be confused and don't understand what it means so let me explain it clearly to you guys so inorder to clarify ur confusion.

Lhakang is a name of the monastery we Bhutanese always call lhakang in terms of monastery.

as for the fifty Ngultrum note it is a money currency of our bhutan.bhutanese people call the money currency as Ngultrum.

now that ur confusion is clarified plz stay tune for chapter 2 I will try to upload it as soon as possible cause there is alot to write in chapter 2 ofcourse.also as for ur kind information the reason why the title is [Drugyal Tenzin]CHAPTER 1?is that it is the pov of Drugyal,he narrating his own story and ofcourse there is also a part of the female lead Yeezin in chapter 14.

bye guys lots of hugs and love from me🌸

To Be Continued.....

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