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…my memories of Ana Tshomo are very vague and lukewarm. The first time I met her was sometimes in early 1980s when I was still in my boyhood chasing sparrows and catching tadpoles. She used to come to my house with my late aunty during weekends and spend the time with my family. As I learnt much later, Ana Tshomo was from Pema Gatshel. She was my late aunty, Deki’s best friend. While my aunty succumbed to head injuries in an accident, Ana Tshomo continued to visit my family even after she finished her Junior High School in Damphu and High School in Sarpang. Then she went on to study at Sherubtse College and got herself a fine job. Since she came from far away , very far during those times when communication and transports were limited to wireless , bus and letters, she made home with my family. My parents were able to help her complete her university degree and it was all that mattered to her. After she got her job, she set her own sail and like Odysseus; she went on to explo

I knew it would happen again. My back pain was baaaack but it was much friendlier than before. At least to say that it gave me some liberty to move around. This time, my office paid cabin charges and it more looked like a hotel room than the hospital. The only difference was in room service. Here they served glucose instead of cold black coffee. My cold black coffee came as a catering service from home. Hospital is an interesting place to be. What an irony!!...when you are well, and you want to eat something, you may not get that stuff to eat but when you are sick and cannot eat, people will bring the food that you would have liked to eat when you are well. Amidst the crowd of people visiting me, I could smell that extreme loneliness on one side and that familiar cold pain down my spines treating me like I am addicted to it. I always dreaded staying in hospital but of late, it has become my transit lodge as I have to visit it very regularly. The first night passed away with relativ

“ ….damn it! There is no empty cabin in the hospital. We will have to adjust in the general ward with others”, grumbled Pashi, my friend. Pashi had gone to Taktsang that day in early hours only to learn that I was sick with back pain and hospitalized. So she hurried back to the roadhead and drove straight to Phuentsholing. When she reached Phuentsholing, she was yawning for rest and the fact that there was no empty cabin in the hospital irritated her. I had nothing to say. I was carried by the ward-boys from observation room to the ward in a wheeled bed so it was kind of adventurous "Alladin’s magic carpet" kind of ride for me. Over lot of convincing, Pashi left for my home to rest and take care of my son. My parents had left for Gelephu for some work and I needed someone to take care of him. The painkiller that they gave me in the hospital worked to great extent and I went into painless sleep for few hours only to be woken up by screaming sound from the next bed in the