10 Places you should not Miss in Thimphu

  1. Buddha Point

The newly constructed Buddha point which is the largest in the world measuring 169feet stands on top of the hill overviewing the whole Thimphu City. It is a 10 minutes’ drive from the main town and the road passes through green passages up hill. Once in Buddha point, one can view every part of Thimphu city. It is a heavenly cloister, a place where every individual visits very often. Along the way to Buddha point, it is a place where everyone comes to relax after a day’s hard work. It welcomes with fresh air, greeneries and a clear view over the Thimphu valley below. Just before reaching the Buddha point, there is another interesting place called Kuensel Phodrang which is like a park overviewing the Thimphu valley. It is a place of rejoice, a perfect spot for family picnic and to get away from all emotions in life. Visit Buddha point and near areas if you happen to visit Thimphu.

  2. Memorial Chorten

The Memorial Chorten is located in the town. Before entering into the main town, it lies magnificently at the side of the road. As the name suggest, it was built in the memory of the third King of Bhutan. It is a place of worship for many all, both young and old. It is a three storied structure which are being held firm by the four lions in four directions with the help of an iron chains. Everybody starting form morning till late night, people go there to pray and receive blessings. It is a place where many old people from all walks of life come there to pray and spend time with their old buddies talking of old times.     

  3. Dzongs/Fortress

The Dzongs in Bhutan are mostly built by Zhabdrung Ngawang Namgyal in the 16^th Century who came to Bhutan from Tibet. There are two important Dzongs in Thimphu City. One is the oldest Dzong in Bhutan, the Simtokha Dzong which was built in 1629. It is located south of Thimphu City at about 4.5 Kms. The other Dzong is the seat of His Majesty and the Je Khenpo (Secular Head), Tashichho Dzong. The Dzong was rebuilt several times and the current Dzong was renovated and enlarged at the time of His Majesty the Second of Bhutan. The huge magnificent Dzong was built without using a single nail or without having drawn a single line on paper. It was built by the Bhutanese Architects.  

  4. Monasteries

There are many monasteries within and at the extremity of Thimphu Thromde. The Changangkha Monastery lies within the city, about 5-10 minutes’ drive from the main town. It is also located over viewing the Thimphu City below. The Tandin Ney (sacred place) is located at the top of the hill facing Thimphu City. There is no settlement nearby and it also overlooks the most of the part of the city. Dechenphodrang Monastery lies above Tashi Chhodzong. It is a monastic school; many small monks are being trained there. Going above Dechenphodrang monastery are Wangdue Tse and Chhoekhor Tse which lies high up in the woods. Towards north is Tango and Chari Monastery which is a seat of Desi Tenzin Rabgay. Towards south we have Thada goenpa and Talakha Monastery located high in the hills. These monasteries and very significant and are considered very holy. People during the auspicious day visit these monasteries to pray and receive blessings.

   5. Coronation Park

The coronation park is located within Thimphu City along the Wangchhu River. It was constructed to commemorate the coronation of the 5^th King of Bhutan. This is a place of rejoice and many people young and old go there to relax with the clear view of the stream flowing nearby. It is decorated with beautiful flowers and also there is a statue of a 45 feet standing Budhha on a lotus facing the city. The place is green and lively.     

   6. Sangaygang

Sangaygang point is located about 5-6Kms away from Thimphu main city. It is located on the way to Wangduetse and Chhoekhortse monasteries discussed above. The point is located above with a clear view over Thimphu valley, especially the northern part of the city. The point is a place where many people visit during holidays. The place is decorated with colorful prayer flags.

   7. Takin Zoo

Takin is a National animal of Bhutan. The Zoo is located on the way to Sangay point some 5KMs from the main town. The story says the Takin is a combination of goat and cow. It has a goat head and a body of a cow. The biography of Lam Drukpa Kuenly (The divine mad man) says that the lama after having the meat of a goat and cow, he snapped his finger and said “go and graze” and the animal stood and went to graze. It so happened that, the animal has a goat head and a body of a cow. This story is clearly narrated on the sign. The zoo is open to all unless we disturb the animals in any way.

   8. Botanical Garden

The Royal Botanical Garden is located about 15 Kms south of Thimphu city. The garden contain all kinds if flora and fauna which are native to Bhutan. The place is also a lovely picnic spot for Bhutanese and tourist. The place is green with beautiful flower and trees and other animals. It gives the true beauty of nature where by the people go on leave and camping.   

   9.  Dochula

Dochula is a pass just before entering Thimphu valley if we dive form east. It is 30 Km drive uphill from Thimphu town at about 3000m above sea level. It experiences early snowfall and lies in the think forest. The place also has 108 chortens built in the middle of the road. The travellers make a round around the chortens as it is believed that they are being blessed. It is also a famous tourist destiny.

  10.  Phajoding

Phajoding is located quite far away from Thimphu City but it is a famous hiking place for both local men and the tourist. It is located high above the hill and a perfect destiny for trekking. There are also monasteries and lakes in the Phajoding. It is a three hour hike up hill. People during holidays go for camping and it is the also the perfect spot for early snow fall. 

How to Prepare Butter Tea (Suja)

Butter tea or locally termed as Suja is a well know tea for Bhutanese and also for Tibetans. It is served as the first item to the guest and the day start with a cup or two of butter tea in the morning. The procedure to prepare it is very simple.

1.       Boil water depending on the number of people to be served.
2.       Add tea leaves to give fantastic odour and also the texture.
1. The tea leaves are locally made from locally available materials. The tea leaves used here  is different from what we use for brewing sweet tea. These tea leaves are prepared out of tree leaves (a particular kind of tree leaves (locally known as tsi tsi raba shing) or sometimes even uses some parasitic plants (Locally known as Nyashing Jorma) that grow on very big trees. These leaves (or the whole parasitic plants) are chopped into small pieces and are boiled (half cook) with the help of clean ash water. The chopped leaves and ash water are kept on fire till it gives dark red colour. After that it is dried and is ready for use. Sometimes it can be molded in various shapes to be marketed.
3.  After having boiled the tea leaves till it gives the dark red color to the water, it is then transferred to the churner (A churning container made of bamboo usually).
4. Then we add a slice or two of butter depending on the amount of water and salt. The salt has to be very light and we can add later if it is very much light.
5. After that we churn for about 1-2 minutes or till we get a very good texture, a light brown texture. After that it is ready to serve. If the amount is less, even the blender can be used to churn without having to put into churner.

Benefits of Butter tea

1.       It contains butter, therefore boosts our energy.
2.       People in the village prefer butter tea because it gives lasting energy to work.
3.       It is very tasty and nutritious. It is cheap and the materials are readily available.
4.       It is more organic and no chemicals or preservatives nor any artificial flavors are used.
5.       In cold days and in higher altitudes, it gives our body a heat and keeps us warm.

Thoughts as Time Pass-by

We are bound by different thoughts and our thoughts differ each day.  The thoughts that you have had many years back may not be the same today except for few. My thoughts kept changing with time, but now when I look back, many thoughts are still just thoughts and I was not able to accomplish all. So what always baffled me was the thought of how useful our thoughts were and are? When I was first enrolled in the school in 1995 in Mongar, I never thought of becoming anyone in the future at first, but as time passed by different thoughts came in.

Teachers started talking about career education in our lower classes and we are made to tell at least one ambition. Many responded, some doctors, some engineers, many teachers and few said educated farmer proudly. It was my turn and I was reluctant to say my ambition as I didn’t have one then. I flipped through pages of the text book and I found a monk with a bell and a small drum in his hands, I stood up and said “I want to become Lama (A religious man)”, many giggled, I sat with little blush. Since then it became my ambition and many started calling me lama Karma at one time. I even told my parents that I want to join the monk body but somehow it got dissolved. As I climbed the ladder of education, the thought of becoming monk got erased from my mind. So one more time I was left without ambition. Then I just thought of doing degree. By then I was in high school, many of my friends were nagging me to tell my ambition, many were telling me that I would become doctor just because I was good at biology sometimes in the class. Even I aspired to become doctor then. So I studied well and I got chance to pursue science in my higher secondary education.

When I was in class twelve, I still had a thought of becoming doctor at the beginning. Times passed by and as the year drew to an end my dreams were shattering. After the trial examinations the thought of becoming doctor perished from my mind and thereafter I just thought to be a graduate, a thought that I once had in lower classes. I did BHSE (Bhutan Higher Secondary Education) and you know what happened, I thought I would just qualify for B.Ed (Bachelors of Education), by then not even the college as I aspired. So I was waiting for the results hopefully. I qualified for all professional courses, the only problem was, and I was not selected for anyone as there were very little slots. So I applied for degree in Sherubtse College and thankfully I got with much difficulty there. Then I thought I have accomplished one of my thoughts. Again something came into my mind, what do I do after graduation? Many thoughts arose, at one point I thought of becoming officer in the field of forestry, agriculture and environment. At other point I thought of becoming a police officer and sometimes a lecturer too. Sometimes I use to think hap what hap may, ever ready to take up whatever that comes my way. I had to appear BCS Exams and my dream was to get through BCSE and get RIM and work as an officer with full dedication! I got through and did PGDPA (Post Graduate Diploma in Public Administration) in RIM (Royal Institute of Management). I accomplished another few thoughts.

I have learnt that we have to have many big thoughts from the beginning, only then we will be able to achieve few at the end. For example, if we want our arrow to land at the mountain top, we have to aim at star. So aim for the best and reap the better results in life. 

A Review on the book “You can Live Successfully in Your Lifetime”

Title: “You can Live Successfully in Your Lifetime”

Author: Ben Abbott

Publisher: Three ESS Publications, Delhi, India.

Year of Publication: NA

Genre: Self Help/Guide

Gist of the Book

The author in this book mainly talks about the good principles to be followed to lead a successful and happy living. The book gives the ways and means to deal with all kinds of problems in life and how to progress to achieving our goals and accomplishing the highest standards in life. In fourteen chapters, the means to a successful living have been discussed with all facts and examples.

The first chapter talks about the challenge. In here the author has desperately created a scenario where by the readers are made to build confident with the words “I CAN” in whatever we do and plan in life. With this beginning, next it talks about the success. We often wonder why some people excel in life and some don’t. That wonder is good if we act upon it. After that wonder we will have to learn from the secrets behind the success of others and from the mistakes of ourselves. After having learned their secrets and contemplated on our mistakes, we have to take the first momentous steps, which constitute third chapter. First we have to make a decision in life. Clear decisions of what we are going to achieve in life. After having made the decision, we have to act on it. We should not be hesitant while making a decision because no one is perfect and we are bound to make mistakes in life. It is said that we have to chat or sing “it can be done” as we embark upon our action. The action we take must bear results at the end which can lead to the fulfillment of the ultimate decision we have made. That is the success!

With a first step towards clear decisions, the door to conquest in life will be opened. In chapter four, this door has been discussed. Once the door is open, it is the initiative that can take us a ride towards the goal. Initiative can be the first step discussed earlier. A man with an initiative does not wait for the opportunities to knock rather creates his own opportunity and grabs it.  Opportunity says “ They do me wrong who say I come no more, when once I knock and fail to find you in; for every day I stand outside your door and bid you wake and rise to fight and win” Walter Lalone. The two doubtful words “IF” and “MAY BE” in life robs every individual of initiative. These have to be replaced with the affirmative words like “I CAN” and “I WILL”. Never procrastinate what can be done today. Dare to Begin! Today! Now! 

The time is very important in every task in our life. The more of it has been discussed in chapter five of this book. The time has been described as a passport to achievement. Time has to be used to the fullest and should not be wasted unfruitful. It has to be kept in mind that “time and tide, waits for none”, awake and make the most of it!  While using time to the fullest, it has to be balanced with the energy level in our body. Abundant energy is the lifeblood of progress and successful living. Inactivity, negative thoughts, physical pressures and uncontrolled emotions cause tiredness while activity, constructive positive thoughts and controlled emotions and actions create energy. A sound mind in a sound body is the basis of achievement. So the good health is vital while we maneuver to achieve great goals in life. The Chapter seven of the book talks about the essential components that help to accomplish great goals in life. The strong self-confidence and courage are the two things that can overcome almost all obstacles in life. Others include being optimism, thinking outward and avoiding diffidence and timidity in life. Confidence generates confidence; therefore, we have to act with confidence to gain confidence.

To be on tract in life and not having to disappoint for the things we are not able to do and appreciate for the things we are capable of, we have to chart our course in life. We have to search for our natural abilities and aptitudes and set out clear goals in life. Everything has to be well planned and progress has to be tracked and achieved. Plan career far ahead, concentrate on single main goal, keep an eye on the “winning post” at the end of the race. Be the man who made it and not the man who almost made it. The next chapter discusses about the external factors that helps in our course of way towards successful living. Our success and happiness depends largely on how we treat others and how others treat us. We have to learn to deal with various kinds of people in life. We have to increase our friendship circle. Friendliness creates friendly environment. Therefore, be friendly toward others and they will be friendly towards us. Teamwork is very important to achieve a certain goal in life. In a team work, we have to possess good leadership skills and also a team spirit. In a team we have to be good listener and also a good speaker. The chapter also talks about how to develop a good speaking skill.

Not everything in life is so smooth to walk upon. Like everyone says 'life is not a bed of roses to walk upon softly'. There are many hard knocks. The next chapter describes about the hardships that we face in life and how to overcome those. Confucius said “our greatest glory is not in never-falling, but in rising every time we fall”. We have to learn from our mistakes and start over again with greater strength gained from the difficulties we face and looking forward to greater accomplishments.  The chapter eleven of this book talks about the power behind our destiny. The power in here is not the physical power the author is talking about. More powerful than the physical power is the power of thought. Whatever that happens in this world are all results of the power of thought. Thinking before taking up any action is very important. We have to think and plan and then act. The task to be accomplished has to be broken down to smallest units that are achievable. The accomplishment of these every unit will lead to the achievement of larger goal. The chapter also talks about the importance of having a good memory and increased vocabulary which all aids to achieve goals in life.

The next chapter in this book describes about our habits and how to overcome bad habits with good ones. The bad habits can be removed from our life by not practicing it or by doing just the opposite of these bad habits. For example the habit of being late to office could be displaced by being on time always. We have to be the master of our habits and they will serve us well for they have the greater influences in our life. The next chapter talks about the importance of having strong and abiding faiths in ourselves and in whatever we do. For example we cannot see the atoms, yet we believe its existence and feel its influence in our day to day life. Likewise there are many other things in life which requires our faith. Faith combined with action, an honest effort on our part will make a smooth progress toward successful living. The last chapter talks about the three fundamental principles which can guide us through the road of successful living. First principle is “each improvement of one beneficial human quality immediately strengthens other qualities, thus making it easier to win over harmful ones. Second principle “start a constructive mental attitude or emotion in action and it grows progressively strong, feeding on itself and third principle is “ how a person thinks and acts has a definite effect on how those with whom he comes in contact think and act”. Therefore it is seen that achievement of success and happiness depends on how we think and act. Deliberately and regularly think and act in an affirmative, optimistic, constructive manner and we are on the sure road of successful living.

Interesting facts from the Book

1.    “A wise man learns from his experiences but a wiser man learns from the experiences of others. Those who make a rapid progress in life learn from both the experiences of their own and others”

2.      “Opportunity comes to him who waits – works while he waits. Opportunity knocks again and again for all those prepared to grasp it” 

3.      “Two big ‘Ts’, TOLERANCE and TEAMWORK smooth out the human irritations and life becomes richer and more enjoyable”

4.   “Perseverance and Perspiration are the two horses in life that will accomplish the unbelievable”

5.      “The six honest serving men; WHY, WHAT, WHEN, WHERE, HOW and WHO, they taught me all I know”

*****THE END*****

Happiness - Others Happiness is our Happiness

Today I want to write my own understanding of Happiness. Happiness is something which we experience often but it is very difficult to express and define it. I once read in the book "How to live without Fear and Worry" that the Happiness is very subjective. My happiness won’t be the happiness of someone and the happiness of others may not be my happiness. 

According to the teachings of Buddha, all sentient beings starting from the unicellular microbes to multi-cellular mammals want happiness and don’t want sufferings. But they don’t know that the seed of suffering is unwholesome sinful acts and the seed of happiness is the virtuous acts.  As a result, all suffer due to ignorance. It is also said that what we are today is the result of what have we been doing in past lives and what and where will we be in next lives will depend on what we do today. This basically explains why there are differences among the people living in the same society. Some live beyond their means and some can’t even live up to their means. This is all because of what has been in-stored for us from the past lives, what is generally known as previous Karma. Being Buddhist, I truly believe life after death and cause and effect. If we do good, good will come upon us. Give happiness to others and you will be happy. 

Once I was watching His Eminence Gyalwa Dokhampa's talk on restful mind. He talked about happiness. Rinpoche said that happiness is living the present, not thinking about the past and future. Past is gone and future is uncertain. He also gave an example of how illogical the happiness is. None of us feel happy or appreciate that we don't have toothache at the moment, but the moment we have a bad toothache and is being treated by dentist and gives no more pain, then we feel the happiness of not having toothache anymore. So Rinpoche talked about appreciating the present moment and feeling satisfied. Satisfaction is the ultimate happiness in this world. The moment we are dissatisfied, we are not happy. So one way to be happy is to feel satisfied with what we have in this life. Do not be obsessed with what happened and what would happen. Happiness as discussed earlier is very subjective. For some, if they get something to eat and wear, it is their happiness, for some the happiness is to what they desire and it is happiness for some to help others. The happiness that we gain after helping others is long lasting. If we help someone who is in dire need, they will become happy and that virtuous act of ours will be rewarded with happiness befalling on us. Even from religious point of view, it is believed that first think of the wellbeing of others and our own wellbeing will be taken care of karmically. If we pray and work for the wellbeing of all sentient beings, there is no need for us to pray for ourselves. That virtuous act of ours will re-bounce back to us and the effect will be double the efforts we have put in.  

Help those who are in need of. Give when they beg. Talk when they ask and listen when they talk. Make them feel one of us in the society. This means a lot to them and that is happiness for them. That happiness of them will multiply and will be our happiness. Always believe that, what we do to others will come back to us one day. So give happiness to others to get happiness for ourselves.    

*****END*****    

Not Productive With Available Time - Jo Barnes

Just completed a mini book by Jo Barnes on Don't Give Up. Below is one Reason, 3-Not Productive With Available Time, for failure.I did my job of sharing now as author wants it!

We all struggle for time right? There’s just simply not enough hours in the day!

In reality time is a fallacy. It’s all relative to what you’re doing. Think about it. If you go on holiday, how quick does a week or two weeks pass by? Compared with the two weeks leading up to the holiday which really drag!

I’m sure you’ve heard this before, but it’s important to understand. You create your own time.

There are only ever 24 hours in a day, 1,440 minutes, 86,400 seconds! This will never change. There will always only be 24 hours in a day.

So, stop worrying about time and start focusing on what to do within the time you have that is going to make the most difference to your business!

Whether you have 10 hours a day or 1 hour a day to spend building your business, it’s crucial you know how to make the most productive use of that time to take you closer to your goals.

One of the reasons we waste time, is because we don’t make fast decisions. We have a idea to do something, whether it be to write an article, a report, record a video, create a product, contact an influencer. Whatever it is, it starts as an idea and the sad thing is, that for many it ends as an idea!

Here’s why. We take that idea and we go online to research how to bring that idea to fruition or we look for verification that it’s a good idea. This process may take us an hour, a day, sometimes weeks or even months before we’re convinced it’s a good idea and by that time we’ve lost interest or someone else has done it.

I’m generalising, but I hope you get my point.

The fact is we need to make decisions much quicker than that. We need to have had the idea and taken action on it within minutes!

How many ‘ideas’ have you got accumulated in various ‘To Do’ lists. How many ideas have you got cluttering up your ever note, your notepad, one note, your diary.

You may have ideas everywhere. Dump them.

You may think you’ll get back to them, but the likelihood is you won’t.

Being productive is about having an idea and acting on it there and then. Live in the moment.

You have your clear plan of what you want your business to look like, so your only thought should be -­‐ “Is taking this particular action going to take me closer to my vision or further away.”

If the answer is closer, act. If the answer is further away, dump the idea. Don’t add it to a someday notebook. Someday will never arrive in the way you think it will and things will have dramatically shifted by then anyway!

Positive Action Steps

1. Make fast decisions.

2. Plan your day to the minute. Rather than a ‘to do’ list, plan your tasks as an appointment schedule. 9am -­‐ 10am -­‐ write report. 10am -­‐ 11.30am -­‐ call xxx. 11.30am -­‐ 1pm -­‐ create videos. I think you get my drift.

3. Once your day is planned -­‐ STICK TO IT! Sometimes your tasks may take you longer than expected. Learn what takes you a little longer and plan for that in your day. Understanding yourself and your skills is super important.

4. Stop wasting time on facebook (or any SM platform)! Unless you are on there for a very specific planned reason, turn it off! I teach Social Media, that’s my specialty and where I spend most of my time, and I can tell you, unless used wisely it is the biggest time sucker of all time!

A Farewell Speech- By the then Sherubtse FINA Secretary 2011, Ms Sonam Choden

For all those who have been through schools and colleges, there is one day that all have to face – a graduation day. A day where you breathe freedom yet shed tears for leaving behind the place where you transformed from a boy to a man or from a girl to a lady.

Graduation is filled with multi-emotions, you feel elated yet dejected, happy yet sad. As this will be among the last days you will share with your friends and lecturers. The feeling seeps in later as the days conclude and you wish it never ends. Another happy effect of graduation is because of your teachers who pamper us unlike their routine days. Smiles spread on every face, they tell us so lovingly that they had a great time even though it’s not completely true. And then we realize that they are so flexible and lovable.

There are also times on your graduation when several of your 'not so good friends' come up to you and apologize for their behavior. You are taken aback and fall short of words. They hug you and you hug them, a generous gesture to forgive and forget and also communicates that you were and will be a great friend. So you see friends and not so good friends hugging one another. Everything is possible on graduation.

Robert Gallagher said that change is inevitable. As you stand on the brink of moving into life beyond Sherubtse, change will be inevitable! It is inevitable that structures and processes and relationships will change in their day to day lives. It is inevitable that you will face new challenges and it is inevitable that things may seem a little different in the years ahead. Yes, life definitely is going to become a little “shaken up and stirred”.

But as we look back the journey- a journey that started out with hesitant, tentative steps, we see just how far you, dear seniors have progressed. It has been an honor and a privilege being part of your journey and one which has been embedded with wonderful memories. Allow me to take you all back to the point from where this journey began, so tighten your seat belts dear senior because we care going to leap across time…remember your first day in class PP (Pre-primary) where you didn't have a single friend and all you did in the class was sucked your thumb and starred at one another.Then you actually started to feel the weight of the books when you are in class eight, the heavy pressure and importance of education is perceived only when you are in class 10. Every biting nails whether you would qualify or not, then when in class 12, I bet you worked the hardest  because deep down you knew life is soon going to get tougher. After class 12 you all were rewarded, proudly you became a SHERUBTSEAN that you will always be.

From the first hesitant, excited, nervous step you started form the college gate, hoping to rock your college life till this very moment where you are sitting in the same auditorium where you first got oriented and registered somewhere in the corner or back or front is the place where you first sat. See, the time has just flown by, I bet you are packed well with all the memories you have made here. I would like to share one example of team spirit that is very unique about Sherubtse, football for sure is like an oxygen to human here, I was witnessing one of the matches where a team was losing- quite significantly and the referee seemed to be making some tough calls. The stakes were high, shoulders were rounded and frustration levels were rising. A senior was sitting nearby. He cupped his hands around his mouth and called out firmly “check si…you can do it!” followed by the teams name. Just that! And that was all it took. Heads lifted, shoulders straightened and the team played their hearts out. I don’t recall the final score who won and who lost- it didn't seem that important. But I do recall how those words encouraged them and they played their best game ever.

So from the moment when you cheered your team in the various x,y,z football tournaments to the moment where you played your best match just to stand up to your supporter’s expectation, from losing your real name to getting new nick names, from the first walk you went to last walk you will be going, from the heavy credits in Cafeteria to the long bills in Shonzey, from the first time you came to this stage to the awesome graduating night last Saturday, form your first love to the last final proposes, from Youngphula to Pangthang, from the limited restaurants such as NP, Galaxy  and Mountain to 45 minutes lift to Trashigang, from the trips to works, from singing to dancing, from viva to presentations to assignments, from internal exams to main, from the various SSU, Singye Karm  night to class picnics, from the welcome dinners to the farewell dinners, from balancing time well between movies and books to walks, from your first stipend to the last, from you first friend here to the best friend now, from bunking classes to photocopying notes, from the so called scope bench to the lazy afternoon classes, from marching in the ground to running from class to class in search of your classroom, from your first module tutor to whole faculty now…brace yourself well when you leave all these behind.

It is these memories Ladies and Gentlemen; you will seek refuge when you miss Shercol. So, I would like to pay tribute to each and every one, you have all left and will continue to leave an inevitable legacy of excellence, achievement and a fine ethos and tradition for generations to come. I believe that the vast majority of you stroke to work to your potential you aimed high, you set your goals for the most part, and you not only achieved them, but in fact surpassed them.

So ladies and gentlemen, as you face and tackle the inevitable changes, hold true to yourself. Remember to hold onto your value system, your work ethic and most importantly your humanity. It is these qualities that will guide you further on your journey. Today’s achievements may fade and even be forgotten. The applause may become a distant memory and your certificates and medals may gather dust on the shelf or in your drawer. But you will always be remembered for caring enough, for helping someone, for making someone special and appreciated and for being the kind of person that others enjoys spending time with. 

Your life is remarkable occasion – I have no doubt that you will rise to it! So this is good bye seniors, we will miss you. One way or another, you have had quite an impact on this place and you will leave quite a gap here. But we won’t have any shortage of memories. We will remember you for being supportive. We will remember you for being adventurous and if we are honest, we will also remember you for being always someone who could be looked upon. Most of all we will remember you for being a great person to have around. I wish each one of you on behalf of Sherubtse family, immense luck, laughter, happiness and love in each and every step of your life. You have worked hard to get your degree; it’s time to take a bow. Congratulations Graduate! I bet your future is strong and bright, make sure you hop well and smartly. Thus, make sure you don’t just survive but LIVE your life and most of all serve the country intelligently, just like any Sherubtseans would do. My intention today is not to remind you all that it is time for you to leave but just to let you know that you will be remembered in a special way. Thank you indeed and do shine on.  

                                                                              Speech Courtesy: Ms. Sonam Choden, 2011