The Circle of Karma_Research Essay

In the novel The Circle of Karma, Dechen Choki says, “Our stories are so similar yet so different. Everything happened because we are women. You loved man and suffered and I hated man and suffered.” Comment on the socio – cultural concerns, beliefs or values that are explored in the novel.

Women in the world, as early as in the Victorian period, suffered male dominance. They were finically and sexually disadvantaged where they had to endure discrimination within their marriage and society. Bhutanese women as well were in the same shoe as Victorian women. It is evident in the novel, “The circle of Karma” by Kuenzang Choden. Dechen Choki says, “Our stories are so similar yet so different. Everything happened because we are women. You loved a man and suffered. I hated a man and suffered.” Hence, in the novel, women face three major socio-cultural challenges as women. These are abusive language, patriarchy and sexual objectification of women. Therefore, women in Bhutan suffered gender discrimination in a society which is mostly explored in the novel.   

Abusive use of language against women is one of the socio-cultural challenges explored in the novel among women. In the novel, abusive languages are used against Dechen Choki and Tshomo. Rajendran (2016) asserts that the most common way to abuse women is to call her a “whore”, “slut” or “bitch.” Similarly, such phrases are used against Tshomo and Dechen Choki.  For instance, Dechen was called whore and husband stealer by Lhajab’s wife. In Tshomo’s case, Wangchen said, “You stubborn, low down moringmo” (Choden, 2005). Such phrases used against women clearly give a picture of women’s moral humiliation in a society. Thus, women’s discrimination was present in the words and phrases used in everyday language which have affected them to go parallel with their counterpart in the society. 

Patriarchy is another socio-cultural challenge explored among women in The Circle of Karma.  Tshomo suffers as a woman in a patriarchal society.  Feminist theorist (as stated in Wikipedia, n,d)  argues that patriarchy is the primary cause of women oppression. As mentioned, it holds true for Tshomo in the novel.  For example, she says, “Being a girl was equal to being in a bad situation” (Choden, 2005). This is because she was deprived of religious education rather her father said, “You are a girl. You are different. ..Learn to cook, weave and all those things.” (Choden, 2005).This says about women being oppressed under male dominance where society sets certain convention for women. In another words, man should take in charge of all the matters beyond domestic sphere while women should take care of domestic matters.  Hence, women suffered because they were women under male dominance.

Sexual objectification of women is explored as one of the socio-cultural concerns in the novel.  Sexual objectification is “the act of treating a person as a mere object of sexual desire” (Wikipedia, n.d). In the novel, Dechen Choki and Tshomo experience this feeling of objectification. For example,   Dechen Choki says, “Our stories are so similar yet so different. Everything happened because we are women. You loved a man and suffered. I hated a man and suffered.” (Choden, 2005). Both the character suffered because of men for different reasons. However, they suffered anyways because they were women. Dechen Choki ran away from home to escape her step father who sexually desired her, only to be raped by Lajab. Tshomo, on the other hand, escaped home feeling rejected by Wangchen whose lust grew for Kezang, Tshomo’s sister, when he felt bored with Tshomo. These clearly show that women were merely depicted   as a sexual object, desired for sexual pleasure only. Therefore, women suffered being treated as an object of sensual pleasure by men.

In conclusion, women suffered because they were women.  They were under the influence of male dominance where they were not given equal priority as men. For instance, education was only reserved for men while women were given the responsibility of cooking and weaving at home.  Next, abusive language use against women is one socio cultural concern which is in everyday language.  Phrases such as “whore” and “moringmo” undermine women capability in the society. Lastly, women are considered like an object. They are desired only for sensual pleasure by men. These caused them problem to grow parallel to their counterpart.  Therefore, women suffered gender inequality which is displayed in “The Circle of Karma” by Aum Kuezang Choden.  

 Bibliography

Choden, K. (2005). The Circle of Karma . New Delhi: Penguin Books Ltd.

Rajendran, S. (2016, November 19). verbal abuse: why are cuss words directed at men about the

 women in their life? Retrieved May 23, 2019, from http://thenewsminute.com

Wikipedia. (n.d). Patriarchy . Retrieved May 23, 2019, from http://en.m.wikipedia.org

wikipedia. (n.d). Sexual Objectification . Retrieved May 21, 2019, from http://en.m.wikipedia. org.

The Old Man and The Sea_Research Essay

Santiago is considered by many readers to be a tragic hero, in that his greatest strength—his pride—leads to his eventual downfall. Critical analyze the role of pride in Santiago’s plight.

Aristotle once said that "A man doesn't become a hero until he can see the root of his own downfall." On this same account, Hemmingway’s novella narrates the story of a tragic hero, the old man. He makes judgment error that inevitably causes his own downfall. The cause is his excessive pride, hubris. The old man’s hubris causes him to be passionate, optimistic and determined individual. These character traits lead him to his own downfall towards the end of the story which culminates into his plight. Therefore, excessive pride of the old man causes his downfall in the end of the novella.  

The old man’s pride helps him become a passionate being which causes his downfall later. Passion is a feeling of intense enthusiasm towards or compelling desire for someone or something (Wikipedia, n.d). Similarly, the old man, in the novella, strongly desire to fish as he boast himself of being a good fisherman, in the past, despite his old age.   This led him to go fishing far in sea all alone as he says, “I must be worthy of the great DiMaggio who does all things perfectly even with the bone spur in his heel.” (Hemmingway, 2004, p. 13). This clearly shows that old man’s passion in fishing. He believes that like his hero DiMaggio, every individual should endure harsh experiences in order to succeed. Hence, his passion to go fishing far in the sea causes him in his empathetic state later.

Determination of the old man which is born in him out of pride is another factor of his plight.  Kibin (n.d) wrote, “The old man’s pride is the state of being very confident and determined to accomplish and not accepting help in the process.” This is true for the old man as he goes eight four days without fish. Later, he sets his journey beyond all people in the world to look for great fish himself. He denies sardines from Manolin, and the boy’s request to go with him to fish. This clearly shows that old man still is determined to handle things on his own without having to depend on anyone.  In another word, he remained prideful and did not want people to help him rather he would get his things himself. Thus, this determination let him wish to seek boy when he becomes weary and realizes that his old body is no level to the power of the fish. He constantly says in remorse, “I wish the boy was here.” However, he again too says, “Man can be destroyed but not defeated.” (Hemmingway, 2004, p. 93). Thus, he has a stronger sense of determination.

Optimistic notion is another result of pride, in the old man which made him to be a tragic hero.  The old man goes salao for many days yet he is very positive about getting out of salao. According to Merriaam-Webster dictionary, optimism is feeling or showing hope for the future. This is the old man, Santiago who feels hopeful where he says “Eighty-five is a lucky number.” (Hemmingway, 2004, p. 9). The old man is confident and positive because he has a pride of catching great fish every three week, so in a way, he feels that he is a good fisherman.  Hence, this pride of being positive takes him to hunt great marlin where he shows off his pride of killing great Marlin and ironically refer to it as brother. However, he loses it to sharks sadly which resulted as a result of his positivity about the situation.

In conclusion, “The Old Man and The Sea” is about a tragic hero, Santiago. He is a tragic hero because of his pride which leads him to be in a pitiful state.  His pride made him passionate, determined and optimistic individual. Firstly, he harnesses the interest to go fishing despite his old age. This is because he knows that he still has energy of a young to fish. Secondly, he is determined to go out fishing all alone without anybody’s assistance until he desperately yarns for boy. Lastly, his pride let him to be positive about fishing which stimulates all his desire to catch great Marlin. All these attributes of pride in the old men let him to be called a tragic hero as he returns with bony fish. 

                                                                    Bibliography

 Hemmingway, E. (2004). The Old Men and The Sea. United Kingdom: Arrow Books.

Kibin. (n.d). The themes of pride in the Old man and the sea, novel by Ernest Hemmingway.

Retrieved May 21, 2019, from http://www.kibin.com>essay-example.

Merriam-Webster. (n.d). optimistic definition. Retrieved May 22, 2019, from  http://www.merriam- 

            webster.com>optimistic.

Wikipedia. (n.d). Passion (emotion). Retrieved May 22, 2019, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ 

            Passion_(emotion)

Gender discrimination: a bee in our bonnet.

Gender discrimination is a tabled topic around the globe. Numbers of feminists work jointly to end all forms of discrimination against women. In the same token, women in Bhutan are moving beyond household chores and field works. Thus, they are becoming independent and are equally contributing in building country’s economy and social developments alongside  men. Nevertheless, gender discrimination in Bhutan lies in the words and phrases used in everyday languages. 

In the male oriented country, women are facing discrimination in every aspect of life. This is well

proven in the Nargarjuna’s letter to his friend,  “Regard a young girl’s body on their own. It smells so foul, its opening nine a pot of filth, insatiable, and clothed with skin and regard adornments on its own.”This vividly shows that people hold a prejudice idea of women being a dirty object which need to be given up. In another word, women are depicted as inferior soul than men. Therefore, in many communities, parents prefer a boy child over a girl child. Moreover, inferior complex is inculcated in a girl child at home by their mothers. Mothers at home, teach their daughters that they are inferior to their brothers and so should they be submitting as it said in the proverb, “Men are superior to women by nine generation gaps.” Hence, in our society, women are deprived of all the social and political responsibilities even till date.

Our modern society is organized on patriarchal system where male is the head of the family. He decides over matters at home and women have to agree to his decisions. Thus, discrimination against women starts from the family which is a primary foundation of socialization. This is evident in a proverb which states, “Man has nine wives and if there is another one or two, he is capable.”This clearly shows the position of women being placed low by the society in the past, and this notion still exist in this generation. In addition, it also marks the line of superiority of men over women. As a result, the society values men more than women.

“Morimo” is one of the words which condemns women in Bhutan. For example, if a man shares whatever is told to him under confidentiality,  the people would scold him as Morimo, one who does not keep his word like women. Moreover, if a man acts like women, people would tease them as Morimo. Whatever the point may be, it defames women in either ways. Therefore, it is clear that women are depicted as weak figure in the society. As a result, people does not have faith in them as they are weak by innate. This may not be true for some women yet generally women are weak due to which people do not let the women to lead in any aspects in the country.

In conclusion, despite women coming out of the kitchen and participating equally with men in all aspects of life,  discrimination of women lie in the words, phrases and proverbs which instilled long term notion of women being inferior. This has affected the thinking of people about the women being weak. Therefore, though people have become more civilized, this notion keeps haunting them, and chooses men over women almost in all the areas of work.

Silly thoughts inked.

I forget to tell men a lie even at the cost of deliberate need. However, I realized how this get me go uneasy in life. I, believing in Buddha's insight of kindness, have practiced Bodhisattva at my own level, yet the degree of satisfaction remains doubtful. I am a confluence of hatred, love, anger and attachment. But, I have known to embrace love more which stills other emotions. Thoughts are a stray man, wandering even the remotest corner. It shapes other being of their existence. Thus, the criteria of good and bad arises. I have been trained to be good, from the day I knew, I stand on two feet. Nonetheless, people define me at their personal interest which I feel really awful. Occasionally, I feel, I am wrong to have not fill their desire. On the other hand, I feel, I remain not bothered. My dear mother says me to be a good a human being, for she little knows Siddhartha's compassionate deeds. I return to her saying, Buddha is 3500 ago and I am 3500 ahead. I meant to tell her that time has changed, so did the people. I said that I am chameleon who act in respect to surrounding. But, I doubt of my surrounding, acting on me in return. 

The Trial of Godilocks_The Verdict

                 

CLERK [Takes a deep breath]

Review are viewed

Now, it is to be chewed

Of what taste it will come

To convict one to scum.

JUDGE: [He gives an owl look to the clerk]

What is there to chew?

If there is, let me too.

CLERK[Exasperated]

Your honor!

It has been an hour

Since morning, we are doing the case

That Godilcoks has in maze

.

JUDGEoh! Jerk.  No, I mean, clerk.

Then, let us embark.

Order, order, order in my room

The case shall resume.

DEFENSE LAWER [Eloquently he defends the convict]

My lord! My Lord! My Lord!

You heard the record.

Woe me and woe my client

For life is less in their complaint.

JURY [They nod their heads in agreement]

PROSECUTTOR [Bangs the table]

No! Not, my lord

He has less explored

Woe me, woe my bears

And Goldilocks, not to spare.

She did the bears the worst.

That made the baby bear burst.

Justice, Justice and justice

My lord! Justice.

JURY[They nod their heads in agreement]

JUDGE [summons Godilocks to take a stand]

Miss Godlilocks.

GODLILOCKS [weary and pathetic]
yes , your honor

JUDGEMiss, You are accused

Of you intently misused,

Three bears possession

Thus, you are liable for conviction.

GODLILOCKS[Defiant]

I admit I have done

But I did in the sun

How it is a crime?

I only rhyme.

JUDGE 

No, No. You are not child

The way you are wild

Now, let’s hear our first witness

To clear cut the fuss.

MAMABEAR [comes shrieking, drenched with tear]

Mercy me, Mercy me, Mercy me

My lord, we three.

My baby’s soup, chair and bed

All lay sadly spread

Poor me, poor my baby bear.

This isn’t anyway fare.

GODLILOCKS[Agitated, she shakes and shriek]

I…I came to wood

To seek mood

Then I came across cottage

Curious, I found courage

Surprisingly, the door was ajar

So I did think it bizarre.

In there, I found soup

So I drank and snoop.

There was a chair

Which was mane of mare.

Upstairs was a soft bed

In which I laid mad.

What wrong is this?

For other child too cannot miss.

JUDGE[he puts down the gavel hard]

Order! Order! And order.

We are now quite in a stir.

MAMABEAR [Exasperated]

The soups were hot

So we decided to tout.

My poor soup, I have made

Without seeing it bade.

Heart was my make

Sad was it to take.

JUDGE [He looks curiously at Mama Bear]

Hum! What was it like?

Will you make me alike?

MAMABEARit is wheat from a hill

That is beaten finely in a mill.

Quadrilateral cheese with spicy

That’s breathtaking fancy.

One slurp is elixir

That makes people seer.

JUDGE [Quickly, he stand up and says]

The court adjourns.

CLERK [Confused]

But, my lord!

JUDGE [he quickly sits back and puts his gavel down]

Order! Order! Order!

Now, I decide

Not to reside

To this case

Done are we with chase.

So, I pronounce the verdict

That shall be my edict.

Thus, Godilocks is guilty.

The court adjourns.

JURY [Shocked and agitated]

This is in anyways no good,

Leaving Godilocks so cold.

What are we here for,

If we are not to roar?

No justice, no fair

Thus, we shall not be a lair

JUDGE [Winks at Jury]

Off the sense you are

To have not known to care

 Of What I have said

“The MAMA BEAR’s Bread.”

I shall share half

With you, my calf

CLERK[wearily reminds the judge]

We are not in the shed, your honor

Do not get, my lord, so minor.

JUDGE [Bemused]

That is good of you

Order!  Order!  Order!

JURY [contented]

We shall be as our lord says

And there shall not be greys

Thus, we too declare

Of no one to snare

But to fill what is empty

So we decide, with almighty

That Godilocks is guilty.

The trial of Goldiliocks_Reflection

I never thought that I would be reading fairy tales this year. It is a coincidence that before I came to know of a fairy play on “The trial of Goldilocks”, I was doing “The wonderful wizard of Oz” which interestingly is a fairy tale too. This coincidence made me remember Paulo Coelho's quote, "When you want something, the entire universe conspires in helping you to achieve it."  Indeed, it did not happen intentionally but universe knew what I was going to learn this year in literary genre class. Therefore, it let me into preliminary reading of the fairy tale, the wonderful wizard of Oz before the trial of Goldilocks.

When I first heard of Goldilocks, I felt it is classic like the play, the importance of being earnest. This is because I felt, the name, Goldilocks, does not make sense in modern period as I have never encountered a character named in such a way. Only in classic literature, I remember coming across such names. Moreover, I knew not a bit of what it is going to be about until madam said that it is a one -act play. One-act play! What is it?  I was baffled for a moment. Then, I saw the words “Act” and “Play”. Immediately, my brain got into creating a theater same to the theater of Elizabethan period where women and men were in classic attires on a stage, heartily performing at their peak. All this making came into me like an image on mirror because I think I knew Shakespeare and his association to theater during his period.

I was not content hearing the name. Thus curiosity grew intensely in me that I was no sooner in a lab and I googled it on internet.  It took me to a six minutes animation movie. I exclaimed, what?  Are they joking? Am I supposed to watch this?  I tried another one but, the search results were same as I have tired earlier. Nonetheless, I watched it timidly. This was in fact a shocking discovery I have not expected. Everything was a shocking flash which was pleasurable though. When madam read us the play, I got a visual image of how trial was being conducted in a court room with prosecutor, defender, judge, jury and all. This is because I know English court well enough to explain even to the extent of how it is organized.

Above all these, I really liked the judge who is a little hard of hearing. His act left me thinking of my friend who is no different to the judge. This helped me construct connection with my friend which made me feel blissful even for a second. Moreover, funny past came rolling before my eyes as if Goldilocks has summoned it. For instance, my friend, who is as well a little hard of hearing, cannot hear what I say well to him in a close distance whilst, surprisingly, he can hear what I say badly about him from a distance. Thus, the judge acts the same like my friend. For this reason, I liked this play as it reminded me of my friend through the display of a character like the judge.

I am immensely happy that I am blessed to have this chance to flip the pages of Goldilocks. It is full of humor and it teaches us human values. I appreciated this one act play to be undoubtedly effective in teaching people a value in a short span of time, in the form of entertainment. This play gave me a space to explore more on other one-act plays. Thus, I feel I am making the meaning of my presence here at college as a student of language and literature, not seriously the English language and literature though. 

Image citation 

Eden Paiarie entertainment. (playwrights). (n.d). The Trial of Goldilocks. Retrieved          from http://www.edenprairieplayers.com//email-images/Goldilocks.jpg.

Beyond Praise

Like a luminous light of lucid moon in the starry skies,
Evenly, your kindness pervaded phenomenally in the world.
Knitting the intricate pattern of pious deeds,
Elegance embarked in your lives, making Gods to
Yell and stand in a queue to see you.

King of kings from the upper realm
Hovered tirelessly to goggle at you, yet
Aspiration never died down. Thus, decided in
Nook to put up the canvas of you on the wall,
Delighted to see the gold- plated picture of yours,
Unanimously, they hymned the ditties of tribute.
Merrily they vowed to create a woman like you.

What shall I become?

I say I am in science,
To my innocent parents.
But, in return they say
“What is science?”
What would I say,
Then to explain to them
That I shall become a doctor,
An engineer and an architect
They beam like a candle.
Shine like a diamond.
Swim like a golden fish.
But they do not know
That there are many
Who shall become a doctor,
An engineer and an architect.

                                                                They are happy that
                                                         Their son is studying in Punakha,
                                                       Punakha Higher Secondary school.
                                                                      When I was five,
                                                                 My teacher used to ask
                                                                “What is your ambition?”
                                                               I stood up, made my hands
                                                                        In circular shape
                                                              And then answered, “Doc-tor”
Now I am nineteen,
When the same question is asked,
I do not answer
Instead, I drop my head
And I become apple red.
For I now the volume of
Chemistry, biology and physics.

                                                                     Chemistry is a mystery.
                                                                     That has endless history.
                                                                    The Alchemist can convert
                                                                            Lead to gold.
                                                                    While I cannot even perfect
                                                                           Simple equations.
                                                                   Reproduction was ABC in ten
                                                                     Now in twelve, it’s the core.
                                                                   I considered everything in physics
                                                                      Now it has reached the extend
                                                               Whereby, I have to consider my self,
What shall I become?
A DOCTOR, AN ENGINEER OR
ARCHITECT.

Reflection_The Kite Runner.

I guess, I was prepared for this worst scene from chapter five itself as it foreshadowed sinister event in the coming chapters.  But, what i did not know was that Hassan would be brutally raped. Rape!!! Eww!  I thought that he would  be physically harmed by sociopath Assef. But, it happened what I thought it would not happen. How could Assef do that?  I mean, Hassan is a cleft-mend and ugly Hazara while Pasthun Assef who said of not mixing his blood with impure Hazara is falling below his word. He is such a mean to deem such act of inhumanity. Hassan is not even a girl from whom he can draw a sexual pleasure. He is a complete psychopath. If he did it to prove his dominance over Hazara, then I think he is  just  inhuman to do so. This is because there are other ways to prove his dominance. He need not have to prove it, resorting to such animal-ism behavior. On the other hand, I hated coward Amir to the extent that I did not feel like reading the book further. On contrary, I too was curious  of how Amir would react after the post rape. Amir was too selfish to help Hassan when he needed the most. He had the opportunity to prove his father of his bravery other than the kite winning.  At this juncture, I wished I had a magical wand to innovate super hero to tear Assed and his other puppets apart. Either, I wished that I could manifest, so that I could get into Amir and save Hassan and Amir himself- Hassan from getting raped and Amir to prove his worthiness alongside the winning kite. But, to my dismay, I am not gifted with such privileges. I felt Hassan's cold blood weft under my nose and could feel my surrounding more gloomy than it is. 

ལུས་བདེ་སེམས་ཡེངས་ཀྱི་རྩོམ་ཐུང་།

                                    ལུས་བདེ་སེམས་ཡེངས་ཀྱི་རྩོམ་ཐུང་།
རང་ཁང་པ་སྟོང་པའི་ནང་ན་ལུ།།
ད་མནོ་བསམ་མི་གཏང་བརྒྱ་སྟོང་གཏང་།།

གྲངས་བརྒྱ་སྟོང་རང་གན་གཏང་བ།།
སླབན་སླབ་པའི་འཇིག་རྟེན་གྲོས་ཅིག་མས།།

མནོན་མནོ་བའི་མནོ་བསམ་བཤད་པ་ཅིན།།
མཇུག་ང་གིས་བཤད་པའི་གཏམ༌འདི༌ལུ།།
ཁྱོད༌ཧ༌ཧ༌ཧི༌ཧུ༌ཟེར༌འདི༌གིས།།
སྡོདན༌སྡོད༌པའི༌སར༌ལས༌འགྱེལ༌འགྱོ༌འོང༌།།

ང༌ཕོ༌ཡི༌ལུས༌རྟེན༌ཐོབ༌རུང༌རང༌།།
སྐྱེཝ༌སྔོན༌མའི༌བསོད༌ནམས༌མ༌སྨིན༌བཟུམ།།
དུས༌ད༌རེས༌བཟོ༌ཉེས༌སྦལཔ༌གི༌ལུས།།
རང༌ལུས༌ལུ༌འཁོར༌བའི༌སྣང༌བ༌བྱུང༌།།

ཁོ༌ཆ༌རོགས༌སྒོ༌ལས༌འཛལ༌ལོ༌མེདཔ།།
གྱོནན༌གྱོན༌པའི༌གོ༌ཡང༌ཕུད༌བཞག༌འདི།།
ང༌འགྱོ༌དོ༌ཟེར༌བའི༌གཏམ༌ཅིག༌ལས།།
གཞན༌གོ༌བའི༌དྲན༌པ༌མིན༌འདུག༌ང༌།།

ནམ༌ནུབ༌མོའི༌དུས༌ཚོད༌འདི༌བཟུམ༌ན།།
ཁོ༌སྲིན༌འདྲེ༌འབྱུང༌པོ༌མེན༌བ༌ལས།།
འགྱོན༌འགྱོ་བའི་ལམ་འདི་བརྒྱ་སྟོང་མེད།།
ཁོ་འགྱོ་བའི་ལམ་འདི་གཅིག་རང་ཨིན།།

ནམ་སོ་ཁའི་སྟག་ཚེར་མེ་ཏོག་འདི།།
ཁོང་བུང་བས་མ་བཅོམ་སྔོན་གྱི་ལས།།
དུས་ད་ལྟོ་ཁོ་ཡང་བུང་བ་མས།།
རོ་མངར་བའི་སྦྲང་རྩི་འཐུང་བ་མས།།

ང་ཁོ་ལུ་མནོ་བསམ་གཏང་བལྟཝ་ད།།
ཁོ་བསོད་ནམས་བསགས་པའི་གྲངས་སུ་མས།།
རངན་སྔོན་བསགས་བསོད་ནམས་མེད་པ་ལས།།
དུས་ད་ལྟོ་རྩོམ་ཅིག་བྲིས་སྡོད་ཡི།། 

Assef's charater sketch_The Kite Runner

     Chapter five unfolds with bloodshed in Afghanistan where it gives its way to republic, the government which believes that the wealthiest should rule the country. On this account, Afghan-German character, who believes in  the same principle, of Pasthun origin is introduced to us. He is the blue -eyed and blond Assef.  My encounter of Assef, in chapter five, was not positive. This is because he is a sociopath, racist and authoritarian.

     

    Assef is a sociopath. In another word, he has an antisocial personality disorder where he does not understand other’s feeling. For instance, “His word was law, and if you needed a little legal education, then those brass knuckles were just the right teaching tool” (pg.33). This is an antisocial behavior as it is unbelievable for a mere child to roam with knuckles around the street. But, he does and this clearly shows that he is savage. Thus, he is known for this in Kabul street.  His word is finial and if he is opposed, he will have them brutally harmed without feeling the slightest guilt. For this antisocial behavior, he was nick named Goshkhor, the ear eater. This is because, only uncivilized such as wild animals has this potent to cause such behavior. Hence, he is no doubt a sociopath.

     Assef is also a racist. He is distinctive about the origin he come from (Pashtun) and does not want it to be polluted, in particular with Hazaras.  To illustrate, he says, “Afghanistan is the land of Pashtuns. It always has been, always will be. We are the true Afghans, the pure Afghans, not this Flat-Nose here. His people pollute our homeland, our watan. They dirty our blood” (pg.35).This is the clear line which shows that Assef scorned Haraza and wanted to get rid of this ethnic. He is saying that Afghanistan is only for Pasthun and this is his vision. Further, he address Hassan as Hazara in every conversation instead of calling him by his name. This suggests that he wanted to suppress Hazaras by timely reminding them of inferiority complex.

     Assef is an authoritarian as well. He is the age of Amir and Hassan, yet he is more commanding than them. The way he talked and had two obedient companions shows that he is authoritarian in nature. For example, he talked of Daoud Khan who dined at his home and said that he will be going to have a chat with him man to man, mard to mard. He is talking of the president which otherwise is the talk of the elders. The words, he talked about, suggest that he is treating Daoud Khan like is friend as if Daoud Khan will agree to sit man to man with him. This behavior shows that he is being dictatorial. In addition, his word is law. What he says has to be final, if not he will teach what is right with the force of his brass knuckle. This also suggest that he is authoritarian.

     In short, my impression of Assef is that he is a sociopath. He has a antisocial behavior as he carries brass knuckle and uses it to teach counterparts to come to his decision. In another word, he is barbaric like wild animals. Next, he is a racist too. He does not like Hazara and wanted to cleanse them from Afghanistan. He shows his dislike to Hazara by calling Hassan, Hazarra rather than his name. Further, he is rigid about Afghanistan being the land of Pashtun. Lastly, Assef is authoritarian in nature. He is just a child, yet he has a bossy character where he boast himself of knowing Daoud Khan and that he will talk to him man to man. Moreover, whatever Assef say, its final and binding. Otherwise he will brutally harm the opposition. These are the impression I got of Assef after reading chapter five.

A tragic-comedy hike.

It has been quite long since we kept our travel plans in abeyance. This is because we were busy in all that itsy-bitsy business. Today, we tried something aberrant which was remarkable in its own way though weather wasn't favorable at the later hours of the day. Sweltering climb and leaden body of ours retarded the journey by the expected hour. Nonetheless, we sung songs to the tunes played on phone alongside the melodious chirps of unseen birds. In addition, we talked and shared of our families, schooling and, guess what, we said of GIRLS who were never been ours yet rightfully and unofficially have been ours without their consent. Here, the funniest thing is that, we occasionally called each other by the girls' pen name (Rechristened by us only, haha).  Soon, we were before the majestic lake. Oh! Wait. Lake actually is inhabited by mermaid. So, I should be saying, "soon, we were before a beautiful lake." Haha ha... But, I doubted, whether the lake was really appealing, for it was coal black. May be, she is a black beauty. Everything was spiritual and mystic around, even weather itself. We brunt some pine in the sense of gifting us the blessing of all kinds by the Tsomen. We transformed the colossal world into miniature world and offered it to the Tsomen. Then, we childishly ate all that we carried such as lays, crackers, juices and foods of course. We felt spirituality for a while and decided to return only to feel overwhelmed when the trail we were on led nowhere but into a dense wet forest. For a while, I felt like I be like the man acting in Man VS. Wild in Discovery channel. However, this feeling was short lived as I saw my friends were on a dash. I could not help myself a slow run for such forest was a home to tigers, bears and snakes, azaiii! Besides I know the story of six witches who were out even in the board day light. We joined our hands to take a trail which lead to the heath, the place where we can make out the way. Then, as decided, we penetrated the dense jungle and reached a human settlement. We gleefully were overjoyed and rejoiced our hiking mood. I did not expect this tragic -comedy hike at all. However, it was worth going.

Shade of love

I know what I be to you
But I do keep you close.
That smile as cold as snow
Does melt my soul.
I do not mend to care
Of what you look like
You be  Snow white
Or the Ugly duckling.
You still are phenomenal.
But, why is it that
I do not fall for you
While many are in queue.
I glare at you, eye to eye
Yet I am rigid to fall for You.
Or has my definition of you
Changed by the  words of others?
Should I change to be someone
Whom I am not to fall for You.
But, sadly, I am giving you up.
As I am looking up for someone
Who equals my strength of wisdom.

A dirt of arrogance

Why should you be indifferent?
When all that world need
Is in you like a jewel.
You are a pretty flower
Whose beauty is beyond
The span of one's reach.
I know I be no height to you
Yet I feel, you be little low
For beauty is a splash of light.
And old age is not a choice.
So you be conscious
And live by the ethics
Like you as a beautiful maiden
Is expected to lead ahead.
I know I mean little to you.
But I am not fool to live in
What you call your fool paradise.
I am acting fool for I put others first.
And do not dare to misunderstand
My pure help for your made beauty.
I feel empathy on you for you feel
Your beauty can buy the world.
But, you need to think that
Whatever is before us
Is just the making of the mind.
Had it been in the different way,
I might have tormented the world in a night.
But, I am what I am, human.

The heaven under my Nose

 The Heaven under My Nose

I sat on an opening where

No tress, no bushes and no shrubs grew.

But only a mighty, elegant stupa stood

Dressed in a cloud-white overcoat

And a blood-red belt ran in between

On which, in the midst, nests little Buddha.

Its edges hooked

The network of vibgyor flags

Of divinity flattered

In the three realms

Like the perfect painting on a canvas

I, under its shelter

Contemplated the creation

And wondered,

Alas! What on earth

Has the “king of kings” innovated?

Far beyond the distance

From where I sat

Lay the sublime abode of Tsangkha,

The core point of Bhutan

Beautifully and apparently

Covered by the heavenly clouds

The road coiled like a snake

Like the work of an ant.

The God’s boon:

The birds, rivers and trees combined.

The birds chirped while rivers rumbled

And the trees clattered with the beat of drum,

Though apart from each other,

Created Pan’s music

Adding flavor to my sight

In admiring the view

This gave me the pleasure,

Piercing hard like a needle.

I escaped

Far beyond, very far, very far

From the mundane world.

Hitherto, I was in the quest of true heaven

But then

The heaven was under my nose.