Skip to main content

A Change in the Game

Today is the first Sunday of the month and we observe it as the pedestrian day after it was revised. Now the day is observed only once a month as opposed to what it was planned initially back in June 2012. Once a month is more practical I would like to think.  It was more of public outcry that resulted into this change in the game-plan.  

Initially, when it was first proposed or we were made to hear about the initiative, I was seriously happy. And that was because my idea of the day was different from what the policymakers had in their minds. I thought that when it is a pedestrian day - it means no movement of vehicles at all. At all. But they allowed taxis to ply back and forth. City buses were alright to move proudly through the restricted zone. And it made it appear so foolish an idea. I didn't get this idea clear - how do taxis and buses emit less pollution? In fact they were burning more fuels and making more noises as they had to more rounds - unusually more rounds. If people had to move even if it was PeeDay (as it was popularly called back then), they had to move - there was no choice. Since they could not drive their cars they had to go in taxis. So, the whole purpose is defeated. 

The other day I was talking with one of my friends. I told him that I was relieved that PeeDay is happening only once a month. He was not convinced. "It doesn't make sense at all. Monthly or weekly - it does not make sense," he told me. "If they want to do it and do it well, they should plan it in a grand manner once a year." He was right I thought. 

Maybe instead of doing it monthly (in a manner that is hardly fit to be called a pedestrian day), why can't we do it once a year? And meant it. Say, every year we mark the World Environment Day as the Pedestrian Day and when say no vehicle movement, it means no vehicles. They should not be even allowed to move from their parking lot through out the day. All our highways should remain completely empty. Right now vehicles are restricted only in the core town while they move up and down, here and there at the periphery. Just that they need to make rounds and get to their destinations.  

It also makes sense to have the event once a year. And then we would need no policemen to watch if people are following the rules. Why do we call it pedestrian day when it concerns vehicles? We should rather call it No-Vehicle Movement Day or something. Maybe we even declare the day a public holiday so that we need not have to use our vehicles. And there will be programs to educate our people why we are doing what we are doing.  

But again I am surprised how quick we are in changing our rules. One day it is there and the next day it is no more in place. Good rules are ever enduring. If something was good for all of us, then we should not change it immediately just because people are complaining. And just as we were about to cope up with the situation there is the change. I think we need to convince ourselves first before we implement anything. This way we show that we are no more kids and what we do is no more a child's play! 

But if we can change the PeeDay from a weekly to monthly in a matter of 5 months (a baby takes 9 months to be fully convinced that he/she is ready come out of mother's womb), then I think we can make it go "yearly" in say about 9 or 10 months!

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Utpal Academy - Bhutan's first All-girls High School

Academic Block Welcome to Bhutan’s first all-girls school. Isn’t that wonderful news to all our parents? Certainly, as a parent of a one-year old daughter I am excited about the coming of a school exclusively dedicated to the needs of girls. Our girls need special treatment, which we can for sure entrust the responsibility to Utal Academy, Paro. Dinning Hall I really like the name – Utpal – in Buddhist world, Utpal is another name for lotus flower, which is believed to grow from mud and yet blossoms into a beautiful and majestic flower. It stands for purity and many deities are depicted holding flower Utpal, more prominently Jestusn Dolma, the Goddess Tara. Symbolically, it also stands for the transformation of our girls. What an apt name for the school! Hostel Room The Principal’s message posted on the academy’s website promises providing our young women an “opportunity to participate fully in a wide range of extracurricular activities to develop skills and qualities that

System Thinking

System is a collection of interrelated elements that create one complete and unified whole. All components within it constantly interact with each other to achieve a specific purpose.  For example, a car is a highly sophisticated form of a system. Hundreds of different parts work together to make it move in the desired direction, and even if a small part is missing, the car will fail to run.  From the system, I learnt that system thinking is a perspective of things around us, which makes us see how everything is connected to other things. In the above example, it is not just the motor that creates the motion in the car but combined work of all the parts in the vehicle. For example, even if everything works, without an accelerator, the car will not move in the desired speed that we want it to run.    Therefore, system thinking forces us to think about the relationships between things and how they influence the overall system. It makes us see the bigger picture. For example, when we buy

Fighting RCSCE-phobia

Now that the orientation is over, graduates all over Bhutan would be hunting for information and scratching through all our history books. And in absence of readily available information, it is going to be so frustrating for many. There are are aspirants like Tashi.P Ganzin who are already seeking divine intervention- whether to appear or not to.  This is the biggest moment in a graduate’s life – it’s time to learn and relearn so many things about the home and the world. And they need good attention from their parents and relatives, guidance and advice from elders. I am sure all 1300 graduates who attended the NGOP may not appear RCSC Common examination, but we need to inspire and encourage those that brave the odds. Many of my friends are waiting to take the exam of their life – their future will either be made or broken when RCSC declares the results. And my full prayers and support are with them. They are terribly afraid of it to say the least. I heard while there are no prob