My baby girl
wasn’t sleeping and it was late into the night. My cousin Yeshey accidentally bumped into ZEE Classic and you can imagine the classic movies they air on this
particular channel. On an unattended glace I saw the ‘Keta’ in a ‘Dhoti’ with a
metal box singing and walking along the walkway with vintage cars in the
background. I could identify a Ford T-model. The song was in Black and White,
if you know what I mean. This was last night.
 |
| The Literal |
Now the
thing that caught my imagination was the metal box. We called it the ‘Chadom’
while I attended high school in the late 90’s. And owning a suitcase back then
was a luxury. Only the wealthy and those belonging to the wealthy owned one. I
could make out by the bedding and the baggage people possessed- who’s wealthy
or not? I owned one ‘Chadom’. This Chadom came to me when my mommy paid 250/-
Rupees to a merchant in our very familiar ‘Jaigaon’. I considered it hip to own
one. I remember the bargain she underwent to pay 250/- Rupees for that Chadom,
vividly.
But owning a
Chadom, came at a price and I owned one where one could latch on three
locks-supposedly to safe keep one’s belonging from the hostel looters. We had
lots of unidentified robbers among us. We had pickle looters, ‘Lagay’ looters, sock
looters, plate looters, soap looters and believe it or not, on Sundays we had
underwear looters. I rushed for the
‘Kharang’ served during breakfast because the next two meals would definitely
be potatoes. I also had an added advantage of eating the coveted breakfast for
being one of the defense players in the school’s basketball team. The players
were served chick peas with a boiled egg for breakfast. I attended a school
where life in the hostel was troublesome.
And I wouldn’t dare to mention the name of the school because the
current principal of that school is a friend of mine.
 |
| The inferred |
This is yet
another generational up-beat story of mine because I am used to seeing my lesser
known cousins and relatives, all young, nagging their parents for some
happening and in-fashion suit cases and bags. Would today’s pupils hitch a ride
with a supposed Chadom and bedding on their back just to get to school?
Coming to my
civil service days, I was introduced to yet another Chadom. This time the Chadom
was an automobile. The Maruti Van! My dad owned one and I have a lot to write
about it….the supposed Maruti Van days. One of the Dzongkha Lopens owned a van
and it became known as Chadom. We would ask him if he would give us a ride in
his Chadom. – “Apha kay nang wai, choe
ghi chadom na”. (Take me till there in your Maruti Van). This was in my
previous school. Now, I have a senior teacher friend who owns a Chadom. He is
funny but a great human being.
At this
juncture, and particularly when I see people with metal boxes even today, I
consider myself lucky that I was once a part of the beginning that made what
Bhutan has evolved into. Children and kids today….don’t know what an inferred
Chadom is apart from the literal Chadom. This is another anecdote from the
nostalgia down memory lane…
