Extracts from my opening and closing remarks at the 4^th Bloggers Meet/Conference, Feb 2, 2018

Friends and fellow bloggers,

Thank you for sacrificing your weekend to be here at this 4^th Bloggers Meet. I apologize for all the confusions surrounding the venue and the nature of this Meet. Since we are in the election season, we have made this Meet for registered members only. So, this is not open to public like other meets . I know many out there will be unhappy about this. My apologies to them.

The Community of Bhutanese Bloggers is a loose collection of writers who use the web to tell their stories. It is non-political, non-religious and non-commercial – with no affiliation to any individuals, groups or organizations. All expenses for the meets and conferences are borne by few of us. And despite that no incentives are given out for attending these meets, we have participants who travel from other districts.

The theme of this Meet is My Story Our Legacy. This was chosen to reflect the historic times we are going through. Few people today realize that fifty or hundred years down the road, our future descendants will scramble to look at this period for written records and references. Even if we don’t write on events of great historical importance, the written records we leave behind will be told as stories one day. In fact we often use the phrase, dhi gang ngache ghi pham ghi kad su. (those days during the times of our forefathers). So, what we write,  whether they are worth of being read or mentioned, will be talked about and read. So I invite you to be mindful of what you write and share.

My Story Our Legacy was also coined out of the belief that the story of a nation is nothing but the stories of ordinary people. We all have a story to tell. Today, we have three speakers – three storytellers who I believe are also creating their little stories in their own little world. Pawo Choyning Dorji is a filmmaker – photographer who tells stories through pictures, Amrith Subba is spreading the love for sharing and compassion and Tshering Pelden writes about everything from ants to drayang girls. My thanks to them for accepting to share their stories today.

Lastly, the question: what is your story?

For me, writing has been a way to share my life, beliefs and my concerns. It has served as a place where I could offload my feelings and frustrations, share joys and sorrows, and drop ideas and inspirations. It takes time, of course. And sometimes I have even wondered if anyone is even reading them. Yes, I know this hollow feeling of talking to a wall – especially in your early years of blogging. But do not despair. Keep writing. Keep going. Keep flowing. If for nothing, one day you will also turn 50 like me. Your shoulder will get frozen. Then you discover that a physiotherapist is your fellow blogger and is ready to do the magic on you.

Yes, this is a true story.

Also few days back as I walked away from one of these physio sessions, a young woman walked up to me with a beaming smile and went on with something like, “Sir, you don’t know me but we are friends on Facebook and I follow your writings. I work as a nurse in the …. section. If you need anything there, just look out for me. It will be my pleasure to serve you”.

It is these pleasant and unexpected encounters that make your life worth living, pains worth taking and time worth spending on this small activity of sharing called writing.

Happy blogging to all