Page 100 - FATE & DESTINY

FATE & DESTINY

“What type of loan? Vehicle Loan or Consumer Loan?”
“Which one is better?”
“Vehicle Loan is for cars and Consumer Loan is for your personal use.”
“Um, which has the lowest interest rate?”
“Consumer Loan.”
“I think I should apply for a Consumer Loan.” After filling in the form, I asked, “When would I get it?”
He skimmed the form. “Thirty thousand wouldn’t take time, but headquarters must approve it. So, it
would take at least a week.”
“That’s a lengthy process. Anyway, thanks.”
The next day, I traveled on the Bhutan Post coaster bus Mrs. Pema Yangdon had booked for me. She
was my brother-in-law’s wife, working at the Bhutan Post Office at Samdrup Jongkhar. We arrived at
Trashing in the evening. From there, I reserved a taxi for my village.
I could see my village from a distance. It looked macabre.
“Can you see your house?” asked Ata Norbu, a local cabbie from my village.
I peered through the windshield and shook my head. “Show me, please.”
“Over there. The one with smoke rising over the roof.”
Tears swelled my eyes. “Yes.”
My younger brother, Phub Dorji was waiting for me at the road point. He was squatting, with his chin
on his palms. Just as he saw me, his eyes glittered with tears. “She passed away, Ata!”
I embraced him. “Sorry, I couldn’t come to see her last winter.”
He wiped the tears and carried the vegetable carton. “Let’s go home.”
Grandpa tried to sit up in his bed. “Is that you, Dorji?”
“Yes, Mamay.” I knelt and stroked his hair. “It’s okay.”
He held my hands and sniffled. His eyes were shrunken and his wizened hands shook. “Abi is no more
with us now.”
I pecked him on his forehead. “It’s okay, Maymay.”
“To the tent, Dorji,” said my uncle.
Butter lamps flickered and the incense smoke filled the tent. Relatives sat around the body. They
shooed flies. I sat beside the cadaver, trying not to sob.
“Tomorrow’s her cremation,” said my uncle. “We’re taking the body to the crematorium at dawn.”
“Why can’t we keep her for another day?” I said.
“We can’t,” he said. “The body has started to smell.”
At dawn, we carried her to the crematorium at Ranjung. The funeral procession took the entire
morning. As the flames engulfed the pyre, I prostrated and prayed for her soul. “May you be reborn soon,”
I said.
The incineration took the entire afternoon. Before the dusk fell, Cousin Phuntso and I scattered her
ashes at Gamrichhu.
Two days later, I returned to Samdrup Jongkhar to get the loan. And after the 21st-day rite, I returned
to my workplace.
The next winter vacation, I went to Mongar Lower Secondary School to attend a workshop on Jungrab.
At Samdrup Jongkhar, I met a lady from my village. Straight away,
She said, “Hope you got the message about your grandpa.”
“No,” I said. “What happened to him?”
“Didn’t you hear?” She looked at me straight in the eye and said, “He passed away yesterday.”
I couldn’t help myself. My jaw dropped to the floor as my eyes blinked with tears.
“Are you going home?”
“I will but I must attend my workshop first.”
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