Page 65 - FATE & DESTINY

FATE & DESTINY

6 IN MY QUEST FOR JOB

Back then, the board exams, ICSE, were conducted in March. I did my winter-coaching right after we returned
home from Phuentsholing. Yet I didn’t qualify for college.
“It’s okay, son,” said Dad. “You don’t have to brood all day.”
I sobbed harder when I heard it. “I am sorry, Dad.”
“Never mind. You can look for a job.”
“What kind of job do you expect me to get?” I said. “Nothing.”
“Any job would do. Even blue-collar.”
A down-to-earth man who always fulfilled the moral obligations of his family, Dad tried to soothe me
with his fatherly manner. Yet I afforded a second opinion.
“What about the supplementary exams, Dad? I want to study.”
“A job would be better.”
I twirled my hair and reconsidered his suggestion. “Are you sure, Dad?”
“Please, son,” he said. “That’s my sincere advice for you.”
“Fine,” I said.
One week later, I bought a bus ticket for Thimphu. Tenzin Nyima was on the bus.
“Where are you headed, Uncle?” he asked.
“Thimphu,” I replied. “And you?”
“Thimphu. To attend the orientation programme for the college. And you?”
“Well, I didn’t qualify for college, so I am looking for a job.”
“Sorry to know that. Meet my brother-in-law, Wangdila.”
“Nice to meet you, sir,” I said.
“Nice to meet you too,” said Mr. Wangdila.
My worry burgeoned as we traversed closer to Thimphu. “Where should I go? Ana Pema’s place? No,
there’d be many guests. Oh, no! Where should I go?”
At the bus terminal, Tenzin said, “Where’re you headed, Uncle?”
“I don’t know,” I said. “Um—”
“Meaning you don’t have a place to go?”
I nodded.

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