Bhutanese Bloggers e-Conference

Thank you Rekha for initiating this e-conference. Thank you Passu and Nawang P for sharing the news. I am delighted to be part of this wonderful group. But fortunately or unfortunately, I am so so caught up with works both at home and in office. So I am little late in writing this post.

Professionally I am a Customs Officer. I check bags, I seize goods, I often make people cry. I assess billions, I tax millions and the greatest irony is that I remain broke for half the month. I have masters in Economics.(Gold medalist) but I use mostly hammers, pliers, knives in Customs cargo warehouse. I also write profiles and minutes too. 

At home I am a father. I consider myself to be nothing less than the most loving and responsible father.  I am my own lawyer. I fight for my family's justice. I am my own planner too. I have both my parents. Although aged, they are living healthy and happily with my sister in Thimphu. I am a brother of seven sisters. With them I have again two elder brothers. This is my brief background.

Q. Why did you start blogging in the first place? And what’s the story behind your blog title?

A.  There are many people who inspired me into blogging. My previous boss, Younten Namgyal certainly played a pivotal role. After him, writings of people like Passu, Jurmi Chhowing, Dawa Tshering, Yeshey Dorji, Kinga Choden, Luzee, Nawang P, Sogyel, Lethro Darlo, Riku, Langa, Monu and Namgay Wangchuk ignited my passion for writing. I read their blog post by post and all their write ups made me believe that I can write as well. 

 All I wanted to write in my blog was to write about my own self. Thats why I kept the the title of my blog as "Kuenzang Thinley's Blog". Later I wanted to write whenever a thing strikes my mind.  That is when I again changed the title of my blog as "Free and Random Thoughts from the valley of Shingkhar". But somehow I found the title lengthy and monotonous. So I looked for a better title. Finally in 2011, I came up with a new title as "Writing my own unwritten lines". 

Q. How long have you been blogging? Where are you based?

A. I think I started maintaining a personal blog towards the end of 2010. However, before I got settled with my blog : www.shingkhar.blogspot.com, I have created a number of blogs on wordpress.com. So this is my third year into blogging. 

I am originally from Bumthang, Ura, Shingkhar. 

At present I live in Paro. I work as a Customs Officer in Paro international airport. I am the current cargo In-charge of Customs section. 

Q. How do you schedule your blog post? Daily or weekly? Or as and when inspiration strikes you?

A. It largely depends on the combination of three factors, - time, inspiration and motivation. If these three factors are lacking, then you will see lesser updates on m y blog.

Q. Does your family and friends know about your blog?

A. I think most of them do know about my blog. I became very popular when I wrote a letter to my MP on the controversial tobacco control act in 2011. Subsequently when the media house "Journalist" published my letter in their weekly paper, I even got reprimanded by my  Director. It was hell of a experience then.

After that warning letter, I thought of quitting the blogging. But somehow I couldn't. Something in me urged me to write more. My wife wanted me to write and so are my other friends. So here I continued..