Hot plans >> Opposition Leader Tshering Tobgay resolves to be richer by 12 books, six Dzongkha movies, and a possible Snowman trek

Jan 07, 2009-Thimphu: Next time when you meet Opposition Leader Tshering Tobgay, ask what he is reading.  

If he replies with the name of a book, then it means he is following a New Year resolution and not just National Assembly resolutions. 

The opposition leader has listed seven New Year resolutions in his regularly updated blog http://tsheringtobgay.blogspot.com, which is the new hit among Bhutanese netizens.

He says the plan is to read 12 books, at least one book a month. And he has also resolved to continue writing the blog though “it’s hard work. But enjoyable.” As of yesterday, Tshering Tobgay has written 57 posts from November last year till January 6.

His 2010 New Year resolution can possibly be to compile all the blog posts and publish it into a book.

Apart from reading, which doesn’t include “anything remotely resembling a piece of legislation” the opposition leader is determined to watch six Bhutanese movies, that too in the theatre. He doesn’t count the television.

Is old PDP friend Jigme Drukpa listening? Tshering Tobgay has plans to indulge in a new hobby. And if the blog can be believed, he may learn the Dramyen. The people of Sombaykha Constitutency in Haa can expect a musical treat along with campaign speeches in 2013.

Possibly influenced by Sonam Tshering, a caddie, who won the India House Golf Tournament in November last year, Tshering Tobgay may learn golf too. Sonam Tshering had featured in the opposition leader’s blog.

 Tshering Tobgay believes that the returning of the  infamous DHI bags by the National Assembly members  “is historic because this is the fist time that ‘tradition’ has been bypassed in favor of honesty.” But this year, he is determined to embrace a tradition he has forgotten.

 “To relearn my mother tongue – Khengkha,” he says.

 “I forgot both Khengkha and Dzongkha when barely five years old, I was sent to a boarding school in India. How best to relearn Khengkha? Spend more time with my mother.”

So readers can try wishing the Opposition Leader a Happy 2010 in Khengkha.

It was not politics but a trek that has been bothering his mind for 10 years. But this year will see the opposition leader atop a mountain. He doesn’t specify the trek but offers a hint.

“Will I ever be able to do the Snowman?” he asks.