PART II: Today’s Phuntsholing Town: A long romantic affair on the line

Yesterday morning my brother and I had to wake up much earlier than at usual time. My mother had instructed us the previous day to take the empty LPG cylinder to the LPG booth below truck parking to get a new filled one. We somehow managed to win the battle of the morning bed. By 7:00 am in the morning we were out and at the place.

You cant spot me here because i am hidden by the truck

I was 97^th person standing in the line that kept on stretching as the clock tick. Out of sheer curiosity I asked one of the ladies behind me whether the queue is always this long.  On which she only replied with a YES nod. After almost 1 hr and 40 minutes of waiting my turn arrived. I had to show my LPG consumer card to a security guard (belly bulging doma(betel nuts) grinding machine…sorry I can’t describe him better) before I could get in to make the payment.

 I was aware that the card holder should come in person if he has to get a new filled cylinder. I was also informed by a notice on dusty wall that the date to get a new one must be at least after 15 days from the previous delivery. The Card I was holding belonged to my brother-in-law but the date of pervious issue was on 25^th October 2011. which mean that i could have refilled 4 cylinders if I had come on every 15^th day. My brother-in-law was out of station to attend some workshop but i thought the date of last issue could provide the chance to get at least one new filled cylinder. But my logical thinking was not entertained despite my numerous requests. My brother and I came with the same empty cylinder back home.

Later in the afternoon I went to Jaigoan to do some shopping where I shared the incident with my uncle who informed me that there are many people who earn Nu: 100 per cylinder (filled) when they sell it to third party within Phuntsholing town or in the bordering Indian town of Jaigoan. 'It’s a thriving business’, he said. He was as equally disturbed as I was on having to come in person the card holder himself to get a filled cylinder. He narrated an incident;

Once he happened to be alone at his resident. His wife and children had gone to village and his father -in-law, the card holder, was in Mumbai on some personal trip. At home the stove went off and he had to put up with his neighbor and resort to other means of cooking till his father in law returned. He strongly feels as I do that it is reasonable to get the cylinder filled only once every 15^th day but the need for the card holder to be in person to collect is pretty much problematic.  

Photo taken from Taxi Parking; nightmare of traffic at day light

 On returning home after the hot conversation and shopping I was caught in another queue…GOSH!!!...this time it was a long line of vehicles stranded in a heavy traffic jam. It took almost 1 hr 2o minutes to disperse. It was the longest waiting on the road. Thankfully it was raining yesterday else the dust from the side of the roads and from the pot holes on the road could have made the waiting even worse. The whistle of the traffic police is the order of the day this winter here. No wonder the latest excuse for arriving late at office or at home could be ‘sorry I was caught in the traffic jam’.

In between Bus Terminal and RICB colony; Evening dose of Traffic Jam 

The rush of the people, honking of cars, streets filled with litters and over flow of septic tank elsewhere is slowly eroding my love for this town……(to be continued….next is the last issue)….

 Somewhere in Phuntsholing Town a narrow street is littered with plastics and papers

In front of Truck Parking; A septic Tank over flows.