Anything, be it an item of high monetary value or a tiny or simple article, can be a treasure in one’s life. Especially if it is of an important historical background, religious significance or beliefs, unique in some other way. It is owner will never part with it under any conditions. For instance, an old monk if asked why he never changes his century-old prayer wheel for a new one will reply thus: “I am a monk by virtue of heredity and this prayer-wheel was given to me by my father who had received if from my grandfather. This is the only treasure in my life which I will never dispose of for anything.”,

Likewise, I too have an item which I value very much. It is an old ghophor (Bhutanese cup). It is, as per my estimate, more than eight decades old. I can faintly recall that it was presented to me by my grandfather a couple of days before he breathed his last. I was only sixteen. Although very old and simple, made up of mere wood, I preserve it because it is the only gift that my grandfather, who loved me dearly, could pass on to me from his sick bed which became his deathbed after two days.

I almost always keep my Ghophor hidden from others. I take it out and use it only on special occasions and imagine that I am sharing tea with my grandfather. I had once taken it to Tashichhdzong on a Tshechy when a group of tourists wanted to buy it. They said they had found my cup to be a unique Bhutanese article, among all that they had seen in Thimphu, and one even offered me a hundred dollars for it.

But the thought of parting with it pained me so much that I immediately put it in my bag, ran back home and hid it