Bumthang youth go for video games

28 March 2009

During the day, Kinzang Tshering’s video game parlour in Chamkhar town in Bumthang is empty and deserted. After 4 pm though, it is pulsating with life. School children aged between 12 and 25 years and a few young monks throng the place until 8.30 pm.

The four PlayStation sets excite the children into a cacophony of yelps and whoops.

Kinzang Tshering said, “I haven’t received any complaint from parents. I think it makes children smarter in a technology-driven world.”

Every customer spends Nu 60 per hour but they end up spending much more. During holidays, the video game parlour seems to be the only entertainment centre in the town.

Parents hold reservations about their children spending time playing video games but think that, in the absence of any other alternative entertainment, video games are the only option.

Yeshey Chophel, 15, a class X student of Jakar Higher Secondary School, said, “The popular game is football and downhill cycling.”

“I don’t come here often though I want to because I don’t have enough money. However, I make money by collecting and selling iron scraps to come here,” said Tashi Chodup, 14, from Gangrithang Lower Secondary School.

There are some children who simply come in and watch others play the games because they cannot afford to play. Tashi Norbu, eight, a class III student, is one of them. He said, “I come to watch older children play every day so that I learn the tricks to challenge and defeat the opponent.”

According to Kinzang Tshering, the parlour makes profit only during winter when the students are on vacation. But the business is hampered by frequent power fluctuations.

With the start of schools, the profit falls from Nu 800 a day to less than Nu 500 a day. Kinzang said that the profit was merely enough to meet the expenses for CDs, lenses and remote control gadgets that need frequent replacement.

Except for a football field on the outskirts of the town, Chamkhar has no recreational facilities.

There are two video game parlours in the town one of which is almost defunct.

BY ESHORI GURUNG

Ratings: 1 Star