𝑇ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑠𝑖𝑚𝑝𝑙𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑠 𝑖𝑛 𝑙𝑖𝑓𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑚𝑎𝑘𝑒 𝑙𝑖𝑓𝑒 𝑐𝑜𝑙𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑓𝑢𝑙

Som Lhachi, 29, is literally doing it – selling colourful balloons, mostly with printed cartoon movie characters along the national referral hospital. The balloons are different that can fly away amusing children – if not held tight.

It is not a lucrative business, but Som Lhachi taking on the business gels well with her life. Today her routine is different from her village.

Donning her favorite cap in the cold winter, a black leather bag hung on her shoulder, and earphones plugged into her ears, Som Lhachi is visible from afar by her balloons. Each balloon costs around Nu 100 – 150.

She gets up at 7 am and gets the balloons from her owner. By 9.30 am with about 20-30 balloons, she hits the road. She had been selling the balloon for the last 1 year.

On a good day, she makes around Nu 3,000-4,000. A virtuous day is when she returns empty-handed, selling all the balloons.

An uneducated woman from Kungkha, Phuntsholing, Som Lhachi stays with her friends (Combine) in Changzamtok. Her story is not as colourful as the balloons she sells. “I was looking for a job but nobody was willing to give me one. At that time, my owner had a balloon business. It was him who called me and asked me to sell balloons,” she said.

“I get around Nu 10,000 per month,” she said, referring to selling the balloons. She thanked the owner for helping her. With this payment, she shared that she pays Nu 3,000 as house rent, and with Nu 7,000 she manages for a month.

She is doing well for herself but none of this came easy. “Sometimes, I send money to my mother in the village. And sometimes it is hard for me to manage,” she said.

𝐒𝐨𝐦 𝐋𝐡𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐢 𝐬𝐚𝐢𝐝 𝐛𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐮𝐧𝐞𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝, 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐢𝐝𝐧’𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐯𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐫 𝐚𝐢𝐦 𝐢𝐧 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐡𝐮. “𝐈𝐭’𝐬 𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐚 𝐣𝐨𝐛 𝐢𝐧 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐡𝐮,” 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐢𝐝, 𝐚𝐝𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠, “𝐈 𝐜𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐡𝐮 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐨𝐩𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐩 𝐦𝐲 𝐟𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐲 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐯𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐠𝐞”.

Speaking to MyBiz, she shared that when she reached Thimphu, she started thinking “for the first time in my life being uneducated but I am lucky that the owner of the balloon business called me for this job.”

“I don’t have savings but I am optimistic that I am doing a job with dedication,” she said. She said selling the balloon daily is challenging, as she has to keep moving to go from place to place.

However, life for Som Lhachi, A Balloon Woman, is a colorful array of emotions, especially when children flock to her at the sight of hundreds of brightly colored helium balloons billowing by her in the air.

𝐁𝐲 𝐌𝐲𝐁𝐢𝐳 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐖𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐫, 𝐒𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐦 𝐋𝐡𝐚𝐦𝐨