Hanging out! So Be it.

April 5, 2009: Tshering Choden and her friends head home after school. In about an hour they decide to meet at the Nazhoen Pelri.
She perfectly folds her Yangchenphug Higher Secondary school uniform, changes into a pair of jeans and sweat shirt and a skeleton print shoes and rushes to meet her friends.Not very far away, Sangay Dorji walks out of the Mothithang Higher Secondary School.
After a long day at school he has plans for a basketball game with his friends at the court in the Nazhoen Pelri.
With a backpack on his back, he starts to slowly jog. He looks at the time and shakes his head, as if to say, “I can’t be late, I have to be at the court.”The Nazhoen Pelri has become a second home for most youth today.
Be it for a basketball game or just hang out at the center with friends, the Nazhoen Pelri has been hitting the popularity chart amongst the youth.
A perfect place with the perfect facilities, the center has become the place to be at after school.
Gone are the days when the youth hung out at each other’s place as most youth today are not the hang-out-at-home kind.
Tshering Choden rushes to meet her friends, late by almost ten minutes. On the way she meets several other students from other schools in Thimphu. “We get to meet new friends,” she said.
What exactly are the youth doing at the center? Simple, they’re hanging out. Ask any youth what they’re doing with their friends in general; they’ll most likely shrug their shoulders and respond nonchalantly “just hanging out.”
But the center is not just a place where the youth are wasting time hanging out with friends as most adults often perceive hanging out to be; it is a place where youth get socialized into peer groups doing something productive.
The Nazhoen Pelri offers a wide range of facilities as recreational activities for students.The center has a ‘Kids’ Cozy Nook’ where young children can read books, play board games and learn art works including Japanese art.A tutorial room where students get tutored by volunteers on various subjects makes the center all the more inviting.
The Deer Park, a place for Dharma teaching, has made the center popular amongst both young and old.
As a center which offers various places for sports, the Nazhoen Pelri has a badminton court, two basketball courts, squash, tennis and a gym with steam facilities. The center also has a mini mart and a good cafeteria.
Either over a game of basketball or just hanging out catching up with friends and making new friends, Nazhoen Pelri is a second home to many youth in Thimphu today.“Hanging out amongst friends allows youth to build relationships and stay connected, this center is the best place to be,” said a student.
A parent of two teenagers said teens hanging out in towns are perceived as a potential problem. “No one has come up with a perfect solution to get teens to “hang out” in safer places, this center is the best for the youth,” she said.