Bhutan hosting its first ever SAARC summit

It has been a hectic week in the capital, with Bhutan hosting its first ever SAARC summit that ended yesterday.

But at the end of it all there is a deep sense of satisfaction with everyone involved that all went well if not perfectly.

This sense is not only shared by those, who were directly involved in some way with the summit, but also by their friends and family members in the capital and beyond, who were equally tense about how it might go.

Such a feeling grew from the fact that a lot of preparation work was still going on or seemed to be going on even at the last minute.

The unusual weather a few days before the summit threatened to rip apart decorative flags hung all over the city.

There were stories about rushed coordination meetings with no agenda, the interiors of recently completed SAARC villas still smelling of fresh paint and volunteers, who would serve and prepare some meals for the dignitaries, doing some last minute crash course.

Thus a sense of uncertainty as the day drew close. And when it came, everyone did the best they could, starting early and staying late into the night, so that visiting dignitaries were comfortable and felt at home.

Still then the summit was not devoid of its awkward moments. There were stories of hungry angry grumbling journalists, who were ushered into the summit hall hours in advance, but there was nothing to eat once inside.

There were also rumours about how the lights went off in one villa, and the water running out for some time in another and about a canine getting to one delegate. All these incidents unfortunately are true.

But the overall ambience of the summit prevailed, which was one of friendship, harmony and cooperation. The summit in itself went the way it has always been. The leaders gave their speeches and certain declarations were adopted, but a shared sense of destiny for the region did seem to emerge at the end of it.

The summit proceedings broadcast live on national television was watched with interest all across the country, like people normally do when watching an international soccer match.

Today Bhutanese know more about SAARC than they ever did and children can identify the flags of SAARC nations as well as their leaders.

And the country’s organisational capacity to host such summits has been through the litmus test. If it came through, it is because everyone, despite differences, came together as a team.

Now it is time to get back to serving the people and addressing issues, like alleviating poverty, one of SAARC’s founding goals.

Source: Kuenselonline

Lam Tshering, coffee with Indira Gandhi

As you drive by Paro airport’s runway, you might have passed by Lam Tshering tilling his paddy fields.

Nothing about the 59-year old sunburned farmer strikes one as exceptional. But ask him a little about his past – and it’s a bagful of surprises, including an incident involving having coffee with Indira Gandhi.

In 1969, Indira Gandhi hosted a gathering, says Lam Tshering, and he was on the guest list. How did he get to coffee with Indira Gandhi?

When Lam Tshering was 18, he was picked by the government, along with ten other boys from his village in Paro, to become mask dancers. These mask dancers eventually went on to journey around the world exhibiting Bhutanese culture in the ‘70s and ‘80s.

By the end of his dancing career, Lam Tshering had travelled to 17 countries, including Iran, at a time when only very few Bhutanese had the privilege to step outside the borders of Bhutan.

“It was a very hot place,” he says in Dzongkha on his visit to the middle eastern country. “And it was even hotter, because the only clothes we had were bura ghos.”

Today, Lam Tshering, who never had a formal education, is able to converse only in Dzongkha. On how he communicated with people, “We usually just smiled and looked at each other’s faces,” he says with a laugh.

He narrates an incident in Iran, where an Iranian came up to him and asked him what he was eating. “I had taken along some thingay (Chinese pepper) in my hemchu (gho pocket) for my gastric, which I would pop into my mouth occasionally,” he said. The Iranian man asked him for some. Lam Tshering pulled out a fistful of thingay to show the man. But to his astonishment, the man scooped the fistful into a palm and before he could stop him, gulped the thingay.

“I didn’t know how to tell him not to eat it, and that night I couldn’t sleep because I kept thinking that I’d killed him.” The Iranian man had become silent after eating the thingay and run out the room.

“Japan and Australia were the cleanest countries I’ve visited,” says Lam Tshering. “But Delhi was my favourite because I could speak some Hindi.”

Back to his coffee incident, he says that he was surprised that he was only offered plain coffee. “We waited and waited for the milk and sugar, because coffee or tea without milk and sugar in Bhutan was considered a poor man’s brew.” He explains that they were baffled they were being offered such a poor man’s drink, when the prime minister had just told us that she was honoured to have them at her residence as her first Bhutanese guests.

After a long wait, they realised they would not be getting any milk and sugar and, not to offend their hosts, gulped down their cold black coffees. “Only later did I realise there was something called black coffee,” he says with a snicker.

Would he want to travel like he once did? Lam Tshering says he is satisfied, especially that, as a poor uneducated villager from Paro, he was able to travel the world free of cost. “Today I’m too busy with my family and farm,” he says.

Source: Kuenselonline

Bangladesh community in Thimphu and Bhutanese dignitaries celebrated the 39th anniversary of the Independence and National Day of Bangladesh

The small Bangladesh community in Thimphu, joined by Bhutanese dignitaries, yesterday celebrated the 39th anniversary of the Independence and National Day of Bangladesh at the embassy ground.

The Bangladesh ambassador to Bhutan, Mujibur Rahman Bhuiyan, said that the day will always remain special to the people of Bangladesh, as it marked the beginning of independence of Bangladesh after nine-month long armed struggle with Pakistani forces and immense sacrifices of lives of Bangladeshi people and finally achieving the independence on March 26,1971.

“This day also marked the beginning of a new nation, where the people had the freedom and right to self determination and it was the dream of the Father of the Nation, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, to build Bangladesh into a happy and prosperous country in a democratic environment,” he said.

“Bhutan is an old and close friend of Bangladesh and among the first nations to recognise Bangladesh as an independent country. This is important because Bhutan helped us when we needed the most, and that’s why Bhutan will always have a special place in the hearts of all the people of Bangladesh.”

In her message to the nation, Sheikh Hasina paid tribute to the three million heroes, who sacrificed their lives, and 200,000 women, who lost their innocence in the war of liberation. “I recall with deep gratitude the leader of our liberation struggle, the greatest Bangalee of all time, the Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman,” said the prime minister in her message.

“Our government has been striving hard to establish Bangladesh as a poverty-, hunger- and illiteracy-free digital Bangladesh by 2021, the golden jubilee year of our independence. For the success of the noble endeavour, I call upon all people wherever they may be to join us with their utmost sincerity, honesty and dedication.”

The foreign secretary, Daw Penjo, home secretary Dasho Penden Wangchuk and the chief of protocol, Singye Dorjee were present at the celebration.

Source: Kuenselonline

Paro Festival: Most popular festival in Bhutan

Under a warm spring sun, and dressed in their finest ghos and kiras, Parops, pilgrims, and an almost equal number of tourists, celebrated the first day of Paro tsechu, Nangcham, witnessing sacred dances performed in the cobble-stoned courtyard of the Rinpung dzong.

Events inside Rinpung dzong commenced with monks performing Shingje Yab Yum, the dance of the lord of death (Shingje) and his consort.

This was followed by Durdag, the dance of the lords of the cremation grounds, Shanag, dance of the black hats, Drametse Ngacham, dance of the drum from Drametse, De Gye Mang cham, dance of the eight kinds of spirits, and finally Chhoeshey, a religious song.

Intermingled within these sacred dances, were also zhungdra and boedra dances performed by the dzongkhag’s dancers.

Kuensel spoke to a few tourists, who witnessed the festival. All of them pointed out that the festival was uniquely different from similar festivals in other countries, in that it was not staged for tourists, but conducted for the local people.

“It wasn’t for travellers but for the people,” said Peter Hollingworth, a doctor from England, who witnessed the celebrations for the first time. “It was very natural, genuine.”

“People joked, laughed and interacted, it brought people together and it was very beautiful,” said Australian Peter Davissen, an electrician.

“You could feel the joy and fun, the happiness, and the peaceful atmosphere of the community,” said Christian Gruber, a German IT project manager with Shell.

“I feel privileged to have been able to attend such a magnificent festival,” said Felipe Chirinos from Peru. Paro tsechu continues for another four days.

Source: Kuenselonline

is Majesty the King graced the final day of the Talo Tsechu in Punakha, Bhutan

His Majesty the King graced the final day of the Talo Tsechu in Punakha this morning. His Majesty joined thousands of people from in and around Punakha and neighbouring Dzongkhags. His Majesty also granted audience to the Kidu beneficiaries.

The three-day Tsechu ended with the unfurling of Zhabdrung Phunsum Tshogpai Thongdrel.

His Majesty witnessed the mask dances and offered prayers and butter lamps.

His Majesty the King also interacted with the people who had gathered to witness the Tsechu.

Source: BBS