LET’S MARK DRUKGYAL ZHIPA’S BIRTHDAY WITH A PLEDGE TO FULFILL HIS VISION

Today, we are in the midst of nationwide celebration to mark the auspicious birthday of our beloved and great king Jigme Singye Wangchuck. This year’s celebration is different from those of the past years as His Majesty completes a 60 year cycle in the Bhutanese calendar called Rabjung. The celebrations have begun in earnest across the country and it is heartening to see whole-hearted dedications being exhibited by people including those in the villages led by gewog officials.

Despite various programme currently underway including those that concluded days prior to November 11 to commemorate and pay our respect to His Majesty, nothing would suffice in our expression of gratitude to our beloved Drukgyal Zhipa.

Even as we celebrate his birthday with so much fervor recollecting all the great and extraordinary deeds in the past 30 years of his reign everything we do today in the name of expressing our gratitude, will fall short of how indebted we all are to everything he has done for nation’s well being. In fact, at times we Bhutanese have failed miserably to live up to the expectations of His Majesty. We must feel so lucky to have had been ruled by a selfless king like him but hang our head in shame for failing him when he needed our support the most.

It is heartbreaking today to watch clips of his speech on how when as a last resort, he had to mobilize military options to flush out foreign militants, just a handful of people, that too mostly farmers came forward to serve the country. The footage that we get to watch today makes us realize how he had to shoulder the most difficult task forsaking his own safety along with few hundred regular servicemen and he is right when he said, “If you don’t come forward and serve your nation when in need, when are you going to do that. It is a matter of utmost shame for all able bodied citizens of the country who spoke loudly of patriotism but failed when it is most needed.”

He rightly said that those few volunteers who came forward to the call of the nation are the true sons of Palden Drukpa. I can only agree that these volunteers, where they may be living today, are the true sons of Bhutan. Let’s not forget them too.

Another profound legacy of Drukgyal Zhipa is conservation of our environment. It is amazing on how he became the architect of putting environment at the centre of our development. He is truly a champion of the earth and it was befitting that he was the recipient of numerous prestigious international awards for his lifelong service to environment conservation. Today, despite our claims of enormous success in environmental conservation, it is alarming to see proliferation of mines and quarries which benefit just a few at the larger cost of the nation. We need to re-evaluate our actions and follow the lead of His Majesty in this front if we really care of His Majesty’s vision and aspirations.

I think we all need to reevaluate our priorities and actions, come to our senses and live and work to fulfill the aspirations and lead provided by His Majesty Drukgyal Zhipa for over three decades. We failed him in 2003, let’s not fail him in this more subtle but profound and enlightened vision of a happy country. Let’s celebrate his birthday the way we always do but, more than the celebration with various programme, I am sure His Majesty would be more pleased if we all work together to fulfill his aspirations and dreams for the well being of our country.

May His Majesty live forever and be a continuous source of inspiration for us all and radiate his wisdom like the rays of the sun that leaves no place in darkness.

Tashi Delek and Happy Reading.

Gyembo Namgyal

November 10, 2015

A WEEK OF FESTIVITIES

It was a week of festivities in Bhutan with at least two major reasons for the nation to celebrate. First it was the Lunar New Year of the wood sheep called Losar. Not just in Bhutan, the day is celebrated by Buddhist the world over.

In Bhutan, this is the time of feastings and festivities too. People prepare days before every Losar for feasting and celebration. And these include buying meat in advance and loads of meat too, to see off a month long meat ban during the auspicious first lunar month. Families also converge together and traditional games of archery, khuru and degor are also prearranged between different groups.

Despite the festive occasion, I can certainly say that the enthusiasm for the festivials like Losar have gone down compared to the past decades in urban centres. But, out in the villages, people still celebrate with enthusiasm. For the third day, I can hear the celebratory shouts of archery, khuru or degor matches going on somewhere within the hearing distance.

In parts of the villages people in groups are said to be rotating each day between homes sharing the best of local brew warmed in butter and eggs.

The third day of the sheep year coincided with another important event in the country, the birth anniversary of His Majesty, the King. His Majesty turns 35 today and the entire nation not only rejoices his birthday but wishes him good health and fulfillment of his aspirations for the country.

This year, on behalf of the people, the Prime Minister made five pledges as offerings to His Majesty, the King and His Majesty the Fourth Druk Gyalpo. In his traditional state of nation speech, the Prime Minister underlined the following five pledges:

-          A pledge to work hard by all civil servants and build a stronger and stable Bhutan.

-          A pledge to root out corruption and strengthen institutions that play as deterrent to corruptions like the national Anti Corruption Commission, the royal audit authority, the office of attorney general and judiciary. This was significant, given that the foreign minister flanking the prime minister was facing corruption charges.

-          A pledge for all the school children to read at least a book each month in pursuit of national aspiration of knowledge based society and also as a part of dedication to His Majesty, the Fourth Druk Gyalpo’s 60^th birth anniversary, dedicated as the national reading year.

-          A pledge for each teacher to adopt a child from disadvantaged families and support the child for a year and come out with a report by the end. Something like a social responsibilities for thousands of teachers.

-          A pledge to restore thousands of hollowed and derelict choetens in the country in a year. Despite the need to restore these choetens, it would be important to do it in a way that does not attract another spate of vandalism. I don’t know why, but I still have some reservations on whether this will be worth after all.

There are two more days of the five days holidays for civil servants and office goers.  For farmers, preparations are on to begin tilling land for maize plantations in lower altitudes. For them, after two important festivities, life quickly reverts back to normal chores.

Gyembo Namgyal

February 21, 2015

11.58 PM