February, 2008
Information Technology in Bhutan
Every morning Laxmi Subba logs on to E-groups, a free Internet mailing group service, to check the status of Cyber-Bhutan, Bhutan's first electronic mailing list. So far nearly 60 computer specialists in Bhutan have subscribed to the group; they will use the forum to exchange views, get answers to technical ... [more]
Hitting the bull’s eye in Bhutanese style
He was dressed in traditional Bhutanese robes; a checked tunic neatly held together with a waistband and spotless Nike sneakers with long white socks that stopped just short of his knees. The hint of grey in the crisp moustache on his otherwise clean shaven face added a touch of dignity ... [more]
Hand-made paper survives technical onslaught
Bhutanese paper makers of today trace their ancestry to the artisans in Buddhist monasteries, where monks and lamas made paper for religious woodblock manuscripts and elaborately painted thangkas. One can see such manuscripts in the National Library, Thimphu. Before the introduction of paper, hundreds perhaps thousands of years ago, animal ... [more]
Gyembo’s Marriage – A true story
Gyembo was returning to the college after a short summer break. Travelling on the same bus was a girl. His base desire, not her beauty, made him squeeze his courage to speak but he couldn't. He kept waiting for the right moment to speak a word or two, which was ... [more]
Garba Lung Gi Khorlo and the Demoness of Nyala
We are told that the Tongsa penlops or the governors of Tongsa were more or less able to maintain effective control over Tongsa and the surrounding regions even while the other governors were engaged in continuous power struggles among themselves for supremacy. Thus, the post of Tongsa penlop was not ... [more]
Fate or Feat?
"Karma, I want you to study hard and be the master of my dreams, not yours. There's lot to be learnt but you only learn when your heart gets burnt." That was Dophu's only piece of advice when his son Karma left for the UK. "I'm not great like you guys. I'm ... [more]
Dzong Scape
I saw in the dzong more than a gigantic structure. In the dzong, I saw the very image of the Bhutanese mind. It forged the outer mandala. It housed the inner mandala. It bore them both. Of the many physical symbols which give to Druk Yul her distinctive identity and personality, ... [more]
Dreams are what we make them
We are the music-makers, We are the dreamers of dreams - Arthur O' Shaugnessy November 1978. It was a bright, sunny afternoon. The wind rustled through the bare branches of the willows as it raked up a thin mist of dust across the Changlingmethang. For a group of us from Darjeeling and Kalimpong ... [more]
Demons and Demonesses
It is said that Buddha Drukpa Kinlay, one of Tibet's foremost saints and an enlightened Master of Tantrism, came to Bhutan and traveled widely, successfully subjugating various demons and demonesses in Bhutan. We are told that the saint did not go beyond Pele La, which is the pass in the ... [more]
Cheri Gompa – The abode of divinity
The road followed the contours of the landscape; twisting over mountains draped in rich green vegetation. A silvery blue river tumbled through the valley to out right. For miles, we had not passed a living soul when suddenly I spotted a speck of orange - on the tarmac in front ... [more]