Bhutan Articles
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]
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]
Bhutan: Philatelists’ Paradise
Learning about a country through stamps sounds odd but it is true for Bhutan. From a variety of thematic stamps issued by Bhutan Post one can piece together the history of Bhutan. Perhaps this is the only country in the world about which we can learn from its postal stamps. Stamps ... [more]
Bhutan – home to multi-hued butterflies
Bhutan has about 800 to 900 species of butterflies, a huge number for a small country. An incredible range of climatic zones from sub-tropical in the south to alpine in the north provides a vast array of habitats. Some species are rare and internationally protected. A group of farmers, on their ... [more]
Arrows and Sorrows
Penjo and Tawchu were great friends. Their bond was further strengthened by their being on the same archery team. But they drifted apart. No one except them knew why. The crescent moon drifted slowly on the vast expanse of the sky. The calm of the night was frequently interrupted by the ... [more]