The First Opportunity
It was a beautiful day in the Spring of 1974, when a large number of people from my village walked down to the town of Samtse. From among my siblings, my father picked me for this opportune trip, as he probably thought that at the age of little over eleven I was now reasonably ready to walk that distance bare feet! The first day was only about four hours and ended in a comfortable stay in the house of a distant relative in the next village across Amochhu. The second day was tedious but exciting as the journey mostly descended down the foothills with occasional view of strange yet a mesmerizing great Indian Plain. Crossing several mountains, gorges and streams, we negotiated the meandering Dhamdhum River at least two dozen times and finally landed at the bank of the same river for the night, just about an hour short of Samtse town. All the excitement of sighting a motor vehicle, electricity and the concrete houses and above all the eagerness of seeing the young King of Bhutan had to be given rest on the hard open ground.
Next morning, some of us younger lots were taken to the nearby stream by our guardians to rub the grease off our feet and hands. Others stayed back and cooked the meals. Before noon, we had our brunch and headed towards the town. I was excited, frightened and nervous all at the same time at the first spectacle of the modern amenities. The roaring trucks, colourful shops with goods hanging in the front, the ‘pan’ shop with loud music and above all so many people at one place was simply incredible. I was given the first ‘modern’ haircut by a smart looking man (I knew some years later that he was a professional barber). After some acclimatization in the town environment, the night was spent in the nearby Shivalaya temple - thanks to the priest who happened to be our relative.
Following morning, I saw tens of vehicles driving uphill to the place where the young Crown Prince, actually the King-designate, would meet the people from the district. By 8.00 AM we were all asked to move to the wide field with so many people gathered and seated in long rows. Fortunately, all the people from a village were seated close to each other and of course, my father was next to me. Suddenly there was this very loud voice catching everyone’s attention and my father gently told me, pointing to a weird object, that the sound was from a ‘mike’. The sound that infiltrated the heart, at first I thought was the King’s voice. Soon I realized that it was actually the announcement about seating to be segregated into rich and poor! The village headman put me in the poor’s group and my father on the rich side! Now I think this was justified as my father had some kind of footwear on and I had none! Not knowing this why at that time, I was worried of getting lost in the crowd. But my father asked an adult from my village, another ‘poor’ to take care of me.
Soon there was a silence followed by beautiful music of drum and something melodious (this now I realized was the Jaling, a musical instrument played by monks to mark the arrival of high dignitaries). As the sound drew closer, the crowd got more impatient and noisy. I heard they say that the King was arriving. I could not see anything, but my heart beat started to mount. After some silence, an extra-ordinary voice was heard through the loud speaker once again. ‘He is our new King’, my caretaker and neighbour said. People listened in complete silence. I did not understand a word but this extra-ordinary voice penetrated into my heart, increased my palpation and eventually generated a natural and deep feeling of reverence towards the benefactor and it brought much joy and contentment as the long speech ended.
With the speech of the King concluded, there was the cheer of ‘Pelden Drukpa Gyelo’ and some familiar play of local music by the people from various villages around who had gathered to greet the King. Very soon the village heads, the policemen and others started reorganizing the lines, keeping everyone in order and in silence. The young King appeared at some distance away in his beautiful Gho and in knee- deep black boots. He slowly walked through every row greeting and smiling at people. People sat on the ground completely calm with their head bowed down in respect but at the same time eager to see him as soon as he passed them. I waited for quite some time till he arrived closer to the rows of ‘poor people’. My heart started beating again as the King and all the people around him entered the line that I was seated in. I saw some packets of gifts being given to the people by the King. When my turn came I laid out my two palms and received a beautiful piece of cloth from the hands of my King.
As I held the packet firmly, I also kept looking at the direction the King moved on as he continued giving away the gifts and finally disappeared into the crowd. After some time we were told that the King had left and we could also leave. By then my father was there near me to escort me to our host’s place. In the afternoon a bunch of us, the village folk, took a ride on the back of a huge truck, loaded with some boulders, for a trip to nearby Indian town of Chamurchi for some shopping. What a memorable first vehicle ride of my life that was!
I can’t clearly remember the return journey home. But I know I had a brand new shirt on me (the invaluable gift from the King), a brand new pair of footwear on my feet and a lot of exciting stories to tell my mother and the rest of my siblings and the school mates back home.
The Second Fortune
Perhaps it was in the mid-summer of 1980, when I was a student of 9th grade at the then Samchi Central School, a news was broken by my esteemed Principal Mr GB Kurup that five of us from the class were chosen to participate in a cultural tour of Thimphu under the auspices of the then National Council for Social and Cultural Promotion (NCSCP). We were quickly brought together and made to practice some dances with the famous dance teacher, Mr Tika Gurung. Just in about a week time we were escorted by Lopen Thiney Gyamtsho to Phuntsholing where we were welcomed by a young ‘Trainee Officer’ Mr Kinley Dorji of NCSCP. We also met other ten students from Sarpang and Gelephu schools. Next morning I had my maiden journey to the capital by the Bhutan Government Transport Service (BGTS) bus through the beautiful and often very precarious and narrow road. It took us nearly 10 hours to reach Motithang High School where the arrangements for our stay was made. The one week program was very tight with visits to important landmarks in Thimphu including Tashichho Dzong and the Memorial Chhorten, as well as several places in Paro including the National Museum and Rinpung Dzong. I remember having a shock of my life witnessing a ‘disco’ night at an entertainment club in Paro.
Amidst our very exciting visits, on the last but one day a news was broken by the Director of NCSCP, Dasho Meghraj Gurung that completely exhilarated all of us. His Majesty had granted an audience to the group.
It was mid-day and we were waiting outside Tashichho Dzong when someone from below a big stone wall came up and said a word to Dasho. He signaled at us to follow him. We found it hard catching up Dasho and only later our Lopen explained that a royal call necessitates such a retort. We were taken into a very humble resting place of His Majesty where he was already seated. He indicated us to sit around. We were tensed but His soft and kind words quickly eased the atmosphere. This time I could understand every word that His Majesty spoke. He spoke about the nation building, the role of youth, importance of Bhutanese identity, international relations, and many more things of importance to Bhutan and the Bhutanese. Irrespective of our young age, His Majesty chose to speak out His mind with great degree of seriousness. That unprecedented audience with His Majesty in the very humble cottage is vivid to me even to this day. When I think of that moment, I feel that the Fourth Druk Gyelpo Jigme Singye Wangchuck was such a great visionary and so very affectionate and concerned about His people and the nation.
With these two fond memories of my life at the backdrop, on the occasion of His Majesty’s Sixtieth Birth Anniversary today, 11th November, I join the festive nation in commemoration.
