A Song with Purpose

When I was a little boy I would be fascinated when adults came together during the losar and tshechu. They would sing and dance. Some would sing it from their hearts and silence the audience, often making them break into tears. Particularly I loved a song called Shar ley sharwai thri dhung. It wasn’t because I understood what each stanza was trying to tell me, but because it was sung in such a captivating tune, haunting melody. And listening to that song more closely today, I understand my reason for fascination to that song was well founded.

Sun that Rises in the East
--- a Bhutanese folksong

Chorus:
Sung yang sung yang sung yang,
Sung dang le mo drik song
Sung yang omo mani
Sung dang le mo drik song

The sun that rises in the east,
How happy would I be if it does not rise!
Once it rises it is someone else’s sun
How sad and depressing that is!
Chorus

The river that runs down the mountain,
How happy would I be if it does not run down!
Once it flows down, it is someone else’s river
How sad and depressing that is!
Chorus

The dear son of a dear mother,
How happy would I be if I am never born!
Once I am born I am a servant to someone
How sad and depressing that is!
Chorus

Comments

An endemic sense of place

A sense of place is a feeling that makes one feel at home and thereby at peace whenever he or she is in a particular area or think of one. It is the first impression or a deep sense of recognition that is deeply rooted in our memories. It is a feeling of happiness, and a sense of safety, an expression of endearment toward a particula r place (Cross 2001). Before I travelled to Perth for my studies, I used to work in Thimphu, though I was born and raised in a small village called Wamling in central Bhutan. Although Thimphu offers modern facilities and infrastructure, it is only back in the village that I feel entirely at home. It's here I get a sense of peace and experience a sense of belongingness; it's where I can genuinely be myself. In Wamling, our day breaks with a crowing of a rooster and mooing of cows in the distance. Somewhere a horse neighs, and another reciprocates from nearby. A dog howls and chickens chuckle in the coup. A stream gurgles down the hill turning p...

Utpal Academy - Bhutan's first All-girls High School

Academic Block Welcome to Bhutan’s first all-girls school. Isn’t that wonderful news to all our parents? Certainly, as a parent of a one-year old daughter I am excited about the coming of a school exclusively dedicated to the needs of girls. Our girls need special treatment, which we can for sure entrust the responsibility to Utal Academy, Paro. Dinning Hall I really like the name – Utpal – in Buddhist world, Utpal is another name for lotus flower, which is believed to grow from mud and yet blossoms into a beautiful and majestic flower. It stands for purity and many deities are depicted holding flower Utpal, more prominently Jestusn Dolma, the Goddess Tara. Symbolically, it also stands for the transformation of our girls. What an apt name for the school! Hostel Room The Principal’s message posted on the academy’s website promises providing our young women an “opportunity to participate fully in a wide range of extracurricular activities to develop skills and qualities that...

When they are ready

The Ministry of Education discovered 890 'underage' children admitted in schools across the country in 2019. Thus, the ministry in May 2019 issued a notification revoking the admission for these children. Majority were in urban centres. Desperate, parents and the affected schools requested the government to intervene. They also requested the government to consider lowering the enrolment age to five years. Currently, in Bhutan a child can legally go to school only when s(he) is six years old. And that policy was strictly followed a few years ago to the extent that some schools refused to admit children even if they were short of a few weeks. So, parents, mostly in urban areas, resorted to faking their children's ages. Many parents were guilty of adding years onto their children's actual ages. However, most parents, we are told, managed to correct their 'mistakes' later. Faking a child's age was rampant...

Nawang P Phuntsho

Search This Blog