Every year in early August there’s a palpable excitement in the air in Bhutan’s capital city, Thimphu. Bhutan Echoes: Drukyul’s Literature and Arts Festival an annual event that has been held for the last 13 years will take place again this year on August 3 through the 5 in the valley of Thimphu, home to a large segment of the country’s population. India has been an essential supporter and true friend of the festival, mainly through the India-Bhutan Foundation.
The festival welcomes visitors from all over the world; guests who have attended the festival in the past love the pure air and lush mountains, the stimulating discussions, and the art that expresses beauty and is suffused in our Buddhist heritage. But most of all, travellers love the Bhutanese people who have been taught kindness and compassion from a young age. “May all beings be free from suffering. May all beings be enlightened,” is a prayer that has been ingrained in our DNA.
Amidst these formidable Himalayan mountains, we, the Bhutanese people, engage in the modern way of life, but also in equal measure engage in the spirit of Buddhism through our own unique cultural practices, an inheritance that has been passed on to us by the founder of our nation, Shabdrung Ngawang Namgyal, and our ancestors. While our inheritance is vital to us, so is evolution. Last December, on National Day, His Majesty The Druk Gyalpo, Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck, in his address to the nation, announced the establishment of an economic hub, a Special Administrative Region(SAR) in Gelephu called the Gelephu Mindfulness City. This city is envisioned as a city with clean energy, with “conscious and sustainable” businesses, and in harmony with our Buddhist heritage.
At this time of significant change and accelerated development for the Bhutanese, our stories and our art become even more important. Her Majesty, the Queen Mother, Gyalyum Ashi Dorji Wangmo Wangchuck the Chief Patron of the festival co-founded the festival exactly for this reason: To provide the space to tell our stories, some old, some new, to capture them, to record them, and to learn from them.
The learning need not happen only within our country. “May our stories echo beyond our borders,” her Majesty said last year.
This year, students from all corners of Bhutan will come to the halls of Royal University of Bhutan, their faces flushed, eyes wide open, paper and pen in hand, ready to soak in ideas and knowledge imparted by authors and thought leaders from Bhutan, India and the rest of the world.
Hopefully the takeaway for the students will be that storytelling is for everyone. That they can and should tell their stories; that every story is important. That in this large kaleidoscope of a world their voice is just as crucial in the tale of our shared human experience.
The sacred is still alive in Bhutan. The trees are thriving, and there is still a thoughtfulness that permeates through our country. This in the end is what we want to preserve and share with the world.
Sonam Wangmo Dukpa is a director of Bhutan’s annual literature event, Drukyul’s Literature and Arts Festival. She has an MFA in Creative Writing from Boston University and an MA in International Development from the University of Denver in Colorado.
