~ By Karma Singye Dorji
I HAD JUST SPENT A PEACEFUL AFTERNOON watching the world from the sunny ramparts of the gold-roofed temple we call the Knoll of Weeping Willows.
Far below the temple, skirting the edge of the winding Thimphu River, rows of brand new buildings seemed to have sprouted overnight, an indication of the capital's growing prosperity. Behind me, the timeworn flagstone yard of the temple was suffused in the fiery glow of a late November afternoon. An iridescent rooster strutted by, showing plumage. Flames from the temple's eternal butterlamps danced before a myriad Buddhas, fed by a steady outpouring of offerings from devotees who trudged up the hill and did their prostratrations, heads touching the ground of humility. One by one they filed past, replenishing the lamps before making their way down the hill, dreamlike in their progress.
In other words, an ordinary ritual in a deeply spiritual land.
The surprise came later, in the evening, in a dim, cavernous hall in town. Here, in stark contrast to my peaceful afternoon,the music system thumped an insistent modern beat. Trendy young men and women in trousers, miniskirts, jackets and tank-tops sashayed and strutted down the ramp, showing a different kind of plumage.
I instantly regretted being there. “You should go,” the childhood acquaintance who thrust a free ticket at me had said. “It'll be interesting for you.” Now I wondered what she'd been thinking as I felt disoriented, as if a familiar landmark had suddenly disappeared from my horizon, followed by the urge to flee the building. However, a while later when I was able to take in the proceedings without judgment, I realized that everything the models wore were really cut from traditional cloth. The jackets showed off the lovely maroons and blacks of yathra weaving from the central Chumey valley. The fabric for the skirts was the checks and plaids of woolen mathras handwoven in western Bhutan. And that trailing evening dress on the striking young woman reflecting the studio's artificial lights was an elaborate seshey silk from valleys further east. Still others wore the multi-hued, geometric Kushuthara patterns set against a traditional white background, trademarks of the master weavers of northeastern Kurtoe.
“There's nothing wrong with creating innovative designs using traditional materials,” a designer for the aptly named fashion group, Mawongpa (the Future), told me afterwards. “This makes our textiles more relevant for modern customers.” As if explaining matters to a child, she said: “If our textiles stay relevant, it ensures a better income for our weavers, maintaining an important Bhutanese tradition. What could be so bad about that?”
On the national stage, a similar need to keep pace with modernity without straying from traditional roots resulted in this year's peaceful transition from the world's most popular monarchy to a new form of parliamentary democracy. Earlier, as the campaigns of the two parties contesting the elections, the Druk Phunsum Tshogpa (DPT) and the People's Democratic Party (PDP), began heating up, I had the same vague stirrings of unease I felt on the night of the “fashion” show.
However, the surprising and clearly unanimous electoral sweep by DPT in March 2008 again allayed most of my fears (DPT won 44 out of 47 seats with an 80 percent voter turnout).
It appears that, in this area of change as well, the Bhutanese people favor the middle ground, choosing a party whose leaders have been seasoned in the enlightened government of His Majesty the Fourth King, Jigme Singye Wangchuck. In hindsight, it's not that surprising that the newly elected government is headed by the widely renowned former diplomat and intellectual, Jigmi Y. Thinley, a close advisor to the fourth king, and the one person who has worked most diligently with His Majesty to hone the hallmark of our king's legacy: Gross National Happiness.
That's why, despite any minor misgivings, I'm personally heartened by these and other instances that prove that even in these days of transition the Bhutanese people continue to tread without losing sight of traditional values.
"We remember that, as we reflect on our 16-day democracy, we have a 2000-year-old history to draw from," said the recent editorial in Bhutan's national newspaper, Kuensel.
I, for one, am reassured by the fact that the faithful still wind their way to the Knoll of Weeping Willows where all our saints and teachers continue to bless our worldly endeavors with their cosmic smiles.
That, and the presence of a Bhutanese weaver's handiwork in a slinky dress that may one day make a fashion statement in the West!
