The Bhutanese love their king. Every home I have entered, every ward in the hospital, every hotel lobby has a picture of the king, and it is very much justified for K4 and K5, as they are fondly called. King 4 took the throne in 1972 and immediately started the process of modernizing Bhutan, building infrastructure and cautiously opening this very much closed society and kingdom to other parts of the world. In 2008, he abdicated with the express purpose of giving up his absolute power in favor of a constitutional monarchy. Since 2008, there has been creation of an opposition, houses of parliament, an executive branch, and a judiciary. Fair and free elections have been held as well. King 5, who took over the throne at a very young age, has continued his father's actions and wholeheartedly supported the reforms. He mingles freely among the people and encourages contact. The kings also take their responsibilities of leadership and personal risk very seriously. In 2003, the Bhutanese Army attacked and drove out Assamese rebels that were launching attacks on India. King 4 was out in front, literally, leading his troops. I can't see Dubyah or Obama doing that. Equally interesting, the government built a whole series of religious monuments after 2003 to atone for the deaths caused by the three day war. This is an amazing place...
Despite all this reform, National Day is a day of pomp, circumstance, and festivity. The anesthesiologist that I have been working with for the last couple of weeks invited me to the official National Day festivities, and I was invited to one of the VIP tents. I was incredibly fortunate and sat in the front row.
We arrived on time (this is uncharacteristic for Bhutan. The Bhutanese themselves joke about it. BST stands for Bhutanese Stretchable Time.) and saw some of the marchers getting ready:
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| Elaborate, hand-made, boots are part of the male costume |
We then took our seats and saw the royal guard and the marching band come in:
The royal procession was next. This was a series marchers followed by a riderless horse (I'm not sure of the symbolism of this. I don't think it is the same as the U.S., where it indicates someone's death, but I could be off on this.) and then a series of marchers in various historical costumes:
When the king himself actually started moving, a band of monks started playing religious music:
The king gave a 15-20 minute speech and then presented medals for meritorious service to the country. Only one medal was given to a member of the military. The rest were for civil accomplishments.
I was able to see the king easily, and was able to take at least one very good picture from a distance.
The honor guard cleared the field, and I got an unobstructed view of some of the costumed participants across the field:
There was folk dancing for about an hour, and while that was going on, the King visited both the VIP and "general admission" areas of the stadium. While doing this, he addressed me personally and asked after my well being. Somewhat shocked and overwhelmed, I thanked His Majesty for his interest and told him I was doing well. Photographs were not permitted. After that, several more members of the royal family, included a couple of his sisters, came by and again one spoke to me and asked me where I came from. This is a gracious, physically handsome family, and I genuinely feel honored to have had this brief contact with them. The visits were televised on Bhutanese TV, and one of the nurses said that I was visible, "the foreigner" that the king spoke with. I'm not sure I believe it, but it's fun to hope so.
I wanted to post a video clip, but the connection is too slow or funky. I'll add that when I come home.
10 January-- I have added a short clip of some dancing below.
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| Accompanists |
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| The Thunder Dragon |
Bhutanese Folk Dancing, all 23 seconds of it.
After the festivities, my anesthesiologist friend spontaneously took me home and fed me lunch. These are an incredibly warm, hospitable people. I am lucky to spend a month here.Next: Medicine redux: doing a lot with a little, or what I have learned from my Bhutanese colleagues.
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