BHUTAN, THE LAND OF SERENITY – 4

THE BHUTANESE FOOD

I was walking through the Gaulish village of the Asterix comics. It was like walking inside a dream! In a Kurosawa film, the protagonist wanders through Van Gogh paintings, including the wheat fields (with crows) to meet the artist Vincent himself! The Bhutan experience was not exactly alike but it was certainly mind-blowing! The structure and ambience of the Folk Heritage Museum of Bhutan was similar to the habitat of Chief Vitalstatitics and his men. There was the additional flavour of the local brew Ara ; a fermented drink made from rice, soft snacks such as unpopped rice roasted in zaow  (a wooden stove), grinding water-mill, farm equipment, vessels etc. 

Folklore Museum of Bhutan

The houses were made in two stairs, the ground floor for keeping the livestock and the upper stair earmarked for living area, kitchen and store. You could see the 150 year old farm-house too, belonged to the Queen-mother which boasted of a Special Guest bath-room. It had an additional stair to keep food grains and weapons! The drainage system was practically absent even for the royal occupant and one could assume that ordinary folks were simply throwing the wastewater out from their first-floor kitchens!  Provisions of hot-stone bath was also provided in the open at the back-yard.

While coming out, we were softly persuaded by the ladies at the cloak-room to buy Ara. We obliged. Security measures were bordering on the ridiculous at most of the heritage sites in Bhutan. Photography was invariably banned and you’d have to leave all your bags, mobile phones and footwear at the gate. However, donations were expected from the visitors despite the not-so-modest entry tickets which goes to the welfare fund of the respective employees.

The rustic charm of the museum wanted me to have a visit to a typical farmer’s house in a Bhutanese village. In fact, I had an idea of spending a night enjoying their hospitality but it didn’t have any takers. Karma assured me that he would make a part of my dream come true. He would arrange a house visit in two days’ time. After all, Karma was a man for all seasons!

It was time for lunch. We set out to a private run museum named Simply Bhutan. The heritage atmosphere of the Bhutanese village of yore was recreated there, though not fully. You had already seen them all at the Folk heritage Museum in the morning.    Simply Bhutan catered to the well-heeled tourist. The beautiful hostess offered us the welcome drink, ara in tiny wine-glasses. Refills were permitted, obviously! More than the artefacts, Simply Bhutan USP was the ethnic food, served while traditional Bhutanese dance was being performed before the dining crowd. There were no live musicians in attendance, only recorded music and the performers belonged to both sexes.  It was a slow dance and repetitive to a great extent but the dancers were looking lovely in Bhutanese traditional dress. 

Folk dance performed by two ladies in farmer’s attire was also going on at a different venue.  Thankfully, the song was live! Farmer-women used to sing such songs when mud, the building material was being processed for construction purposes. The performers held wooden logs in hand, to treat the imaginary mud and to simultaneously provide basic rhythm to their song. 

Re-enacting farmer-women at work

One Indian tourist got high in a moment and climbed on to the elevated platform to mimic their gesture! His wife got furious.

Behave yourself and try to respect culture.

Poor chap was learning his lessons the hard way!

We had a full Bhutanese lunch at Simply Bhutan and it was not a bad experience. Bhutan, strangely enough, is predominantly non-vegetarian. The fish and meat are imported from India. I would advise you to play safe and avoid non-veg stuff as the taste was just passable, not anything special. To add a word of caution, Bhutanese dishes are spicy to the core! If you’re a die-hard non-vegetarian, perhaps the compromise choice is to try Chinese but the gourmet in you won’t be delighted!

I don’t know how far my choice suits you because I’m basically a simple man in food (and other) habits. So, my guidelines are not to be taken literally! Better to follow your inner instincts in matters related to food.  And  people suffering from Ailurophobia (persistent, irrational fear of cats), please don’t make a scene at the restaurant; take it easy as the Bhutanese won’t do anything against felines!

We are all familiar with momo and butter tea, both are of Tibetan origin and available in all major cities of India.  Momo is actually steamed dumpling made out of wheat flour and stuffed with minced meat. The vegetable filler is also obtainable throughout Bhutan and you can order momo anytime as a quick snack. The butter tea, named suja is made by boiling regular tea-leaves with milk and yak butter. Salt is added to taste! Ideally, a few pieces of momo along with a glass of suja can serve as anybody’s power breakfast!

Alternatively, one can order Khur-le, the Bhutanese equivalent of wheat roti along with a side-dish. The most popular sidees are Ema datshi and Kewa datshi. The first one has a slight edge over the second as Ema datshi can be added to any meal of the day. Contrary to expectations, Kewa datshi turned out to be mild as it contained only potatoes and cheese. You can have Gondo datshi too, which is nothing but butter egg fry. It looks pretty deceptive as you might mistake it for peeled cauliflower! Oddly enough, no chillies are added to Gondo datshi. To pep you up, there’s the reassuring presence of pickles giving you no chance to get crest-fallen!  Ezay is the Bhutanese answer to India in pickles. However, the pièce de résistance is Himalayan red rice, grown at high altitudes. White rice is also available but tastes a distant second to the red variety.

A simple Bhutanese lunch

Now, here’s my take for your Bhutanese lunch/dinner. Start with Jaju, a vegetable soup usually made from local spinach and milk. Ask for Khur-le as the main course and Ema datshi for its accompaniment. If you want non-veg to be included, Jasha Maru (Bhutanese chicken curry) would be a good choice. Ginger is liberally added and the taste is okay. One can punctuate the main course with Goon Hogay, the traditional cucumber salad of Bhutan.

Now it’s time to supplement the main fare with red rice. Gando datshi and Ezay are the inseparable companions of Bhutanese rice, red or white. Curd is not available in Bhutanese menu but don’t worry, fried papad is there as a saviour in dire straits.

Lastly, if you’re looking out for exotic desserts in Bhutan you’d be disappointed. There is no culture of serving desserts in that country. All you can get is either sliced farm-fresh apples or watermelons.

Why ask for more? You have already eaten a sumptuous meal served with utmost respect and humility. The ladies who bring you food don’t even expect tips for their service! If you’re insistent on giving, they would simply point towards a common-chest kept near the billing section where the money collected would be equally shared among all employees!

The ambience and service notwithstanding, the thought that you are having food in a country where no one is starving is quite gratifying. Nobody begs. No one in rags.

Everybody is taken care of.

                                                                                                                        (contd.)

************

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ONE AND ALL

BHUTAN, THE LAND OF SERENITY – 3

ALL ABOUT GROSS NATIONAL HAPPINESS

Karma was having breakfast with us. For him, the food and accommodation were provided free by the hoteliers as a tourist-guide with one condition to fulfil. He has to wear the knee-length Gho as it is compulsory in Bhutan that everybody wears the national dress during duty time.

He gave us a brief idea of Gross National Happiness without going into the details. The term was first coined by the Fourth King, Jigme Singye Wangchuk in 1972. The underlying principle concurs with the concept of Dharma and is nothing new. According to Dharma, the spiritual and mental well-being is more important than material prosperity. He found out that in order to achieve happiness, the subjects of his Druk Gylapo - dragon kingdom – had to be empowered to make decisions as a part of a collective responsibility.

Leave no one behind, he said.

Happy children walking to school

His aim was to turn Bhutan into a constitutional monarchy with emphasis on GNH. In this scheme of things, the King of Bhutan was to act as the conscience of GNH. Thus, in 2001, the fourth King commanded the drafting of a constitution by a 39-member committee chaired by the Chief Justice. The draft Constitution was distributed throughout the country in 2005 and 2006. One member from each family was invited to attend the meetings. The King Jigme Singue had abdicated his kingdom in favour of his eldest son Dasho Khesar in 2006 itself. Soon after, first general elections were held in March 2008. The Constitution of Bhutan was adopted on 18^th July 2008 by the first elected parliament Tshogdu.

Little girl waiting for the municipality truck to hand over waste materials

Huh, democracy is thrust upon us, lamented the Bhutanese people.

Yes, that was not an exaggeration. There was no need for the King to usher the era of democracy. He being a very wise man primarily due to his grounding in Dharma, might have had a foreboding of the events in future. The people of neighbouring Nepal were increasingly turning hostile to their King and eventually the violent civil war claimed 12,000 lives. Drawing inference from the incident, he might have deducted that any attempt to install a ruler on account of his lineage and not on his merit could spell trouble for the hundred year old dynasty of the Wangchuks.  He relinquished power as Head of Government to the Tshogdu while retaining his role as Head of State. What’s more, he even granted power to the people’s parliament, the authority to remove the King through a vote of 
no–confidence!  In my opinion, this  act upholding the highest ideals of Dharma is unparalleled in history except perhaps, the relinquishment of the throne by Emperor Asoka after winning the Kalinga war.  However, it is to be noted that Jigme Singue forcibly evicted one lakh odd Ethnic Nepalese in a cleansing operation and most of them still live in refugee camps. (This piece of information was gathered from the Net).

There was a forerunner to the application of GNH called Kidu prevalent in Bhutan in which the ruling King alongwith his son and other officers travelled extensively through the Kingdom which included remote areas too. They identified people who needed help. Besides, anybody could appeal to the King directly. In fact, the Gylapo stopped for every potential appellant along the road!

The model is adopted and replicated throughout Bhutan these days. There are Kidu Chiefs in each of the 20 districts of Bhutan to locate and help the poorest of the poor such as students unable to afford even the free education available in the country.

Formally a system for GNH is put in place. The domains of GNH are,

1.      Good governance

2.      Community vitality

3.      Psychological well-being

4.      Cultural diversity

5.      Living standards

6.      Education

7.      Health

8.      Ecological diversity

9.      Time use

Besides, there are 33 main indicators and 116 sub indicators available. Samples are selected at random from the cross section of the Bhutanese society and the information is compiled by the GNH Secretariat.  Their report is submitted to 15 member GNH Commission constituted by the parliament. They review the document adding their deliberations and suggestions and the final report is submitted to the King. Of course, the King can add to it or correct it for greater common good. Implementation is carried out by the various Ministries and the exercise is repeated at regular intervals.

It is found that there is a decline in the first four domains whereas it showed a marked improvement in the remaining five. Of course, the results showed.

Only 1.4% of the population lived on less than $1.9 a day in 2017 in Bhutan. You must consider the fact that South Asian average is 15%. The Indian figure in 2012 is 21.2%. In short, the Bhutanese could eradicate absolute poverty from their country. Great achievement, this!

female weavers engrossed in work

Bhutan fares well among South Asian countries on all Human Development Indices (HDI) except mean years of schooling. HDI of Bhutan is 0.612 in 2017. Unemployment is 2.4% (in 2017).  Another remarkable achievement is GDP growth rate (@ 7.6%) is the third highest in the world. Obviously, happiness has a direct bearing on productivity.

The Gross National Happiness of Bhutan is 0.756. I don’t know what exactly it means!

I asked Karma whether he could feel any change before and after (the introduction of GNH). He said he couldn’t find any distinct difference but the feeling that somebody at the top cared for you was reassuring!

Karma was average in studies though he managed his education in Government Institutions. In Bhutan, only the meritorious get into government colleges and the deserving students get financial help as well. Those who pass out get placement invariably, mostly in government departments. The pay and other service conditions are far better in the government sector. Karma has a degree in Management though he got a job with a Public Sector Bank. He was sanctioning loans to rural farmers. The monotony of the routine job made him crest-fallen and he decided to call it quits. He started a new venture, Brilliant Bhutan Travels and the struggling is not yet over. He is 33 years old with a working wife but not exactly settled, at least to lead a life of his expectations. He says such cases are plenty in Bhutan! Thankfully, the Bhutanese government is concentrating on high-end education now, but there is a hitch. The employment opportunities in Bhutan is not technology driven, it’s still an agrarian economy. Exporting electricity to India accounts for 25% of the total domestic revenue and 40% of the total exports. As everybody knows, the employment opportunities in hydro-electric power generation and distribution is bleak. New avenues are to be introduced for absorbing young and enterprising people like Karma and it seems the government is moving in the right direction.

                                                                                                                        (contd.)

***********

BHUTAN, THE LAND OF SERENITY – 2

Precisely at four in the evening Karma presented himself at the hotel lobby to take us to the archery practising ground. Archery is the national sports of Bhutan. On our way, he showed us the five star hotel made by Taj Group, Tashi in traditional style where PM Modi stayed during his visit. Quite an unassuming building just behind the Indian Cultural Centre run by our embassy. Not even a compound wall separates the two establishments. I was under the impression that the Indian Prime Minister stayed with the King at his palace and asked Karma for an elaboration. He had a hearty laugh and said,

You’ll find the answer later on your own

He was right. The very next day, he took us to take a bird’s eye-view at the Palace from a vantage point atop a hill at Zilukha. The whole Palace area is out of bounds for tourists. The King stays in a humble abode by the side of the main building with the servants’ quarters in front. Both the structures are approximately of the same size! A golden stupa on the terrace demarcates the royal occupant underneath. 

The King stays here!

The Palace headquarters, on the other hand is a large building where the ten ministers of Bhutan function as elected representatives of the people. All of them stay in the vicinity. The Supreme Court of Nepal is situated at the back side of the Palace with a crematorium sandwiched in between! Smoke was coming out of it as Bhutanese used only firewood for cremation.

Yes. We got the answer the next day why PM Modi didn’t stay with the King.

We kept mum as Karma drove us to the Archery practicing ground in ten minutes. Four teams were playing at parallel venues with the players taking turns to hit the target, situated at a distance of 135 m. Very few hit the bullseye. As soon as he did, there was celebration with both the teams joining together in a circle, shoulder to shoulder, singing and dancing!

Practising traditional Archery

That was traditional archery in action. There is more to it than meets the eye as the spiritual aspect associated with it cannot be ignored. Like the swordsmanship of the Samurai, archery is an activity to be mastered in a special, mystical way. The participant becomes mentally one with the bow, the arrow and the target. The Buddha is the participant’s real target, he being both the arrow and the bow!

While returning from the ground, we came across a three storied building, Centenary Farmers Market. Though I wanted to see the buzz of activities there, Karma was rather reluctant. He dropped us at the hotel and asked us to go for an evening stroll. He specifically instructed us to use only zebra crossings which, if defied, attracted fine. We did go for a walk, and proceeded for the Farmers Market using a short-cut. The bylane was quite dirty like a typical Indian slum with a few families living in sub-human conditions. Contrary to my expectations, the surroundings of Centenary Market was not exactly clean in contrast with the order and tidiness of the arrangement inside. Cereals occupied the ground, vegetables on the first and fruits on the top floor. We purchased kelas and apples from Santa who was smart enough to identify our roots to Kerala. She must be the Bhutanese namesake of our own Shantha, I guessed. (Both meant ‘the gentle one’). She bowed towards us and took the money with both hands. I asked her how she managed to speak in English without any hitch. She said education upto 12^th standard was compulsory as well as free in Bhutan and English was given due importance.

Centenary Farmers Market in Thimphu

We moved around to see that the market was not a ‘happening place’. To our surprise, plastic was in use but not the disposable, thin variety.

Next morning, we visited the tallest Buddha statue (52 m) in Bhutan overlooking the Thimphu valley driving less than half an hour from the city-centre. An old lady was selling pebble-like stones to Indian tourists at the entrance. She was claiming that it had medicinal properties and the rate was Rs.1000 per piece weighing about half a kg. Barring her, no one was in sight offering merchandise.

The Buddha statue, looking regal and strikingly spectacular was made of bronze and gilded in gold. Interestingly, there were 125,000 miniature Buddhas enshrined inside the statue especially at its chest! It seems there are more Buddhas in Thimphu than there are human-beings as the total population of the largest city is only around 100,000!

Tallest Buddha statue in Bhutan

We took a pradakshina (circumambulation in clockwise direction) before entering into the statue, which was situated atop a gilded meditation hall. There were 108 statues of beautiful dakinis (sky-dancers) made in marble, overlooking the circumambulation path. Dakinis were not just celestial beauties but female messengers of wisdom!

Three of the 108 Dakinis

A statue of Padmasambhava (b. circa 750 AD, who introduced Buddhism in Bhutan, considered as the reincarnation of Gautama Buddha) and the ubiquitous prayer-wheels were seen inside. We could watch the miniature Buddhas too, made in two sizes – one lakh statues of 8 inch in height & remaining 25,000 nos at 12 inch – all made of bronze and plated with gold! There were portraits of the five kings, nay it’s actually six with the photograph of the future king with a toy car in hand! The entire structure costing around $100 million was constructed to honour the 60^th birthday of the fourth King, Jigme Singye Wangchuk in 2015. He was a Philosopher King who ascended to the throne at the tender age of sixteen following the untimely demise of his father, the third King Jigme Dorji Wangchuck. The fourth King formulated the idea of Gross National Happiness for the world. The goals and achievements of Bhutan were to be measured in GNH. He ruled Bhutan for 34 years, started the democratization process and abdicated the Kingdom in favour of his eldest son, the current King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck in 2006. Both are extremely popular monarchs and the Bhutanese have an unseen umbilical cord connected to their Kings. In fact, the Bhutanese Royals take their subjects as their children.    Large photographs of five generations of royal lineage are prominently displayed in all institutions/establishments.

Polygamy is allowed for the King as well as for his people, provided the existing wife/s agree to the new proposal. In Bhutan, the first son of the King becomes the crown prince and the current King is the first male offspring of Jigme Singye Wangchuk by his Third Queen.

The fourth King has four Queens and all of them are sisters. Needless to say, all ego-clashes and rivalry among wives are reduced to zero by this wise decision.

The King owes his allegiance to Dhamma, i.e. Dharma in the Indian context.

I wanted to ask Karma about the changes made by GNH in his personal life and he was ready to answer, anytime after lunch. We were driving down to Zilukka nunnery and were feeling hungry.

                                                                                                                           (contd.)                                                                                                                                                                        ************

BHUTAN, THE LAND OF SERENITY

Karma, the owner cum driver cum guide of the one-man tourist agency Brilliant Bhutan Travels was waiting with three white scarves. There was going to be a welcoming ceremony.  He led us to his Hyundai Creta and took out three shining shawls like the ones worn by congressmen in India (minus the coloured borders). He bowed down to his waist-level and handed over the silk wraps one by one with great reverence.

Karma welcoming us

We did ask him the stupid question,

What to do with this? How do we reciprocate?

Keep it as a souvenir, he said.

What’s your surname, Karma?

He said he didn’t have any. Surprising, a man with no surname! Come to think of it, stand-alone names are quite possible in Bhutan as there is no caste system there. Karma was to drive us to Thimphu, the capital of Bhutan located fifty-six km away. 

The road from Paro airport to Thimphu was wide, well-built and amazingly clean.

This is one fringe-benefit of the Modi visit, Karma said. All the roads in his route are given a face-lift.

Karma was being modest. Later on, I found that all roads of Bhutan were similar. Potholes are conspicuous by their complete absence and Irish drain provided to each road irrespective of its size!

Paro River flowing by the highway, it was a splendid sight outside. Excepting a few cars, there was not much traffic either. Anybody would have stepped on the accelerator to the maximum (in India). However, Karma maintained his speed always at less than fifty. Interestingly, he was not blowing the horn even for once! Karma was not alone. No driver in Bhutan honks it.

What’s more, there were no traffic signals anywhere!

And no hoardings or advertisement material anywhere in sight!

Life in this country should be a perpetual meditation, I mused. Tranquillity was coming unto me.

Karma stopped his car at near to an iron bridge. There was a hillock on the other side with three structures built on it. The two at higher altitude were temples and the one at the landing of the bridge was a stupa. The bridge was decorated with innumerable flags with mantras inscribed on them.  Blue, White, Red, Green and Yellow flags and each colour represents one of the five elements. 

The Buddhists believe that the vibes of the mantras radiate through the wind and people are protected from evil forces! There was a giant prayer-wheel and several smaller ones with mantras installed at the stupa for the same purpose. Rotate them by hand, and you get purified accordingly. Besides, there are several precious stones, relics and gold buried underneath to please the local deities so that no misfortune befalls on the land and its people.

Tamchog Iron Bridge

Legend says that the people of Ha and Paro were afflicted by leprosy in the 15^th century AD and they invited the carpenter/blacksmith turned saint Thangthong Gelopo of Tibet. He accepted the invitation and came to Bhutan and meditated at the abovementioned place named Tamchog. Meditation continued for seven days and nights! Soon after, he built the iron-bridge which is not rusted to date! One was not sure whether to admire his engineering skills or yogic prowess for the marvel. Meanwhile, Gelopo met a young lady and started living together. A son was born to them.  The engineer-saint built several stupas across the land and the deadly disease was contained! The son built the temple which had residential quarters for Gelopo’s descendants and they still live there. There is an interesting tilt to this story that people of the area started leading decadent lives as time went by and the results showed! Floods and landslides ravaged the land and anybody would assume that the wrong-doers corrected their ways. Simply it didn’t happen.  Instead, they prevailed on the Gelopo clan to turn the face of the deity in a direction diametrically opposite. A small temple was built atop the hill and the deity was installed there with its face facing the rock!

We resumed our journey and stopped for a while at the confluence of rivers – Paro and Thimphu. They met at the base of three hills. Such places are very sacred for the Bhutanese though the number three is a bit ominous! As expected there were stupas built on the bank, four of them - Nepalese, Bhutanese, Tibetan and Mongolian in that order. Following the river further down for three hundred km would take you to the mighty Brahmaputra.

A bus-stop en route to Thimphu

We moved on and reached Thimphu at high noon. Indians get an advantage of half an hour on reaching Bhutan due to its geographical positioning. We checked into our hotel and the first thing I asked for, you guessed it wrong, was an English language Bhutanese newspaper. Alas! There were no edition on Sundays and I had to contend with the most popular tabloid Kuensel of the previous day. Interestingly, the tagline of the tabloid proudly declares “THAT THE PEOPLE SHALL BE INFORMED”.  

I browsed it to get a feel of the country and sure enough, there was a major story regarding the Modi visit a fortnight back. It speaks highly of the Indian PM signing MoU in areas as diverse as space research and the energy sector. Bhutanese were also pleased with him launching the RuPay card and doubling the Nehru-Wangchuk scholarship to Rs.20 million. However, his sojourn lasted for just twenty-four hours this time in strict contrast with PM Nehru spending full six days there in 1958. It was the first time that the head of a modern government had attempted to visit Bhutan. The paper even quoted a part of his speech which said,

“It is therefore essential that I make it clear to you that the only wish is that you should remain an independent country choosing your own way of life and keeping the path of progress according to your will. At the same time, we too should live with mutual goodwill. We are members of the same Himalayan families and should live as friendly neighbours helping each other.”

What’s more, there was a black & white photograph of Nehru riding nervously on a yak closely guarded by Bhutanese dignitaries in traditional Gho (Bhutanese national dress for men).

The cover story of KUENSEL was about the spreading of Dengue fever in Phuentsholing (a border town). A total of 3015 cases were tested positive, a record! So far, the outbreak has claimed four lives. Dr.Thinley Pelzang said that the rise in the cases was because the people are still very complacent. A mass cleaning campaign would be conducted on Saturday with the expected participation of 2000 students alongwith officials and general public.

On page 18 of the twenty paged tabloid, there was a news item which immediately transported me back to India. The bold heading screamed,

Three former lecturers deny sexual assault charges

Compared to Indian standards the news was just a damp squib.

We took KUENSEL as our second souvenir from Bhutan and proceeded to the restaurant for lunch.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               (contd.)

**************

TREKKING IN THE RAIN

Come and spend two days away from the bustle of Munnar, in the lap of pristine Nature with only a waterfall to break the solitude (if you think so).

The invitation from a group of middle-aged Yoga enthusiasts – Yogasaparya – was irresistible. As fringe-benefit, there would be organic food, lectures on finding peace, a four km trek to Attukad waterfalls and so on. I joined.

I had no rain-gear with me except an umbrella which I lost it in the Hotel premises. Time was past mid-night when we had checked in. The trek was slated for the first day.

We reached a place called Pallivasal, 12 km away from the retreat and suddenly it started raining. Rather heavily. All the young crowd were equipped with wind-cheaters and caps besides brollys and I had only a thick sweater. One must be crazy to face the rain wearing this outfit, I said to myself, only a lunatic could do such an act! I should not have ventured for the trek.

Mr. Ram, one of the organisers had a couple of comforting words to cheer me up.

You take rest in the vehicle itself. Have tea from the road-side joint and enjoy the rain falling on the tea-estates!

Thereupon, he led the “yogic trekkers” from the front and vanished down into the valley.

Rain clouds hovering over the hills diluted the light. The workers from Tata Tea factory were coming out in groups. The general shift had ended.

I waited at the waiting shelter. There was no one to talk to. Nobody seemed to be waiting for the bus. Perhaps the workers were staying in the vicinity.

After some time, the rain was getting weaker. It almost stopped. Ha, the ideal time to launch myself! I walked down through the country-road. I had no idea about the route.

Country Roads, take me…..

In fact, they were in a bad shape. No warmth left in them to take care of the lone passenger! Must be struggling to stay alive!

Why don’t these people, The Tata Tea repair these roads, I wondered. CSR primarily means building infrastructure and maintaining them for the rural folk.

The walk was certainly difficult. Pot holes were plenty and sticky mud was strewn all over. Worse, one couldn’t make out which is which as both were covered with sheets of water.

Further down, I could see the massive bungalow of a judge, built amidst the plantations.

Me Lord is lucky in many ways. He is directly connected to Nature and must be enjoying its rhythm.  No amount of warring advocates or their clients can dislodge him from his cool.

The rumble of the waterfall now became audible.

I slogged down. No house or shop on either side of the road. If it rained, I’ve had it! Of Course, I could take shelter beneath a tree. But they were already drizzling. 

Suddenly,

Up ahead in the distance, I saw a shimmering light

This could be the ideal backdrop for yet another Hotel California, I mused.

A desert traveller finds the going tough and desperately seeks shelter after a long and tiresome journey. He is offered a well-lighted mansion, dream girls with wine and every other instrument of pleasure. He falls for them, but in reality he is being trapped and held captive. By the time he realizes of his imprisonment, there is no escape at all.

Instead of the desert-highway and its rising hot air, the scenario was replaced with a drenched forest road and a roaring waterfall. There is the common element of an isolated Hotel too, by the wayside! Aranayakam, that’s the name! By the time I reached the hotel, to my relief, I could see Murali and his friends coming back after reaching the finishing point. In fact, they walked further to have a bash at the roadside thattukada-cum-home which pepped them up. Murali & Co. were my fellow-participants at the retreat.

The rest of the crowd is arrested at sight by the waterfall, they informed. Seeing the angst written all over my face, they tried to instil a bit of courage in me.

You can meet them all at a short distance. All of you can return together. Don’t worry!

Yes. They were right. Let me walk further.

There was bend at the far end, as soon as I turned, the majestic waterfall descended before my eyes in all its fury. I was awe-struck. The koda (wet fog) was diminishing my eyesight.

In a moments notice, it started raining. Ha, nobody knew the trouble I was in. Not a soul on the road.

I got scared. Better turn around and run!

I did exactly that.

The rain was pouring down with a vengeance. To hell with this meek creature braving me, it said!

The koda too got strengthened.

Everything was in a haze. Sight was getting extremely dim. Even the trees by the side of the road were not exactly visible.

Time might have stopped!

I must be treading towards Adi, the Beginning…..

My entire existence turned lighter. The act of climbing up the hill became a delightful experience.

The fear vanished without trace.

Oh! I could die at this moment. Happily.

I am experiencing the elements. The rain, the fog, the mud, the sounds……and of course, myself.

Everything is One!

The unbearable happiness of Being!

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FOOTLOOSE IN NAMDROLING (Final)

The time was high noon, around 1.00 pm and I looked out for a cafeteria. There was none. I made a quick exit to find some good Tibetan lunch from a homely restaurant. Such places were available in Tibetan settlements, at a distance of two to five km away from Namdroling Monastry. You can walk it out too bypassing the auto-rickshaw guys but I would advise the second option. The advantage is that you can strike a conversation with the auto-driver and ask about the life in Tibetan villages.

 

The old camp is the place where poor refugees freshly displaced from Tibet settled in the early sixties. One can make it out from the impoverished surroundings but it looks much more spacious and dignified than an average Indian slum. The surroundings are clean as well with no sign of garbage or plastic waste anywhere in sight! As I was walking through the narrow street, a Tibetan youth on a scooter stopped his bike and wished me. He asked about my intention in a friendly way, that too in chaste English and drove off. He did come back after a short while and invited me for a community lunch as a part of Pooja celebration. I had to decline the offer as I wanted to experience of the ambience of Tibetan restaurant-cum- home. The restaurant part make the facade and home is at the back. There is a separate place for wash, detached from the dining area. You can have as many cups of Tibetan Green Tea as appetisers, they are free. Drinking water is not provided, you are supposed to buy mineral water bottles. Normal tea/coffee is also elusive as Pepsi/Coke is the raison d'être of the monks who are the main patrons. I had seen young bhikshus moving around with Cocoa Cola bottles even in front of the prayer hall.

The popular item for lunch is Thukpa (Tibetan flat noodle soup) available either with beef or with pork. Oddly enough, the Tibetan menu is exceedingly non-vegetarian and I am at a loss to figure out how the fare passes the principles of Ahimsa. You can try Momo too, the Tibetan dumpling made out of wheat flower and chicken minus the masala, in steam. Momo is irresistible when served hot with sauce and sliced onions. Momo is a main player in break-fast, lunch and dinner and usually a plate of ten pieces is enough.

I asked for a vegetable roll for breakfast and what I got was something akin to shawarma wrapped around in a larger and thicker kuboos (roti made out of wheat flour). What’s more, it had a single-omelette too camouflaged among the vegetable gratings. One must try the Butter-tea, it is unique. A very special Tibetan decoction, heavier with butter and plenty of milk. Interestingly, salt is added instead of sugar. Butter-tea is not easily available. If you are near the main entrance of Namdroling, try the Tibetan Kitchen. The unassuming cook, teen-aged Patric from Bengal makes it taking his time and keeps you engaged with his interesting anecdotes.

I visited the new camp on the second day, situated at four km further down the road. The two sides of the road are lined with bungalows where the rich among the refugees live. I was astounded to see the disparities in status. There are vast stretches of land behind these mansions without any sort of cultivation. I wondered how Rubber trees failed to make an inroad into the Tibetan land. (In Kerala, even the adivasis are more inclined to grow rubber, which is detrimental to the environment but brings money).

Why these people are shying away from agriculture? I asked the auto-rickshaw driver. In fact, he doesn’t like the Tibetan crowd. They have plenty of money coming from abroad and lead a lazy life, he said.

The new settlement is a happening place with well-planned cityscape. Modern Administration buildings, apartment complex, hospital, conference halls, auditoriums, temples, community centres, two Universities (Sera May and Sera Jay) and lined with trees everywhere. The Dalai Lama when he makes a visit stays in one of the three guest-houses away from the residential area.

I buzzed into a cafeteria near the University frequented by young scholars. A glass of green tea was immediately served to me without asking.  The monks were busy eating fast-food and gulping down soft-drinks. Normally they spend twenty five years for graduation and five more years for specialisation. Afterwards they can go abroad and teach Buddhism, if so inclined.

I was the only outsider and nobody took notice.  After some time, a Buddhist monk in his late twenties sat opposite to me with a book in hand. I asked his name and he uttered an unpronounceable syllable. It was a good start, however.

Can you describe the essential teachings, Sir?

My English is rather poor, he said. Moreover, it takes quite some time to give you even an elementary idea of Buddhist philosophy.

He bid good-bye to me with a dispassionate smile. Perhaps he took me for an inquisitive journalist veering   into the private lives of monks.

The glassful of green tea was still waiting. I felt crest-fallen for no obvious reason. Now, who is going to answer my long-pending question?

Does the eight-fold noble path take you to Enlightenment directly? Or is it just a purifier?

Relax! I said to myself, asking questions is more important than finding their answers.

Yes, it was a splendid consolation.

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FOOTLOOSE AT NAMDROLING

The year was 1991. The place was Igatpuri, 120 km away from Mumbai. I spent ten days there in a retreat undergoing arya maun, i.e., observing golden silence all through. My first brush with Buddhism was via Vipassana meditation.

The lingering memory of my Igatpuri stay was the fluttering colourful flags and the chiming tiny bells. The sweet sounding bells were supposed to aid the long hours of deep meditation.

I was intrigued by the lack of God concept in Buddhism. I wondered whether people would feel comfortable without the ‘father’ figure though I got convinced later that it was quite possible.

Decades passed by, and after I got retired, I had the sudden urge to visit a Buddhist Monastery to stay with the bhikshus for some time. In the meantime, I had made a trip to North East and visited Ramtek and other Buddha Vihaars. The pristine Nature surrounding the monasteries, the stillness of the place, the quiet dignity of the people and the colour strewn all over attracted me. It was like walking inside a dream.

I thought of making a beeline to Dharmasala to spend a month or so there. Senior Buddha bhikshus, westerners all, were conducting workshops. There was the additional bonus of meeting the Dalai Lama as he used to handle one-day sessions in between. However, the journey was difficult. At the age of 61 with diabetes and difficulties in bowel movements, I was doubtful whether I could make the trek all alone. Moreover, I had to pay up for my sojourn. There was a minimum fee prescribed. It was unexpected as I had not come across such a poser anywhere else. Even at Igatpuri, after ten days of learning, boarding and lodging I was absolutely free to make an exit without any sort of bother.

So, I chose the lesser option, to visit the nearest Buddha Vihaar for a couple of days, get the feel of the place, befriend the monks, have their food and get out of the way!

The search narrowed down to Namdroling Monastery. 88 km away from Mysore, Karnataka.

However, there was a problem. The entire area of the Tibetan settlement is a protected place and one needed a special permit (PAP) from the Ministry of Home Affairs, New Delhi for the stay in protected areas. I had once got it for visiting Minicoy (in 2003) and the procedure was fairly easy. All it required was a visit to the Lakshadweep Administration Office in Kochi. The Namdroling case was different with Application forms, passport copies, local reference etc. and it might take around a month.

Again, I took a wise decision. I decided to stay at Kushal Nagar, a small time town nearby. Just six km away from the Golden Temple (at Namdroling), Kushal Nagar is full of auto-rickshaws and modest hotels.

The Monasteries open to visitors from 7 am to 6 pm.

Namdroling Monastery - Main entrance

I reached the Golden Temple early in the morning. There was no entry-fee. I entered the compound. The residential quarters of student-monks come first and by the side of it, the College buildings. There are six large monasteries and two Universities spread across the settlements. Five thousand students, all Buddhist monks, are enrolled. The total population of area is 70,000 odd.

The Golden Temple is an imposing building.

The dimensions may be similar to a modern auditorium with thousand seats. There is a foyer-like structure in front of the main hall, open on three sides.  Intricate carvings and exquisite murals are on the walls and ceilings. It’s an assault of colours on your senses! The main hall too is decorated with paintings of gods and demons but you are almost simultaneously arrested by the sheer radiance of three golden statues – Buddha flanked by Padmasambhava and Amitayush, each sixty feet tall. The eyes are a bit different with a glimpse of awe, a no-nonsense look about them. You can squat on the marble floor but chances are that you won’t be left in peace. The flurry of visitors, all of them busy with taking selfies and caring a damn for the sanctity of the place bother you. At times the noise from the crowd is quite annoying.

There is a beautiful garden outside with manicured lawn and fountains. You can settle yourself under one of the trees and watch the antics of tourists. Or, you can visit three more temples in the same compound, one of which keeps the relics in a casket like structure. Poojas are non-stop there with monks meditating in a separate enclosure.

While strolling around I was caught unawares by the loud sound of prayers emanating from the prayer hall just outside the Golden Temple. I was familiar to Tibetan Meditation Music but this one was quite different. The accompanying instruments, bowl-shaped drums, kombu like wind-instruments (of Kerala), cymbals and conch shells are not the kind of ensemble one would expect for Buddhist chants. Only the junior monks played them and seniors were conspicuous by their absence. I tried to make an entry into the hall but politely turned back. 

                                                                                                                        (continued)

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