Wisdom For The Future

Sitting in the dimmed hall of the RUB in lower Motithang, Thimphu, I looked at the beautifully crafted presentation banner with quizzical eyes…. thinking ….. really???

Inaugural JSW School of Law Lecture Series: "Wisdom for the Future"

What of the WISDOM of, and for, the PRESENT? Whichever way one looks at it, it becomes clear that the wisdom one learns, or do not learn, in the present will most likely mold an individual’s outlook and character or, influence events of the future.

When I was told by one of the country’s Prime Ministers that this generation of Bhutanese should empathize with the government for usurping their present because the government is planning for their future, I responded by saying that what is the use of the future when the citizens are all dead in the present?

But by lunch time I was convinced that the attempt being made by the JSW School of Law was something that is needed and perhaps, even - timely.

There was clarity and conviction when the speaker – Nobel Peace Laureate Kailash Satyarthi – said at one point:

“The first steps to securing the future begins with wisdom of the present”.

I loved it!

Over dinner in the evening of the same day – I continued to listen to him and of his indomitable courage that he exhibited throughout his momentous life. One other important lesson I learnt from him was, something to the effect that:

There may be people who, in an effort to hide their own failings, will attempt to subjugate you and your spirit through subversion and sabotage – but it is important to remain firm and unwavering to your cause – which, in most part, he convinced me - is the freedom empowered by wisdom.

My Tohfa of my Coffee Table book on the wild birds of Bhutan - to an immensely gifted person of global fame

And yet, in spite of being richer, wealthier, more informed, and more knowledgeable, Nobel Peace Laureate Kailash Satyarthi nonetheless acknowledged that the world has never been so broken and divided, and shorn of value and ethics and morality, as it is today.

Meaning that humanity has never been at a greater risk of doom than it is now - caused by our trust in human beings!

Know Your National Bird

A large number of Bhutanese tend to confuse our National Bird - Common Raven (Corvus corax) for the Large-billed Crow (Corvus macrorhynchos). The reason is provably that more than 95% of Bhutanese would not have seen the National Bird because they live at altitudes around 14,000 ft. and upwards. The more common Large-billed Crow can be seen all over the country.

It is really simple to distinguish between the two Ravens.

The Common Raven is much larger and has a flatter head while the Large-billed Crow is smaller and has a domed head, with thicker bill. The national bird has prominent throat-hackles and the feathering extends halfway to the tip of the bill.

They have two distinctly different calls – the national bird’s call is much more louder.

The National Bird: Common Raven (Corvus corax) photographed at the base of Mt. Gangkhar Puensoom in October, 2010

The Large-billed Crow (Corvus macrorhynchos) - found all over the country

The Bhutanese term for the National Bird is Bja Oro while the Large-billed Crow is called Bja Ola.

There is a saying in Bhutanese that goes:

“Ngado Goe Gii Chaag; Kaang Oro Gii Jiip”

Translated into English, the saying would go thus:

“The Raptor cracks open the thigh bone but the Raven gets the marrow”

The wisdom: Someone puts in the hard work but someone else reaps the rewards.

Words Matter

Yesterday I overheard a friend explaining to someone over the mobile phone that the correct word to use is “subconsciously” and not “unconsciously”. Hours later, I was still intrigued – was the friend correct? Is the word “subconsciously” more appropriate than the word “unconsciously”.

Both of these words describe a state of mind when one is not conscious of one’s actions. Thus, both of these words should be acceptable. However, in my thinking there is a fundamental difference: the state of being unconscious is when one enters a state of suspended consciousness – a state of comatose – dysfunctional consciousness.

“Subconscious” would be a state when the consciousness is functional but at a “sub” level. In this state, actions are possible but without one’s knowledge. Thus, I agree that the correct term to employ would be - “subconsciously”.

Similarly, there appears to be complete incoherence in the interpretation of the words: “government land”, “state land” and “public land”. Few in Bhutan stop to ponder over the consequential implications of the choice of one of these words – when referring to land not privately owned by individuals or households or institutions.

I never say: “I am a poor man”. I always say: “I am not a rich man”. One might argue that the two means the same thing. Think again – the implied connotations are vastly different.

Educated are in rural Bhutan while the literate ones live in the capital city

During my recent visit to see my old man in Mangdechhu, we were sitting outside his home. As we sat there talking of this and that, three Maruti cars pulled up in front of his house and out came close to 15 young men and women, each bearing a machete in their hands. I was surprised and asked him who they were. He informed me that they were all villagers who were returning after working on their farms - that were being prepared for planting cardamom.

I was intrigued - our farmers now drive Maruti cars to work on their farms? That is rich!

Before I could decide what to make of it, my old man interrupted my thought process:

“Yeshey, what do you think of entire villages abandoning farming and planting cardamom in their farmlands - that which were traditionally used for growing food?"

“I suppose we are due for a shift in our dietary habits - from eating rice and kharang to munching cardamoms."

The old man wasn't amused. He went on:

“Get serious ---- if we do not grow food what are we going to eat? We cannot eat cardamom. Such large-scale production of cardamom all around the country is sure to create a glut in the market. Food production will drop thereby requiring us to import food from Jagga’s yuekha. I don't think this is a good thing that is happening. Not only that, you should remember - because you were in the thick and thin of it - that it was the rampant deforestation cause by cardamom plantation that resulted in the Drukgyal Zhipa nationalizing cardamom plantations in 1979."

“Yes I remember."

“Then?” Why wont the government intervene and halt this nonsense? No doubt the government can foretell the trouble this is bound to cause”.

I looked at my 85 years old dad with a sense of wonderment. One would have thought that he would be oblivious to what is happening around him - engrossed as he is, in silent prayers. Obviously the old man still has a mind that is fertile enough to grasp the consequences of abandoning farming, in preference to growing brown jacket cardamom.

Surely, this dismantles the fallacy that educated people live in the urban centers. Clearly, the educated people live in rural Bhutan, while the literate ones throng to the capital city.

An Intriguing Old Bhutanese Saying

One evening, during my most recent trek to Masagung and Gungchen Taag areas, I got to hear of an intriguing old Bhutanese saying, an idiom of sorts, which had me thinking for a while. As idioms go, this one wasn’t all that earth shattering in its relevance, nor was I hearing of such an idiom for the first time. But it was something else that held my attention and caused me to brood over it; beyond the wisdom that is inherent in it, there was something far more revealing about it - something that possibly points to its origin.

The saying went thus:

“Ngado Goe Gii Chaag; Kaang Oro Gii Jiip”

Translated into English, the saying would go thus:

“The Raptor cracks open the thigh bone but the Raven gets the marrow”
 

What the saying means is that the raptor goes to all the trouble of cracking open the thigh bone but the low lying Oro gets at the marrow faster than the high flying raptor.

But as I said earlier, for me, beyond the significance of the saying, it was the reference it makes to two high altitude birds that got me thinking. Consider this:

The raptor in question cannot be any old raptor but the famous Lammergeier (Gypaetus barbatus) - a vulture species with a unique skill. In Bhutan these high altitude birds live above 3,300 Mtrs. I have seen them in Soe-Yaktsa. Now, this is the only raptor that I know of who picks up thigh bones of carcasses, flies high into the sky and then, with unfailing precision, drops it onto a boulder - to crack it open to get at the marrow inside.

The Oro, on the other hand, is the Common Raven (Corvus corax) - Bhutan’s national bird. This bird too is a high altitude bird - living at altitudes beyond 4,000 Mtrs.

Majority of the Bhutanese people live at altitudes lower than 2,800 Mtrs. Thus, it is unlikely that they would ever see these birds in their life time. In fact, most of them would not have even heard of them.

Therefore, I am inclined to believe that the saying was coined by the nomadic Bjops of North-Western Bhutan or, even possibly, the Dakpas of Eastern Bhutan. They are the only people who inhabit the areas where these birds live and breed.

Any views on this?