The Irresistible Bhutanese Itch

Hi Nel,

Thank you for your WhatsApp message - I chose to reply to you in an eMail since your questions call for lengthy answers. And thank you for asking ---- I am well, including all my family members.

I am surprised that the matter got reported in the local papers in the UK - amazing that a pint-sized Bhutan gets to feature in international news - actually we also made it to a respectable newspaper in Australia - on the 5th of this month.

As much as I wish I could deny it, the reports are true --- there has been a steady exodus of young and educated Bhutanese to Australia. It is a worrisome trend that does not look like it is going to halt until the country is completely drained of the young and the educated. And you are right - it is a disturbing problem - even worst, it is a complex problem. Tiny Bhutan is now straddled with a problem so COLOSSAL that we are not sure that we have the wherewithal to handle it. Any which way we look at it, it does not seem like there is one single magic formula to solve the problem that confronts us. In fact indications are that desperation is now beginning to cloud our better judgment. And yet there is no sign that the glitter and sparkle in the eyes of the Bhutanese youth are going to dim anytime soon.

WHAT ARE MY THOUGHTS?

You ask what my thoughts are. May be a little jumbled and haphazard but the following are the ones that mostly invade my mind - first thing in the morning as I wake up, and through out the rest of the day.

At the core of our problem is the famous Bhutanese herd mentality - we cannot help but succumb to a nature that is intrinsic to our personality. Like the Army Ants, we march because every one else is marching - unmindful of what is being trampled on our path. It is easy to trigger an itch in us - we do not need a reason or a justification - we just need an excuse - an excuse that every one else is itching.

And that proves my long held belief - that we Bhutanese are as unique as every one else; that Bhutan will embrace modernity as every one else have done before us - that we will get where everyone already have - it is just a matter of time. Give us time and the Bhutanese will do even worst!

I believe that behind the exodus to Australia there is no sound logic, it is not a result of a properly researched outcome - it is not a quest driven by reason. I fear that a large number of them are going simply because everyone else are seen to be going. It will not be fair to say that they have been driven by greed - I am told that there are a variety of reasons, some of them even justifiable.

Unfortunately the reality will be that the country they love will suffer; over the long haul, their kith and kin will feel the impact of their unfounded haste and, perhaps, the very life most of them had hoped for, and the dreams they choose to dream - will turn out be just that - a distant dream.

From all accounts Bhutan is headed for a seriously rough time. All the signs are that we have already hit the stormy waters. People even opine that there is already a palpable air of doom - certainly there is cause for worry. But I believe that the moment of despair is not yet upon us.

Your connection with Bhutan dates back to the 1960’s - but the truth is that your connection to Bhutan has been, at best, superficial. I do not believe that you have had any reason, or occasion, to study Bhutan from close quarters.

Officially the Wangchuck Dynasty has ruled us since 1907 - unofficially they have been doing so since 1853. Since then, Bhutan has survived natural and man-made calamities galore, external threats and internal strife - but we have emerged unscathed. The Bhutanese people have every reason and faith that this time too, we will be ably steered to safety by our Monarch. He is working tirelessly - and He understands that He is the King - and that it is not in His job description to give up.

And, like my blog masthead reads, we all pray that He Never Gives Up Hope!

As to the problem of the exodus, I do not see how we can solve it without upsetting the apple cart. Perhaps nature will do it for us - I have great faith in it - nature is a great equalizer. And nature has always been kind to Bhutan. May be there will be a great natural calamity - may be there will be another devastating pandemic that will cause and kick off the reversal of Bhutanese migration. One never knows - nature has been unfailing in its well-timed interventions - it gave us Genghis Khan, the Black Death, Mata Hari, Rasputin, Hitler, Mussolini, WW I & II, The Little Boy and The Fat Man, Mahatma Gandhi, Israel, Osama bin Laden etc.

The unspoken and unwritten financial burden (outside of the borrowings from financial institutions) caused by the migration is massive - not many have an understanding of its extent and enormity. Regardless, there is increasing indication that the country and the people of Bhutan may not be able to recoup the financial outlay that has gone behind financing the migration. This doubt arises out of most people’s fear that more than 70% of the migrants are unlikely to return home. Couple that with the falling birth rate of the country ….. and you have a perfect recipe for disaster that calls for serious consideration.

But we have not lost our hope - in our Monarch, and history, we trust!

Bye and take care …. I will reply to your other matters in a day or two.

Yeshey