Gelephu Mindfulness City Project - I

The Mindfulness City within the Gelephu Special Administrative Region (Ge-SAR) is being planned over a continuous expanse of flat land stretching over a thousand square kilometers. That is a whooping 2.60% of the country’s total land surface area!

On a trip to the Phulari Vantage Point (above Bhutan’s largest water project located in Samtenling Gewog of Sarpang Dzongkhag) conducted by His Majesty the King on the afternoon of 4th January, 2024 – we were treated to the visual vastness of the project area – said to extend from Kanamakura in Gelephu to Lhamoizingkha, in Dagana.

Visual grasp of the full expanse of the SAR’s geographical area was impossible. So, I attempted to imagine it in my mind’s eye – absolutely not possible either. That is when something else hit me with a bang! – that a space so wide and flat and uninterrupted by deep ravines and canyons would offer possibilities that is impossible in a geography littered with craggy hills and mountains and plunging chasms of precipices that make up the geography of the rest of His Kingdom.

Quite obviously His Majesty the King recognized the boundless potential in a geography that I realized is incomparable to anything else anywhere in the country. It is clear then that His Majesty’s choice of location is spot on: abundant land, no hills and mountains to level, easier connectivity and access to international markets, possibility for rapid infrastructure build-up when the need arises, geographical flexibility to be able to adapt to changing situations and realities, proximity to the vast Indian market that is only a few hundred feet away from the border and, above all, the promise of the upcoming transportation projects for mass movement of bulk cargo - both human and merchandize!

Given the enormity of the perception I realize that it is not possible to conceive the entire project in its entirety at one go – it has to be a work in constant progress with the elasticity to change and adapt. I think it is for this reason that even after being fortunate enough to be comprehensively briefed four times by His Majesty personally, I dare not claim that I have understood even 5% of the vision – it is just too complex and the scale too enormous!

On the early morning of 6th January when I was preparing to depart for Phibsoo scheduled for 7.30AM, a writer friend from South Asia who had heard of Bhutan’s Mindfulness City Project asked me if I was convinced. I told him that that was unimportant – that the architect of the vision appears to be wholly and completely convinced!

Bhutan is fortunate that this is happening at this present juncture – we have the potential – we have the benefit of a youthful monarch who has the guts and the courage to take on a responsibility that He knows is needed at this point in our history. We have to understand that few years from now His Majesty will begin to slide into a state of waning courage and diminishing nerve.

We do not want His Majesty to grow into a wizened old man sitting in a corner and thinking: Oh God, youth wasted in the young. We need to encourage His Majesty to take this on full throttle - NOW! - before wisdom begins to tamper His youthful courage and energy!

Reaching For The Stars

His Majesty the King’s dream project in Gelephu extending all the way to Kalikhola is truly mind-boggling and mesmerizing. It is so complex, and the scale so colossal that it is beyond the comprehension of small minds such as those of us - the common men. Only a King is capable of abstracting a plan so monumental that it leaves you panting for sanity.

And it looks like the plan is already off the drawing boards and on to the ground - India just announced the allocation of US$10 million – to start work on the planned rail link between Gelephu and the neighboring town of Kokrajhar in the Indian state of Assam – slated to be completed by the year 2026 - spanning a total distance of 57.5 KMs.

Indo-Bhutan rail link: Shape of things to come

Certainly His Majesty is not planning for any failures. That is evident in the meticulous planning that has gone into the project, and the assemblage of world’s top corporate and financial brains - to work on the Gelephu initiative. For sure Plan B should kick in - should there be the slightest inkling that things are not going as planned.

For me personally, I was hugely nervous about the private land acquisition proposal that was rumored - that would have entailed enormous financial outlay - diverting precious resources needed by the Bhutanese people for other important developmental works. To my great relief, I have on good authority that the government is NOT EXPECTING to acquire any private property for the project - obviously because there is more than enough state land for the taking.

Also, I do not believe that the worry here is of whether the plan will work or that it will fail - it is just too big a deal for any such unfounded worries - every angle would have been looked into by the world’s very best planners and thinkers. If there is anything at all to marvel at the plan, it is that our Monarch has the courage to venture into this with determination and conviction!

Alas, this is not saying that I do not worry - I do have one worry that rattles me every time I think about it:

From all indications, His Majesty’s time and energy has been entirely taken up by the need for undivided attention and focus on the Gelephu initiative. Even worst, His attention would be totally diverted to the project - once it comes on full steam. That is where I believe we may be in trouble.

The Gelephu initiative represents less than ten percent of the country’s overall land mass and population. What is the danger that His other subjects could be subjected to neglect and abandonment? That thought gnaws me at the very core of my being. I fear that this could spell trouble for His other larger mass of subjects domiciled in the larger spaces of His Kingdom.

His subjects’ need for His leadership elsewhere is as urgent as, and no less than, that of the extraterritorial conclave that Gelephu is destined to become.