A Job Well Done

The royal wedding is over and everyone agrees that the ceremony and the celebrations were fantastic. No one doubts that His Majesty has made a good choice in his queen. I myself remained glued to the TV watching the proceedings - I refused to apply for accreditation for the occasion because I wanted to avoid another run-in with the agents of the ROM. I couldn’t have been able to sanely handle another tryst with them.

While there is no doubt that the Bhutanese people had a gala time, what of the international audience; what of the visiting media personnel? How did they view the arrangements that were made for their convenience? After all, an event is as good, or as bad, as it is presented to the audience.

I played host to a Delhi-based reporter of an international news organization. I did my part to ensure that the reporter had a good time while covering the all-important event. The following is my email to the reporter and the reply I got. From the reply it is obvious that, on the whole, the Government of Bhutan and the organizers did an excellent job.


Traffic control and flow was outstanding as well. Our men in blue did well.

CONGRATULATIONS!

……………………………………………..

Hi M,

Thank you for the mail ... I am impressed that you were kind enough to inform me of your safe arrival in Delhi so promptly.

Yea .. I intentionally wanted you to have a comfortable hotel while here in Bhutan ... and I think that Nak-sel hotel in Paro has nicely appointed rooms and calm and tranquility which I thought you might enjoy after your noisy Delhi. That is why I was eager that even your last night in Bhutan should be spent at Nak-sel. I am happy that I made no mistake there :)

I hope that our government was not found wanting in the arrangements they made for the visiting media. But I know that we do not have much experience in handling such a huge influx of media personnel. Surely, there must have been shortfalls but please forgive us if you were inconvenienced in any way. And, if there is any improvement you can suggest in the arrangements, please let me know .. We will not be offended but take it as a useful suggestion ……….

Bye and take care .. and it has been a pleasure knowing you.

Yeshey”

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Yeshey

Thanks for reply.  Please give me your address, so that I can mail you the SIM card.

I think the Bhutan government did a good job taking care of us.  First of all, we were granted very good and exclusive access to various occations during the wedding.  Secondly, we were well fed, ha! Thirdly, although the stadium's internet did not work, internet at other places worked just fine.  As far as I am concerned, the only thing that bothered me a bit was a liason officer who was supposed to attend me and three other journalists for three days was not helpful compared to other liason officers.  He was nice enough and willing to be helpful but, in my case especially in Phunakha, he ended up creating confusions.  You can ask Rinzin for the details. Journalists are one of the most demanding and abnoxious kind of people as you know.  Especially, those journalists from the US and European countries are the worst, I think.  They think the world is for them. To meet their demands is very difficult and it's just impossible.  I think the government did well in spite of a lack of experience and the limited capacity.

I am not trying to be nice here.  This is my honest opinion.  I have seen so many ill equiped media centers in many countries. Compared to those cases, Bhutan indeed did a really good job.

M"

The Royal Wedding

Even as I write this post, I have one of my eyes on the TV screen where the proceedings of the Royal Wedding that is currently underway in Punakha are being broadcast live by the BBS. It is a beautiful event. The color, the pomp and the pageantry is simply fabulous!

I am told that His Majesty had willed that the event should be a very subdued affair. When I look on the TV screen, I cannot fathom how such an event can ever be subdued - the profusion of colors, the solemnity of the occasion, the rituals, the reverberating resonance of the drums and the cymbals and the deep throated gurgling of the Dhung and the soulful musical sounds of the Jaling - they all combine to make the ceremony into something of a monumental celebration. And it should be rightly so, after all, this ceremony goes beyond the formalization of a matrimonial union of two beings. This event is the public legitimization of the appointment of the Queen of Bhutan.

As of today, Ashi Jetsun Pema is no longer an ordinary person. She now enters a life of discipline, of commitment and sacrifice, of renouncement and surrender - a life steeped in ceremony and officialdom. The crown comes at a heavy price and I hope she is up to it - for her own sake and for the sake of her subjects - the people of Bhutan.

On this momentous occasion, I pray that she is able to fulfill her duties as Her Majesty Ashi Jetsun Pema Wangchuck the Queen of Bhutan. May this day prove to be as joyous as the people of Bhutan believe it to be.