Of Puja, Pollution and God Who Gets Dumped: Part II

For the past three years, I have been hollering for the National Environment Commission (NEC) and other relevant government agencies to do something about the annual dumping of hundreds of Vishwakarma statues into our river systems. My concern is that, unlike in the olden days, the present day statues are made of non-biodegradable materials such as plastic, cement and plaster of Paris and painted with chemical dyes that contain harmful and toxic agents. These idols pollute our rivers.

We never fail to talk big about our environmental conservation efforts and the pristine nature of our ecosystem. The truth is that despite repeatedly pointing out the ill effects of the practice of dumping statues into our river systems, the authorities have remained stoically unconcerned. The best I have seen the NEC do is post a notice on their website that reads as follows:

“This is for the general information to the public that washing and cleaning of clothes/vehicles and dumping of any kinds of wastes by the river banks or into any water bodies are prohibited under the Waste Prevention and Management Act of Bhutan 2009 and National Environment Protection Act of Bhutan 2007.

Therefore, everyone is informed to stop carrying out these activities. Henceforth, anyone found violating these Acts shall be liable for both civil and criminal penalties”.

As far as the NEC is concerned, they seem to believe that they have fulfilled their duty once a notice is posted on their website.

Yesterday was Vishwakarama Puja and yet again I suppose our river system will suffer another round of the annual abuse.

Now, however, the Ministry of Agriculture & Forests, in collaboration with the Food Corporation of Bhutan, seems to be taking some action. Yesterday morning, as I was passing by the vegetable market, I saw the following scene. Seems like atleast one arm of the government is so fed up that they are now auctioning off the idols as vegetables.

It is a start.

Dasho T. Yonten (A51TY): Silent-Key

Dasho Thuji Yonten (A51TY) went Silent-Key on 28th August, 2012. He was 75 years old. He was not only the first Director of Bhutan’s Civil Wireless; more significantly, amateurs around the world knew him as the first Bhutanese Ham radio operator to be heard on the world amateur radio bands. Available records show that he became active, for the first time, in January of 1972. His initial CallSign was AC5TY which he subsequently changed to A51TY.

The country prefix "AC5" is a mystery - I do not know how that came to be. May be the decision to adopt it was influenced by the country prefixes of our two closest neighbors – Tibet and Sikkim. Tibet’s country prefix was "AC4" and Sikkim was known by the prefix "AC3". However, both these countries ceased to be DX nations when China took over Tibet in the early 1950’s and Sikkim was annexed by India in the mid 70's. Consequently, their country prefixes were deleted from the official DX records - Sikkim's on 30.04.1975 and Tibet’s a year earlier – on 30.05.1974.

Bhutan seems to have got our current country prefix – "A51" – sometime in 1972 as a result of which Dasho Yonten changed his CallSign to A51TY. The prefix "A51" in the CallSign is the Bhutan country prefix and the alphabets "TY" stands for the initials of Dasho Thuji Yonten.

Two of his following QSL Cards are among the most prized by the world amateur community.

Having gone off the air since his brief emergence in 1972, Dasho Yonten coming back on air was something of a world event. After 1972, the next time he was heard on the amateur bands was 28 years later - on 27th April, 2000. That event was broadcast over the DX News network, on 29th April, 2000, as follows:

“The second happy news is that Yonten, A51TY has been back on the air since 27 April at 12.01 UTC. He made his first CW (with RW0JR) and SSB (with VK9NL) QSOs on 20 metres”.

Records show that it was Mr. Jim Smith from Australia who got Dasho Yonten to come back on the airwaves - in order that amateurs around the world could get an opportunity to exchange a QSO with an extremely rare operator - A51TY - from the world’s second rarest DX country at that time.

The photo below shows the QTH from where Dasho Yonten is supposed to have operated his amateur radio in the early 1970's.

PS: When a HAM radio operator goes Silent-Key, it means he is no more.

Draft ECB Social Media Policy 2012

I finally managed to get hold of a copy of the Draft of the ECB Social Media Policy 2012. As I said in my earlier post on the subject, ECB’s website does not carry a copy of the Draft. I am told that it is available on Facebook. But I am neither on Facebook nor on Tweeter. So I did a bit of legwork and managed to locate a hard copy with a friend.

I read the Draft - my conclusion: A set of confused and contradictory document, but a dangerous one, nonetheless. In particular, there is one sentence in the Preamble that bothers me:

“……. hereby adopts the ECB Social Media Policy 2012 to ensure proper usage of social media by the ECB, election officials, Political Parties, Candidates and their supporters as well as the media agencies in all matters related to elections, during or outside the Election Period”.

The extension of the rule to cover “supporters of the political parties and their candidates” and the coverage of a period “outside the Election Period” bothers me. I have not been able to get hold of a copy of the Election Commission Act so I am not sure if their authority and mandate encompasses periods beyond and outside the election period and whether they can impose their will on the common voters and the supporters of political parties and their candidates.

I read Chapter 16 Election Code of Conduct of the Election Act of the Kingdom of Bhutan, 2008. The Act does not mention anything about “supporters” of a political party or their candidates. The closest reference the Act makes is when it states:

      290.  No candidate or political party shall permit any other
                 person to carry out election campaign on his/her or
                 its behalf, except by person authorized under this Act.

But "any other person" referred to above need not necessarily be a supporter of a political party or its candidates. But even here, it holds the political party responsible to ensure compliance of the rules on behalf of the "other persons"

According to the Draft ECB Social Media Policy 2012, it prohibits supporters from promoting and canvassing on behalf of the party they support.

This effectively renders every voter in the country as: APOLITICAL. This is ridiculous and can cause a lot of problems. Every individual with any intelligence ought to have a party that he/she supports - for whatever reason. If he/she does not, then the person is no better than a zombie. I most definitely support a party that I believe has the wherewithal to take this country forward and I definitely intend to canvass and speak on its behalf. The ECB cannot take away that right from me.

The act or the intention behind an individual supporting a party fulfills a fundamental duty of a voter - the responsibility to vote in a party that he/she believes is good for the country. The ECB cannot throttle my endeavors to promote a party that I believe is the most competent and able.

I do not believe in the hype that social media will influence the outcome of the 2013 elections. It may - marginally but only in the urban centers. However, the bulk of the voters are in the rural villages. Their votes will be the bigger influence. We cannot cite the examples of impact of social media in other countries because our level of Internet connectivity and basic literacy rate is way, way below those in other countries. Thus, my objections do not arise from the fear that the Internet savvy, the well heeled and the well connected will be the movers and shakers of the 2013 elections.

I object because the ECB is, through the proposed Draft Social Media Policy 2012, trying to infringe on our individual rights and our privacy. This is dangerous and every Bhutanese must object to the contemplation of such a draconian and undemocratic rule.

I am aware that what the ECB proposes will be near impossible to implement. We neither have the technical skills, nor the financial resources, to implement what is being proposed. Therefore, I know that even if the rule gets passed, it will be among the many rules that will remain unenforceable.

I bring up the issue because I am appalled at the thought that the ECB is proposing something that totally contradicts their mandate. It is a dangerous idea. The ECB is a constitutional body that carries the express mandate to protect and enthuse the practice of wholesome democratic culture. It is preposterous that the same institution should propose a rule that would result in the deprivation of the most fundamental rights that democracy grants to the people.

ECB to Empower Bhutanese ISPs to Monitor their Users’ On-Line Activities

If recent Kuensel reports are to be believed, indications are that the Election Commission of Bhutan is toying with some dangerous ideas that are likely to result in the infringement of our individual freedom and privacy. The most recent Kuensel report says as follows:

"The draft social media rules and regulations now require ISPs to implement a “necessary system to monitor and detect cases of violation of the electoral laws through the social media”.  It also requires ISPs to implement a system that can “lawfully intercept” and provide “necessary information on the identity of a social media abuser using its services”. In case of violations on the contents of a website, ECB can order ISPs to block that particular website".

I don’t know if they are empowered to legislate laws that infringe on the individual rights and privacy of the Bhutanese people and I don’t even know if the above has become law. I visited their website and tried to read the new rules and regulations being proposed. I don’t see it posted on the website.

But for now, I am concerned that the ECB thinks they have the right to grant sweeping powers to the ISPs to monitor the activities of the their users. The other concern is whether the ECB can actually ORDER the ISPs to block particular websites. Under what authority or law does the ECB have those powers?

Where do I find information on the matter? Please help me understand this matter. I sense a real danger here.

Funny Signages

One of the catchiest business names I have ever come across happens to be the one at Thimphu’s Hong Kong Market area. The business is named: HER ASSET BROKER & REAL ESTATE. Whichever way I look at it, I am convinced that there is nothing straightforward about what is on offer. But I dare say that, as dubious as it may sound, the owner of the business must be pretty sure that he has something worthy to offer. Without that conviction, he cannot be so bold as to declare his firm as a brokerage for her asset.

To be fair, the Chinese are even more creative in naming their businesses. See the following for proof.

But the Japanese take the cake – when it comes to being cryptic. One notice in a Japanese hotel room reads as follows:

“This room has hot air and also cold air. If you feel hot, cool yourself"

THAT THE PEOPLE SHALL BE MISINFORMED

I was amazed to read today's (6th September, 2012) Kuensel’s front page report headlined “Is this a case of conflict of interest?”

The article starts off with; “With the ACC investigations into the Gyalpoizhing land case now with the office of the attorney general (OAG), questions are being raised on whether it can, as the advisor and legal representative of the government, also prosecute the government”.

Have I entirely misunderstood the matter concerning the case revolving around the allocation of land in Gyalpoizhing? I was under the impression that the investigation pertained to certain persons being allotted land where they were not entitled to; that the Dzongkhag Committee exceeded their mandate in allotting land to those people, among a number of other allegations.

Since when did the present government become a respondent to the Gyalpoizhing land case? What are the allegations against the government on the basis of which it now has to face prosecution?

Is this a deliberate attempt on the part of the national daily to mislead the Bhutanese people?

My Apple iMac Desktop Photo

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I finally managed to set-up and install my 27” Apple iMac – after 3 months of its arrival. I have been too darn busy to go through the installation process, backing up the files on the old computer and transferring them to the new iMac, which I still haven’t done - I mean transferring the old files to the new Mac.

Migrating from a poorly calibrated 17” monitor to a stunningly brilliant billboard sized 27” LCD takes a bit of getting used to. Apple has always been noted for its GUI (graphical user interface). The brilliance of their monitors takes your breath away!

First thing that I needed to do was to look for a great looking Desktop image to compliment the capabilities of the Apple Monitor. I settled for the following image, which I shot a few weeks back. I love the strong colors and the ethnic miscellany of the knickknacks that go into making this interesting piece of jewelry worn by the women from Laya.

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Since the mid 80’s when I pioneered the import, adoption and use of modern technology in Bhutan, even at the risk of going bankrupt, I never allowed myself to lag behind in acquiring the latest and the spunkiest of technology. But as I grow older, I am beginning to realize that technology has an adverse effect on the competence of human beings. As new and more efficient technologies are invented, there is a proportionate loss of humanness in us. The heart is shrinking and the mind is getting oversized. Even as the medical science is advancing by leaps and bounds, we suffer more and more strange and incurable diseases. Even as our cities grow larger and glitzier, it is becoming less and less livable.

Every human endeavor is directed towards securing our future and protecting our lives. But the evidence that is emerging is that we have achieved exactly the opposite. The earth is at peril because our technologies have become very efficient.

Death of an Iconic Photographer

-->Prabuddha Dasgupta was one of India’s most celebrated fashion photographers. He died of a heart attack on 12^th of this month, on his way to the airport after a photo shoot near Mumbai. He would have been only 56 years old next month.

I never met the great photographer but I was due to play host to his maiden visit to Bhutan sometime this year. I was informed of the planned visit by his wife, Tania Dasgupta – a much sought after book designer based in Delhi. She designed my book “Bhutan Birds”.

I have been robbed of a lifetime opportunity to meet a photographer of immense talent. And, Bhutan missed the opportunity of being photographed by an unconventional visualizer.

The Ministry of Culture, Government of India is hosting a Memorial Meeting in honor of the great photographer on August 25^th 2012. I will not be able to attend it but I take this opportunity to offer my condolences to his wife and two daughters.

Ancient Textile and White-bellied Heron

-->I am currently photographing some rare and ancient Bhutanese textiles. I have always held the belief that Bhutanese weavers are second to none - in their artistry and technique of weaving. Their choice of color combinations is a visual treat. I have never complained that the Bhutanese textile is too expensive - I have always been sorry that really good stuff is beyond my reach.

Now that I have seen some old pieces that I had never seen before, I am simply awed. The quality and artistry and fineness of work of those weavers in the bygone era were miles and miles ahead of what you see now. I am so awed by the skills and craftsmanship that was prevalent those days - it is simply humbling to hold these masterpieces in your hands. Even with the improved and consistent thickness and finish of the modern thread, the present day master weavers, as good as they are, are simply no match to those weavers of the past.

What amazes me is the complexity of the patterns and motifs woven into those fabrics. Mostly, the textiles are woven of rough spun raw silk. But the finish is so fine – it is as if an artist sat down to draw the motifs and patterns with pencil on paper. And they are soooooooooooooo colorful!

In one of the old pieces that is called Chagtsi Pangkhep, I came across a motif that intrigued me for days. Then, when I re-photographed the piece, it dawned on me that the motif that intrigued me had a striking similarity with Bhutan’s rarest bird – the White-bellied Heron. Take a look at the following photo of the bird and the motif placed side by side. Don’t you think the motif looks so much like the rare bird for which Bhutan is famous?

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Please take note of the hunched back, the tall legs and the extremely long neck ending in an equally long beak depicted in the motif. No other bird looks like this one. It is amazing how accurately the bird’s physical attributes have been executed on thread. That is the level of skill that existed in the past.

This brings us to the question: Is it possible that the White-bellied Heron was an inhabitant of Bhutan since many centuries and not a recent discovery when it was first sighted in Sonagasa, Punakha in 1974?

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To understand more about the White-bellied Heron, please read my post titled: “BHUTAN: Birding Capital of the World” which can be found at:

http://yesheydorji.blogspot.com/search/label/Environment

World At A Macro Level

-->Close-up photography or more popularly known as “Macro Photography” is a very tedious work. You have to work with extremely high apertures and even more extreme, breath stopping slow shutter speeds. The biggest challenge is to control glare and reflection from the object’s shinny surface. But when you do manage to overcome all the difficulties and challenges; the result you get is quite something. Even the most unassuming object can turn out to be most appealing and quite different from what the naked eyes see.

 A small section of a Bhutanese Lady's Jiru or Necklace

The Guile of the Snow Leopard

-->Aap Drugey is a yak herder and a pony driver from Soe Yaktsa who I take along with me during my treks into the northern Alpine regions. I do not really need him but trekking at high altitudes during the thick of winter is dangerous and unpredictable. I take him along because in times of emergency, his experience and knowledge of the region can be invaluable.

One bitter cold night in February, 2011, we were camped in Soe Yaktsa, a village on the fringes of the Snow Leopard habitat. Sitting by the campfire, he narrated to me the following ingenious way a Snow Leopard employs, to hunt for and capture Blue Sheep.

The Blue Sheep is the primary food source for the Snow Leopard, a big, beautiful endangered cat living in the Alpine regions of Bhutan. The Blue Sheep move in herds. The cat is fast but not fast enough to outrun the sheep. So the cat employs a brilliantly ingenious strategy to prey on the Blue Sheep.

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Snow Leopard (Photo courtesy: Wikipedia)

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When the Snow Leopard sees a herd of sheep feeding on a mountain side, it will climb to a higher ground, about 200 – 300 ft. above the herd, concealed by the rocks and boulders that make up the landscape. Then, when it is certain that it is close enough, from behind a boulder, it will roll down a small pebble directly towards the center of the herd. The herd will be alerted but they realize that it is merely a small stone pebble accidentally rolling down .. so they will resume feeding. After a while, the cat will roll down another stone, this time a much bigger one than the earlier stone. Alerted, the sheep will look up at the approaching pebble and ignore it and continue feeding, indifferent and unhindered.

The leopard will continue to roll down stone after stone, each time bigger and bigger ones. After a while the sheep will completely ignore the rolling stones and not even look up what is coming down. Then, when the Snow Leopard is completely certain that the sheep have been lured and numbed into complacency, it will turn itself into a round ball of fur and come rolling down towards the unsuspecting herd. When he is in the middle of the herd, it will suddenly unfurl itself and grab the closest sheep in a strangulating grip on the sheep’s throat!

Rebuilding Wangdue Phodrang Dzong III

-->The need to build a new Dzong for Wangdue Phodrang Dzongkhag comes at a time when the country can ill afford it. It is terrible timing. The RMA Governor was unequivocal in his warning, over national TV less than a week back, that if we do not improve things in the next 7-8 months, our very sovereignty may be at stake. That is the gravity of our situation. He ought to know, after all, the man is the head of our Central Bank and he has information that we do not. Let us heed him before it is too late.

For once, let us stop being the typical Bhutanese - the perennial Azha Passa.

The DPT government is not responsible for our current economic woes. It has been fomenting for the past many decades. So, we cannot fix blame on the DPT government for the Rupee crunch, which is principally caused, not by the sudden depletion of our Rupee reserves, but by the huge and widening trade imbalance between India and ourselves. But the real truth that is now emerging is that we not only have a severe Rupee crunch, but even worst, we also are faced with a severe Ngultrums crunch.

That said, the prudent management of the country’s finances during their tenure is the responsibility of the government. At a time when we need to tighten our belts and rein in wasteful and avoidable spending, it is important for the government to look at hard numbers and have the courage and determination to override misplaced emotions, for the sake of the country and for their own credibility as a responsible government.

There simply is no reason why the Dzong must be rebuilt on the same location where it stood. I have already said in my earlier posts that the Dzong could not be saved for one simple reason: due to inaccessibility of the location.

Because of the difficulty of the location, knowledgeable people opine that the Dzong is going to cost us close to Nu.2.00 billions and not Nu.1.00 billion as was being projected in the papers. I spoke to some architects and engineers and they tell me that if the same Dzong were to be built at a less difficult location, the cost can be cut down by about 40%. That translates to a savings of Nu.800.00 million. In addition, I am told that the Dzong can be built in half the time.

I spoke to one senior official who is from Wangdue and he agrees that the new Dzong should be built on the location extending from the Telecom compound going back all the way to the old town that has been relocated to Bajothang. In his opinion, there is enough space to fit the Dzong comfortably and still have open space to provide for firefighting paraphernalia. He felt that the ruins were looking very impressive.

One conservationist I spoke to was vehement, as I am, that pulling down the ruins of the old Dzong to rebuild a new one in its place would be nothing short of an insult to our cultural sensitivity. In the words of the person, “it is going to cause a complete disconnect between our forefathers and ourselves”. According to this person, leaving the ruins of the Dzong as it is would be to show respect to them. If at all, the person felt that we should rebuild the Dzong using the same foundations and the stonewalls that still stand, which the person felt will still be strong enough to support the structure of the new Dzong.

Another engineer I spoke to says that the removal of the debris will cost us few hundred million and will take upwards of a year to clean the place up.

One senior citizen I spoke to said that the Wangdue Phodrang Dzong’s location was predestined by “Ngam-koe” but he said that the fact that it has been burnt down completely and the fact that nothing could save it meant that the Dzong’s “Ngam-koe” was over. Ngamkoe zosop wongni imdrey. According to him, everything is predestined - humans cannot alter it or interfere with it.

One expatriate I spoke to reiterated that Bhutan must not accept other nations to rebuild the Dzong for us because, in his opinion, a Dzong is an edifice of Bhutanese culture and heritage. He felt that no one but the Bhutanese must build the Dzong, however difficult or however costly. Bhutan must not accept aid money to rebuild the Dzong.

One person I spoke to had this very interesting thing to say about culture. He said that culture is something that must constantly evolve to suite the changing times. So must religion. To support his point, he said; “look inside the Patangs worn by our current breed of Lyonpos, Dashos, MPs, Drangpons etc. You will find that inside that elaborately carved and decorated scabbard, you will find that most, if not all, do not have the shinning steel blade that they are supposed to contain. The reason is that the Patang is now merely a formality and not a necessity that it used to be during the ancient times. It no longer serves the purpose it use to but it still has to be worn because it is part of the dress code of persons holding certain positions. In these modern times when efficiency and freedom of mobility is important, a weighty Patang by your side is more of a hindrance thus, people have shed the steel blade to make it more comfortable to wear the Patang”.

The last point I want to make is that spending so much on a Dzong for Wangdue Phodrang Dzongkhag is being irresponsible to people in other Dzongkhags. The only way the government can spend so much on the reconstruction of the Dzong is by curtailing spending on critical services and developmental activities in other Dzongkhags.

The government cannot short-change people from other Dzongkhags because it lacks the courage to look at things objectively and do what is necessary. Neither can it shrug off responsibility by saying that pressure was brought to bear on them. Particularly during these times of financial crises that the country is going through, the government must exercise their power and responsibility entrusted them by the majority of the people of Bhutan - to do things for the best interest of the country and not be misguided by some misplaced sense of righteousness, or the need to look good in the eyes of the people.

The reconstruction of the Dzong is going to add to our woes. Let us be sensible about this.

END

Test Shot

-->I am in the process of testing a new lens, which I recently acquired. Here are two photos for your evaluation.

The two photos show the enlarged details of an intricate design found in a Bhutanese lady’s Kira. I am posting this to ascertain how you see it on your computer monitor. Is it sharp enough? How is the color rendition? Need some feedback here. Different lens behave differently at different aperture settings. Both of the images were shot at F16. The upper one is with a Zeiss Macro 50mm and the lower one is by Zeiss 21mm which is a none macro lens.

So which of the two do you like better?

History In The Making?

-->Some of my friends are unfailing in their declaration that we Bhutanese are a unique lot; I have always readily agreed that we indeed are - as unique as everyone else. A recent news item in the Bhutan Times reassures me that I am not wrong.

Seems like one of the new aspiring political parties (Bhutan Times prefers to call it the third political party) is beginning to emerge out of the woodwork, if the paper’s report headlined “31 definite, 16 more to go” of 15^th July, 2012 is anything to go by.

Dr. Tandin Dorji of the yet-to-be-registered Druk Nyamrup Tshogpa exudes an air of confidence when he boldly declares:

“The focus being to garner candidates, we have managed to rope in some of the best. Their integrity, sincerity of purpose and intelligence are beyond doubt and, given the chance, we pretty much feel we have the wherewithal to take this country forward”

I wish the aspirants the very best of luck. I hope they manage to get the remaining 16 candidates to enable them to qualify as a political party and contest the coming elections. But for the moment, I am more interested in an inconspicuous sentence buried among the multitude of sentences making up the three-column news article, that reads; “According to Druk Nyamrup Tshogpa, four women MPs in the National Assembly currently will also join the party”.

Stunning exposé, to say the least! The Bhutan Times has uncovered a coup, no less. History will record this as the first reported incidence of political defection in Bhutan’s democratic history. And, while at it, they also have the distinction of being the first in redefining the meaning of the term “integrity”.

The Bhutanese people’s Karma, it would appear, is sodden with madness.

Rebuilding Wangdue Phodrang Dzong II

-->I am aware that it sounds rather inconceivable that I propose that the new Wangdue Phodrang Dzong be built at a location different from the one on which its ruins now stand. In fact, some might even say that I am being impervious to the sensitivities of the people of Wangdue, to propose such a thing. I agree that at first glance, it sounds almost sacrilegious. But I want to assure you that my feelings are not borne out of lack of sensitivity but as a result of having considered everything logically and rationally. Let me explain my thoughts.

There has not been a single day when I have not thought of the enormity of the loss of Wangdue Phodrang Dzong. It is a national loss, and not the loss of the people of Wangdue alone. Bhutan is poorer by one Dzong and, despite all our bravado, that Dzong cannot be replicated, ever.

Two thoughts occupy my mind: one, that of pulling down the ruins to make way for the construction of the new Dzong and two, that of the rationale behind rebuilding a new one on the same location where the old Dzong stood.

I thought long and hard and, whichever way I look at it, at the end, there was only one conclusion I could arrive at. The act of pulling down the ruins and clearing the site of the remains of the old Dzong serves no other purpose except one - that of obliterating, forever, all signs of the Dzong’s close to four hundred years of existence.

As far as I am concerned, the perpetration of such an act can be defined in two simple words: cultural insensitivity. For the only country in the entire world that advocates cultural preservation as one of the main pillars of the philosophy of GNH, the deliberate and willful eradication of this important historical and cultural evidence would be nothing short of devastating to our reputation as a GNH country.

Without doubt, we need to build a Dzong for the Rabdey and the people of Wangdue Phodrang Dzongkhag. However, what is the rationale behind building the Dzong on the same location where the ruins of the old Dzong now stands? How valid are the compulsions of the 17^th century Bhutan to that of the 21^st century modern Bhutan?

There were warlike conditions prevailing during the time when our Dzongs were built, mostly during the early 17^th century. Dzongs served as fortresses from where wars were waged and enemies were repelled. Because of its principal intended use, they had to be built and located at strategic locations with commanding views and impregnable topographical features. Making them as inaccessible as possible was the primary design feature of most Dzongs in the country.

Unfortunately, its impregnability and inaccessibility was the sole cause for Wangdue Phodrang Dzong’s complete destruction. If it were constructed at a location with multiple and easy access, the Dzong could have been saved. All our modern firefighting equipment at our command, all the good intentions of a few thousand people who thronged the periphery of the Dzong was not good enough to save it from being razed to the ground. All because of one single factor: its perilous location.

Mistakes and losses are a part of life. What is important is that we derive lessons from such occurrences. If anything, this phenomenal loss should teach us one simple lesson: never ever to build our Dzongs and other vital structures on locations such as those on which the Wangdue Phodrang Dzong was located.

Natural and manmade disasters are a reality. Part of our preparedness to combat them effectively must include a design parameter that accepts natural calamities as something real and unavoidable.

…….. to be continued