I’ve been here a little over a week now, and already the
disconnect between policy and reality is evident. Of course, one should not be too hard on a
country with such lofty ideals, for living up to them is bound to be a challenge. I had dinner with a few other expats the
other night, and some were quite cynical about the state of things here, but I
tend to think they were being a bit harsh.
For a country that is actually less than a century out of its medieval
period, it seems to me they are doing quite well. Plus, one needs to ask exactly what the goals
of a country’s development are, and as stated clearly by the GNH commission
here (which is essentially the government planning and development commission),
the goal of Bhutan’s unique approach to development is not strictly material,
it also strives to encompass non-material dimensions of being. And for this, I think they ought to be
admired.
Still, there is the reality of things on the ground, and in
Thimphu at least (which is all that I’ve seen so far), there’s the sense of
worlds meeting, and a major crossroads being faced. The city is growing rapidly, and while it is
beautiful to look at due to the government policy that all buildings must be
built according to traditional style, and there is an astonishingly high degree
of living traditional craftsmanship that adorns these buildings in the form of
woodwork, painting, masonry, etc., there is also the fact that things are often
not nearly as nice inside them. Bhutan,
like it or not, is part of South Asia, though it feels at time like a world
unto itself. But most of the engineers,
plumbers, and modern tradespeople have been trained in India, and they face the
same sort of problems faced there, that is, lack of quality in many
places. The government makes no demands,
it seems, on the insides of buildings, and many are rather ugly, not to mention,
poorly put together. So there is
something of a disconnect, just as there is with a government policy that
demands civil servants wear traditional dress.
It doesn’t mean they are traditional, spiritual, or virtuous on the
inside. Though they are quite helpful
and happy, from what I’ve seen.
When referring to the crossroads that I mentioned above, I
am truly not exaggerating. One can
literally see the effects on the generations of Bhutanese, such that I have noted
at least three levels of being and alignment with either traditional Bhutanese
lifestyle, modernity, or somewhere in between.
The elders here are incredibly beautiful, wizened, walking around with
prayer beads, traditional clothing, prayer wheels, you’ve seen the pictures,
they are truly from the old world. The
youth (and there are a lot of them, it is a very young country), often are seen
in blue jeans, sporting all the modern styles and fashion. In between are their parents, many of whom
still wear gho and kira, that is, the traditional clothing, but who are aware
of modernity and its demands, and are increasingly educated, cosmopolitan, and
to some degree, Westernized. So you can
literally see here the descent into the homogeneity of globalization happening
in front of your eyes. It’s actually
fairly stark and frightening to me. Twenty
years ago TV was banned, but due to pressure from the outside world, this has
changed, and in turn this has changed everything. Well, TV is obviously not the only factor,
but you get the idea. Now is this for
the good? I’m not going to pass judgment
here, but certainly the old ways are fading way too fast.
The government remains focused on attempting to keep alive
the old ways: the traditions of Bhutan’s luminous past, and many are still
evident, and I’m enjoying exploring and observing, feeling very much an
outsider (and the lack of tourists here, there are extremely few, does slow
down the pace of change a bit, it seems).
But I can’t help but feel I’m witnessing the end of an age, that in twenty
years things will be so different that they’ll barely be recognizable. People who’ve been coming here for twenty
years say that this change is happening already, that the growth of Thimphu is
leading to another modern Asian capital, despite efforts to preserve the
past. So, we’ll see, and hopefully I’ll
get out into the country and see what is happening in the rural areas, where
most of the people still live. More to
come on these interesting developments.
