It takes someone to remind us…I don’t care about others but for me, I need someone to trigger. So it was and it will be. I have never been to our national stadium so formally like today, 21st February 2011, and I was flashed back to the decades ago. The old national band with beats and trumpets engulfed me with nostalgia. I felt like I was walking back to the years and years ago, when I was listening to the old radio. I realized I am old now. Time has taught me enough…
Those where the days when I would be in the ‘half full’ shirt, belly region of my shirt would be torn, and crying for the breakfast as soon as I wake up from the dusty bed. Not exactly a bed, it would just be a hand made mattress stitched so many torn clothes together and pillow made up of husk in a sack. I remembered how I cried for my mother when she would leave me and my younger sister all alone and both of us crying “Amaa..”
Now Bhutan is transformed. I remember my village mates have rice cookers and boilers each at least. IF not for our great fathers of Bhutan, it would be for none. Fourth king served the kingdom bravely, defending the militants in a day, and compassionately (loving and missing his people). By now, I changed my king. Every body was bit scared thinking, “what will be the next”? It’s not because people lack trust in him, but in losing our former. But he displayed his role as real people’s king.
Have you ever seen any other king kissing his subject? Have you ever seen any ruler playing with the kid? Have you ever seen people staying with their leaders and hugging him? Not so common… when ever I think and see my king hugging and kissing with the innocent kids and holding the wrinkled hands of our senior citizens, my eyes get blurred with tears. I saw him travelling in any weather, ridges and gorges to meet his people. I saw him cooking in his own ancient home. He is my model that I worship and look up. Deep inside, I feel, “how lucky am I to born here as a lay man”!
As I came back from the stadium, and walking in the busy street, I was walking with wisdom. Though I felt lonely all alone I was thinking a lot; How many of our guest in the tents must have sung the national anthem very proudly? How many of the students beside me must have replied ‘GYALO’ with deep thought. Of course there may be few, but I saw many for fun and left the memories in the dead stadium….wishing you sincere ‘happy birth day’ to your majesty the fifth druk gyalpo. May you live for eternity…
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