23 April 2010
His Majesty’s visit to some of the remotest parts of the kingdom in the east is rede fining the people’s perception of a monarch like never before.
The rural people are now describing His Majesty as “an enlightened being”.
“He didn’t sound like a king up there in his speech,” said Atta Chiloo from Zoar in Kengkhar Gewog, Mongar. “He sounded like a lama tell ing us to be good human be ings.”
Villagers, school chil dren and civil servants are increasingly opening their hearts to him.
Until recently, farmers, especially in remote areas, would not dare to be seen or stand along the trail taken by the royal entourage. Dorji Wangchuk, Director of the Royal Office for Media, said His Majesty has been able to win the people’s hearts. “I myself grew up running away when we heard the pi lot siren,” he said.
“Within a short span of time, His Majesty has defi nitely changed the people’s perception of the monarch,” he added.
Earlier, people ran away upon a rumor of an immi nent visit of the dreaded gar pas (court officials). Today, everyone stands and waits patiently for the motorcade. His Majesty dutifully stops by even for a single soul standing by the roadside.
In the past, villagers ran away from court officials, who were known to impose heavy taxes on them.
Some village sources say that, in a year, more than five garpas visited the villages to collect taxes. Cattle, pigs and chicken were slaughtered for the garpas. Villagers bore all the expenses of their stay and hospitality.
“I remember villagers weaving Pangkhep Sari (a towel-like piece of cloth) in my childhood,” said Rinchen Wangdi in his fifties. “Villag ers would tell me that it was given as a tax to Jakar Dzong in Bumthang.” Rinchen also remembers people weaving another kind of textile called Reepay Thagra to be given as another kind of tax called Thraigong.
Ata Chiloo recollects vil lagers hiding in the forests on hearing a rumour of gar rpas’ arrival. They also hid their properties and valu ables away from their hous es. Kengkhar was once the highway for the kings and dzongpoens moving from Bumthang to Dungsam (present-day Pemagatshel and Samdrupjongkhar area) and Assam.
Some communities in the eastern Bhutan even left their native villages to avoid heavy taxes. One such place is Kur toe in Lhuntse Dzongkhag. Long time ago, some 18 households were known to have abandoned their village to avoid heavy taxes, which also included doae (labour tax that involved carrying government consignments).
Villagers say that two peo ple from every household would be out doing doae. Numerous taxes were levied on different villages depend ing on what they grew. Some common taxes included sath rey (land tax), laneru threy (vegetable dye tax) and sing si grapa (vegetable oil tax).
According to Atta Chiloo, different garpas were de ployed to collect different taxes. Throughout the year, the villagers remained both ered by tax collectors. The garpas were locally named after the tax they collected. First came Lanee Garpa fol lowed by Singsi Garpa. Then came Yoma Garpa (to col lect butter and cheese tax) followed by Thritha Garpa (to collect textile tax) and Thraizong Garpa.
Present day Kengkhar Community Primary School (KCPS) premises were used for the garpas’ night halt. Known as Gumnang Brang sa, the villagers used the ground to keep their cattle. Ata Chiloo still remembers presenting live cattle to gar pas for meat. Now, Atta Chiloo and Rinchen Wangdi see the past being replaced by a present. The present they are seeing is the affection of a king for his people. Ata Chiloo rec ollects the slaughter of his neighbour’s bull in the same field.
Today, they are witnessing a king placing his service for the betterment of his peo ple. “I take it as my sacred responsibility to address the problems of my people,” said His Majesty.
Time has definitely changed, said Shacha Dor ji from Yangmalashing in Pemagatshel.
“Now we need not have to offer anything to the King; instead, he gives us every thing,” said Rinchen Wang di.
Today, meeting the king has become a life-long dream for many. A villager from Pam in Gongdu Gewog in Mongar said seeing the king was a life-time oppor tunity. “Earlier, forget see ing the king, in a place like Gongdu, you could not even see a dzongda,” said Yeshey Namgay.
“Today, you don’t have to go to Thimphu; the King walks into your village, and into your house,” he added. “He treats his people like his family members”.
Tshering Gembo, a class V student in Daksa Community Primary School (DCPS), was thrilled by His Majesty’s in vitation to play football with him.
“It was fun playing with His Majesty,” he said. “He was one of us.”
People say His Majesty not only provides the edu cational allowance to needy students, but has almost adopted them individually.
His Majesty’s education scheme has around 3,000 children in Bhutan.
His Majesty drinks from the humblest of man and woman. According to senior officials in the royal entou rage, His Majesty’s love for the people is genuine and very moving.
Any news of His Majesty passing through villages and towns attracts hundreds of people. Some of them just come to catch a glimpse of him. “People wait for hours, and some for days, under scorching sun or beating rain,” says Dorji Wangchuk.
Abi Rinchen, 77, from Bephu village under Thrim zhing Gewog, who dragged herself for a day to stand by the roadside as the King drove from Dewathang to Trashigang, said, “Seeing the King cleanses us of bad karma and we can hope for a better reincarnation. I have never seen a King and now I can die in peace.”
By Tempa Wangdi
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