December 16, 2005 - When in Rome...Part 2

The second day of the festival brought more excitement. There were similar dances and performances.

The clowns, however, were out in force. Apparently, to be a clown, one must have a command of all dances and traditions…in order to mock appropriately. They were the most skilled and experienced of all the performers.

The weapon of choice for many of these clowns is the large, wooden pen_s (sorry, I know many work computers filter content). This is not to offend or shock. Rather, it has its source in the stories and folklore of the people of Bhutan. There are stories of the Holy Mad Man who vanquishes evil with his “instrument”. Bhutanese culture is new to me so I may have some of my details mixed up; but, certainly, no one, including the children, was offended.

So, when in Rome, do as the Romans do. And, Clara certainly did. The Lonely Planet guide to Bhutan suggests that visitors should refrain from interfering with the festivals and be respectful observers only. So, when the clowns invited us up to perform a “western” a dance and then a song, Clara promptly borrowed one of the clown’s tool for use as an impromptu microphone. The locals appeared amused and I do believe that this village has rewritten the Lonely Planet guide.

I found much happiness in the curiosity of digital photography that I encountered over the past two days. It was clear that this was a new concept for many of the people of this village. There were a few of the elders who kindly declined being photographed. According to our guides, this stems from superstitions to which some of the elders subscribe. The younger people were open to being photographed and were quite amused with the immediate gratification of seeing their images on the LCD screen of my camera. A quick lesson and some of the children were able to effectively operate my Nikon D2X. I very much wanted to send copies of the photos to my generous subjects but found out that there is no mail delivery to such a remote place. I finally found a student who attends boarding school in the nearest town, Jakar. I will be mailing the photos to him, hoping that they will reach back to his home village.

The festival was the main reason that I came to Bhutan and the experience surpassed my expectations. My heart was warmed by the openness and generosity of the people of the Tang Valley. They welcomed us, compete strangers, to participate with them. I don’t even mind that they had a few laughs at our expense. And, as a bonus, they cured my nauseated stomach.