27 Sep INSPIRE DEVELOPMENT | Poetic Reflections
Posted at 05:59h
in Backstage, Community Portraits, Contemporary Sikkim, Featured Post, Innovation and Inspiration, Stories of Sikkim, Uncategorized
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With the generosity of over 20 individual donors from the UK, the US, India, and Thailand, last month five young Sikkimese stepped outside their comfort zone to volunteer at the 8th edition of The Mountain Echoes Festival of Culture and Literature in Bhutan, as a part of our Inspire Development (ID) Initiative. Upon their return, we asked them to produce creative reflections on their experience, and we’d like to share a few of them here with you!
A Sikkimese in Bhutan
An unfamiliar land full of so many familiarities.
As a Sikkimese, coming to Bhutan was like taking a step down the path of “what ifs”.
What if the fate of my homeland had not been one of rushed democracy?
What if the last Keeper of Dharma had been allowed to act out his plans of modernization?
What if the nation had not been allowed to be choked by foreign ideologies?
What if the war of the west had not seeped into the mystical east?
The path of “what ifs” is one of heart break and bitterness,
But it is also one that makes you realize how precious this last himalayan kingdom is.
This land with its unique sense of happiness, in a world overrun by cynicism.
These valleys and hills that are being kindly nudged into development.
The overwhelming show of cultural pride in every person and their property.
This land of the Thunder Dragon; the last refuge for the nostalgic.
By Sonam Gaychen Wangdi (01/09/2017)
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