Truth, beauty and power lies in simplicity

History of GNH…….

Extracts from the text of my “Financial Times” interview in April 1987 recording Bhutan’s search for “economic prosperity and political stability and social harmony”.

When Bhutan’s King Jigme Singye Wangchuck (right) first started talking in the 1970s and 1980s about Gross National Happiness being the guiding principle for development of his tiny remote Himalayan kingdom, people elsewhere thought the idea rather quaint and unreal.

Now the idea of GNH is being embraced in various parts of the world in a search for a better and more sustainable way to manage affairs ranging from the protection of the environment to worker participation in companies, and from organic farming and corporate social responsibility to government purchasing policies.

This became evident at a GNH conference held at Paro in Bhutan earlier this month, which was organised by Dasho Karma Ura, president of the Centre for Bhutan Studies and GNH Research, and attended by…

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Selden never saw her dad. She doesn’t believe in the need for one. She is as normal as any one of us. She was three months old when her dad broke up with her mom. And today she is standing at nineteen on the age scale. What would have been the wound like in that jewel heart of her mom? No doctor had the courage to answer and heal. Yet they (Mom and the daughter) had the same meal as you and me. Lawyers claimed to have mastered the laws and left this mom in the ruthless man’s paws. We men are rude, harsh and hard like tiger’s jaw. Aren’t we? At-least I saw few like him.
Those days her beauty attracted him. He claimed and promised of good life and Love as much as we do today. This is a love story of two decades ago—it is no different now. She was and is still an elegant, soft spoken, well mannered woman changing lives in the country side. She feeds her daughter with truth, weeps alone in a dark opportunity. Holding head higher than men, she proved that life is to be moved on. Her courage only encourages her daughter to be stronger and tougher. She missed all the kisses of a loving dad. Her mom got all the tears to drink of a woman’s life. Why did she ever become a wife?

She moved on with Selden learning to dress herself. She gazed at the moon on a lonely empty night and sang an unsung song. Who heard it—none. God must have seen her smile but mortals didn’t bother to share her joy. She had no idea of togetherness with a man she truly loved. Was he there as a husband or was he just a swine in bed? I let her describe that……..

Her struggle to claim that she lived a human life was awful. But Selden, her daughter gave all the strength to survive and pull on. She walked the “knife edged” life, either fall was dreadful. She lived half her life in tears, bearing and hearing her own cries.

Then came another man—was he unique and different? Her ‘joys’ were only ‘toys’.

He walked in to the rose garden wherein the rich fertile soil of her heart was longing for a bloom of true love. He planted the seed of his love in the humus soil of her heart and fenced it with all the promises of men’s giving. Selden had all the reason to see her mom sing and dance. And she did. She had escaped the claws of an emotional hunter. He rescued her of an outrageous plunge in to self pity. She had all the reasons to claim that life was beautiful after all. She loved him like Juliet fell for Romeo. Life was worth living in his arms. His promises were magnetic. His words had magic. His touché was tantalizing. His kiss was warm and always inviting. What more could she wish, hope, pray and dream for?

His magnetic promises were short lived. Magical words faded away in to the thin air of her living. The very thought of his touch tormented her. The kisses that were warm and inviting left her cold and numb.

He deserted her like the first man—I am ashamed of calling myself a man now. The blue sky fell and crushed her in to pieces. I leave it up to the readers to imagine how you would feel if you were in her place—my keyboards only got wet.

Men, like animals, walk away when done with grazing. But are women just the pastures to be deserted after the breeding seasons? We stand equal in breathing oxygen, letting the cardiac pump the same color blood. Yet why do we (Men) shift the beam of a balance to weigh heavier on women?

I am so sorry for being a man myself and bringing out this story in a harsh and crude way. It hurts both ways. But truth lies unhurt. May peace prevail and happiness knock every lives.

Best Wishes !!

Note: Selden is not a real name. It’s just chosen to represent many similar every day stories of struggling women around the world.