The Fifth of February is Now More Than Just a Date

On 6^th February, when the grand announcement of the birth of Gyalsey warmed the cold mountain air my mother called me to tell me that I had forgotten to wish my little sister on her birthday yet again. It wasn’t the first time I forgot her birthday and it always broke my heart. But this time I promised her that I shall never forget her birthday anymore because Fifth of February is never going to be just another date on the calendar. The Fifth of February is now an auspicious occasion for all times to come. I felt so proud that my sister now shared birthday with His Royal Highness, the Gyalsey.

The Fifth of February will go down in history as the day the luckiest Crown Prince in the history of the country was born. Since the beginning of monarchy in the Bhutan this day has never happened where the crown prince was born in the presence of his King Grandfather. His Majesty and Her Majesty have therefore given the best 60^th birthday gift to the Great Fourth and to their people. This makes us the luckiest people in the history to be living in this glorious time and witnessing what’s nothing short of perfection.

We have already witnessed two of the greatest events in the history; the crowning glory of His Majesty the King and the Royal Wedding, both of which were extraordinarily significant because of the presence of His Majesty the Fourth King. The happiness that the nation experienced in these moments was crafted, piece by piece, over a long period of time by the king who knew the source of perfect happiness.

Three Generations of Kings in the First official Photograph of HRH Gyalsey

Today, on the auspicious day of losar we were given the gift of the first glimpse of our Gyalsey through the official photograph. The picture was so absorbing that I kept looking at it for a long time. It showed our glorious past and the beautiful present looking at the promising future. The right hand of the Great Fourth wrapped affectionately around Gyaltsen's shoulder and the left across His Majesty's lap holding the newborn- Oh it's made in heaven! It's a picture that can make your forget everything and be happy. And in this overwhelming moment the only words that keep coming to my mind is Thank You.

No More Valentines Day, Only 13th October

On this day, 13th of October last year, we saw the most beautiful wedding of all time. Our king had finally found our queen. The most beautiful queen. It was a series of history in the making that day and I felt blessed to have lived in the moment that saw the father king crowning the queen of Bhutan. That moment I didn't care if Kezang was watching me I just let my happiest teardrops flow.

Image Source: The Globe and Mail

Your majesties the king and the Queen, I wish you all the love and happiness in the world, and I will pray each day for your good health. May your loving union bring endless smiles to the lives of every Bhutanese, who will never fail in loving you. May you bless this beautiful kingdom with a beautiful Crown Prince very soon.

I don't know which day to celebrate as our wedding anniversary because Kezang and I really don't remember when we declared ourselves as man and woman like many Bhutanese couples, but since last year this great event on this auspicious day gave me all the inspiration to celebrate our union today. Further, there will be no more Valentines day in our lives, only 13th October. It's the national wedding day.

Father King's Gift of Happiness to Bhutan

On December 14th, 2006, when His Majesty the Fourth King handed over his duties as king to his son, His Majesty Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck, the ministers and senior government officials who were attending the ceremony shed their tears silently, common people across the country were shocked and felt helpless, unable to comprehend. I thought it was a bad dream. For us, the Fourth King was the personification of God himself and I had a wish to live and die under his rule. It was the hardest to accept that the King we loved all our lives was resigning at the age of 51, changing the course of history and tradition.

But what we didn't realize was his vision of happiness for his people. And today, after two major events in the history of the nation- the coronation of the His Majesty the King of Bhutan and the Royal Wedding, when I look back it brings tears to my eyes as I understand how great a gift our Fourth King has given us on that fateful day in 2006.

First Time in the History of Humanity

Never in the history of our country, or any other country, a father king crowned his son. It was always after the passing away of the father that son gets crowned. For the first time in the history the raven crown was worn on the head of king who was perfectly happy during the crowning ceremony. And that glory reflected in lives of every Bhutanese. That was the Gift from the Fouth King that we didn't understand back in 2006.

The Royal Kiss in Changlingmethang

Never in the history of our country a queen was crowned in the presence of her father in-law. Ashi Jetsun Pema Wangchuk was the first queen who received Dhar Negnar from the dotting father King. The Royal Wedding became so special just because there was the father king to bless them and this is the blessing to the people of Bhutan that we didn't understand back in 2006.

And every morning we wake up to the love and grace of the charming young King without having to miss our former King just because we know he is still there watching us, and that is the daily happiness we enjoy and it's the gift from the Fourth King that we didn't understand back in 2006.

Now, there will be another moment in our own time when our Crown Prince will be born, who will be the first crown prince to receive the blessings and wisdom of his Grandfather. That shall bring immense joy to us all.

Thank you Your Majesty, now we know why you did what you did in 2006. You are truly the God of happiness.

Hitting Century on my blog amidst Crisis!

While I am the last person to believe 2012 story, these few months of crisis all over the world is forcing me to change my mind. From stubborn Mubarak in Egypt to brutal Gaddafi in Libya, now  almost across whole Arab world, history is changing forever. While we were busy watching the tsunami of people across the streets, Japan is hit by what seemed like an imitation from the movie Day after Tomorrow. 

Hitting 100!

As far as we know there is no country in the world more prepared for earthquake than Japan but Tsunami took it by surprise. And as if it wan't enough, the disaster is immortalized by the involvement of nuclear power crisis in Fukushima Daiichi. Japan may have to live the World War II ordeal one more time. My sincere prayers for Japan for whatever it take stand tall again.

Amidst all these crisis across the globe, which keeps me awake late into the night I selfishly rejoice the success of my blog- if I can call it so, for gathering 100 followers today. PaSsu Diary has given me the inspiration to write and friends to inspire. While I expect recognition for whatever I sweat in,- from working months on building school webpage to stretching midnight hours to set up school database- my blog where I least expected gave me the maximum satisfaction. It only teaches me to do the things that I love, or love the things I do.

On this occasion I want to thank all my readers from across the world who gave me 36,740 hits so far for letting me enjoy writing and take pride in it. Following are the top ten countries in which my blog was read. I am surprised Singapore which was in top 5 earlier is now knocked off!

1. Bhutan 50.1%
2. United States 22.0%
3. India 6.6%
4. Australia 4.0%
5. Thailand 3.6%
6. Netherlands 3.4%
7. Germany 2.7%
8. United Kingdom 2.6%
9. Russia 2.5%
10. Canada 2.4 %

P:S: Thank you Madam Secretary for reading, loving and praising my blog. I couldn't help flying when DEOs and principal gave me your regards. It means a lot to me- and to them!

Coronation Day- the moment that stopped the world

November 6, 2008: Thimphu was filled to the neck, so we decided to enjoy ourselves in the school. We had our school picnic to make the day memorable. The ceremony in Thimphu was telecast live on BBS. I quickly Googled a way to project the TV on wall and made it possible before they could boil the morning tea. Now, school hall gathered huge crowd. I was proudly waiting for the crowning ceremony; didn't have a clue how it would happen- father king crowning his son. Never saw one before- none would have possibly seen in the entire history of mankind.

Crowning Glory- the moment that stopped the world

I was shivering with excitement. Picture of fifth king with crown was already publicized but still the thrill of seeing His Majesty wearing the raven crown on TV was killing me. Everything seem to happen in slow motion- Je Khenpo lifted the crown (I thought it would be heavy but it wasn't) and offered to our fourth king. My eyes were gathering tears suddenly, I didn't know why. My heart raced and then it stopped all together when our new king bowed to his father and received the raven crown. The hall went dead silent and world stopped moving. Then came the loud cheering and clapping and shaking hands and hugging. World just witnessed the magic of the millennium.

Today we celebrate the 2nd coronation day and I wish my king immortality and perfect happiness. 

His majesty is celebrating his coronation with the victims of Chamkhar Fire today. 

For the Record: November 1st is observed as the coronation because that was when the ceremony began from sacred chamber (Marchen) of Punakha Dzong. 

Picture Source: http://cache.boston.com