08/02/2021
𝐖𝐞 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐟𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐲 𝐦𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐦𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐛𝐞 𝐟𝐞𝐰 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐭 𝐬𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐢𝐭𝐬 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐡 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠
𝗞𝗶𝗻𝗴'𝘀 𝗘𝗺𝗮𝗱𝗮𝘁𝘀𝗵𝗶: 𝗔 𝗞𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘄𝗵𝗼 𝗰𝗼𝗼𝗸𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗽𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲- 𝐍𝐢𝐦𝐚 𝐓𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠
𝐅𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐞𝐫 𝐆𝐲𝐚𝐥𝐩𝐨𝐢 𝐙𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐨𝐧
We have heard stories of kings but, perhaps, we have not heard story of a King who cooks for his people. This is not a fairytale but a true story of a King who cooks for his people. This is our King. This is authentic leadership at its best, an example to look up to when we lead an organization, an agency, a company, or a team.
Our King always leads and inspires us with his thoughtful and profound actions. I personally witnessed this true story of our King cooking for our people. It inspired me beyond imagination and I felt it's only fair that I share this inspiration with the rest of the Bhutanese, especially with our youth. So here it is, as I celebrate the 5th anniversary of this beautiful moment between our King and our people.
It was five years ago in March 2009. Our King was visiting the remote villages of Lhuntse in eastern Bhutan, mostly walking on "foot" from villages in Metsho Gewog to villages in Jarey Gewog, from villages in Kurtoe Gewog to villages in Gangzur Gewog, from villages in Menbi Gewog to villages in Minjey Gewog and so on.
This one was in Khoma Gewog - the land of Kishuthara, where women earn and men yawn. Khoma is a women dominated economy and, perhaps, only matriarchal community in Bhutan. It's woman who is a breadwinner here, not man.
However, many villages in Khoma Gewog were not connected by motor roads, so we had to walk on "foot" led by our King. Our journeys were long and arduous, mostly uphill.
I was then serving as a Professional Changkarp to His Majesty the King, so I had to follow close to the King. It was one of my most memorable but difficult journeys because our King walked fast and long, really long hours. Sometimes 14 hours in a stretch from 8-am in the morning till 10-pm or beyond into the late night, meeting village people and visiting village homes along the way.
At around 8-pm we reached the remote village of Khema in Khoma Gewog. An officer from an advance team reported to the King and asked what to cook for the dinner for the King that night. His Majesty replied, "I want to first see what our people are eating for dinner tonight." His Majesty "randomly" scanned the houses at clustered village of Khema and made an unplanned visit to one of the poorest households. It was in this family's home (the one in the picture here). As His Majesty made a surprise late hour visit to this soot stained smoky home, the man and the woman in the house stood up whispering "Yalama!" (OMG), reached for their Kabney and Rachu, and affectionately bowed to their King, while their three smoke stained and red cheek small children had no clue who had come inside their kitchen. His Majesty, in a very tired voice (been walking 11 hours that day), affectionately whispered back "Khemid, Khemid" (it's ok, it's ok)" and patted on their shoulders.
Three small children by the fire side had still no clue. "Gachi bayni baydo?" (what are you doing now?), His Majesty asked the children. "Tozani baydo la" (about to eat dinner), one of the children responded with shy voice. His Majesty then lifted the lids of the pots on the oven. There was rice in one pot, boiling water in another pot (perhaps for making tea), and floating cooked chilli with watery soup filled to the half of the pot in the third pot. "Tshoem Gachi mo?" (what do you have for curry?), His Majesty affectionately asked. Children were shy and silent. "Emadatshi inn la," (Chilli and cheese curry), the woman of the house whispered from the behind. "Datshi Kaley?" (Where is the cheese?), His Majesty asked with a painful voice. The woman was silent. Their Emadatshi had no Datshi. There was a silence in the house.
"Wait, let's eat together tonight, I will cook Emadatshi for the children," His Majesty broke the silence and sat down with the family. His Majesty then commanded the items for making the King's dinner that night to be brought up to that village home. When the items arrived, His Majesty personally cooked for them. Chilli, tomatoes, onion, cheese, eggs, olive oil, and salt went in as ingredients. And being cooked by the two hands of the King, the family was truly blessed (I thought). Seeing our King cook for our people with so much spontaneous love was a priceless moment but I was pained to see His Majesty's eyes all red and watery with heavy smokes in that smoky kitchen. By 9-pm, the King's Emadatshi was ready and the family really enjoyed the hearty meal with their loving King, especially the children. They really ate a lot. "Alu tshu paychha lekshom bay ta marey" (children, please study hard), His Majesty advised the children (who are also students) and left the house after listening to their hardships and taking a picture together.
I turned back, requested the family that I wanted to taste a pinch of leftover King's Emadatshi as "Jinlaab" (a blessed bite), and then ran after the King as I was on duty, doubly inspired. That night I skipped my dinner because I was full, with inspiration!
(𝑺𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒊𝒇 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒊𝒏𝒔𝒑𝒊𝒓𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐𝒐. 𝑶𝒖𝒓 𝑲𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒆𝒂𝒄𝒉𝒆𝒔 𝒖𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒅𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒉𝒊𝒑 𝒊𝒔 𝒂 𝒔𝒂𝒄𝒓𝒊𝒇𝒊𝒄𝒆, 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒂 𝒑𝒓𝒊𝒗𝒊𝒍𝒆𝒈𝒆).
