Land of the Thunder Dragon: Part III

A day before meeting Ashi Kesang Choden, the queen grandmother, we decided to spend a few hours in the Thimpu shops. My 2009 diary tells me I bought a 30 $ yellow shirt for the occasion. We were meeting a queen of any sorts for the first time, and wished to look presentable.

Next day, on 1 May, the land cruiser punctually arrived at our hotel at 3.30. Bhutan has no traffic lights and no traffic jams, so it’s not difficult to be on time. We reached the palace at 3.45 and were met by a ‘welcome team’.

“I’ll take you to her majesty.” Said the head of the welcome team. I couldn’t help glancing at his face curiously as we began walking towards the palace. He looked so much like Chukie-om’s father whom we had met only two days ago. Bhutan is a small kingdom, and to a foreigner all locals may look similar, I thought. But at times like this, my curiosity overtakes my sense of protocol and propriety. As we entered the palace, I whispered to the man.

‘I’m sorry.... are you in any way related to the Dorjis... you know the one who was Bhutan’s ambassador to India, and whose father...’

‘Yes, I am Togbe’s brother. Togbe did foreign assignments; I have always served in the palace.’

Just as I realised that our escort was also the queen’s nephew, the queen herself walked in. Her dress was elegant enough to distinguish her from the Bhutanese woman working in the fields, but still fairly simple for a woman living in a palace. She wore a bluish jacket over her top, and a white pearl necklace that had no royal glitter. She shook hands and guided us to a sofa. She was soon joined by her daughter.

On the table was a book ‘the Devil’s Wind’ by Manohar Malgonkar, my wife’s uncle. The queen asked after his health. They had never met in person, but she had read most of his books, and had corresponded with him for years.

The Devil’s Wind is a historical novel about Nana Saheb Peshwa (Peshwa is translated as prime minister), an aristocrat and warrior in the Maratha empire. Ninety years before India gained independence, 1857 witnessed an Indian rebellion, its first war of independence to oust the British. Nana Saheb was one of its belligerent leaders. Merely 32 years old, he disappeared in the same year. He was rumoured to have fled to Nepal, but nothing was ever found out. ‘The Devil’s Wind’ is written as Nana Saheb’s autobiography. Though a novel, the in-depth research by Manohar Malgonkar has made the narration as historically authentic as possible.

The queen Ashi Kesang Choden asked us several questions about Nana Saheb Peshwa. She said the book and Nana Saheb’s life were fascinating. She wondered about the course history would have taken had Indians succeeded in that mutiny. (Had we known this is how our meeting would begin, I would have made the effort of reading the Devil’s wind before coming to Bhutan).

The queen was soft spoken, with a twinkle in her eye. Her memory, her ability to articulate her thoughts, her dignified composure belied her age. (She was 79 when we met her). The intellectual discussion reminded me of the readers’ club I attend every month. I gathered from the conversation that a queen may read the same book very differently than you or me. Historical novels such as the Devil’s wind may be entertaining for common readers. For a queen who reads; novels with revolts, political intrigue, assassinations and royal affairs are not merely entertaining. They offer utility and practical textbook lessons.

Meanwhile, we were served muffins, scones, English tea and Bhutanese snacks. The queen spoke to my daughter as a grandmother would. She became a hostess when enquiring if we liked what was served. She then became a tourist guide, and started telling us the places in Bhutan we should visit and why. She herself had founded many Dzongs (Buddhist religious social complexes). We were then given specially packed souvenirs that included Bhutanese honey and organic jams. The queen and her daughter came out to see us off. The escort team was waiting outside. We were treated as royal guests. In my mind, I thanked Mena’s uncle for writing all these great books.  

*****

In 2009, when we met the soft spoken Ashi Kesang Choden, I knew almost nothing about her. The history books I had read talked about the kings and the prime ministers, leaving the queen in the background. She had since become the queen mother, and with her son taking premature retirement, a queen grandmother. Years later, when I wished to write a short story set in Bhutan, I came across several pieces that talked about queen Ashi Kesang Choden’s role in Bhutan’s history.

At 21, she married Jigme Dorji Wangchuk, who became Bhutan’s third king the following year. Over the next decade, the couple had five children. In a parallel plot, the king had a Tibetan mistress, Yangki. From her he had four children, two sons and two daughters. Tibet was already taken over by China. So the affair was not only romantic but political. Probably because Yangki was a Tibetan, the king never solemnised his relations with her, nor offered legitimacy to her children. At best, she was understood as a Royal concubine and her children were royal bastards. Though without legitimacy, Yangki was a powerful woman. As mentioned previously, she and her Tibetan relatives were above the law.

The official queen, Ashi Kesang Choden, looked at the state of affairs helplessly and focused on raising her five children. In 1964, her older brother, the Prime Minister of Bhutan, was killed. The queen’s misfortune didn’t end here. A power struggle began, the hereditary prime ministership was abandoned. All surviving relatives of the murdered Prime Minister, the Dorjis, were sent into exile in 1965. Ashi Kesang Choden managed to escape exile only because she was the official queen. For the next nine years, her parents, siblings and their families lived in exile.

*****

The ailing king died in 1972. Yangki, the Tibetan concubine, wished to see her own son as the new king. Reportedly, she had moral and political support from Tibet.

The queen Ashi Kesang Choden took charge of the situation. She made her son the fourth king, though he was only 17. Reportedly, plots were hatched by Yangki’s family to blow away the new king and his family during the coronation. Anticipating this, the queen took great security precautions at the coronation.

Through her teenaged son’s formal powers, she began to exert authority over the administration and military. Yangki’s influence dwindled, and finally in 1974, she left for India saying her life was in danger. A few days after her leaving, the lofty Thimpu building across the Dechecholing palace in which Yangki lived her luxurious life mysteriously caught fire and was completely burnt to the ground. Till today, Yangki lives in exile in India, and her children live in the USA. The Tibetan threat hanging over Bhutan through the King’s concubinage died.

I don’t know the historical accuracy of those details. I am happy if the soft spoken woman we met had achieved her revenge through plotting and aggression. It’s possible she formulated strategies inspired by the historical novels she had so passionately read.

For the next ten years, the queen was the official host in Bhutan. During the 1970s and 1980s, she looked after foreign dignitaries and hosted banquets for guests of the fourth king.

*****

Ashi Kesang Choden’s role in the history of Bhutan doesn’t stop there. Here is one of the stories of her contribution to the kingdom.

Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) vaccines were developed in Australia, patented and approved by 2007. They protect women from two types of viruses that cause the greatest risk of cervical cancer. By 2009, it was approved in several European countries.

The reading queen, the Royal Grandmother, read about it in an Australian magazine. Cervical cancer was very common among Bhutanese women. The vaccine could save the lives of women across the kingdom.

The Royal Grandmother sent a special invitation to Mike and Lenore Wille, an Australian couple who were propagating the vaccine worldwide. She fished out an old copy of Australian women’s weekly that contained a recipe for Anzac biscuits, popular in Australia. She asked her cooking staff to bake the biscuits.

When the Australian couple landed at Paro, they were greeted by cars with flags, chauffeurs and guards. Soon they were at a palace sitting across the queen grandmother with the Anzac biscuits on the table. Bhutanese women were diagnosed with cervical cancer too late and were dying, she told them. The queen wanted each woman in the kingdom to be vaccinated.

The Australian couple were charmed. The Royal Grandmother’s gentle voice and determination impressed them. She wanted to be fair. Not only the capital, but all of Bhutan must be covered. As a result of her persuasion, and perseverance, Bhutan was selected as the first country where the vaccination program would be launched nationally. The executives of Merck & Co., the USA maker of the vaccines, didn’t know such a country existed. Finally, in 2010, the program was launched. The vaccines were carried on the backs of the donkeys to the more remote parts of Bhutan. In the first year, 99% of 12-year old girls, and 89% of 13-18 year old girls were covered.

Since 2008, Bhutan is a constitutional monarchy. It has a democratically elected government, responsible for issues such as vaccination. Despite that, the queen Ashi Kesang Choden, in her eighties, proved a catalyst for the national vaccination program.

(To be continued)

Ravi