I’ve recently discovered the PaSsu, the blog diary of a young Bhutanese man. In some ways he seems typical of the people I shared so much with while I lived there, but in others I see differences. Like all Bhutanese, he’s passionate about his king. The respect the king enjoys is well-earned from everything I know, but that doesn’t make it less remarkable. PaSsu’s concern for family and obvious value of people is also typical. However, I am somewhat surprised at his willingness to publicly question aspects of his country’s religion.
The first instance was over the naming of his daughter. Traditionally, children are named by a monk rather than the parents. The monk uses the date and place of birth to cross reference an ancient book to determine the most auspicious name for the child, a process that also determines their destiny. In his post, PaSsu questions the ability of a book written centuries ago to understand the world Bhutanese are living in.
In another recent post, PaSsu congratulates the government for granting fishing licenses to a village in Wangdue. This isn’t exactly new. Friends of mine had fishing licenses and would look forward to fishing season for months, but the idea of killing goes against the tenets of Buddhism and it was frowned upon even as people ate the fish. Here, PaSsu recognises the waste that happens when fish populations expand beyond the ability of the environment to support them and says that it makes sense not to let them go to waste. This mirrors some discussions I had while in Bhutan, though at the time that view was too radical to be accepted by the community. Whether this is a good move remains to be seen, but I have faith in the Bhutanese government to ensure balance.