I knew when I wrote Dragon Bones that it wouldn’t be loved by everyone. My collection of people’s perspectives was meant to be holistic, not good or bad, but some people were bound to object. It was likely that I would never be able to return to Bhutan – that they would never issue me a visa. While I was there, I often heard the whispered stories of expats who’d been deported. Friends had been told that they’d be sent home if they didn’t have their articles approved before publication. Only praise could be shared without retribution. Sonam Ongmo wrote in her latest post, “anybody who has been more than vocal on certain policy or social justice issues, or written a controversial story, has probably received that phone call or letter asking them to keep a lid on things, or to shut-up.”
Then, well before my book was due to be released, I got word that the Bhutanese living in Australia were upset by the description on Amazon. I’ve since managed to get that changed to better reflect the balanced nature of the book, but still haven’t heard anything from those who were upset. More recently, I’ve discovered blogs by Bhutanese people who are willing to write about the reality of life in Bhutan. It’s a beautiful place with wonderful people, but those people aren’t all the same and they’re surrounded by other people, all with their own motivations. Bhutan is a real country with real issues. It’s a fascinating place that deserves to be known properly.
Even better than reading these blogs was getting messages of encouragement from these Bhutanese. One wrote to me saying that she was sick of foreigners coming in to the country and writing articles about Bhutan without really understanding it. She also wanted to read an unbiased view. I can’t provide that – I doubt anybody can – but I have tried to capture as much of the diversity of perspectives as I could in 250 pages.
Sonam Ongmo’s post has given me hope that my book will be appreciated more broadly by the Bhutanese population and even the government – or at least, not condemned. Her main point is that the media is struggling with decorum but that the government is grappling with criticism. I can well believe it. She goes on to cite the World Free Press index and shows that Bhutan, once ranked very low has climbed dramatically since the introduction of a democratically elected government. Sonam Ongmo hopes that the government will learn to accept criticism and so do I. It may be that one day I’ll be welcomed back to Bhutan.