15th September 2018
Now in its ninth year, the Mountain Echoes festival of literature, art and culture held at Thimpu between 23 and 25 August, addressed an exacting set of expectations. Hosted in the idyllic, eco-friendly setting of the Royal University of Bhutan, the fest had an unpretentious air with hundreds of students jostling for space in a small auditorium to listen to their favourite authors and musicians. The sessions chosen with unfettered eclecticism by festival directors Namita Gokhale, Pramod Kumar, Siok Sian Dorji, Tshering Tashi, and Mita, the CEO of Siyahi, teasingly tore the boundaries of different art forms, novelised slices of narratives and serious monologues and dialogues — some of them achingly poignant, sparking imagination and fuelling new ideas.
Corralled for the most part in a single performance, conversation space, this year’s edition coincided with festivities marking the 50th anniversary of establishment of diplomatic relations between India and Bhutan. The lineup included acclaimed columnists, editors, authors, teachers, philosophers, poets, musicians, dancers, artists, comedians, actors, film-makers, environmentalists, heritage conservationists and theatre activists. The festival began with a traditional Rapa dance performed by students of the Royal Academy of Performing Arts followed by buddhist chants by nuns of the Bhutan Nuns Foundation. A riveting, pitch-perfect opening address by Queen Mother Ashi Dorji Wangmo Wangchuck, the royal patron of the festival set the tone of this unapologetically intimate festival. Dressed in a beautiful blue ‘kira’, she said that it was her belief that Buddhism, the shared spiritual heritage of India and Bhutan, is the unchanging constant in the relationship between the two countries. She reminisced about the time when the third king of Bhutan and Pandit Nehru laid the foundation of India-Bhutan partnership. Following Nehru’s visit, Bhutan launched its first five-year plan in 1961, which along with the second, was financed by India…