Bhutan Echoes 2024: Confluence of ethereal beauty, mindful conversations concludes

Thimphu: The picturesque mist-kissed mountains played a perfect backdrop to the thought provoking literary discussions at Bhutan Echoes' Drukyul's Literature and Arts Festival (DLAF) 2024, as both lovers of the written word and admirers of ethereal beauty found their 'happy place' here at the Himalayan nation's capital Thimphu.

The three-day annual event witnessed jam-packed sessions with the young and old -- men dressed in traditional knee-length robes (ghos) and women in ankle-length 'kiras' -- swarming the multiple venues of the Royal University of Bhutan and the Royal Textile Academy.

Nestled between India and China, the two most populated countries in the world, the diminutive Kingdom of Bhutan, with less than eight lakh population, focussed on creating 'high value' rather than 'high volume' literary events for the visitors coming from across the world as well as for Bhutan's fair share of inquisitive readers, articulate authors, and talented artists and performers.

Hitting the right chord with attendees was also the theme of "Enlighten, Evolve, and Evoke” which saw a series of insightful sessions on topics ranging from reincarnation, sustainability, mindfulness and language to diplomacy, medicine, culture and artificial intelligence.

Elated with the festival's immense success, the Queen Mother Ashi Dorji Wangmo Wangchuk spilled the beans on her desire to take the DLAF international in the coming years.

"I am so proud that we have so many wonderful writers, artists, all of them contributing to the success of Bhutan's Literature and Arts Festival. It has always been my dream to create this festival so that youth would be interested in reading, writing and creating. And I am so happy after 13 years my dreams are actually coming to fruition.

"I would like to take 'Bhutan Echoes' to the world in future. I want to make sure that the talent of our Bhutanese writers, poets, artists, and music gets showcased to the world," said the Queen Mother, who is also the chief patron of the festival.

Korean translator and writer Anton Hur, bestselling American writer Will Schwalbe, former diplomat author Navtej Sarna, children's author Roopa Pai and poet Tishani Doshi were among the 70 distinguished speakers from 14 countries that got the Bhutanese literati zapped with their words and thoughts.

Be it the owner of the famous 'Wai Wai' noodle brand and Nepal's only billionaire Binod Chaudhary, who was at the festival to promote his memoir "Making it Big", or novelist Shobhaa De, the writers were a happy lot to be part of what they said was a "jewel of a festival" in the land of thunder handcrafted with love and care.

"It is like the magic kingdom, it is a very special destination. There is a lot of friendship between our two countries and to have the Queen Mother as a patron makes this a jewel of a festival. This is my second time attending the festival.

"I like the way the sessions have been curated, I like the invitees' and I like the response from the audience. And the fact there are so many school children from India to attend the festival makes the festival distinctive and very special," De told PTI.

Chaudhary liked to be part of a festival where "everything is handcrafted".

"It is really very high end, very sophisticated, very dignified. I like to call it a boutique literature festival where everything is handcrafted...And I was pleased to hear that thsi festival is to go international," the businessman-politician said.

Besides the insightful sessions, the festival also hosted immersive workshops, art exhibitions, dance performances and even film screening of international and national films, including that of "Last Film Show" ('Chhello Show'), India's official entry for the 'Best International Feature Film' at the 95th Academy Awards.