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Experiential Essay: Navigating Tradition and Modernity as a Young Bhutanese

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Experiential Essay: Navigating Tradition and Modernity as a Young Bhutanese

Introduction

The relationship that tradition and modernity share with a developing nation is a hard

one between them. The steep, deeply-rooted traditions of Bhutan always seemed at

loggerheads with the entire modern world that, in turn, headed to becoming a global village.

These, for example, added up to situations from my early educative and social encounters too,

such as the onset of a common struggle between these modernity and tradition forces. This

often leaves one feeling as though he or she has to reach that balance which has come to be

termed acculturation, a process of attaining a compromise with those conflicting values that

shape one's identity through the struggle to 'make ends meet' from the different values and life-

ways (Berry, 1992). Therefore, a reflective experiential essay that critically probes into a

multifaceted experience of navigational dynamics amidst Bhutanese tradition and modernity

forms the context of this essay. This is inclusive of the focus on my high school experience,

which shows such sides to this issue that helped shape my current perspective.

Navigating Cultural Diversity in High School

Such was the case in the year 2005 when I joined one of the high profiles High Schools

situated in the capital city, Thimphu, with students drawn from all corners of the district

without much English language proficiency and poor academic performance in Mathematics. It

was a moment of joy getting an opportunity to mingle with other students from other districts

and diverse ethnic backgrounds but cultural differences were a matter that puzzled us. Coming

from a somewhat homogeneous rural community of Bhutan, it was not something to which I

could have been prepared for the level of diversity that met me at my new school. The students

were from every different Himalayan mountain village and all with subtropical southern
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regions in between and brought all their respective linguistic and religious and social traditions

with them. This multidimensioned cultural melting pot allowed me to observe my own

prejudices and preconceptions, while practices and views which I attributed to and which I

have naturally developed turned out to be traditional or may even provoke a lack of respect.

Simple things like greetings, etiquette, and social norms differed greatly among my classmates;

they were indeed very foreign. These complex differences required a new level of cultural

awareness in general, something that I have never been in requirement of before. It was

generally educative, making me step out of my comfort zone, keeping an open mind to

divergent perspectives, and being able to find a common denominator among our diversities.

For instance, in our school, they would make the students have a day when they come to school

in a common dress code: the National Bhutanese attire of gho (for boys) and kira (for girls).

This has been a conflicting issue for some of my classmates. To them, it is no less of

imposition of traditional values and going against more modern sensibilities. They perceived

the national dress, old and binding, and show of fashionably dressed in Western clothes to be

more applicable and modern. This mandatory gho and kira for them were simply so much

archaic culture vestige and hence had no place in their increasingly globalized worldview. The

children were, however, resigned to give up visible signs of their Bhutanese identity and

committed in their heart to strictly following a trendier and more voguish cosmopolitan outlook

that in store only prestige and power. Their rebellion was the defense of their self-esteem from

what they considered the burden of their parent's generation and a statement of an identity that

in the concept remained ongoing. This, in another sense, epitomized a clash of standpoint in

Bhutan: conservative and traditional, buttressed by centuries-old traditions, against the

modernizing aspirations of youth.

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An epitome of the overall pressures that the country found itself in, in the backdrop of swift

changes, for students like us, had made a dash to balance between the lesson of cultural

heritage preservation and changing times. As an individual, I was brought up with much

appreciation for the Bhutanese culture hence I find it difficult how the national dress code

would evoke so much resistance from the people. Gho and Kira, respectively, were just clothes

to me, but movingly, they were the signifiers of our shared identity as Bhutanese (Verkuyten,

2014). I found myself being kind of raised so much into the customs and values of our society

that in the end, I actually started venerating much of our cultural heritage. It means that

everything that went into the creation of the national dress clearly manifested the 'subjective

culture', which is set by Triandis (2002) as common beliefs, attitudes, and a way of life that

holds a group or, as a consequence, a society together (Triandis, 2002).

Soon, the gho and kira became my pride, respecting this tradition that was rich in the fast-

globalizing world. That left me at odds with my peers, who seemed all too willing to cast these

cultural totems aside in favor of a more generic, Western-influenced style. This had been more

than a choice all along; it had been an abdication from the very roots that bound us together as

Bhutanese. In such a light, therefore, in my given perspective, I was almost practically bound

to air my views on the necessary preservation of our subjective culture, even if it meant

contrasting the modernizing aspirations my classmates harbored for the greater good. But I also

realized fundamentally valid concerns of my peers. This is because rapid socioeconomic

change was the order of the day in Bhutan, which had hardly made it difficult or impossible for

contemporary global attitudes and styles not to seep towards the younger generation. In the

process of such fast modernization, it was a surprise to find my schoolmates loathe to put on

the mandatory national costume. They were all too familiar with the largely oppressive
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imposition of traditional values with which they could no longer identify with their changing

personal preferences and identity. Whereas these dresses and the kira had previously been

powerful symbols of Bhutanese culture, by the late 1980s, the dress came to be seen by some

as archaic relics that got in the way of their ability to express themselves and be connected with

more general notions of global youth culture.

Most of my peers were craving the freedom to look more cosmopolitan in a way that

gave them a sense of empowerment and defined better who they aspired to be. I can understand

what drove the youth into such opinion, yet I still held respect for national dresses. The good

intentions of our culture, in terms of preserving heritage, could all too easily become

inflexibility that would not give way to the sensibilities of the youth and indeed cater to all its

citizens in their new needs and sensibilities. The biggest epiphany was one that had to probe

the nuances with which one could strike the right chords between tradition and modernity—in

singular pursuit, the role of affording leeway for personal expression within this wider cultural

envelope.

Lessons Learnt from the Experience

There are a few things I learned from this experience that have stuck with me. One big

one is that cultures are complicated, even in a place as small and tight-knit as Bhutan. I mean,

sure, we share a strong national identity, but there are still cultural fault lines all over the place.

Like, for instance, the dress code debate I had with my classmates. It made me realize how

quickly social changes can create generational divides in values, with older folks wanting to

hold onto tradition and younger folks wanting to embrace the globalized world.

This experience also illustrated the fundamental difficulty for societies in negotiating

continuity and change. On the one hand, cultural coherence and self-esteem in one’s history
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actively promote social unity. On the other hand, anything that bars change in expressing

identity endangers the avoidance of such expression, dividing some communities. In other

words, “hugging the root of the tree” is detrimental to enabling social evolution in the

“branches and leaves.” The polarization manifested in the other group spots in response to

these unchanged regulations and opportunities for progress. In conclusion, it reaffirms the

bounty of creating this thread that connects everyone and hardly tolerates resistance. Countries

can successfully intertwine the past with the future only through inclusivity and representation

and defend a balance between traditionalists and modernists. For Bhutan, the realization of

development while protecting the inheritance of ethnic traditions and spiritual practice of

Buddhism critical to an optimistic vision of societal unrest caused by change will be the

advancement of a unified national culture.

I can look back and see how my views have been shaped by my background. For example, my

initial opinions have been highly influenced by my exposure to Bhutanese cultural norms while

being raised in an isolated village. Still, open dialogue with classmates from diverse regions

had exposed me to alternative stances and helped me obtain a more rounded understanding of

nuanced realities. Being an impressionable youth, black and white thinking had fully

captivated me, and myopic lens presented the legitimacy of views challenging the most

traditional norms through the distortion. However, the process of evolution during adolescence

in such a pluralistic setting helped me open-minded. I started seeing how rapid societal

transformations may oblige younger generations to shift identities and reform viewpoints as

rapidly. While I still argued that distinctness, including preserving elements that bind us to the

rich history that makes Bhutan, needed to be justified, progress needed flexibility. At the same

time, it allowed me to better understand my peers’ position even when I disagree, and engage
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in a more respectful exchange of ideas. Since that time, I approached being a respectful

interculturally sensitive citizen in this way.

Conclusion

In conclusion, this experience has informed how I approach cross-cultural understanding and

the importance of dialogue and compromise. As Bhutan continues to grapple with the tricky

process of preserving cultural identity while changing society, the sense of the nation and

national culture is more welcome and respectful. As young people continue to absorb global

influences into their lives, they should still respect traditions and cultural heritage and take on

new opportunities. If people work in collaborative manner, merging unique values as I tried to

do in high school debates with people, I think our society can merge the past and future.
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References

Berry, J. (1992). Aculturation and adaptation in a new society. Quarterly review, 30, 69-85.

Triandis, H. C. (2002). Subjective culture. Online readings in psychology and culture, 2(2), 6.

https://doi.org/10.9707/2307-0919.1021

Verkuyten, M. (2014). Identity and cultural diversity: What social psychology can teach us.

Hove, UK: Routledge.