A taste of the real Bhutan

Reading around the world - BHUTANFor a very long time Bhutan has been protected from outside influences. The country was closed off from turism until 1974 and tv and internet were banned until 1999. In this short story bundle Kunzang Choden gives us a glimpse of both Bhutanese traditional culture and changes in society. To emphasize the contrast between the old and new world, she compares the rural and urban life. And every time she does this from a female point of view. All her main characters are resilient girls or women. The country and most media both try to show a very rosy picture of Bhutan. It is said to be one of the happiest countries in the world. Furthermore it claims that women have the same rights as men. But are they really treated equally? Kunzang Choden's stories already give us a hint that they often aren't, especially in rural environments. Officially, there's no overt gender discrimination as women in Bhutan enjoy more social freedom and equality compared with women in the region. But when you dig a little further, there are interesting sources of information on this matter which show a more nuanced picture. One of those sources is The Druk Journal, a Bhutanese journal of thoughts and ideas. If you want to read their article about women in Bhutan, you can head over to this overview and click on the last subject 'Women in Bhutan: the Gender Discussion' (you can also access the text in pdf-form here, but then the references aren't mentioned). With 'Tales in Colour and other stories' the first English writing female author of Bhutan Kunzang Choden gives us an interesting insight into the actual daily life of women in her country. Therefore this book is worth 3,5* to 4*. Unfortunately, the many linguistic errors made the reading experience quite laborious from time to time. That's why the overall rating is rounded down to 3*. A good editorial review is highly recommended as it would really help to focus the reader's attention to the stories. And those are certainly worth to be spread internationally, so that everyone gets a taste of the real Bhutan! If you want to learn more fascinating facts about Bhutan or if you want to watch some interesting movies about this country or an interview with author Kunzang Choden, you're always welcome to check out my blog article Land of the Thunder Dragon. The stories included in this book are: 1. The woman who lost her senses 2. I won't ask mother 3. The advisor 4. These things happen 5. Look at her belly button 6. I am like this 7. Who will water my chili 8. The photographs 9. Mother of a thief 10. I am a small person 11. The mouse in the house 12. A letter and a note 13. Tales in colour ***In 2022 I'm reading (at least) one short story a day.**You can discover more about it here. The stories in this book were #4 till #16.****February 2022 was when I decided to take on the challenge to read at least one book of every country in the world (and one of every state of the USA too).*First I'm going to see how far I get by reading bundles of short stories. After that (or in the meanwhile) I'll also add novels and novellas to my reading pile. To see which countries I already visited, click here.