Book Review - Kyetse


 Kyetse is one of Chador Wangmo’s mind-boggling novels. She is one of the few full-time Bhutanese writers. She was a teacher but surrendered her career to her passion- writing. Today she is a mother of two kids and runs Miza Books, a bookstore for writers and readers to come together. Chador Wangmo is from an eastern hamlet in Tashigang. Her roots are vividly curved in her novels, portraying what really sharchops are. The novel was published by Miza Books in 2016. The book takes you to the heart of Brekha, a small hamlet in Tashigang. Although the readers are taken out to Nepal, we are brought back to Bhutan and are taken to Paro to end the story. The author, a true daughter from the east, has chosen the rustic, yet humble and pure easterners. 

The protagonist, Sonam Dema, is an inquisitive girl of eight years old who, as the Kyetse prophesized, was sent to become a nun with an elderly nun who was a complete stranger to her. Sonam Dema and four other girls from Bhutan are taken far away from their loved ones only to be tortured and sold as prostitutes. Luck favored Sonam Dema when she was to escort the Anim back to Bhutan. That is when she decides to run away back to Tashigang with a businessman with whose family she resides with for two years. As destined by her kyetse, Sonam feels empty despite the businessman’s family being a perfect host for her. She decides to change her path- to become a nun. With her mother’s death a long time back, her grandparents and her father take her wish to heart and enroll her in a monastery as a nun. Everything seems to be fine until a handsome man visits the Goenpa and offers to build a toilet for the animals. She falls
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in love with him but breaks her heart when the lama of the Goenpa congratulates the man on his marriage with another girl. Sonam was eighteen then. As predicted in her kyetse, she faces the biggest hurdle of her life: to overcome her broken heart. As Sonam was healing her broken heart, she was still shaken by the news on the TV. The so-called anim who took her and her friends to Nepal was wanted by the police in connection with human trafficking and vandalism of chortens. Her information about the anim helps the police to nab her and her partner. Sonam and her friend are rewarded by the police, but they decide that a life of crime is what they aren’t for. They donate the money to the goenpa and happily continue their spiritual journey.

The novel portrays the vulnerability of young girls in Bhutan, and more so among rural kids. With increasing risk of human trafficking, the story is an alarm bell for all the readers and the policy makers. With Sonam Dema’s friends sold into prostitution and her best friend Penthang committing suicide, the issue of human trafficking is something not to be taken lightly. 
The novel is a true Eastern product. The customs of superstition and beliefs are colorfully carved in the story. As one reads, you feel the warmth and love of a sharchop family as if you are one of the members. Even the names of the characters are humble Sharchop tags, which further cement you to the story if you are easterner. The novel concludes with the belief in the spiritual journey Sonam Dema takes. With the world overshadowed by a materialistic wave, the novel serves as a breath of fresh air for humanity. It reminds us that spiritualism is the ultimate goal one must aspire to.

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