Paro town observes the lunar eclipse

The moon turns red as it loses its light during last Saturday’s eclipse

The little town of Paro goes wild on the night of December 10. The residents bark and howl at the moonless heavens. It is 8.45 pm, and the magnificent full moon has come under attack.

That evening, the full-faced queen of the night has risen from the eastern horizon, over the dark crown of the mighty mountains. As the night falls, Pachhu is a languorous ribbon under the first pallid light of the moon.

But it is not like any other night. Soon, a ‘ravenous monster’ begins to steal the light of the moon. And the moon hides behind the black, imperceptible shutter. Part of it turns orange and then red. By 8.35 pm, it is half devoured by the monster.

The Bhutanese believe that lunar eclipse is caused by a monster that eats the moon. The light of the earth at night is stolen by the monster.

As the red of the dissipating moon becomes smaller, people come out on the streets beating gongs and clashing cymbals, blowing conch and trumpets, and shouting war cries. They want to scare the monster off and save the moon. It could very well have been a march to a battle.

Twenty-one-year-old Ganga Maya believes that Drey Nagchung (black demon) eats the moon. In order to save the moon, one must chant Om Mani Padme Hum, she says.

Tandin Pelden, a mother, believes that the moon suffers because of human frailties. “We borrow things and do not return them. That’s when the moon suffers,” she says. She has never questioned the belief, which has been passed down to her from her mother.

Ngawang Jamtsho, a Class IV student of Khangkhu Primary School, is beating a tin container black and blue. He doesn’t know why he is shouting. But he has already lost his voice, yowling at the moonless sky. His friend Sonam Tshering has told him to do that to bring back the moon from the devil’s mouth.

“The monster is eating our moon. We must save it, or we shall never have it again,” he says, singing Ngesem Ngesem. Tired and cold, he hits a nearby electric pole for a while and retires quietly into the shadow of the gully.

The beliefs surrounding the moon-eating monster have been passed down from ancient times.

Most societies in the world have superstitions surrounding a lunar eclipse.

The Cherokee of the Appalachian, for instance, believed that a giant, scabby frog was swallowing the moon, while the Inca of South America thought the moon was scoffed by either a serpent or a mountain lion.

The Chinese were convinced that it was a spiteful dragon. The aboriginals of Australia thought that the solar cat ate the moon as she got lost and wandered onto its path.

The ancient Europeans believed that a demon would be born of the marital relations conducted during a lunar eclipse.

Closer to home, the Indians believe that a demon named Rahu, who stole the food of immortality from the gods, now lies in wait to eat either the moon or the sun. Some believe that pregnant women should not go outdoors during a lunar eclipse lest a child be born blind or with a cleft lip.

However, in Buddhism, solar and lunar eclipses are highly spiritual. Khenpo Phuntsok Tashi, the director of National Museum in Paro, says that a lunar eclipse signals the world’s attachment to material things will grow. He said it is important to meditate on the Buddhist concept of emptiness during a lunar eclipse.

Meanwhile, on the dimly-lit cobbled pavements of Paro town, the crowd becomes wilder and louder every passing minute. “Leave the moon alone! Release! Let go!” shouts a middle-aged woman hitting a sign post hard with a rotten shoe.

She remembers asking her grandpa why people had to howl like animals at night when the moon lost its light. She was five years old. He told her that people must learn to give back as much as they take away from others. If they did not, the moon suffered. “I believed him. I still do. For, why else must the full moon turn red and disappear?” she asks. The tin board that says “No Crossing” is all crumpled.

The policemen watch the crowd go wilder. They walk around nonchalantly as if acknowledging that the noise is for a worthy cause – to save the moon. But not everybody seems to think so. An intoxicated young man waddles up from the dark, obviously irritated. “Shut up!” he cries and staggers over to the town square.

A few feet away, across the street, Sonam Choden looks up to the sky, standing with her hands in jacket pockets. She is a plump little girl studying in Class VI in Taju Primary School. She knows what causes a lunar eclipse. Her Geography teacher has taught her that a lunar eclipse occurs when the sun, earth, and moon are aligned exactly with the earth in the middle.

She explains the phenomenon to her mother, who has come out with a stave and a pan to save the nearly-swigged moon. Her mother doesn’t even listen and continues beating the pan.

It is 10.20 pm. The crowd is becoming thinner and noise lesser. The cold is driving people indoors. The moon isn’t out still but the town is quiet. For all urgent pleas and hysteric howling, the monster devoured the moon.

The Paradoxical Anomaly of Happiness

There’s good news and there’s bad news. The good news is that the bulk of the Bhutanese population is relatively happy. The bad news is that the poor are miserable. Although there are no accurate indicators in place to measure and gauge the psychological wellbeing, a recent research conducted by the Centre for Bhutan Studies (CBS) shows that 5 percent of the population, comprising of farmers and housewives, are reportedly the most stressed out group.

The term psychological wellbeing generally refers to how people evaluate their lives and, according to the CBS findings, psychological wellbeing has been defined in terms of the internal experience of the respondent and the perception of their own lives, focusing on momentary moods and long-term states of their mental wellbeing.

Psychological wellbeing by gender

Surveys conducted in many countries have consistently revealed that men and women have similar levels of happiness and ‘overall life satisfaction’ contrary to the study on life quality and happiness, which showed that women in the country have a lower ‘life quality’ and a lower level of happiness.

Analyses of almost all the satisfaction levels regarding specific domains reveal that men are more satisfied than women.

The general health questionnaire which was used to measure psychological distress was also observed to be higher in females.

The time pressure and stress probably increased for women due to the dual responsibilities of looking after the hearth and at the workplace, the report says.

The overall findings indicate that females in Bhutan have a lower wellbeing than males.

Psychological wellbeing by employment status

When happiness level was analyzed with employment status, the unemployed were the ‘least happy’ followed by housewives. The same category fared poorly in terms of life quality. The results also indicate that the unemployed were prone to high levels of stress.

Unemployment is a major issue of concern in Bhutan. This has simply occurred because the working age population has grown faster than the number of jobs.

The study reveals that happiness peaks around the age group of 16 to 30.

Psychological wellbeing indicators: Sources of Happiness

The psychological wellbeing interview started with an open-ended question, asking respondents the sources of their wellbeing and happiness. The main objective of the question was to gather information on the perception of happiness and to obtain conditions that would favor happiness. The respondents were given an option of listing at least seven factors that were important for them to lead a happy and contented life.

Financial security

A majority of 51 percent reported financial security to be the number one factor in leading a happy and content life. Within this category, respondents were mainly concerned with the presence of an adequate income to provide for a decent standard of living. Some respondents also mentioned the need of money for future security.

Access to roads

32 percent of the respondents identified access to roads as a key source of happiness. The majority of the respondents who listed this were people from rural areas, mainly from the eastern region.

Education & good health

education received a high priority with 26 percent of respondents equating education with happiness along with good health, such as possession of a healthy body and absence of disability.

Family relationships

26 percent of the respondents stated good family relationships to be a potential source of happiness, mentioning the importance of understanding amongst family members, having ample family time and a successful marriage.

The research also shows that 90 percent of the respondents were satisfied in relationships with their immediate family members. In order to capture some of these aspects of social support, the respondents were asked whether assistance was available during sickness and at times of financial or emotional needs – the findings were that 53% of the respondents reported that help was forthcoming during sickness. Only 2 percent reported receiving no help.

Agricultural productivity

Agricultural productivity was also regarded to be vital with 21.5 percent saying that increase in crop productivity would certainly increase their happiness level. The respondents referred to the availability of agricultural equipment and proper irrigation channels. Respondents also pointed out that possessing more agriculture land would enable them to grow more crops and thereby increase their wellbeing.

Faith and spiritual practices

About 9 percent of the respondents said that practicing dharma, receiving blessings from renowned lamas and being able to visit various religious sites would enhance their happiness.

Stress level in Bhutanese society

Analyses show that 12 percent of the respondents are highly stressed. They are mostly farmers and housewives. Virtually all of the farmers who were interviewed said that stress was a major problem in their lives.

Farmers traditionally work long hours, often in bad weather. Moreover, due to the steep terrain, most of the farmers have to put in extra labor. The study confirmed that of all the occupational groups, farmers are prone to and suffer considerable stress.

About 35 percent reported financial insecurity. This was followed by death and illness. Next were social relationships, with factors such as misunderstandings, divorces, enmity in the community and the like.

Labor pressure is another determinant of stress. Respondents mostly referred to labor shortage and woola. Farm labor shortage is one of the pressing concerns faced by Bhutanese farmers, resulting in low agriculture productivity. 11 percent reported agricultural constraints with problems of wildlife and lack of proper irrigation channels. Educational concerns cited were academic competencies and problems affecting students in boarding schools, such as the lack of proper hostel facilities.

The survey shows that a strong relationship exists between subjective health satisfaction measures and happiness. Current data reveals that 58 percent of the respondents were satisfied with their health conditions whereas only 8 percent reported dissatisfaction.

Correlation analysis reveals that job satisfaction is positively related to life quality and happiness. 63 percent were satisfied in their major occupations while 31 percent were fairly satisfied. Not surprisingly, respondents were dissatisfied with their finances. Only 29 percent reported financial satisfaction.

Happiness level among the dzongkhags

The study reveals Thimphu as the happiest valley in the kingdom, followed by Haa. The saddest dzongkhag was Pemagatshel. The capital’s residents also enjoyed the highest ‘life quality’ with Pemagatshel scoring the ‘lowest life quality’. But it’s not all sunshine in the capital. Thimphu has the highest occurrence of negative emotions. Gasa was the most positive. And again, Thimphu scored the lowest in terms of spirituality. Besides, Thimphu ranked at the bottom of the spiritual path. Honoring the gods is a passé façade in the capital but then again, Thimphu took the most ‘urban town’ with the highest number of infrastructure.

The study shows that urbanization does not necessarily gel with happiness and wellbeing. The establishment of infrastructure such as hospitals or schools is important but also as comparable are the non-material aspects of life such as social and communal harmony.