JSW’s Grand Entrance with celebratory banners proclaiming Justice, Service, Wisdom. Photo by Kinley Wangdi of JSW
Kuzu zampo la, y’all!
It’s been a minute. Life sped up right after graduation with travel, nearby and farther afield, deadlines, and a visit from my family.
When last we left our heroine, she was climbing up the stone steps to the law school, admiring gentlemen’s brightly colored ceremonial boots known as tshoglham, to have a spot of tea before the third and final ritual of JSW School of Law’s graduation day.
Monks played mournful-sounding traditional musical instruments, clarinet-like lingm, to announce that the Justice Ceremony with bestowal of degrees by the Honourable President of the Law School, Her Royal Highness Princess Sonam Dechan Wangchuck, would soon begin.
The entryway to the dining hall – more commonly known in British style as “the mess” – had been transformed into an elegant portal complete with a red carpet.
The red-carpeted entry way to the auditorium
Inside, abundant banners, bunting, and carpets had transformed the ordinarily drab dining hall into a stylish auditorium in an elegant trick of re-configuration and re-use.
The auditorium for JSW School of Law’s Fourth Graduation Ceremony
Special guests were seated on cushioned benches at the front of the hall, with students, faculty, and staff benefitting from chairs with backs.
Her Royal Highness, Princess Sonam Dechan Wangchuck, Honourable President of JSW Law, presented diplomas to the two dozen graduates of the five-year LLB/ PGDNL program and the eleven graduates of the one-year Post Graduate Diploma in National Law (PGDNL).
The Honourable President presenting a diploma to a graduate. White scarves on the gentlemen indicate participation in a formal ceremony.
One student received the Mirror of Wisdom award for academic excellence and exceptional service to the community, offering an incredibly poised acceptance speech following the surprise announcement.
After graduates received their diplomas, the atmosphere lightened significantly. It was time for music and dance. The graduates presented several well synchronized traditional dances, which they’d been practicing in the college’s central courtyard for weeks. An important part of traditional culture, these graceful, flowing group dances are known by everyone and performed at holidays, celebrations, and festive occasions.
Professional dancers from the Royal Academy of Performing Arts (RAPA), renamed the Traditional Performing Arts and Music Division of the Department of Culture and Dzongkha Development, perform at national events like the Thimphu Tshechu and major conferences. While slow and melodic, the dances are surprisingly difficult to learn (for this non-initiate).
Graduates performing a traditional Bhutanese dance.
Dancers bow at the completion of their dance.
Following the dances and a festive lunch, graduates joined Her Royal Highness (on the far right) on the steps at the Grand Entrance for a group photo.
Believing the events to be largely concluded, I lingered over lunch with friends, only to discover that the Dean had sent out a search party to deliver me to my own brief audience with Her Royal Highness. We momentarily shared California connection (she’s a Stanford alum), smiled for the camera and moved on.
By the end of the day, exhausted from the festivities, Karma and I relaxed by the flagpole to chat and debrief.
Debriefing the day with my friend Karma. Photo by Kinley Wangdi of JSW.
I joined Karma and Sonam to show off our ceremonial finery in the central amphitheater. Check out Sonam’s boots!
Photo by Kinley Wangdi of JSW
May surprising transformations and auspicious valedictions encourage you until next time,
Tashi delek!