Darjeeling, May 29: One of them has been voted out of kingship, the other has wilfully given it up for democracy.
The kings of the two Himalayan countries, Nepal and Bhutan, may be diametrically opposite in handling their national affairs, but they share a common alma mater: both have walked the corridors of St Joseph’s School (Darjeeling) or North Point during their formative years.
Old North Pointers who are still associated with the institution remember the “good times” that King Gyanendra of Nepal had during his school years. The 60-year-old has from today ceased to be the king of Nepal. Yesterday, political parties in the Himalayan nation had voted at a special assembly to abolish the 239-year-old monarchy and declare the country a republic.
“Every one passes through good and bad phases. I would like to remember only the good times associated with King Gyanendra,” said M. Coutinho, who had taught English and elocution to the king. Many royal family members from Nepal, including Gyanendra, were in North Point for the decade starting 1960.
A family photograph of the king, taken at North Point in 1969, hangs on the school corridor. “Among all of them, King Gyanendra was the most polite and well behaved. He was extremely down to earth as well,” said Coutinho, who has now retired.
North Point remembers Gyanendra as a student who excelled in elocution and was a very good hockey player, making it to the school team. “There were hardly any speakers who could match Gyanendra in those days. He not only won the inter-school elocution competitions with ease but was also the inter-Jesuit elocution contest in the entire Northeast,” said Coutinho.
According to him, even crown prince Paras, who would have been the king had it not been for the people’s uprising, had studied for a brief period at North Point.
Jigme Singye Wangchuck, the fourth king of Bhutan, was also a quiet student. “He was here for only a year. In 1962 when the Indo-Chinese war broke out he was taken out of school for security reasons,” said Fr Kinley Tshering, the rector of the school and a former North Pointer.
Wangchuk’s decision to usher in parliamentary democracy in Bhutan has earned him accolades from the international community.
Under him, the tiny Himalayan kingdom underwent many changes, a significant one in 1981 when the king introduced 20 elected district committees. The latest change and probably the most dramatic was the general elections held this year to bring in democracy in a country where people measure their success by the intangible yardstick of Gross National Happiness.
The GNH is a political philosophy that seeks to balance material growth with spiritual well-being. (The Telegraph)
The kings of the two Himalayan countries, Nepal and Bhutan, may be diametrically opposite in handling their national affairs, but they share a common alma mater: both have walked the corridors of St Joseph’s School (Darjeeling) or North Point during their formative years.
Old North Pointers who are still associated with the institution remember the “good times” that King Gyanendra of Nepal had during his school years. The 60-year-old has from today ceased to be the king of Nepal. Yesterday, political parties in the Himalayan nation had voted at a special assembly to abolish the 239-year-old monarchy and declare the country a republic.
“Every one passes through good and bad phases. I would like to remember only the good times associated with King Gyanendra,” said M. Coutinho, who had taught English and elocution to the king. Many royal family members from Nepal, including Gyanendra, were in North Point for the decade starting 1960.
A family photograph of the king, taken at North Point in 1969, hangs on the school corridor. “Among all of them, King Gyanendra was the most polite and well behaved. He was extremely down to earth as well,” said Coutinho, who has now retired.
North Point remembers Gyanendra as a student who excelled in elocution and was a very good hockey player, making it to the school team. “There were hardly any speakers who could match Gyanendra in those days. He not only won the inter-school elocution competitions with ease but was also the inter-Jesuit elocution contest in the entire Northeast,” said Coutinho.
According to him, even crown prince Paras, who would have been the king had it not been for the people’s uprising, had studied for a brief period at North Point.
Jigme Singye Wangchuck, the fourth king of Bhutan, was also a quiet student. “He was here for only a year. In 1962 when the Indo-Chinese war broke out he was taken out of school for security reasons,” said Fr Kinley Tshering, the rector of the school and a former North Pointer.
Wangchuk’s decision to usher in parliamentary democracy in Bhutan has earned him accolades from the international community.
Under him, the tiny Himalayan kingdom underwent many changes, a significant one in 1981 when the king introduced 20 elected district committees. The latest change and probably the most dramatic was the general elections held this year to bring in democracy in a country where people measure their success by the intangible yardstick of Gross National Happiness.
The GNH is a political philosophy that seeks to balance material growth with spiritual well-being. (The Telegraph)
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