Boss women of bhutan - A Happy hardworking and inspiring bunch of women

Bhutan is a small Himalayan country and so near our country and yet so different. Its a breathtakingly beautiful country and here lives the most beautiful hardworking women. The country is very high on gender equality. Women can be seen everywhere and in lots of profession. I wonder why no-one has ever captured this before... People have a very respectful attitude towards women...no catcalls, no eve-teasing, no staring. I am certainly not surprised why it's the happiest place on Earth. When half of the population feel safe and happy....it's kind of a given.  There is so much to learn from them. I will let the pictures do the talking. These women just go about their life doing amazing things so causally without making a big deal about it. I am in awe of them.

The breastfeeding mother who walked hurriedly through the streets of Paro. Such was her confidence I am totally floored. Also, there were no judgement or staring at her from the people around. 

This woman is all sorts of amazing.  She is 50 yrs and does stuff which makes me feel so old. She has energy of a 20 year old. She lifts other women up ..is very kind and very welcoming to guest or any other villager who happen to be at her door. She loves to feed people and don't shy away from doing the heavy lifting like literally. 

Tip - Ditch the fancy hotel and do a homestay in Punakha to enjoy nature, authentic delicious food and warmth of the people. If you are lucky you may learn a dish or two from them.

The left seller is so old and sells and bargains like a pro. The right seller had different types of grains and flours - corn, buckwheat, rice(red and white) and wheat. Btw, the centenary farmers market at Bhutan is totally dominated by the females. I didn't see even a single seller who was not a woman. Saw them loading and unloading veggies and groceries from trucks. 
Trivia - Bhutan is a self sufficient country in terms of food. They cultivate all these in their country organically it seems.  
Tip- Head to the second floor for organic stuff. The lower level, I am told has inorganic pesticide laden stuff imported from India. 
 
 

This is a school team who are so blessed to play at such a big football field. This was a practice match that they were playing while lots of other teams arrived in buses from far to play some serious matches to be played later. The girls were so kind and didn't mind when my daughter excitedly ran into their field and then tried to run away with their ball. They patiently played with her, negotiated with her. Apart from being cool sportswomen they were really kind....... While the crowd itself were very patient ....what was amazing that they was no a single catcalls or name calling while they played. There was no less cheer for the girls though.

The school going girls have to walk a lot while going to school. Not that they mind. This is a part of world where parents can till send their children to school on foot without accompanying them. I saw so many school kids happily, independently returning from schools chatting away eating  snack on way and generally very happy...

Women in hospitality....Met them at our Thimpu stay. ..they carried a 18 kg full gas cylinder up the stairs when they ran out of gas. They fixed lights and hot water issues....multitaskers..and troubleshooters these two. That smile never left their faces. One was a new mom...her baby was 7 months old and her husband prepares hot dinner for her when she gets home and plays with the baby.

I had a teeny weeny girl crush on these extremely fit and smart police officers.
Trivia- There is not a single traffic light in Thimpu. Well...and to add to that the drivers do obey traffic rules even if there is no police officer in sight....or signal and also if the entire road is empty ....

This woman wore killer fashionable boots. She is a farmer and a mushroom seller both. I bought mushroom from her and my host in Punakha dried them so graciously for me.

The oh so pleasant parking ticket collector of Thimpu. I have never ever encountered one until I met her. She made the time to chit chat with me and told me about her daughter.

The cheeky one.....posed in her betel leaf ...She is the vegetable,fruits vendor in the most beautiful and clean farmers market ever.  A whole lot of people eat betel leaf but not surprisingly didn't find any betel stains anywhere at all.  

Trivia - They call it doma pani in Bhutan and legend has it that when guru Rinpoche arrived in Bhutan and spread Buddhism he got the people to give up on eating flesh and bones by replacing them with doma-pani. 

I purchased the most juicy and sweet strawberry from her. They were small in size but oh so tasty. I bought apricots, hill banana, cucumber, papaya from here. There were some yummy looking pickles which caught my attention but we had a long journey ahead so skipped it. 

Tip - Definitely visit the centenary farmers market in Thimpu if you are looking for some extremely fresh veggies, fruits, cheese,chillies etc. You will thank me later. They are closed on Mondays.

Women can here actually build. Saw them building houses and also their own shop in Thimpu. Also, learnt that they sing very melodiously while building houses as well. In olden days they used to sing this song where they asked for forgiveness from insects which got killed while building houses. 

Very fortunate to hear the song at the simply Bhutan.

Tip- do visit Simply Bhutan at Thimpu to get a snapshot of the Bhutanese culture and history. Don't miss the food. However, one needs to buy the food tickets at the entrance while purchasing the entry ticket else you may have to miss the food.

Bhutan has such rich textiles. They have really varied textures, fabrics and are extremely well crafted and expensive. These women weave such beautiful pieces. I really hope they start weaving sarees soon so that i can really invest and own a Bhutanese textile. Right now mostly they make the traditional kira and lots of other paraphernalia.  For now, I am happy with a few small pieces I picked up at Thimpu. A extremely gorgeous well made yellow coloured piece with silk threads work that was originally weaved for use as dining table mat. Bought one of them to be creatively stitched into either a kurta or blouse for me or the  little ones dress.

Tip- Do your most of the shopping from Thimpu markets. Paro was a little expensive. Though they also have very pretty cups, trinkets at great prices.

Women in Government..forest officer punakha... helping me with some.information as her daughter returned from school and waited for her mom to go home together. 

She climbed the taktsang monestry like a boss while minding 7 
other horses. Its not a easy climb and add to that being responsible for tourists and the horses. This takes a lot of courage and practice and being totally proficient in your job.

Newly appointed custom officer. Her whole family came to drop her at the airport. She was very excited to start her job.

The strong and fit granny who had picked her granddaughter from school and was very happy when I asked for a pic. Her daughter was working and she helped her by taking care for the little one

Tip - It's safe to say that women can even travel solo without a pinch of worry in Bhutan...So if you are thinking of doing a solo or women's only trip head to Bhutan.