So something interesting happened on my way back from the east. I was on my way home.
But how do you define home? The place you’re living in currently or the place you’re from? I got to explore that dilemma as I got a call from my uncle who told me to halt at my grand aunt’s homestay in Ura, my father’s village.
I feel ashamed to admit that I have never been to my father’s village. I know.
But I do share this with countless young people in the city who have never stepped foot in their ancestral homes. My grand aunt’s homestay in Ura is a simple village house but there’s a certain grandeur in its humble space and multiple floors. My aunt (a cousin of my dad’s whom I had never met before) cradles her little boy as she prepares tea for us.
Like most children in Bhutan, I grew up closer to my maternal family & speaking my mother tongue, which turned out to be problematic as I couldn’t speak in Bumtap to my grand aunt & she didn’t speak a word of Dzongkha.
But I could see that she was happy to see me as she fed me lots of KHULE and happy to have us at her homestay and I was more than happy to discover a new side to my family in Ura.
So if you are visiting Ura please do stay at my Ani’s Homestay. Call 17928277.
Here’s to rediscovering your extended family.