SHELKAR CHODEN

Date of Birth : 25th December

Dzongkhag : Trongsa

Education : High School

Height: 178cm  Weight: 50 Kg

Hobby and interest?
I like singing, dancing, reading Buddhist books and sketching arts. I also love to travel and go for shopping, which is my favorite, especially buying gifts. As part of my hobby, I also maintain a small Diary for the petty expenses I make.

What does beauty mean to you?
Beauty for me is that wonderful quality of a person which cannot be bought or sold at the various markets of modern age where everyday people sell their virtue, morality and human essence. There is no such thing as “true beauty” or “inner beauty” because the word beauty in itself stands for truth and kindness. Where compassion, wisdom and truth meet, there is beauty and when there is this beauty in us, everything around us becomes beautiful.

You close your eyes, there is beauty inside. You open your eyes, there is beauty outside. There is beauty everywhere. There is beauty in even the UGLY. Beauty has the power to transform everything around us into joy, happiness and peace because beauty is compassion and wisdom itself.

What makes you proud of your country?
The fact that Bhutan has just evolved into a democratic constitutional monarchy under the guidance of our kings makes me proud of my country.

Within a short span of a hundred years, we have achieved so much of developments but we have also preserved our tradition and culture and safe guarded our unique flora and fauna. It is such a beautiful blend of intellectual leaders, faithful citizens and a democratic government. We have always strived to keep the physical and moral diseases of the modern age at bay but we have also embraced and adopted, without any prejudice the truly enlightening and liberating wisdom that other nations have.

What does democracy mean to you?
Besides having the right to elect our leader, democracy for me, at a personal level means living in happiness under the laws of our own making. Democracy for me is freedom of thoughts, and freedom of speech. It also means I have the opportunity to serve my nation in the various fields of my interests. Whenever we feel that a certain something isn’t right, we can always voice it out. Democracy allows us to breathe free without fear of certain powerful people trying to suppress us. It also means discrimination, favourism and partialialy no longer victimizes the poor, weak and the illiterates.

The most influential person in my life?
The most influential person in my life is Buddha Shakyamuni because his simple words of truth had sown the seeds of spirituality in me. His teachings have all the answer to my questions. If I am changed to better person, it is due to the Lord’s words of wisdom.

What is the best thing about your Dzongkhag?
Trongsa holds great historical significance, because this is place where Gongsa Ugyen Wangchuck, then Trongsa Penlop, united the whole country under one King. Even to this day, the Crown Prince has to assume the post of Trongsa Penlop at Trongsa before he is officially crowned the King of Bhutan.