year of the femal ox in nyc

A conglomerate of Bhutanese of New York congregate yearly in an obscure Aremenian church hall tucked underneath the overhead tracks of Long Island Rail Road to celebrate Losar. The year of the Female Ox was no different.

majority of the bhutanese population resides in Sunnyside,Queens. However, we bhutanese are obscured among the growing community of Tibetans and Nepalese.
Perhaps it’s our affinity for speaking influential dominant languages of Hindi, Nepali, and English that we become ever more obscure. it is next to impossible to differentiate among tibetans, northern nepalese and bhutanese. 

I was riding the 7 train with a Bhutanese friend, when a group of teenagers entered the train. They all had himilayan phenotype of Tibet, Bhutan and Nepal. Refraining from initial judgment, I eavesdrop their conversations. They spoke English but I noticeably heard snippets of Nepali and hindi. Unsure, I asked my friend for his opinion. He thinks they are definitely bhutanese.

Unsatisfied, I looked toward the group to make an eye contact with anyone. A young lady standing by the door caught my eye and I hesitantly blurted, “Happy Losar, Tashi Delek”. The group wished us the same sentiment and I knew that they were either Tibetans or Bhutanese. Then I asked if they were Bhutanese.

I felt rather occidental with jeans and shirt among my own countrymen and countrywomen who were dressed in the most extravagant designs of Ghos and Kiras.I learned minutes prior to the entrance that the ambassador of Bhutan to the United Nation was invited as the guest of honor. As he entered the hall, almost everyone diverted their attention towards the door from peeking at each other over the tables across the room, and everyone got up to show their sign of respect, ingrained within the Bhutanese society. Mr. Wangchuck went from table to table shaking hands with the entire mass.

The host in the most gracious mannerism of Dzongkha invited the ambassador to say a few words. His sensibility was apparent as he said; “I’ll speak in English” taking into consideration of the ever growing young generation of Bhutanese assimilated into the American society. “I am very happy to be here today and I cannot praise enough about what the Bhutanese community here is doing to help people in Bhutan.” He then talked about how every Bhutanese living in the States is an integral part of the Bhutanese society. He ended his speech on the note that the counsulate is an open door and welcome any issues or problems promising a resolve.

“Acho Tshewang, Happy Losar, Tashi Delek”, said Pema, the young lady I met at the 7 train. The cultural show began with a video of a monk thanking us for the money that will help maintain the monastery raised by the sales of the entrance fee, $30. As the show went on with singing and dancing we were served with Suja, a buttered tea, a national drink. As the tradition goes, the older generation took to the dance floor dancing to traditional music in a circular pattern.
Although I didn’t take part in the dance, I immersed myself into a little piece of home culture away from home and waited like the rest on a long line to get some traditional Bhutanese food.