Sonam

1. Background Bhutan has retained a long history of isolation and independence that combined to create a safe haven for the traditions of a vibrant ancient culture. But pressures of globalization are taking their toll, and the kingdom’s local languages, literature and rich, unrecorded oral traditions are at the risk of being lost as modern ways of life rapidly touches the remotest areas of Bhutan་ Due to modernization, today people seem to be getting addicted to amenities and comforts; for instance, both rural and urban folk could watch their traditional festivals in television undermining the significance of participating in the event. Similarly, modern parents have lesser time for their family wanting to heighten economic prosperity. Among the youth, even their habits have a heavy western influence: their choice of clothes, gait, food, language and style, song, dance and sports are moving far from conventions and changes so rapidly that one could hardly realize the fact of it. Folklore is a form of studying, collecting and comparing the surviving beliefs and stories, the ideas which are in our time but not of it; also concerned with legends, customs, practices of the people, of the peasantry class which have least been altered by education and shared least in progress. The focus is to find whether these materials can be retained and given a shape for the generations to come. Awareness campaign through exhibition, media broadcast, and above all structuring and safeguarding the values handed down from one generation to the other.. Folklore has always been a part of human culture since the very beginning of the human society itself; whereas, the study of folklore is hardly 200 years old. Folklore study in Bhutan was first initiated by Dasho Sherub Thaye and later by Aum Kuenzang Choden. Then, the study went on with many other prominent writers and researchers of Bhutan. Going through their papers, we came across the past which we do not know now and even our grandparents are not answerable to what we have read. Similarly, if the values and customs of certain areas are kept unrevealed, chances are there that they might be forgotten by our elderly people and cannot be retrieved. The field of academia takes the onus by offering such a course through which increasing number of students will study, engage themselves in field work and projects, thus reaping the benefits. Annual competitions such as storytelling, debate, recitations, practical daily conducts, short skits concerning the importance of past traditions will be organized to revive them. Folk materials consist of tales, art, craft, tools, costume, belief, medicine, recipes, music, dance, games, gestures, speech and verbal forms of expression and having the program in hand, the college has entrusted and empowered us to trust on our unit and revitalize our local folk materials. The unit has diverse utility

2. measures such as group formation, demonstration, problem-solving methods and using folktales as an instrument to enrich linguistic and analytical skills. The study plan addresses youth’s pressing concern about the past and fulfills the role of merging the present with the past. As of now, a four walled room will serve as the museum in the college premises and later with expansion, it will be set as a model for other universities and would become the tourist attraction too. I hope that through your financial assistance and my initiative would help the nation rise high and let the world feel about the existence of little Bhutan.