Bjena gup Dechen said that elders at home attended the tshechu leaving important work at home unattended. "They understand the meaning and importance of the tshechu," he said. "Obstacles and ill fortune will be removed in this life if we attend the tshechu," he said. The fair although organised for the people was a big distraction to the tshechu, he added. "The youth go out of the house saying they want to attend the tshechu but they end up spending their time at the fair."
The mask dances performed by the monks of the Dorling Raksha kuencham drew the biggest crowd as the masks worn during this cham were said to be the treasures retrieved by a terton. Amid the riot of colours of brocade tegos, intricate hand woven kiras and multicoloured ghos, Angay (grandma) Namgay Dem sits with four grandchildren. "They tag along with me wherever I go," she says. Angay Namgay Dem, 66, lives in Punakha and has come to Thimphu to watch the tshechu. "I tell my grandchildren the importance and significance of the tshechu just like my grandparents had taught and explained it to me when I was a child," she says. Urbanisation and a changing lifetsyle has had an impact. "The dress that the mask dancers wear are more sophisticated and rich, and traditional dances are more light and lively," says Angay Namgay Dem. "There are also more people attending the tshechu now and they all seem better dressed," she adds. "But I am not sure about their faith and understanding of the tshechu." A
look around the courtyard shows mostly elderly citizens and young children
apart from elderly tourists. There are young families and families
of security personnel. Most are from a rural background. The more slick
sophisticated educated urbanised Thimphu crowd is conspiciously absent.
Most are doing other things than attending the tshechu.
For the urbanised Thimphu crowd, the tshechu means holidays to do other things, like going out of town, going on picnics and parties and polishing up on a game of golf. Attending the tshechu is not quite on the agenda, may be on the last day to get blessings and for the shortest time possible. "I attend the tshechu as it is a great photo opportunity," says a Bhutanese architect. He agrees that urbanised Thimphu residents hardly ever attend the tshechu. "I have never met any of my friends at the tshechu in the last four to five years." There were some who thought the dances were long and tedious to watch. But some pointed out that the Tashichhodzong courtyard was too small to accommodate everyone interested in attending the tshechu. If you get in late chances are that you will not get to see the dances because it is very crowded. For several young people the tshechu is a time "for gaining merit and at the same time an opportunity to be with family and friends and meet new people," said Pema a junior high school student who had come along with his friends. "It is education on the good and the bad." During the break around midday, families sit in groups and relish the food brought from home. "When we die, we meet the characters that we see during the tshechu and if we do not recognise them we will see them in a state of anger and fury," says a girl studying in the seventh standard. "My mother told me this and since then the tshechus have meant something different." Sonam Jamtsho, a 27 year old working in a private firm can't help laughing during the performance of the Pholay and Molay dance/scene. "Some of the movements are quite base but it teaches people about the good and bad that exists in a society," he says. The intrigued youth are uncertain about the whole concept of gaining merit from attending the tshechu while the elders are devoted and sure of it. The minors just tag along excited to be in the crowd. "Maybe it has something to do with age," said Phuntsho, a corporate employee who has not attended tshechu for some years now. "As we get older then maybe we start getting devoted and think it is important to attend it." Some of the dances that were performed were dance of the 21 black hats, dance of the ladies and noblemen, dance of the lords of the cremation grounds, dance of the Rakshas, dance of the eight manifestations of Guru Rinpoche and the dance of the judgement of the dead.
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