By Sanghita Singh
The newly married King and Queen of Bhutan, Jigme Wangchuk and Jetsun Pema have decided to revive old memories of their India sojurn by choosing the country for their honeymoon. While they spend time together travelling across Rajasthan, they will be just in time to catch up on the Diwali festivities. During their visit, the first one since the royal wedding they will be hosted by many erstwhile royal families. The couple stops over in Udaipur and Jodhpur and on their way back will spend time mingling in the capital with former Indian royals who are also personal friends of Wangchuk. The Kashmirs and Jyotiraditya Scindia (of the erstwhile kingdom of Gwalior) are hosting private dinners for the king and the queen. In fact, Milind Deora has been appointed minister in waiting to the royal couple.
Wangchuk’s interaction with the young lot in Indian politics and representatives of former royal families paves way for easy and friendly relations between the two countries. Most people see it as an encouraging sign towards the building of a long-standing Indo-Bhutanese relationship, especially given the fact that the King has a special affinity for Indians and the country – and makes it a point to keep up with old links established during his student days in India. Meanwhile all Indians guestswho have returned from the royal wedding cannot stop talking about the sombre Buddhist ceremony (quite different to the great Indian weddings) that marked
the royal wedding.