Bhutan’s unique, authentic and cheerful calling card

With the Newtown massacre, Typhoon Boha, Hurricane Sandy, LIBOR fixing and Jimmy Savile, one could be forgiven for writing off 2012 as an annum horribilis.

Tomorrow’s end of the world notwithstanding and In a spirit of optimism for the year ahead here’s a photograph of a young monk I snapped during one of several trips I have been fortunate enough to make to Bhutan.

So-called Kingdom of the Thunder Dragon, Bhutan is the origin of the Gross National Happiness indicator, which measures progress in terms of the spiritual, physical, social and environmental health of its citizens and natural environment.

Bhutan certainly feels a happy place, and GNH is surely an uplifting if idiosyncratic, alternative to GDP.

Not advertised, marketed or pushed through social media to the external world, organic word of mouth has propelled it to be a powerful calling card and export.

Now the UN is considering adopting it.

Happy Christmas and wishing you a buoyant and fulfilling 2013.