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Telling Me My Stories: Fragments of a Himalayan Childhood
At age nine, Kunzang Choden was sent to a boarding school in Kalimpong. No one else in the school spoke the only language that she knew then, Bhumtangkha. Every night she would lie in bed and whisper to herself all that she had seen during the day and repeat the English words and phrases she had heard. She soothed herself to sleep by telling herself the stories she knew from home.
Kunzang was orphaned young and her early life was shaped by loss and absence. Written in a series of remembered episodes and musings, this memoir moves between her past in a remote Bhutanese village, the schools she was sent to in India and her present, where she is living once again in her childhood home-Ogyen Choling, now transformed into a museum honouring the legacy of her ancestors.
Kunzang's memories of a privileged upbringing in a landed household are recollections of a long-gone Bhutan. In a bid to join the modern world Bhutan underwent momentous changes in the middle decades of the twentieth century. Telling Me My Stories is an important historical record of fading and soon-to-be-forgotten social structures, lifeways and beliefs. It's also the story of a family that faces these currents of large-scale social change recounted in a voice both entertaining and intimate.
Kunzang was orphaned young and her early life was shaped by loss and absence. Written in a series of remembered episodes and musings, this memoir moves between her past in a remote Bhutanese village, the schools she was sent to in India and her present, where she is living once again in her childhood home-Ogyen Choling, now transformed into a museum honouring the legacy of her ancestors.
Kunzang's memories of a privileged upbringing in a landed household are recollections of a long-gone Bhutan. In a bid to join the modern world Bhutan underwent momentous changes in the middle decades of the twentieth century. Telling Me My Stories is an important historical record of fading and soon-to-be-forgotten social structures, lifeways and beliefs. It's also the story of a family that faces these currents of large-scale social change recounted in a voice both entertaining and intimate.
270 pages, Kindle Edition
Published August 5, 2025
About the author
Kunzang Choden
16 books82 followersKunzang Choden was born in 1952, in the year of the dragon, in Bumthang, Central Bhutan. She spent her early childhood in Bhutan but went to India (Darjeeling) for her primary and secondary education. She has a BA Honours in Psychology from Indraprastha College in Delhi and a BA in Sociology from the University of Nebraska, USA.
She has worked as a teacher and later for the UNDP in Bhutan. From 1990 onwards, Kunzang has been writing on Bhutanese oral traditions, folklore and women. She lives in Thimphu Bhutan with her husband and continues to research and document Bhutan's oral traditions.
She has worked as a teacher and later for the UNDP in Bhutan. From 1990 onwards, Kunzang has been writing on Bhutanese oral traditions, folklore and women. She lives in Thimphu Bhutan with her husband and continues to research and document Bhutan's oral traditions.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
July 9, 2026
When I bought this book, I expected to get a glimpse of Aum Kunzang’s childhood. However, I got transported back to the olden days of feudal lords and the old culture and history of Bhutan.
At times, it felt too personal but I loved how the events were narrated genuinely with no fabrication. It is an honor to get to know her childhood life and history. She is one of my favorite author and I am beyond excited to have read her book and sobbed at some of the tender moments. Further, there are so many funny anecdotes which had me chuckling like a fool!
An absolute pleasure to read such a raw and thoughtful book.
At times, it felt too personal but I loved how the events were narrated genuinely with no fabrication. It is an honor to get to know her childhood life and history. She is one of my favorite author and I am beyond excited to have read her book and sobbed at some of the tender moments. Further, there are so many funny anecdotes which had me chuckling like a fool!
An absolute pleasure to read such a raw and thoughtful book.
November 28, 2025
A peek in Bhutan's history, with all the right humor and what reeks of home. Truly a Fragments of a himalayan childhood.
March 31, 2026
A beautiful memoir of Ashi Kunzang. Heart-touching and felt like re-living the past together throughout the book. Beautiful!
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews