The Circle of Karma: A Realistic Approach to Bhutanese Gender, Culture and Religion

Abstract

The Circle of Karma, a novel published in India in 2005 by Zubaan Books in collaboration with Penguin Books. It is explicitly a Buddhist novel but one that concentrates on the everyday struggle to apply religion to the protagonist- Tsomo’s life. The writing is rich with rich Buddhist imagery but the story firmly grounded in mundane realities of gender and cultural issues, in short an excellent novel about one woman’s hard life, set against vivid gender, cultural and religious background. The novel applies the theory of Nemesis in practice. It deals with the importance of Karma/action. There is message that each human being will experience the Consequences of karma whether good or bad, in one or other way, in this or other birth. There is no escape. The novel is a story of Tsomo the central character, a fat girl compelled by her own restless spirit and later by circumstances to leave her family and go on series of endless travels. Hope and tragedy mark her path in equal measure as her story gives a look of microcosm of Bhutanese society. It is informative regarding the cultural, religious and gender issues in Bhutan which is a Buddhist country