Friday photo: Football

In Bhutan recently, I watched a group of young monks (monklings?) release an entire day’s worth of pent up energy on a football. It was late evening at the Chime Lakhang monastery at Punakha and prayers were over the day. What started as a listless kicking of a ball around the field soon gave way to a boisterous match between a dozen monks, and soon there was nothing but a blur of red across my line of vision. A few monk(ey)s who were not into footie, were turning somersaults on the grass or just chasing each other with sticks and stones. One solitary monk sat at a safe distance munching on a fruit, while another stood by the goal post staring into space, letting everyone freely score goals.

Kids will be kids, monks or not.

Against the white and coloured prayer flags in the background, this half hour was one of my favourite Bhutan experiences.

Also see: Friday photo series

And other stories from Bhutan…