ABSTRACT
Twenty-eight-year-old Sangay grew up in a comfortably wealthy family in central Thimpu, the capital of Bhutan. After graduating from high school, he left for university in Calcutta, where he completed his degree in mathematics. Upon graduation, he was called back to Bhutan by his father, who had found him a job in the national education ministry. Though the ministry was a highly sought-after workplace in Bhutan, Sangay came to realize that his classmates who had stayed in India enjoyed a booming economy with higher-paying jobs (for those with college degrees in mathematics). They owned cars and homes and sent their children to private schools. But his friends also complained about difficult bosses, tough competition, and long commutes in a traffic system that was as chaotic and dangerous as it was slow. Sangay had seen similar scenes in comedy films set in the United States, with people screaming out of car windows. None of that, thought Sangay, occurred in Thimpu. Sangay had occasional daydreams about taking his family back to Calcutta, where he could earn more and occupational mobility was possible. Each time, however, he concluded that life was preferable—his well-being was better—in Bhutan.
