Endorsements
A deeply moving and insightful memoir, Down the Braided River illuminates the overlooked struggles and resilience of Deaf Bhutanese refugees through Bhawani Dangal’s extraordinary journey. It powerfully bridges cultures and identities, offering a rare and humanizing perspective on displacement, communication, and belonging.
SURAJ BUDATHOKI
New Hampshire State Representative
Co-Founder of Peace Initiative Bhutan
Heartfelt thanks to Bhawani Dangal for sharing this powerful, moving story of
resilience and courage: his happy childhood in Bhutan; his years in a refugee camp in Nepal; his migration to and resettlement in the USA. It is a story that offers countless
insights, especially for those of us who have never been refugees, and who do not
understand as well as we should what it really means to be Deaf.
MICHAEL HUTT
Emeritus Professor of Nepali & Himalayan Studies, SOAS
University of London
Author, Unbecoming Citizens: Culture, Nationhood, and the Flight of Refugees from Bhutan
As a fellow Bhutanese refugee, I found myself reflected in these pages in a way that is both humbling and profound. Bhawani’s story is not only his own—it is the story of thousands of us who were forced to leave behind our homeland, our identity, and everything familiar, and begin again in uncertainty. The journey from Bhutan to the refugee camps in Nepal and, ultimately, to the U.S. is marked by hardship, sacrifice, and resilience. This book captures that journey with honesty, dignity, and remarkable depth.
DHAN K TIMSINA
Former Board Chair of Building Community of NH (BCNH)
“40 Under Forty” 2025 honoree CEO, Universal Care Alliance