Singh being received by the Bhutanese Prime Minister and his wife at Paro airport. (PTI)

Thimpu, May 16: Manmohan Singh today got a taste of the public excitement that Indira and Rajiv Gandhi once evoked, but he had to travel across the border for the experience.

A sea of beaming, ordinary faces brought that lost world alive for the Prime Minister, usually cocooned in security in India, in a small mountain nation with an old-world charm: Bhutan.

Schoolchildren with red cheeks, smiling young men and women, and older faces creased with good humour lined Singh’s 54km journey from Paro to Thimpu, waving Indian and Bhutanese flags.

Even the rain failed to dampen the spirits of a people who measure their success by the intangible yardstick of Gross National Happiness.

The Prime Minister could not resist responding. He stopped his motorcade, got off the car and mingled with the crowd, shaking hands.

Later, he acknowledged the special significance of the world’s largest democracy meeting its youngest.

“This is a very exciting event. Bhutan has just witnessed elections — a marvellous development — peaceful transition to a democratic monarchy,” Singh said after he and his wife Gursharan Kaur were received by Bhutanese Prime Minister Jigme Y. Thinley and his entire cabinet.

“As a democracy we cherish this moment and we will use the visit to further strengthen in every possible way the close bond of friendship which unites our two countries and our two people,” he added.

India and Bhutan, however, seemed to share much more than the “unique ties of culture, religion and geography” that Singh spoke of. Thimpu’s roads were swamped by Marutis — from the good old Maruti 800 to the popular Alto to the latest Swift D’zire.

“Yes, they are all very popular here,” said Dawa Lama, who proudly claimed he could speak perfect Hindi like many other young Bhutanese.

Singh, the first Indian Prime Minister to visit Bhutan after the late P.V. Narasimha Rao in 1993, was presented with a traditional silk scarf by Thinley after landing at Paro.

Later in Thimpu, he was impressed by the traditional, festive reception as he inspected the guard of honour at Tashichhodzong.

Singh also met the new king, Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuk, and had formal talks with Thinley, the thrust being on continued co-operation and energy-sharing.

The Prime Minister observed that this was a “very auspicious year” for Bhutan since it was the centenary of the Wangchuk dynasty. It’s also the 50th year since India’s first Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, toured the country, sometimes taking rides on the back of a yak.

Tomorrow, Singh will become the first international leader to address the joint session of Bhutan’s new Parliament. He will also be laying the foundation stone for the Punatsangchhu hydroelectric project and dedicating to the Bhutanese people the 1,020MW Tala hydel project built with India’s help. He will then meet the old king, Jigme Singye Wangchuk.