In the Name of Physical Beautification and Development

Sometimes, it is very difficult to work in a small school with small children when it comes to physical beautification and physical works. With most children little taller than the length of spde, shovl and pick axe handles, it is very challenging to materialize most of the physical works as planned. To have an ambience of a child friendly school, physical beautification is must to make a learning environment inviting and congenial. But beautification doesn’t come up naturally without investing our physical works. Although natural beauty is a true beauty that cannot be surpassed by any human-made beauty, wilderness is not a treat to most of the modern eyes. And as a result we have to scratch and butcher, chisel and shape, cut and crop, every natural thing around us to suit our eyes. In the name of physical beautification, most trees and plants are denied of their wilderness. Weeds and grass which falls in the vicinity of any human settlement are not lucky. Weeds are either cut or weeded out on regular basis and grass are mowed timely not excluding fates of privets that are pruned or trimmed as and when they penetrates the shape a gardener shaped. 
     Our school too has to commit all the above mentioned sins to suit the moods of all of us. If left in wilderness, outsiders take bad imprints of the school. And for the insiders, we feel that the environment is not safe and pleasant for learning and living if left in wildness. The task of transforming every natural things around us takes tremendous hard physical works in a small school like ours. It is hard to garner support of the community's people with the priority of their scheduled work at home. And the people are not that prosperous enough to sponsor some important projects in the school. Worse still, our school is surviving on shoestring budget that we are helpless to channel some of budget towards physical development. And government's planned developmental project doesn't cover everything that we dream to have an ambience of child friendly school. As a result, all beautification works and petty developmental works falls in our hands. Inch by inch, we have to share our physical energies to fall everything in the shape that is presentable to others and inviting to us.
     The last weekend saw us developing a badminton court suitable for our children to develop basic skill of playing the game.  It is our aim to make all the games facilities available to our children. But in the small playground already in place we cannot divide the ground to play all the games. Yes we can make the ground to play multi games and let the children play the game in turn but most of the children especially the smaller ones land up not getting opportunity to play at least a game in a week. So with every game having its place to play, most children are immersed in a game or two in a day. Those who are not allowed to play football can move to other games. 
     In a torrid heat of August, in our attempt to develop the badminton court, countless drops of sweats dropped off from us and countable blisters appeared on our hands. The children were willing to help us but they were helpless as always in terms of major manual works. It was really pitiful to observe our children seeming exhausted in few minutes not being able to dig with comfort with tools' handles almost their height. As a result they were given lighter work to haul the dug earth taking their own time. I was really proud of my colleagues working hard to shape the bushy garden into a playground. After toiling for more than hour, we were satisfied with the ground falling in a place to develop a badminton court. In a shade we had pineapple juice prepared by our lady colleagues who toiled equally with those children assigned to weed flower gardens and cut grass around. We decided to continue the work inch by inch without taxing our bodies much. The coolness of the shade by the generous trees around dried our sweats and refreshingly cooled us. No matter how much tried we were in the middle in the day, something taking shape out of our own physical contribution, earned us at least a good nights sleep.
 

In the Name of Physical Beautification and Development

Sometimes, it is very difficult to work in a small school with small children when it comes to physical beautification and physical works. With most children little taller than the length of spde, shovl and pick axe handles, it is very challenging to materialize most of the physical works as planned. To have an ambience of a child friendly school, physical beautification is must to make a learning environment inviting and congenial. But beautification doesn’t come up naturally without investing our physical works. Although natural beauty is a true beauty that cannot be surpassed by any human-made beauty, wilderness is not a treat to most of the modern eyes. And as result we have to scratch and butcher, chisel and shape, cut and crop, every natural thing around us to suit our eyes. In the name of physical beautification, most trees and plants are denied of their wilderness. Weeds and grass which falls in the vicinity of any human settlement are not lucky. Weeds are either cut or weeded out on regular basis and grass are mowed timely not excluding fates of privets that are pruned or trimmed as and when they penetrates the shape a gardener shaped. 
     Our school too has to commit all the above mentioned sins to suit the moods of all of us. The task of transforming every natural things around us takes tremendous hard physical works in a small school like ours. It is hard to garner support of the community's people with their priority of their scheduled work at home. And the people are not that prosperous enough to sponser some important project in the school. Worse still, our school is surviving on shoestring budget. And government's planned developmental project doesn't cover everything that we dream to have an ambience of child friendly school. As a result, all beautification works and petty developmental works falls in our hands. Inch by inch, we have to share our physical energies to fall everything in the shape that is presentable to others and inviting to us.
     This weekend saw us developing a badminton court suitable for our children to develop basic skill of playing the game.  It is our aim to make all the games facilities available to our children. But in the small playground already in place we cannot divide the ground to play all the games. Yes we can make the ground to play multi games and let the children play the game in turn but most of the children especially the smaller ones land up not getting opportunity to play at least a game in a week. So with every game having its place to play, most children are immersed in a game or two in a day. Those who are not allowed to play football can move to other games. 
     In a torrid heat of August, in our attempt to develop the badminton court, countless drops of sweats dropped off from us and countable blisters appeared on our hands. The children were willing to help us but they were helpless as always in terms of major manual works. It was really pitiful to observe our children seeming exhausted in few minutes not being able to dig with comfort with tools' handles almost their height. As a result they were given lighter work to haul the dug earth taking their own time. I was really proud of my colleagues working hard to shape the bushy garden into a playground. After toiling for more than hour, we were satisfied with the ground falling in a place to develop a badminton court. In a shade we had pineapple juice prepared by our lady colleagues who toiled equally with those children assigned to weed flower gardens and cut grass around. We decided to continue the work inch by inch without taxing our bodies much. The coolness of the shade by the generous trees around dried our sweats and refreshingly cooled us. No matter how much tried we were in the middle in the day, something taking shape out of our own physical contribution, earned us at least a good nights sleep.
 

The Bard is Back

As much as other English Literature scholars and students are happy with the news of the comeback of Shakespeare in our English Curriculum, I am deligithed too. Happiness might have crossed borders for those Shakespeare fanatics with the news. I am fortunate to know  a few yet devoted Shakespeare fans in our country. My Lecturer and friend Sir Karma Wangchuk, my inspiration in the world of arts, nature and literature, of Paro College of Education is a bona fide son of Shakespeare as far as I know, heard and seen about him. In his nerves flows Shakespearean wisdom, pure and clear, as oozed out of the bard’s pen. He would often comment that no English Literature is complete without Shakespeare. With Shakespeare in his DNA, he would make the plays lively for us and in the process we would earn lots of values especially critical thinking skills.  I was one of the fortunate students to taste the creams of Shakespearean literature from him. He would serve us best of the best Shakespeare’s universal cuisines unadulterated by incompetency and shallowness of Shakespearean knowledge. With Shakespeare in him, inspiration and love for the literature streamed naturally in me. During his one of visits to England, the opportunity to visit the bard's birth place, Stratford upon Avon, had been greatest moment that he felt like visiting the bard in real.
      Then Mr K C Jose who had been an English Lecturer in both the colleges of education in our country is one for the Shakespeare. I don’t know him personally nor did I study literature from him. I have realized his love of Shakespeare through reading of his articles in newspapers and academic journals. Mr Jose opined in one of his papers, My Reflection Note on the New English Curriculum VIII-XII, Proceedings of Ringpung Experiment XVI, June 2009, ‘The Bard-upon-Avon, to me, just irreplaceable. No other authors-be it poet, a novelist or a dramatist- of any clime or time has the range, the beauty and the universality that Shakespeare has.’ And through such views and comments he voiced in a couple of his articles I read, I consider him as one of the fans of the bard. And then Mr Lobsang Nima, through reading of his blog post(Lobsang Nima’s Soulsearching Diary)  on the bard a couple of times, is one who loves Shakespeare in our nation. Further our former education minister T S Podgyel who is considered king of English Literature in our country may be for the bard. I have heard some elites sharing how they would enjoy learning Shakespearean plays from the minister as a lecturer. At times I have heard that most elites consider him as our nation's Shakespeare for the ocean of wisdom he holds and  the ripples he had been in the nation and beyond. However many people including my lecturer Karma didn't know why Mr Thakhur couldn't retain Shakespearean plays during curriculum shift as the chair. Many may not have been in favor of the bard, they used to conclude.
     There may be many who love the bard through his works which appeals even in this digital world.
    Personally for the opportunity to learn two plays, The Taming of the Shrew and The Tempest, in high schools, Indepth study of the play, The Tempest, in Paro College of Education and finally AsYou Like It and few of his timeless sonnets in my PGDE course in Sherubtse, supported by reading of some of his simplified plays by the modern publishers, supplemented by watching movie version of most of the plays and topped with inspiration from my leturer Karma, I claim myself as one of the lovers of Shakespeare's  works.   But I am not claiming myself an expert in Shakespeare nor am I establishing myself as one of the all known English literature man. I am just expressing little that I am blessed with the bard’s work through experience and inspiration.
     For the greatness and vastness of shakespearn wisdom, some people try to boost their status of literature through Shakespeare and his works. During our school and college days how some of us would walk tall displaying the covers of Shakespeare’s works. And still today some people feel proud having made reference to Shakespeare in their writings, social media posts, speeches and daily conversations. All these behaviours whether we are shallowly or deeply immersed in Shakespearean works, are actually the expression our the bard’s greatness and vastness. The true greatness rest in his true greatness of all his works.
     Now that the bard is back and if I get posted in high schools, I would be blessed to share some of the creams of Shakespeare with others too. May be that time I will be thrown into the ocean of Shakespeare and can fathom the depth of Shakespeare in our life. As of now I am only delighted that he is back in our curriculum in his 400 th  death anniversary which is commemorated worldwide, grand in his country, England, drawing in thousands of visitors. May the bard live long in our curriculum enthralling and broadening our children till eternity.

Time Without Dullness and Inactivity

As a teacher, there isn’t any time for me to tick by with dullness and inactivity. I am always pushed into one or two of course many activities, planned and unplanned, going by the nature of my job no matter how much laziness and dullness engulf me at times. With many pairs of innocent eyes expecting something from me, I am obliged to present them something to let their times tick productively. At times when I finish my planned tasks  before time, i worry how to fill the remaining time with productive ticks. It is very challenging for me to fill the times of the small children. They are restless and my failure to engage them is a total disaster in the classroom. Within 50 minutes in each class, I  have to confluence all my means and methods—recall, remember, reflect, invent, innovate, improvise, etc—to  to maintain smooth flow of the class.
     And for the time and energy I release to make my children's time meaningful, I am rewarded with times without dullness and inactivity in my life. 

Better Out than Bang

I was writing a serious article for my blog few minutes back. I was struck with a paragraph. Nothing, nothing came out of me even after about an hour of thinking. I couldn't ooze out my ideas through the pen on the paper. I was really struck.
     I took out my camera and went out to refresh myself. I went anticlockwise my residence with my eyes in the trees anticipating a bird or two. No birds. But a squirrel captivated my eyes for about fuve minutes. I froze my moment to capture the squirrel's moment. With a small guava in its mouth, the squirrel ran the tree beside the waste pit. As I expected, it stopped on a branch to nibble its hunt. It was perfect view for me to capture its view till the guava fell down unfortunately. Then it ran away leaping from tree to tree and vanished into thick woods below my residence.
     I walked further following the drain below the playground. The group of children led by sir Dendup and Ms Kezang did exceptional job in clearing the drain blocked by sands and thick bushes. They dug out the mud and cleared the bushes. They too might have released extra energy in doing that job as equally as those involved in draining out the puddle behind the academic block.
     An iguana crawling in the drain took me further. The iguana stopped when I stopped. And yet another moment for me to froze to take the reptile's moment. It rested perfectly against brown background of soil. A perfect camouflage, I mumbled. It crawled fast at the sound of my doorstep and vanished into the bushes. The grasshoppers hopped and crickets creaked as I moved further.
      After few minutes of scanning the nature around, Dharangang River rushing fast, crickets creaking, butterflies fluttering... I turned back to my residence hoping that I would would be able to clear the boulders blocking the flow of my writing which I considered carried a serous note.
     Sometimes it is better to go out into the nature and come back refreshed with her power when struck in the middle of any important assignment. Better go out than banging our head on the desk when I am short of ideas.  

Our Weekend Fight

According to some media reports, the incessant rain the nation received for more than a week had been worse since 2007. Across the nation, the incessant downpour wreaked havoc especially in they're really southern regions. Many roads and bridges were reported to be damaged. Sarpang town was hit worse with flood water entering the town. Even His Majesty the King paid his royal visit to investigate the flooded places and provided consolation and hope to those hit worse in Sarpang Dzongkhag. The people realized the royal concern with His majesty visiting the affected places such as Doti River and Amochu in Phuntsholing. The Dantak workers and army personals deployed by HM felt motivated to speed up their work of constructing bailey bridge at Kamji to connect Phuntsholing-Thimphu highway. With Phuntsholing-Thimphu highway disconnected for about a week, some imported vegetables and things were reported ‘becoming expensive’ in Thimphu. I have read about some volunteers ferrying oxygen cylinders on their shoulders at the Kamji block feeling the pains of those patients at National Referral Hospital in Thimphu. Similar disasters were felt all across the nation.
     In the school we felt lucky for no report of any disaster in the community although we received similar torrential downpours that other places received. The children were bombarded with their safety taking into account of the probable disasters accompanying peak monsoon. We could carry out our classes without having to brave any sort of disasters. However, we experienced difficulty in commuting from one place to another with mud splattering our cloths and legs. We dearly longed for internal footpaths to come up in near future. Unlike other officers, teachers have to move from class to class and hence without concrete footpaths, it is difficult for us to maintain our cleanliness. Finally we had to resort to slippers which proved no better than shoes. And gumboots would have been better if we were allowed by our official etiquette although they are very similar in design of our ceremonial boots ‘tshoglhams’. During the last Lower Kheng principals Meet, we were advised not to allow even trainers and sneakers during office hours. Sometimes when disasters wreak havoc, it is difficult to comply by our official etiquette. May be bare foot would be more safe solution to prevent our shoes from splattering mud time and again without going against our official etiquette.
     The puddle formed behind the new academic block has been concern for us. We are concerned that the puddle would weaken the foundation of the building and cause a major disaster in the future. So for that today we were involved in drying the puddle by taking out the water through drains. Last year sir karma had initiated to get rid of the puddle with the help of his club’s children. However the recent incessant rain formed the puddle again, perhaps bigger than last year’s. we dug gravel sand brought by the water from the road and tried to level the ground. As our work progressed, we discovered a couple of water streaming out at a side of the ground. we thought that they were the waters of our kitchen and tap that had been sipped into the ground. but sir Karma heard that the water has been there naturally since long time back. Later an elderly woman who was passing by confirmed that the water occurs naturally in 5th and 6th month every year. We had to resort to meander the water towards the road to avoid future disaster by any means. The teachers and bigger boys dug the gravel sands and put them in sacks. Smaller children picked up the sacks and filled the puddle. But we couldn’t fill the puddle and level the ground despite our restless effort of about 1 and half hours in the sun. We could drain out only some water through high drains we dug and lower a bit of volume of water in the puddle. In the end we were all plastered with mud and dirt. The group which were deployed in clearing the drain below our playground which was built as sort of mitigation work to avoid landslide were tried equally. The children were advised to bathe, wash their clothes and change the dress right away. After that we refreshed ourselves with cool mango and orange juice followed by a movie as promised before the commencement of our work.
     I am very happy for the support and effort my team have for me in any kind of work I dream for the school. I pray for them to be blessed more than the sweats they shed for the wellbeing of the children.

NFE Opening Session at Nganglatrong

On Monday this week I had an opportunity to visit Nganglatrong NFE Center for the opening session for the new learners. Of the nine learners registered through the Tshogpa last spring, six were present at the inauguration. As the temporary head of the school, it is one of my responsibilities to look after the motion of the center. And I was invited by the instructor Leki as an key person to preside over the opening session coupled with a meeting.
     It was at the peak of the heavy downpour our nation was braving. Everything was totally wet and there seemed disasters lurking around in every twist and turn of our ascend up the Nganglatrong path. Luckily Acho Kencho, our school cook, had knife that he cleared the path that had been blocked completely by a fallen tree at one point. The gravelled soil couldn't hold the tree longer. Even a fall of branch would be a disaster through a thick forest. So no time to rest , enjoy nature and ascend with ease. Hurriedly we reached the road without minding the elastic leeches. At the shop over a packet of juice, I pinched out about five leeches from inside my socks. The rain was still dropping. Sir Dendup and Miss Kezang who were on their journey to PD workshop at Zhemgang were struck there following the advice of Tshogpa regarding the swollen stream near Dongdor. I already reminded them not to push their journey hard that I would request the DEOs to adjust them in the next group. So understandingly DEO Karma looked into our matter.
     I suggested them to join me and the cook to the opening session of the NFE for the new learners. Together under the dome of our umbrellas, we went towards the center, rain pattering and our feet sloshing.
     We were warmly welcomed by the instructor, Tshogpa and the learners in Tshogpa's residence. Tea and bangchang came first followed by snacks and boiled eggs. As we talk about the worsening weather over the tea and chang, the learners joined us sitting face to face with us. The instructor formally welcomed me, my team and others for the opening ceremony. In his welcome note he mentioned that he was very happy with our presence to grace the ceremony. Then it was my turn to deliver few words about the importance of education in our lives. It was indeed a platform for me to inspire, motivate and convince a group of people in the community apart from my students. I highlighted the power of education in this fast challenging and changing world. There are chances that other might deceive you while making agreement be it over loan or dispute if you don't know how to read, I reinforced the power of being able to read. Then the advantage to read prayer books and signboard was another benefit the education would endow them. The other power of education, of course the most practical and emerging cream of education I had shared was the advantage to use the smart phones to their fullest once our language got programmed on phones like in Japen, China and Korea.(hopefully our language would develop power to get progrmmed on electronics as one of the language options) I also shared them about the possibility of coming of CLC(Community Learning Centre) and the advantage they would have as literate in grabbing the life skill education CLCs would empower them. Lastly I restated them to complete the course without fail realizing the values and skills they would learn in NFE's purpose to make them literate to read fluently and write legibly.
     Then forming of committee, setting of norms and timings poured in. The program ended with lunch arranged by the instructor.
     With the hope that the program would go smoothly till the end we journeyed back to the school with the rain still showering and mist still hanging heavily around. We had to rush with our senses alert through the leech infested forest.