Wednesday, May 18, 2011

School Experience: One fateful afternoon, in chemistry class


Forgiveness, has a strong power. It gives sinner a chance to redeem himself at the love of forgiver.
In Zhemgang, during class 12, chemistry teacher, who happened to be my class teacher during our casual chit-chat outside the classroom asked me and few of my friends about how is his teaching doing well with us. It didn’t really seem so serious when I and another friend suggested him of pacing up the classes. You see, there are more than 30 chapters in chemistry and the book 3 cm thick with so many calculations; it wasn’t any good to be able to complete one or two chapters in a month. And the fact that you are in class twelve where you have to give board examination, things couldn’t be any bad than having not finished the syllabus before trail exam. Chemistry in the brain and heart that time wasn’t really be an encouraging equation to bring out the result.
Here he is in the class, with one month to go for the final exam, he’s completed the syllabus, that too, with very good outcome. And in the class, he made no animosity of keeping me and my friend’s words as forgotten concerns. Time and again, sir would in the class make remarks like, people like “Tobgay and X” are very much worried that we won’t be able to finish  our syllabus. We always took it light, until, that afternoon where I stood up in the middle of his lecture and started to ask him about “What is my problem with you, sir?”….”You have taken it so seriously, not once, not twice, you goes on making fun of the suggestions we offered when you came seeking..” And with the sleeves of my gho folded right up to the arm (Well, its not what you are thinking of, and its definitely not that I appeared so much ready to fight with him. I always sat in the class with my laggaes folded right into my sleeves, it kind of kept my laggaes clean for a week long), things didn’t really go well in front of the other students around.
“Are you so esteemed not to be even resisting this much criticism?” He went on and on, I was confused, scared, and angry that I didn’t really hear what he shouted at me. His face has turned red, and after few minutes of silence, he left the classroom. I didn’t really notice my friend’s shocked expressions as if to ask me, “What the hell, Dude?”
Whatever happened in the class, I felt bad afterward, it didn’t really show anything so good for my open confrontation in the class. It didn’t really justify anything. I was at the end of everything wrong about it. Sir stopped coming to the classes and when it was the time for the discussion and solving questions of previous year papers, it didn’t really go well with my friends and myself.
Class was empty as usual with the dark silence. I didn’t take much time to decide on what should I do. I checked in the teachers’ common-room, it was empty. Inside the chemistry lab, sir stood  reading something. Well, what happened in the room could have been the best thing, but I would rather sum it up and do not stretch this thing. The best thing that i still keep in my mind is what he said to me at the end my emotional apology, “If i don’t forgive you, who would?” It touched me deeply, and I think there’s so much a deep sense in his words. My whole tension and a heavy heart with burdened guilt finally made me feel light and warm. Sir started coming to the class that period only.
After I qualified for scholarship with good marks in Maths and Chemistry, I called my sir, in India (he left the school for some job in India).
It takes a strong person to say sorry, and an ever stronger person to forgive-Unknown.

Saturday, May 14, 2011

Cristiano aplogises to a fan


Cristiano.....there’s nothing that I don’t like about this player…..and with what happened last Tuesday in the match against Getafe, where Ronaldo while clearing ball away smashed the ball on one of the fans’ nose which left the fan with bleeding nose, the admire for the player as a genuine human being behind that superstar footballer has increased tremendously.
Cristiano, after the match, went inside the stands, and apologised the fan. Latter was also gifted Cristiano’s shirt and took some photographs as well.

School Experience; Clubbed in Literary Club to Current Affairs’ Day


In the schools to exercise certain varieties of co-curricular activities and creative studies which are not necessarily in the school texts, clubs get formed through certain number of enthusiastic students and a teacher or two. History has it that, clubs in schools were first started in Sacramento High School in California, in May of 1925 by their school administrator. Clubs in schools ranged from home science to literary, scouting to nature, agriculture to culture, etc.
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In my entire life in school, I was a part of only three clubs. My first club, literary club which I continued being in till I finished my class tenth. It began as something that I liked because we would be seated in library for an hour or less once in a week after the school, and gradually the love for English started to grow bigger, and hence there was no looking on other pastures around. In Yebilaptsa, after I got myself transferred to a new school from Wangduecholing lower secondary school, I joined literary club and we enjoyed hell lot. I started maintaining the scrape-book where I would collect articles and sometimes write my own. And in class ten, I was appointed as the literary captain and there I had the opportunity to get in touch with computer, a whole new experience to actually type out the magazine compiled by the articles submitted by members. They were sold amongst students, and the money we made was used for buying handkerchiefs which we donated to the hospital patients. It was something for which I still feel blessed and happy.

Then came, high school, in Zhemgang for some unknown reasons, I didn’t join the literary club. It was Current Affairs Club instead. History was full of people in the assembly making the news interesting by shouting news from far distance at the introduction of headlines by the main reporter just because he was a correspondent from some far place. Somehow, people always enjoyed the particular day where news were read instead of speeches. Although I never had so much a good opportunity than once during class 11, I had another chance when I was in class twelve. I changed my club for Physics so that I could study something related to my academic interest which would ultimately help me giving more time to study. However, sometimes people came out to speak as guest reporter and I subsequently had a chance. The day before, there was a preliminary singing round in the school organized by the District Administration. Ten boys and ten females were selected for the final round which was scheduled for the following weekend.
I started the news with international, national and the local news. To make things interesting, I called one of the singing finalists, who happened to be from my village, in the assembly and started interviewing him.
“Well, Karma, you are in final ten. What are your hopes of coming as winner?”
After a pause, in a lower tone, he tells me in our local dialect that he won’t be able to answer in English, and before I could tell him anything, he answered in Dzongkha.
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Aang dhang pa dhang aang nyipa mathob dhe baerung, sumpa dhe thob se now mae (Not sure about winning, but definitely hoping to come in third position.” It wasn’t long before everyone in the assembly laughed. I didn’t know what to do and what to ask, but somehow, I ended up asking him remaining questions in Dzongkha.
Well all that I wondered in that morning was if half of the school assumed it to be intentional?  And you know what; Karma didn’t really come third, but surely did well in the competition.
These experiences today are all over me and are my fond memories of school.

Friday, May 6, 2011

School Experience: Morning speeches and Prayers

There were incidences in primary school when we were lashed so much by our supposedly physical training teacher who happened to be a Dzongkha teacher for not being able to recite the morning prayers, national anthem and national song in the class. For a person who studied in Rigshung Lobdra, the kids who studied in a day school, that too, a school so much influenced by many television characters than our own embedded religion, didn’t really understand the reason behind our inability to by-heart those in given stipulated time. Besides, it didn’t really make a sense for someone who is entrusted to teach us Physical Training to come up with such tasks, but then, who would dare to make a noise about it, he was after all a terror.
Morning prayers, then a morning speeches and the announcements from teachers, then were so tedious and sometimes made a burden in a hot sunny day. Our friends, especially girls would collapse sometimes not being able to get through the assembly under the scorching sun. Teachers would scan the queue and sometimes pick one of us for either not coming neatly or for not being present in the earlier assembly. The prayers offered then were understood as just formalities as a student one was abound to, today as I look at myself for the lack of being able to recite one or even know it by-heart, I feel sometimes ashamed and belittled by my own lack of knowledge. The prayers were offered to God of Wisdom, that came too late to understand though, and national anthem was something for which we used to stand still even from the way distance.  Well what those verses meant, we never knew until we were in high school. Evening prayers were introduced when we were of class four. What began as some sort of school formality ended up as being the searching the solace and shelter in times both adversity and bliss.
Morning speeches were something that came as one golden opportunity, and most of the students took the speeches directly from magazines and newspapers. My first morning speech was about “Student life is golden life” and what I spoke, I don’t really remember. It was copied from some school magazine. In high schools, I had opportunities time and often to come out in assembly to either give speeches in both Dzongkha and English or come out to represent the Current Affairs Club. But seriously admitting, I never ever once delivered anything that which I wrote, and I didn’t find any importance by then. Like all my friends, even though, I was always known for my enthusiasm in literature, I never dared to speak one that which was right from my heart.
However, apart from some serious and inspiring speeches people collected and delivered, there were also few funny ones. In zhemgang High school, in a morning, there has to be two speakers-one would speak in English while other would do in Dzongkha. There was one morning, a tale of two speakers-the one who spoke in Dzongkha was from Southern Bhutan and in his funny accent; he spoke on “Lobdra na doeboey kab aro garo zo metub (why one shouldn't in relationship with opposite sex while in school and the content was also so funny from how guys these days to impress their girl friends uses other friends things right from hair gel to shoe polish. And the guy who spoke in English began his speech with... “To be frank, I am not prepared; I don’t have any topic thought about. I just asked councilor (school captain who used to spearhead the morning assembly) here to give me one…………………”…he went on and on like some extempore speech with some silence in the middle. The funny morning assembly got serious when Vice Principal scolded the two speakers for making a mockery out of such opportunities.
Morning speeches and prayers started the school every day. However, now, life has been so much into other stuffs that sometimes I forget that the day is auspicious to offer a prayer or two. If only that games teacher lashed out some more, I would be able to say some prayers before I start my college and end my day.