Teachers are law Abiding Citizens

This piece was written way back in 2012...

With Gross National Happiness (GNH) ceremoniously walking into the school premises, our students are growing up to be happy citizen of Bhutan, at least that’s what we the adults expect and started believing. That’s for what the government is investing a lot of interest and the teachers in the schools are blistering to the extent of drenching themselves into sweats of endeavor. It has done a gross lot of good in keeping the teachers happy as well, for it came with additional human values to make one smile and laugh in times of condemnation. It has succeeded in generating the valiant figure in the hearts of teachers. Teachers of this state have bowed to the service they are entrusted. They work hard to dumb the still-going-on ‘deriding murmur’ against the quality of education – which to put upright, people have always thought, is solely the teachers’ responsibility

But the teaching profession in our country has become an entrapment , as of now. One is trapped in obligatory service for at least ten years if happened to fall in the clutch of  Ministry of Education (MoE). A teacher can’t inter-change the ministry unless he/she spends lengthy ten years under MoE. 

By choice or by chance; born to be teacher or learnt to be teacher, the teachers are toiling day in and night out to fight against the ignorance of illiterate and innocence of youth. They have always taken the profession as a means to help others grow, and neither did they wish to make a fortune of wealth out of it nor have they enjoyed a glorious human crave for social status. Only often do they wish for a life of the other people and so seldom do they chance to find rare opportunities to get to think of their own interest – want to exercise their talent and skill in particular field – want to work in better place and with better scope. But that is now, prevented and averted by the policy of ten years service for MoE FIRST!

I only wish if the teachers are given due human respect to pursue their enthusiasm and interest along with their talent after serving in the profession at least for five years. What ever done is surely done for good purpose and all know the spirit of the policy – it is for retaining the teachers in the job. But more than that, at times, to consider the human interest and their efficacy in performance with and without motivation must be looked into in depth. The retaining measure found in this policy is bit punitive and not really amiable to the abiders. Teachers are law abiding citizens; they deserve to be free in all their pursuits. 

If this is the approach the government has found to keep the teachers tied to their profession and fights the teacher-shortage-issue, the government also has to find this line of attraction to bring influx of new generation into teaching profession in deluge. This profession is by no means attractive to the people of our country.

Ask the youth if they want to become teacher later in their lives; surely, the percentage would score so low. See what happened with the unfilled slots for the contract teachers under Light Drukyul Project. 300 slots were announced by the Ministry: 200 general, and 100 Dzongkha language teachers of which not even half the slots announced are filled. It is not to wonder what these young Bhutanese want out of their education. It is a determiner for the authority concerned and people responsible to worry about what makes the teaching profession so ugly that it repels the youths from making it their priority profession.

The Change

When the groove turns barren
Saps bust seeds out
Grass quiver in cold breeze
Birds chirp from their nest
Water turns icy rock
Sun trudges long stride
Moon rides clear sky
Stars blossom the heaven's garden
Dirt mounts hill high
Old seats circle the fire
Men empty Bacchus's bottle
Women gossip the lost lore
Youth parades on the street
Deer mark the days with barks
We know winter is in the air.

The Invader

Night falls with soothing touch
Of mothers' songs that lulls off sleep, 
Curling up the troubled minds
Assuages with fantasies of bliss . 
Nights are brightened into light,
Time supposed for yard of grave
For the paused breath in rest, 
Changes instinct of changing beings
Defied the need of darkness green
Keeping the street busy with feet
Shakes my soul and bones of being!

I will return

As dusk paints the space dark, 

      Towards the bed the fishes fleet.    

They cajole my home in heart of mine, 

My aged parents sit and wait,

For half a dozen children bred 

Afar they dwell far to see, 

With love of self-grown and gone, 

Painting their dreams high and vast, 

Of aging parents' love and trust, 

Wrapped in blessing and the prayers. 

I shall return with the fleet

My hardened sole of blistered feet 

Resting cold on foreign land

Into the arms of aged hands

With blossom dreams and winged hopes.

Prayers for the giant souls

This world is a dome where birth is celebrated and death mourned every moment. At one home a new born is welcomed with ritualistic ceremony of showering with love and gifts, cheer and laughter; somewhere else, flowers are put at the feet of a deceased, and silence observed to mark the departure of a great soul ever lived, disregard of a kind of human one was, for everyone is special in their own ways for someone, someway, somewhere. 

His Majesty the King Bhumibo Adulyadej 

On 5th December, 2013 in Thailand, the King deeply revered and deified, His Majesty the King Bhumibol Adulyadej wore his golden robe to mark his 86th year on earth, serving his people with altruistic passion and love. In return the people regarded with the highest respect and sacred loyalty considering His Majesty non-lesser than god they pray in their prayers and hero they sing in their hymns. People from all walks of life, burying their differences, came out in harmony to celebrate the His Majesty’s Birthday, the birth of a symbol of “Oneness” for the Siamese. Four scores of his life is not enough, may he live five and eons for the people and the world as a symbol of peace and harmony, calmness and love, vision and insight, loyalty and justice, patience and compassion, and altruism and philanthropy.

Nelson Mandela 

On the same day, the world has lost His Majesty’s contemporary, a man who inspired the world with projection of high human value. Nelson Mandela, at 95 has departed for heavenly abode. He was known as the liberator of South Africa and teacher of all the nations across the world. He was a father in truest sense to make a global family by sharing his deepest belief and principal of togetherness and interdependence, equity and justice, compassion and love to be shared among the human kind destined to live on the same earth. Boundaries are just an illusory demarcation between the mankind for him, and he is the flag hoisted by the whole world in same colour and representation, human being. He would be missed by the world, but he would live in the wisdom he imparted for all, for the world. May the Gracious Soul Rest in Peace.

Learn from Bigger and Better

Today in my academic writing class, I have learned about how to write a good commentary of data. It was not the content of the lesson that fascinated me the most; it was the lecturing method of my professor that stimulated a wonder in my insolent mind. The way he delivers the lesson is so organized that he leaves no detail unmentioned. I have taught English in primary school, and then in high school, for almost six years in total, but I don’t remember teaching the children in so complete form even for a period. I feel guilty and ashamed to mention that I am a trained English teacher.
I have learnt that what matters the most as a teacher is the attitude towards the subject and the students. I haven’t taken making lesson plan seriously, besides failing to prepare it for these long years. Preparation and planning were thought differently and I always went with the latter for it was easier for me since it involves less physical work. I needn’t write anything. Often I just looked at what has to be taught in the class and hadn’t even thought about my objectives, let alone the approaches I would be using in delivering the lesson. That made me to stick to one method always. There were indeed very less varieties in my teaching. I followed the old style of teaching though I am aware of many modern skills and strategies. What held me back?

I can have only one reason and that is my indolent nature which abates many good intention and vigor in me. Did I say vigour?

If I have, that instinct called vigor, then why didn’t I work harder for the children? Vigor should have won over any sort of hurdle in working but it never happened in me. I have lost myself almost every time to some unimportant stuff like surfing through the internet and many aimless task which eats up my time which otherwise would make a significant difference in the way I work. 

I get emotionally strayed by various thought which results in unfocused trudge and fails me finding anything in my life. I have come to know the areas I have to strive but this weaker than “chicken’s heart” pulls me back with senseless thoughts. What I try to say is expressed by the things I have written here. This write-up means nothing because I am thinking nothing in particular. Neither am I looking up to make some sense out of what I am writing because I am writing for the sake of writing and nothing is to be taken seriously. 

This should be just a record of my weirdness.

Vision's Lord

I would not marvel this world beautiful 
I have seen faces the ugliest dreadful 
Nor would I boo the world as awful 
I have seen faces the prettiest artful.

Thorn on flowers and flowers on dirt;
Vain in victory and spirit in sore;
Plight in riches and wealth in poor,
Are all plenty mixture in sort.

This brings cliché with value and sighs
Sees the beauty in beholder’s eyes
But black is black, thicker than white
Sordid easily springs on surface sight.


Choice is there for man to see
Into dome of goodness with golden key,
On pretty or ugly we behold
We are for our vision’s lord

Any moment, last...

I am born, I must die; between these two, I must live. Living finds less joy without the thought of death, and death finds no glory if not lived the life to the fullest. I don’t know when’ll it befall on me but it will stretch its onetime hands to lay me in peace. Thus, sooner or later, into this certainty I must give up the earth’s light. This uncertain certainty makes me ask,
What would be my last thought about?
What would be my last word for?
What would be my last deed?
Would it be the god the last thought?
Would it be ‘I love you’ the last word?
Would it be to bring a smile the last deed?
But when would that last moment come?
This very moment, just the next moment or will I wait till I have thought about the god, said I love you to the world, or did something that can force an easy smile on anyone’s lips…

Valentine's Day

Year's made of days
days a bag of life
every day is new
new for life 
life to live.

Man find reasons
reasons to love
love is there
there in men
men turn blind
blind to find
love within.

thus, date set
set with grace
grace of saint
saint valentine

Find your love
with prayer from saint.
burn this love
forever then
for love's reason
reason to live.
wish you all
all with love...

Happy valentine's day...

Not Degree but Heart

Into the wee hour of this night and many alike, I sit awake all alone in this room trying to sort out what runs through and across my mind. Mind lingers and heart shrinks over myriad things; wish everything comes in vivid forms and shapes, so that I could paint them with clarity of arts. Thought blows hard with surge of regret for being far from home, parents, wife, siblings and duty.

Dreaming a dream of wisdom and knowledge, I craved and then crafted this opportunity, which has brought me at the threshold of wises and intellectuals, the world of scholars and erudition. But then, it hasn't pacified my world of urge and thirst, rather it has changed the course of my hunger and longing. Now it is not my future that I want to pursue, but to make my present meaningful. I came to know for myself that I was far before ready to serve the world, not because I am by any means academically qualified or because I have gathered to become a store of knowledge of the world, but my heart was big to accommodate what I have and need to do in order to serve humanity. So, mastering in a subject, which I am hurdling now will neither make me wiser nor will it make me better performer. I say this, for what I've always believed was in perfection, and I claim to have been perfect every time.

'Did I say I am perfect?'

'Yes I did', by my own accord. For I have my own definition of perfect being or being perfect. 'Perfection for me is the state of the most I can do or be.'

And now I reckon to myself of what I have been doing in my life and I must say, what I have been doing was the most I could have done. If nobody observed what I have been doing as something to be looked upon as remarkable, that really does not bother me for I could not have, or I can never do anything more than that. That is all my strength and I have given over the whole of it. What would have seemed to others as something below average or mediocre was something I did as my best, and I am satisfied because I did the best I could and haven't shun off with the fear of onlookers' boo.

So, what made me believe that I need to acquire something more to serve better? That, I must say, were prejudice, social drive, young man's urge and ride-on-ego. It is also engendered by the norm of educated society and implied demand of professional system. But, now, I say to myself, being away from home, parents, siblings, wife and duty in the name of studying in a foreign land is not a sacrifice worth a while. Indeed it isn't a sacrifice at all for it does no good to any one, and if it does it is to oneself alone. And, sacrifice made for oneself isn't a sacrifice but satiating one's selfishness.

The life is not at all so long to say one has lived enough with one's loved ones, doing the best one could at the work place. Besides, man is never less educated because he has no degree or masters; what he can do for the society is not by what he acquired but by the heart that thrushes in the service of humanity.

This could be one Answer...

Communicative Language Teaching would be one of the answers to the current perceived concern about the poor communicative language competency among the Bhutanese children. Though the approach is in place with emphasis enforced by the New English curriculum, I am afraid if we ourselves have ever deviated from the traditional audio-lingual and grammar translation approach. NAPE did bring a bit of shift from total grammar translation but, as I reflect on my primary education in one of the NAPE piloting schools, learner-centred teaching wasn't adequately practised. And, it is skeptical whether it is practised by all the teachers even today. 

Confusion also lies in purpose of English language teaching in our schools. Often our teachers are too much into delivering the text in the textbooks and measure their teaching by how much the students understand the content of the text, not by the skills the students acquired in usage of language. Grammar testing and content base exam is one reason our teachers adhere to delivering the content more than skill. While teaching grammar and forms of the literary works could be important, to develop communicative language skill in children should be the main purpose of English language teaching. I too harbour a belief that, language is acquired at greater pace at younger age, so if primary English teaching can be emphasized fully on developing communicative competence, students would better learn the literature and literary works in higher classes. Today, as our students get into class IV they start learning literature in all the genres. though it provides materials for the students to get expose to English language, the emphasis put on learning forms and character of this works deviates students' from learning language. Rather they concentrate on learning the features and forms more than enjoy reading and picking up language.

 Language teaching through literature is a good idea Bhutan has adopted but the way we use the texts must be for teaching language rather than putting all importance on forms and feature from the very early age, after all what they learn in class four remains as just some words and does not turn into concept usable. I taught both in primary school and in high school, when teaching high school what I have realized is that, what has been taught about the literary forms and features in lower classes are hardly remembered by the students. Even when they remember they actually do not know what they are all about. So, teaching the content of the text with proper emphasis on forms and features would do good if we start from the secondary level and devote in developing communicative competence at the primary level. This could be one but very effective way to do a bit of good to the existing deriding murmur against the quality of communicative language proficiency of our children. There could be many more what could be done from parents 'and societies' end...