Where have our farms disappeared??

Summer is the time for the students to relax and have fun but it is also time for some students to work on their project. For my daughter, she is to interview a farmer about “the change in farming system” for her geography project. Ever since her exams are over, she has been frantically looking for a farmer to interview for her project but we can hardly see any farms nearby. The nearest farm is more 20 kms away and I have promised her a trip to a neighbouring farm for her group after the LG election.

Educating a Girl Child- a necessity

  The issue of gender equality is a talk of everyday. And its promotion across the globe is a shared concern and repeated discourse in any international forums. It is, in fact, one of the tenets of every nation’s planned developmental projects. The education for female child, for this reason is, what I considered a matter most urgent and needs to be given new meaning.

The last morning before the summer break

I woke up at dawn and woke up my daughter for her revision. She is writing her exams and she still has some more papers to write before her summer holidays unlike the students of my school who must be in deep slumbers unaware of the dawn breaking and their mothers getting ready for the day. 

Victimized

It shocks me to learn how some men fool the innocent village girls. (Sorry if I sound feminist) but I can’t help it here. I was just having a chit chat with my regular group of friend in the staffroom when a colleague joined us. What he shared left us bewildered. Can a man go to that extent to satisfy his lust? (Oops! Sorry for generalizing again) well, without much ado, let me narrate some of the excerpts from his life.

Meche kiras and ghos

You visit any garment shop in Thimphu or elsewhere, I am sure you can find beautifully woven half-kiras neatly piled on the shelves which is usually known as “Meche Kira” (because the clothes are woven by Bodo women of Assam). 

The summer break

With the approach of the summer break, all the people near me are busy planning for their break but not without complain. Unlike the previous years, this year the education ministry issued an office order stating different summer break timing for different Dzongkhags and some of the schools had to bring forward their exams. Some are still wondering on the different summer break timing because the LG election will be held uniformly on the 27^th of this month.

My passtime

I don’t exactly remember when I actually started reading but I guess, it has mostly been influenced by the Irish teacher that we had way back in the mid 80s. She used to be our neighbour and had a nice collection of fairy tales and lady bird books. Her resource room in the school used to be filled with colourful posters and books and she used to read to us. Gradually, I started borrowing her fairy tales and before I knew, I found myself helping her in the resource room and reading more books.

Gossip online

Men often say women gossip a lot. (oops sorry…if I am being bias here) It’s just a cliché. Gossip has come a long way and now in the digital world we can even gossip with strangers on the online forum. For instance, there is always something to reflect upon after reading the post on kuenselonline forum. Normally I don’t visit the forum but sometimes it’s hard to ignore it.

Thank You for the wishes

The birthdays always excites me. It doesn’t matter whether its mine or others but it kind of gives us an excuse to communicate. I usually do not celebrate my birthdays (out of habit) but my daughter never stops surprising me.  She remembers everyone’s birthdays and doesn’t forget to wish them at every opportunity. :)

Still many more…

A friend once asked, “Where are you planning to construct your house?” I stared at her baffled since I did not know what she was talking about. It was only after some queries that I came to know she was planning to construct a house after having bought a plot of land. But for me, a house was not in the scene for some years. When I said so to my friend, she lectured me on giving a second thought on she said and reminded me that it was time for me to think about myself and my family. Hmm…now, that made me think…” Am I doing the right thing?”

Life’s Uncertainty

“When youth grows pale, and spectre-thin, and dies

Where but to think to be full of sorrow

And leaden-eyed despairs”

 (an extract from the poem Ode to a nightingale) 

Grasshopper and money…?

These days we can find lots of grasshoppers around our resident especially in the evening. Grasshoppers vary in size and colours and sometimes they even find their way into my kitchen which is very annoying.

My association with Tom and Jerry

Every time I enter my kitchen, I am greeted by a huge faded sticker of Jerry with his tongue sticking out and his hands on his ears like he is jeering at me just like he does to Tom in the cartoon series.  I cannot really recollect how it found its place on my refrigerator’s door but it always brings smile on my lips whenever I open and close the kitchen door. The sticker looks faded now but it never fails to bring smile on my lips even today. Sometimes I name my children Tom and Jerry because of the nuisance they make out of nothing just to gain my attention.

Random truth

My nine year old son reads and collects twinkle comics and ever since we had been transferred here, he had been buying a copy each from the only shop that sells comics every time we go for an evening stroll to the shop. I too flip through some copies sometimes when I don’t have any task at hand. While flipping through a copy, I came across a story about a Pundit (Hindu scholar) who found a bird’s feather stuck on his teeth while eating a meal. Now the Pundits are supposed to be a vegetarian and he didn’t tell about the incident to anyone at first. Later he disclosed it to his wife who in turn told her friends about the incident and the story passed through many mouths with various additions. The feather became wings, the wings became a bird and the bird became a flock of birds that flew out of the pundit’s mouth. Imagine the plight of the Pundit when he found his neighbours banging his front door demanding to see the nest of the birds in his mouth.

MY HEART REJOICES

The cell buzzed as I was coming out of the class. I looked at the number and found that the caller was a friend. She doesn’t usually call me without any reason so I picked up the phone and asked her the reason. She shouted excitedly “Our King is getting married”. “Hey, hey, cool down and tell me the whole story” I asked and she went into details about the announcement made by His Majesty at the end of the inaugural address at the seventh session of Parliament in the morning of 20^th May (yesterday) in Thimphu.

Time to buckle up!

The first half of the academic session is almost drawing an end and we are urging our students to keep revising their lesson because no matter what talents they have, at the end it is their academic marks that counts. The rescheduling of LG elections had even brought the exams closer. Now the timetable is out and it’s time to get to the books. As my students get serious with their books I too try to refer some notes because I too have my share of exams.

The wrong number

The cell phone ringing near my bed woke me from the deep slumber. I put on the light to see the time. The clock on the wall read 11.15pm. Picking up the phone, I responded and came to know that the caller was a woman. She didn't wait to know who was receiving her call and went on with her babble for a few minutes. Hearing her babble in Sharchop, I could make out that she was from some rural area in the east. I couldn't cut off the phone and could speak since she didn't give me a chance to do so. She called me "nimin" (sister) and went on with her sad tale. After sometime, I asked her where she was calling from and she responded saying that she was calling from home. I had to interrupt her by saying that she was talking to the wrong person but she said that the number belonged to her sister. I politely asked her to check the number again and switched off the cell . I didn't want to get anymore midnight calls from some unknown number.

Her ever-changing hobbies

My children are growing and their interests seem to change every few months like the change of seasons. “What is the mother supposed to do?” is the question that I almost always ask myself. For instant, at this time last year, my twelve year daughter seemed like a voracious reader when she finished the Twilight series by Stephenie Meyer in a month. Even I took a little longer time to finish the books. After that she was keen into music and every time I allowed her access to the net, she was busy downloading the songs and learning lyrics.

Celebrating Teacher’s day!

With abating breath we had waited for the day, the day dedicated to the teacher’s of Bhutan. Many text messages and calls were exchanged and I felt elated since it was our day, the day to reflect on our achievements and failures and to rededicate ourselves to serve our students better.

Being a teacher

As the teacher’s day draw close, my cell rings continuously with my friends and students calling me to wish for the day. Some text messages and some send mails.