Rise off Women!

Now that it is fairly known there are more girls than boys in our schools, i get nervous about my improved opportunities in near future. In my last post i have boldly stated that world would be more peaceful some decades later. Will it be?
                                  In general, women population outnumber men in most of the European and American countries and most of these countries are comparatively peaceful. Before long, we would be seeing more women than men even in our country. Count our HIV infection! We are at 173:173, and evenly distributed although UNAIDS alleges more than 500 plus victims in Bhutan. Choden had looked at those figures with utter disbelief and wondered at such sickening trend. Given our casual attitude to casual sex(read Aum Dorji Dhratyul of "ESCAPADE" fame), the trend would simply improve for quite a long time.
          Few days back, i was trying to read about the general population trends but it left me more confused with different anthropologists and demographers making 100s of varied claims. However, there is inescapable coherence in general trend : the female species is on rise! And i get a sinking feeling that world would be better place. He he.
We have nearly 1.02:1 male/female ratio at home. Even our orthodox big brother(India) has 940 females per 1000 males. India ought to have outdone that ratio way back if only there were lesser female foeticide(according to that all-knowing nobel laureate Amartya Sen).
With TFR(total fertility rate) at 2.13 per woman, Bhutan stands at a loosing end of controlling its population. On the other hand, Singaporeans are low-performer on beds since their TFR stands at 0.78, one of the lowest in the world, thanks due to Mr. Khaw BoonWan, who spelt Bhutan being un-shangrila!
                              Statistics and interpretations are not my interest. Simply put, i am more interested at women population. At off side of 30, little is left in me to boast about male macho but truth be told, it still brings smile on my face when i think about increasing number of girls in my country.
However, Bhutan is still not receptive to feminism. Rejection of DCT by the general electorate was politically in-correct indications. My own theory at home is, settle every dues and chaos first and go off to vacation leaving the rein to Choden.
At a similar level, we can not leave our world in chaos and groom female leaders to straighten it. It is a far cry from being real. Why is it? Is it that difficult not to trust females for their leadership?
 My point is, sexism is still prevalent everywhere around us. It is high time we shed our stereotypes and offer the opportunity to our opposite counterparts. In the world of Hillary Clinton, Oprah, Sonia Gandhi,Rosie and Lily, world doesn't look as blur as we inherit from our genes!
Infact, it would be better to work under a genteel Principal than an arrogant, self-centered one.

Where are our Toms??

I had really wanted to write on this topic but it never hit me harder than yesterday.  As usual the annual exams for the students are in full swing and there are so many things to do before i finally call it a year. So i was on duty in one of the classes to invigilate while the students wrote their exam. Just as i entered the room, the students stood up to greet me. I let them sit and informed them to make themselves comfortable. Ofcourse, exam time is not the fittest of the comfortable times. It is more than a war for the students during the exams.
             In my room, there were 36 girls and 6 boys. Easy to handle, i thought myself. With girls,with due respect to all our female species, you just have to use small tricks to control them. With boys, you really need muscle to deal with them. Boys are disruptive even on their death bed!
                                           Well, my subject of interest is the ratio between boys and girls. Gone are those days when we rarely saw girls taking up the reins. In my primary school, there were about six girls in my class. There were only two girls in my 3-year B.Sc course. I didn't get to turn at them even during my sick days since both of them had their boyfriends.
              Look at the trend now. The ratio is almost reversing. Enter any classroom, you should not be amused to see more girls than boys. It is a girls' world. Blame your mating misadventure for female foetus, but things doesn't look as bright as it was. Not that i am a misogynist. I love girls:)
                        Seriously, our world is going to be more peaceful 50 years hence. You wouldn't expect being attacked by women armies too often. I would love to elaborate the implications of self-framed
"Ratio Reversal" in another post. I tried to put up few pictures that i have presently to bring out the difference.

Find out the boys

Who is the weaker one?

who are the chaperones?

boys or girls?

Can you do that?:)

trust me for the future?:)

see how many male here?

through my lens!

8 hours and a minute glimpse!

We travelled to Tsirang yesterday. Earlier, i had cajoled Choden to move in the School bus so that i would be able to accommodate my aging parents in my car. Ofcourse, she consented to it but with loads of false accusations. "I will follow the bus closely", i ensured her and the kids. It was barely morning when we commenced our journey; my grumbly mother, my bulky father, my as-silent-as-grave niece and my erratic nephew. None of us talked much because mom told me that it was utter indiscipline to chit-chat while making religious sojourn.
                   Except for the prayer that mom incessantly muttered, everything was silent. I wished Choden was in the car. She would always light up the moment with her trifles. She would talk about the duplicate broom that she mistakenly bought from a Boro pheasant. She would boast about her 3 am-wake up time while i would complain about the weird alarm from her chinese mobile phone. She would talk about how she cooked the pack lunch, all single-handedly.
                                                         Some three hours later, we were at Tsirang only to be embarrassed that hundreds had already queued. I volunteered to stand in the queue while mother and father duo rested in a hotel sipping over the tea. I regularly checked on them to see if all was alright and more so to spy if father was drinking! He has that nasty habit. He would explain me about the car sickness if i catch him drinking. 
Moving at a snail's pace, it took another four hours in the queue to finally get the glimpses of those sacred objects of Buddha & co that was brought all the way from India.
 "Joba joba joensh la", the cop shouted at us sternly. Within a minute we were out of that famed hall that housed all those important relics. I wished if i got another round but that was not possible since thousands had already lined up by that time.
"What did you see?", i teased Choden. She gave her frozen quizzical smile. "What did you see?", she returned back.
 I tossed a 50 Nu. at a donation box that supposedly boasted of some chorten construction somewhere.
There were other forms of donations to be made if one was too forgiving but i had to with hold all those attachments temporarily.
We hurried back to Norbuling, the other side of Maukhola, also the blind spot of DPT and PDP governments! Things are different at this side but that is another story.

The Tenth..

Who could remember but a Tigers' Day? I do not even remember my own birthday. However, i force myself to believe that i must have been born under pleasant signs for no obvious reason.
 Personally, it struck me with stupid surprise when the whole bunch of boisterous delegates all over Bhutan convened in our School to celebrate the Tigers Day(29th July). But that is expected in a School such as mine where we have avuncular management writhing under palliative care!
And yesterday, the much awaited midterm results were hastily declared, more than a month since the completion of midterms. I bet there is no other School in Bhutan that hasn't given away the results later than my school. But this school boasts of 10th position in the national rank(year 2011). The ranking hit its hysterical low this year(35th). Nobody talked about it. They talk only of the 10th. :)
There is start similarity between JYT's sale of GNH philosophy to the outside world and the 10th position! When more than half the population suffered, JYT had the audacity of touring the world delivering his well-rehearsed GNH speeches. When even the tiniest of any activity goes topsy-turvy, the school can still linger at its accidental position .
Talking of the results, 52% passed from my class(IV A). Most of them had failed in Dzongkha, one of the major subjects. In general, some 700 plus managed to sail through while 200 plus failed. Isn't that quite a number? When all other schools try and promote as much students as possible, here is one which is bent so much on detaining students.
Personally, i achieved just average. My daughter and nephew passed while my son and niece failed. No wonder, both of them failed in single subject(Dzongkha). There is nothing to say much. When a students scoring 17 can pass and 19 can fail, when Dzongkha I and II combined together can give one an average of 42, the candidate still gets failed in both Dzo papers in the result sheet, there is no good in it.
I raised the issue of coherent award of Ongoing marks in the recent meeting but it fell onto deaf years. They had this reputed system all these years!

(hmm..there are 101 issues but i wont delve into details.)

All is not well?

Soon after the ominous 13th, we were greeted with "gun salutation" in Chuzergang, a few kilometers from my place. The DPT fanatics must have tossed some beers at its specious timing. Choden had asked me accusingly,"What now?".
"This is nothing!", i consoled her like an enlightened Mahasiddhi. With volatile situation such as this and at such close proximity, i need to bare my chest and assume nothing discordant happened. After a day or two, the teacher colleague surrendered the single bullet that penetrated through 40 mm CGI sheet of his house. Without much chaos. I had told him that i had wanted a bullet not in my chest but around my neck as a sungki.

Now it looks like the whole election process was farce and was marred with malpractices as we hear. While the PDP is "cautiously" celebrating behind the closed doors, the pudding is brewing up in DPT cauldron. Understandably, the humiliating defeat had logically pushed the DPT to misanthropy and disharmony and has almost crept into most of our senior citizens who head most of our bureaucratic shelves.Even the erstwhile BBS tries to maintain laudable neutrality with DPT overtones, while the RCSC treads with measured echo of DPT remnants! Indeed, many of our officials at upper echelons are still recuperating from the shock  at the loss of their crony DPT. On the other hand, the innocent public were made to portray as if they would have to pay heavy price for their voting misadventure. As we can see, the government is held at ransom by some sections of people but what we do not see is how ignoble are our lofty aims. Often we have heard about but bubble reputations!
Seriously,where did we err? Was it PDP's over-spiced promises? Was it the dichotomy between theory and practice of DPT? The least any non-supreme human can do is respect the verdict that majority of our population made. In our contemporary time, it is a rare feat to boast of 66% voters turnout.

On a lighter side, we are almost done with the mid-term results with our students. As i corrected the papers, i was more than humiliated to find so many answers that my students wrote. I permitted myself a hearty laugh when one of my fourth graders answered the last part of the question wishing them "Happy Summer Vacation". He assumed it to be a question and had answered,"No, it is very hot and warm. I not like"!
:)

What is Work??

• I have tried to reproduce a full portion of conversation that i had with one of my friends. He resigned from his teaching profession after more than a decade, to find greener pastures in Australia. 

  The irony is we hardly know how difficult it is to sustain in foreign countries in our pursuit of extra dollars.(This is purely personal conversation that i reproduced and intended to give a glimpse of hardship across the oceans....)And only few lines were doctored since the readers might not like to read bizarre words!:)
  

  Sonam Yeshi

  
  

  ?
  
Phento:  

wat?
• 
  
• Sonam Yeshi
  

  
  

  wad?

  having night mare again huh??
  
• Phento

  
  

  Did u pray for me

  Coz I got two days of work!
  
• Sonam Yeshi
  

  
  

  zai jiggs..here i pray not to have work!
  
• phento

  
  

  U know what work

  Don't ask
  
• Sonam Yeshi
  

  
  

  ke ke ke ke

  tell me

  i am curious!

  
  
• Phento

  
  

  When u com here u wil know

  Pray more for me man
  
• Sonam Yeshi
  

  
  

  deah..that is good wai

  i am happy for u

  hope work shine on you like sunrays!
  
• Phento

  
  

  It is very cold here

  It's winter man
  
• Sonam Yeshi
  

  
  

  yeah i can understand that

  hit your wife for warmth!
  
• Phento

  
  

  Ja da
  
• Sonam Yeshi
  

  
  

  ee see
  
• Phento

  
  

  Already once over!
  
• Sonam Yeshi
  

  
  

  cant you boast abt ur stamina more than once eh?!
  
• Phento

  
  

  Tired man came from cleaning work
  
• Sonam Yeshi
  

  
  

  social work?
  
• Phento
  
  

  Ask me what kind of cleaning
  
• Sonam Yeshi
  

  
  

  are you into some social services there?

  wad type man?

  feel freeeeeee

  he he he
  
• Phento
  

  Yes yes f.....g. kind of social work

  Back in Bhutan people talk only about dollar in Australia but story behind Dollar is horribly terrible
  
• Sonam Yeshi
  

  
  

  i find some similarity between some dunkards who break the laws there and go into prison..they do some detention works as a part of their correctional behaviour!
  
• Phento

  Are u really planning to come serious
  
• 

  4:17am
  

  Sonam Yeshi
  

  
  

  yeah yeah

  seriously

  my wife is soo obsessed with that idea

  now a dumbo like u flew there..she is crazy abt the chancess!!
  
• Phento

  I understand

  Ja daaaaaaaa
  
• Sonam Yeshi
  

  
  

  hahaha
  
• Phento
  

  For u it is very easy just sell all ur land at gelegphu and fly hahaha
  
• Sonam Yeshi
  

  
  

  hmm..i truly need good suggestion

  selling off the land and how do u think i wud survive laters?
  
• Phento

  Like me tey
  
• Sonam Yeshi
  

  
  

  wai..how much did u make as of now?

  $?
  
• Phento

  
  

  Secrets..

  Oh only four bags
  
• Sonam Yeshi
  

  
  

  hahaha

  dreaming again huh?

  come on
  
• Phento

  This is a dream land and dreaming is the only way
  
  
• Sonam Yeshi
  

  
  

  wai..i wud like to make a movie based on ur story..you would be the KETA?

  willing ??
  
• Phento
  

  Really
  
• Sonam Yeshi
  

  
  

  yeah

  sounds bit interesting. I have always considered one rare and interesting species of Homo sapiens!
  
  
• Phento

  
  

  How much dollar?
  
• Sonam Yeshi
  

  
  

  talk in Nu.

  i dont have dollars
  
• Phento

  
  

  Do u have Skype?
  
• Sonam Yeshi
  

  
  

  hmm yeah but i dont rember my Password

  why?

  stripping for me?
  
• Phento

  
  

  Still u haven't shed ur Tarzan nature?
  
  
• Sonam Yeshi
  

  
  

  haha

  now u sound like sophisticated metro boy
  
• Phento

  you bet that.
  

  Thanks
  
Phento
• 
  
  
• Sonam Yeshi
  

  
  

  oh so this is the only facility your second hand mobile can do right?
  
Phento
• Now be serious

  U really trying to australia?
  
• Sonam Yeshi
  

  
  

  ong sey

  give me one clean procedure

  but i might surely need your help for the few months there
  
• Phento

  
  

  That's fine, Inform me when you come.
  I wud have to switch off my cell!!
  
  
• Sonam Yeshi
  

  
  

  i look upto you as my father..same age ee mena?
  
• Phento

  
  

  I would like to suggest u to go to counsel rant

  Ja da

  I mean consultant other wise it is very difficult to try on self
  
• Sonam Yeshi
  

  
  

  yeah this summer i wud try and ask some information
  
• Phento
  

  Coz they give u all the direction

  But be careful some consultant are crooks
  
• Sonam Yeshi
  

  
  

  no wonder..u out-witted those crooks

  lol

  by and by..how did you get through those IELTS or wadever>?
  
• Phento

  
  

  My tragedy started right from the ielts
  
• Sonam Yeshi
  

  
  

  i can get that

  lol

  wai..i am using these lines in my blog..mind it?
  
• Phento

  
  

  That is not difficult after that the process is very rough
  
• Sonam Yeshi
  

  
  

  seriously

  i wont use the name though

  
  
• Phento

  What ever I don't care
  
• Sonam Yeshi
  

  
  

  good boy
  
• Phento
  

  Coz I m immune
  
• Sonam Yeshi
  

  
  

  thick skull!
  
• Phento

  Jaffa
  
• Sonam Yeshi
  

  
  

  haha

  wai i gtg

  will get to you soon

  will u be online few hours laters?
  
• Phento

  
  

  Ok dinner time here too
  
• Sonam Yeshi
  

  
  

  yaya
  
• Phento

  
  

  I will b in bed
  
• Sonam Yeshi
  

  
  

  cool

  some other time

   have loads to ask before coming there
  
• Phento

  
  

  Same time 2maro
  
• Sonam Yeshi
  

  
  

  be freindly wit me if u want some Bhutanese ema and shakam!

  hmm..i wud be late tomro
  
• Phento

  
  

  Great
  
• Sonam Yeshi
  

  
  

  some get together at school

  anyways

  will get to you or inbox you
  
• Phento
  

  U r still not fade up in school seein face of f.....g principals

  It is because of the principals I resigned man
  
• Sonam Yeshi
  

  
  

  hmm..dont infuse me with your GNH

  lol
  
Phento

• K bet 4 now
  
• Sonam Yeshi
  

  
  

  yaya wai

  take care ..say hi to ur mam

  may be i love you too

  heh he he
  
• Phento

  K

  Haaaaaa
  
• Sonam Yeshi
  

  
  

  byebye wai

  got some work
  
• Phento

  
  

  Ja da my dinner is getting cool

  Bye

Horse-trading..eureka!

What we need is not a strong Opposition but a sound and healthy Ruling Party.  However, following the current trend it looks all otherwise. Although it is unlike i to make political statements but silly temptations gave me much needed impetus to opine.
Firstly, the almost true scenario of horse-trading, notably with PDP and DNT is received with mixed reactions. Half the population feels that it was so unbecoming of PDP and DNT to unify and battle with DPT.  The other half welcome the news and are of the opinion that fielding the capable candidates is the right way to go offensive with DPT. Perhaps, it is better to gang up and compete than to fight a losing battle. The alarm whistle in DPT is blown and are rumored to have convened adhoc meetings to activate their second strategy.
>>>>Not to be continued,,,,,(There is no inspiration..he he he he)

Potato People

Despite incessant rain, I accompanied my sexagenarian mother to the polling station to cast our votes. Choden had wished all the best for us as if we were going for operation flush out!. "Whom to vote?", my mother finally asked. "Hmm, mashey", i replied her. I didn't want to distort her vote by trying to explain about my vote. She continued with her prayer beads while i continued driving carefully on those bumpy roads.
Coincidentally, the Maukhola bridge was washed away on the eve of elections. I almost celebrated that the last legacy of the bamboo bridge over infamous Prem-khola had to be washed away correctly at that time but only boomerang yet again. DPT won the gelephu constituency with more than 1000 votes against their compatriot PDP.
But that was good. I have seen how adamantly that temporary bride across Maukhola had stretched. If it had lasted for few more weeks, one or two people, without doubt, must have fallen off the bride,due to imbalance. It was like walking over a tightrope! People had no choice but to tread on that bamboo bride that out government so handsomely calls it a bridge. Come general election, i am sure the vying candidates will promise the farmers that he/she would consecrate another bamboo bridge across it. Farmers are too soft and forgiving. They melt rather too quickly but have high ignition temperature to burn out of frustrations. DPT banks on that Achilles's heel which works, ofcourse. No doubt.
I once heard from a colleague who said that farmers are potato-people! "Kindly elaborate it", i demanded him. He gave me a wry smile. According to him, potatoes go well with anything. Almost anything. It makes such a fine dish with beef, pork, saag, bitter goud etc. It has no specialty of its own but others can manipulate or modify it in such a way that it is always palatable.
"Aludum?", i chipped in to argue against his theory. "That should go well only with puri", he replied. Ofcourse. I thought of Puri-fied aludum!
He talked about how life is so unfair. Some people have to shout throughout the month to get the monthly salary. He was referring to the FCB in Gelephu town where the salesgirl always shouts at her top voice so that it can get through the glassed counter across her where her bosses in that AC glassroom just make the list of items and the total cost. "If only she knew how harmful is shouting to her larnyx or her pharynx", he said. He went on to relate about a Paan shop who toiled all her life and still runs that shop and another man, a security-guard dropout, who went to with illegal Dzi business. He now runs Hotel Keralafornia(name changed).
Finally,"You must be having Dzi?", he asked me. That took me off balance. Yes i do, i cheered him up. "One eyed Dzi", i confessed to him. "And truly coherant shape!". We broke off to our respective classes:)

Holy Day

So there was a friendly khuru match yesterday to mark the Buddha's parinirvana. Infact i had wanted to abstain from that luxury especially on such a holy day but i also wanted to impress my colleague that i can be a good pick for any traditional tournaments. By noon, we realised we were fighting a losing battle. Lucky that there were not many spectators except for the few elderly people who came out despite the extreme heat. Most of them had their rosary beads being rolled at unwilling speeds to mark the holy day. If i were playing this match in Europe, i would have been charged for first-degree assault with that shiny pair of khuru flying out haphazardly at random targets. But here we understand each other.
Playing Khuru is quite a tasking job. On any given day, i would rather opt to cut the grass than play khuru if it were not for my ego. It makes your arm too painful that you cant even lift it and if you were really cheering up your friends, you are in for sore throat that takes almost a week to cure. But i am a sporty man to complain about these trifles although i am at the wrong side of 30.

Back to Norbuling, Choden is all complaints.To every phonecall that she receives she would narrate about her sorry state."Zaii, it is too hot!". She would go on to explain that nothing was well at her side. She would complain about the sunshine that nearly roasts her, about the ants that intrude in her kitchen, about the moths that flock around the tubelight and so on. Last night, she complained about the frogs that croaked as if they were raging war against humans. I confessed that i hated the frogs this time. Her concept of goodness extends to all the living and non-living creature sorrounding her life. She admitted Norbuling is not good.

At School, summer heat is playing all the talk plus the politics. If you are in the town, it is all about making fashion statements. Personally, the more curves that you can manage to show off, the more trendy it should look until finally we hear of the Emperor who had no clothes! The other day i was in India trying to treat myself to a latest and the most coolest T-shirt available there. The shopkeeper requests me to sit. He pulls down all the T-shirts available in his shop and explains each one of them. "HOw much?", i asked him to ease the business. "Only 350 sir". I allowed mentally to bargain 50 from that cost price. Taking a step further, i asked him if i could buy it for 250. He frowned at my idea. "Last dam sir", he negotiates, "take for 300". I nod my head in disappointment. "Alright, take for 250". He confessed. "@250 IC". I explained that i had only Bhutanese currency. "If BC, 300. IC=250"
I left the shop with disgust. A T-shirt that could barely warrant a week's life should be so costly.

Hello from Norbuling:)

I failed to post last sunday but that was not important. These days only politics is important. It has invaded our normal routine. We talk about it in the staffroom, in the canopy, in the class, in the soccer field, almost everywhere to prove that we are morally normal. If you are not talking about politics and if you are apolitical these days, you are abnormal:).
As a matter of fact, i still do not know which party to vote. Five years ago i would have banked on DPT if i had voted then. But i didn't. Five years hence, i would talk about whom i had voted. Going by the present scenario, it looks much complicated and volatile. The fuse that taps disharmony in politics would blow off any time.
Out of curiosity, i asked Choden about her favorite party. She said she has only favorite colour but no favorite party. She asked mine. I said i have only favorite girlfriend.

      So we had Science Test yesterday. It was a disaster without comparison. In one of the questions, i had put up two stick figures pulling against eachother to depict "Contact force". They wrote 'fighting'. I blamed on their poor visual stimulation. Two students bagged a Sunya each. Out of despair, I chided them to fry and have it over their weekends!  6 passed out of 25 students. Bravo:(
I remembered one Kharkha colleague who is quite a friend to me. He has 25 years of teaching experience under his belt and a  PTC certificate. Wait. In 1985,he had to quit his school after completing class IX(due to relapse from malarial protozoa). He joined the then erstwhile TTC two years later. In early 2000s, he was manning class X students at Sherubling HSS, teaching them mathematics. "I watered the theorems that are there in geometry!",he said. I went O with amazement at his declaration. {"Pani banai deko"}
As we drove, he talked about his early postings. I learnt that he once was the headmaster at Kalikhola School. "Same year, we brought zero pass% in class VIII common exam", he boasted. I went LoL freely.
I have come across lots of people but most of them faded without much ado, but not this man. With critical eye for almost everything, he can talk about any subject under the sun. I was so shocked when he declared that the white Amul cheese that we buy from shops was made from horse milk! Surely, you are kidding Kharkha sir? i managed to say. If Choden knew about that, she would sue those Amul manufacturers.
What i liked in him is his stubborn non-acceptance of anything that other common people readily agree with. He has counter-theorems for all the things that has harmony. He can give full course to a novice about religion and Dalai Lama. He can talk non-stop on Marco Polo,DPT, kublai khan, Obama, BUmthang Mathra, Saddam Hussien, Ayurveda and sutras, notably the Kamma Sutra. He he.
One of the Geography teachers is on maternity leave. This PTC maths teacher surprised me when i knew he was teaching all her geography classes!

Where are we?

Without doubt, most of us are watching updates and it almost confuses us to remember so many names of the candidates joining the political parties. If they failed, they would find comfort in their lofty conviction that they atleast heeded to the Nations' Call while the rest of us mostly cowards being mute spectators.

Of late we have heard many conspiracy theories brewing up. Party A accuses Party B and so on but that is excusable in politics. What is not possible is to cleanse the murky mess that is left by the outgoing party. We were almost made to believe that DPT was the best choice for governance had it not left more ruins. Alas, we start all over again trying to portray our happiness to the world. If you went through the recent NSB's report, it sums up all.  Choden would not believe that one in every eight Bhutanese is poor. According to her, most of people are rich except herself!

Well, we celebrated our Teachers' Day with pomp. The beautiful show that the students put up for us were beyond words. I nearly thought that it was my birthday. What touched me most was one incident that a student from my class did to me. He had a small card that he made himself and wished me happy teachers day. Ofcourse he mis-spelt the word Teacher. I am not surprised for that.His name is Durganath. Slow kid he is! The moment i deal with him, i think of that Darsheel  Taare Zameen Paar. When his class mates, as young as 9 years old finish writing a sentence, he might just have started the first word only. So slow he is. Dyslexia? I once asked his age since he is quite huge to be in class IV.
 He said "Sisteen"! Not able to believe, i asked again. He gave me his child-like smile and said "sisteen". At 16, i had my first girlfriend, i nearly announced to the class.
After the class, i called him so that i can talk to him because he just wont talk in the class. It is like he would lose gold while uttering words. So silent he is!

So you are 16 years old? "Yes sir", he muttered. "Where are you from?", i asked him. He raised his hands reluctantly and gave me the direction of his house. "Oh. Where is it? Any name?". He looked at me as if i was giving him science homework. "So how many family members do you have?" He said 9. He nodded his head when i asked if he was the youngest. I presumed most of his siblings were working in Thimphu: one a driver, 2 sisters working in a hotel.And some more. "Do they send you money?", i asked him. He smiled blankly. I took it to be yes.
I also asked if he studied at home since he rarely can catch up with peers in the class. "Pecha lhab ney trowa yoed ga?", i asked him out of curiosity. He nodded in affirmative.
"I would like to adopt you as my son and make Dasho out of you. OK?", i blurted out of my ambitiousness.
He almost laughed at the suggestion.
I took leave as he walked away to his class.

Things at Home

I played good Samaritan yesterday by presenting Choden with a female feline. Atleast now, we have  harmonious promotion of both the sexes at home though we lack it in our National Council. But how can we trust our people.
We fondly named her Sissy, the name that my daughter coined in an unceremonious way. I had to defer to her superior knowledge about names!
Talking of that tiny cat, she has more missions than NASA. I had assumed that Sissy would captain over our store to battle with the rats that play havoc time and again. I hadn't realised how nasty these rats were until recently when they munched my boxers in drawer C. Choden said that it was a bad omen. I said that it was an unwashed boxer that they attacked!
Now, sissy is desired to tackle those problems lest she be sent to an orphanage. The other enemy that she have to rid is frogs. I am unsure whether a cat loves frogs, but sissy is expected to keep frogs on her top menu and make a palatable dish out of it. The third in line, that requires the attention of her arboreal strength is, ofcourse, lizards. It has filled me with creepy fear after my mother informed that lizards' poohs are deadly poisonous and can be truly fatal. Cats loves lizards like we love chickens.:)
If it were not for those reasons, sissy has no rooms here.

Back to School scenes. Nothing impressive. We are learning hard about different types of substances in Class four. I usually ask them questions. They give me wrong answers mostly. I twist their ears for each mistake they make but they are relentless to learn.
"So, you can not still spell it?", i nearly shout at Tshering. She brings her ears as usual. I twist it as i bite my lips with disgust. "Thank you, sir", she would mutter timidly and hurry back to her desk. These kids, they would even thank me for spanking them!
We talk about the next substances: Gases. I tell them there are different types of gases and name them. I teach them that each gas its own typical odour. "You should be able to distinguish the common gases from its smell", i preach them. Simple. Differentiate those gases from its smell. "You should be able to smell those gases and tell whether it is ammonia or Hydrogen sulphide or the gas from your friends"!
They look accusingly at eachother.
Understand?
"Yes sir", they chorus back like a battalion in a morning drill.:)

More than an umbrella

I didn't realise until recently how terrible a rainy day would mean in southern foothills. Not even your jazzy made-in-Bangkok umbrella would defend you from the torrents. And the lightening. A benign thunder on one such day would sound some million times than a turbulent fart that you would let out after a nights sleep on a cold cement floor. My new smartphone hadn't had luck after being struck down with one of the thunders day before yesterday, while it was left on  the charger during the night. No kidding! Though it was a cheap made in china BlueBerry, it had features like future video games, that i assumed could be played on an omnidirectional treadmill!

Despite the rains, things are smoothly hush-hush these days. Yesterday,the NFE centre near my place got its sorrounding trimmed as the team from the election office arrived here to set up their machines:) I have'nt decided yet about the candidate that would cost my vote but surely i would cast it to one of them. Afterall, 5 years of active service or non-service by these worthy representatives makes all the difference about our GNHed country. One didn't get opportunity to vote in the first election since one was out of station but that was good. I had reasons without regret to point fingers at DPT for its prodigal governance. However, it is going to be different and quite difficult this time. Five parties have legally registered with ECB with nearly 300 candidates in total. That is quite a number. Well, there are other parties outside Bhutan making claims about its mandates but that is of no importance. No country is free from terrorists. However,we are all matured Bhutanese standing on a common purpose of life. We need more happy citizens at home.
There is no use in finding happiness, selling icecream in Oz and coming back with few extra dollars. For the fellow Bhutanese, i would suggest that we toil on our own land and be happy than find places to run errands in foreign lands, for that matter.We have answers for everything at home than abroad.

So i opted to remain at School and cast my vote diligently. Choden had proposed me about her new agenda: join some party! I let out my laugh without control. I told her that retirement benefits are too meagre and that might cost our "live happily ever after". I have personal example from my own father who served in civil service  for more than three decades. Post retirement, he had to downsize half his daily expenses. He does some garden, tends cattles and renders compulsory service to community developments, notably, digging in and un-digging water pipes that always need yearly repair. He drinks occasionally to defend himself from trauma and melancholy, i guess:).
But we have good parties in place. Revolving around the doctrine of GNH, all parties promise us with happiness.

Let us see?!

Teaching Matter

So it was "Matter" that i was teaching Science to my fourth graders for the last one week! I explained them that anything, almost ANYTHING is matter if it had mass and occupied space. After thorough explanation, i would still find few doubting Thomases. To make the lesson interesting, i narrated them this same joke that all of us heard.

"What is the matter?", a teacher once asked the two boys who were fighting. Pat came the reply,"matter is anything that has mass and occupies space".

Nothing happened. Silence. I asked them not to worry since it was a joke only. They looked at eachother and smiled back decidedly.

So, i explain the definition of Matter once again by citing many, many examples.  

 "Ugen, is this a matter?", i show him my fingers and point at my wedding ring.

"No sir!". The class laughs at his boldness.

"What is your opinion, DurgaNath?". "Yes sir", he breaks the silence after a long doubtful time. As slow as a snail, answers take long route before it drops off his mouth. I point at his Gho and ask if it is a matter. Blank.

Tell me something, i plead with him. No answer. I repeat my question so that he gets hint. "Gho ya matter inna?"

"No sir", he replies me timidly. Burst of laughter from the class. I ask him once again at random examples. Pen, books, stones, walls, bucket, comb. He gives right answer for half of the items. 

Hmm.. How should i teach?, i almost scream to them.

 "Fold your arms", i order them! "Now listen to me carefully". I re-do my whole lesson.

This i nothing, i tell you. I tell myself. There are 100 other teachers facing the same debacle. I get consoled that few thousands of teachers undergo same turmoil as i do and on a daily basis.

Well, talking of greener side here, it rained incessantly for few days. Even the best roof would give way to seeping rain in your bedroom. In the morning Choden would say she had to use bowls and buckets at various rooms it leaked at so many places. I am much of a diurnal species. It less bothers me to grasp things occurring at odd nightly hours. Despite, when it rains cats and dogs, i naturally get my most healthy sleep.:)

I suppose i am one sturdy teacher who can shout/teach for full seven periods and still lead my house members to cheer up the boys in the basketball match, thanks due to my sound sleeping regime! 

Honestly, it is a complete taboo in my home to let kids be awake later than 9 pm.

Also, we had the first literary competition in our school. It was an extempore speech competition with a large banner pasted on the multipurpose hall. It read: Extemporary Speech Competition.

I excused myself from the hall.:)