A son of a humble farmer's life has not been quite simple and
straightforward. Life is a complex phenomenon and no one can make it
necessarily simple if it is not meant to be.
Figure 1. Author with people of Merak
But I can tell a few things about myself and how the phenomena called
life have treated me. Like anyone in this samsara, I have had my share of
happiness-es and sadness-es, successes and failures, difficulties and easiness,
comforts, and discomforts, etcetera.
My mom expired a year before I went to my kindergarten classes and
I walked to schools with my fellow village kids barefoot, often empty stomach, and even what I got to eat at home or school did not taste that good. But to
keep my life going, I gave my best to survive. I played baktang (cloth) balls,
rushed for second shares, fought with my mates, and took a lot of beatings from my
teachers. I slept on jute bags that came to my school with the wheat ration (bong
kharang) and often used my only gho piece as my pillow. I don’t even
remember if I had a quilt to put over me in my primary school where I stayed in
the boarding facility since my second standard. My hostel had lots of bedbugs
and the summers were terrible but I slept well. My head and shirts (that I hardly changed)
had a lot of lice. My then headmaster, a living legend would spend hours
killing all my louse on Saturday afternoons when other children would go home. It
is the love of my teachers that I am doing something good today. I don’t know
how to repay them personally but I am sure their wish would be that I am helping society.
I am sure many schoolchildren of my time had the same difficult
school life that I had. I don't remember a day my school would suggest I drink boiled water until cholera and other waterborne disease break out and I
don't remember being so sick of water-related diseases too. I don't remember
any injection being monitored into my body, nor any serious medications. Despite
the hard life, I survived. I am grateful to the almighty, the Kings, and the then-leaders.
So, I completed my eight years of schooling in my village school.
It is eight years because before I landed in the first standard, I had to stay a
year each in lower and upper Kindergarten classes as a rule. Teachers those
days were tough, they could beat us black and blue if we made any mistakes.
There were fewer parent-teacher meetings and fewer problems. Everyone did their
part diligently. Good teachers were good, bad ones bad, and irrespective of
their character and style, the authority they carry then would be like a nearby
mountain. They used to fix our date of birth by looking at our faces or asking
us the animal-based birth symbols (traditional system).
After completing sixth standard (which used to be a board exam), I
went to a then-called junior high school for taking up seventh and eighth
standard classes. I was captain of the school in the eighth standard and I don’t
know what I did because I remember only studying and nothing else. I did well
and completed everything on time. Life was tough then too, but we had the world
food program (WFP) feeding us all meals. So, there wasn't much issue although
our then WFP In Charge a National Language Teacher always fed us meat only on
paper which the headmaster strongly believed. Being a school captain, I had
the privilege to verify the bill of meats, eggs, and nutritious vegetables that
were never provided in the kitchen. Sometimes, we did not even have salt in the
kitchen because of the very greedy In Charge who thought he should eat all our
food. I couldn’t do much then because I did not like any issues with my teachers.
It is when I started seeing problems with our teachers then.
I changed my school after the eighth standard and went to a high
school to continue my ninth and tenth classes which I did diligently. A pair of
shoes, one or two sets of who was what I just had and I completed my tenth
standard with that. I remember putting on one of my friend’s shoes (many times) and
he wouldn’t tell me not to put but look at me with disdain which I would laugh
away. Being a hard-working student, I got to study pre-university studies with
fees covered by the government and completed my twelfth standard with 75 other
students in the same class after which I picked up Imperial Forest Rangers'
Course in India. Without proper counseling, I thought it was a degree course but
it turned out that the course was for professionals that could not be counted
as an academic degree. People with master’s degrees also took the course. So,
disappointing that it wasn’t an academic course. But the decision was made, so no
looking back. I became a Ranger after two years and joined the civil service in
Bhutan.
In my job, I tried to give my best. But I saw a lot of anthropocentric
problems. I could choose which way to go but I thought it fair to give my best.
I gave my best and I am happy. I did not plan to enhance my qualification, nor
did I wish to take up positions shinier than the Rangers. I was good there, I
am there. But in any system, things are dynamic. They change according to
time, space, people who are involved, and the nature of the system itself. Thus, I
had to change myself under compulsion. I obtained a lot of degrees, sat for
competitive exams, and adapted myself to the system. Being successful, I changed
my position from Ranger to Officer (under forced circumstances). So, I did not
decide to be an Officer. It just came in.
I took up the post of District Forest Officer of Trashigang and
gave everything I got for the job. I planned to retire from the District system
but I was pushed out of the District system. So, I wandered for some time and joined
the nearest Territorial Forest Division from where I was sent to a protected
area in the extreme west. From here, I am giving up my job not looking for
greener pastures but creating seats for those unemployed youths.
BLESS ME IF YOU WILL
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