The land of enchantment and profound changes
28 November 2008
An Indian teacher came to Bhutan 29 years ago when letters took almost one month to reach Bhutan. But the kingdom still keeps him enchanted. Gyembo Namgyel reports.
Twenty nine years ago, a high school student in Kerala, India, came into contact with Bhutan for the first time while trying to memorise the names of the countries bordering India. He clearly remembers even to this day, how as a teenager in the classroom, Bhutan came second in alphabetical order.
His love for Bhutan grew stronger when he saw exotic images of maroon-clad monks and the majestic mountain in the pages of some magazines. But the sheer lack of information added flavour to a country he had only heard.
“Perhaps, the curiosity and the interest in my early life could have something to do with my destiny as it brought me here and kept me enchanted for all these years,” says 53-year-old Haridas, a teacher at Shumar Lower Secondary School in Pemagatshel.
He took up his first assignment as a teacher in Gopini Primary School with an appointment order issued by the Education Stores Officer in Phuentsholing. The journey up to Tsirang took him three days by bus but the more surprises were in store.
“A keralite engineer working in the dzongkhag with whom I spent the earlier night pointed to a visibly long building on the other side of the mountain as my destination,” he said. “The prospect of only a few hours walk excited me but how wrong it proved to be.”
“The paths were very narrow and slippery and I had to crawl or hold on to creepers to climb. Keeping pace with the porters was near impossible and the sight of Khukuris dangling from their sides made my hair stand on end,” he said, adding that the entire journey which takes about three hours took him nine hours.
“The hospitality and the friendliness of Bhutanese people and their kind help and support in bad times overwhelmed me,” said Haridas, citing an example of the good support he received when he was ill in 1981.
To Haridas, the pace of development that has taken place in Bhutan is unprecedented. “Those days, letters from India took almost a month to reach Bhutan. The fastest form of communication was the wireless message but even that was very unreliable. In 1989, when my mother became ill, my family had sent me several messages asking me to come down but after several days, I received a bunch of messages together. I could not even make it in time for the last rites,” he said. “Today, it is just a click of a button or a simple call away.”
“Bhutan is blessed to have an enlightened leadership under the fourth Druk Gyalpo,” he said. “His Majesty led the army to flush out the Indian militants. The drafting of the constitution, introduction of democracy and finally abdicating his throne in favour of the fifth Druk Gyalpo speak volumes of His Majesty’s leadership.”
With almost three decades of teaching, Haridas said that he takes pride in seeing his former students rise in the higher level of bureaucracy. With the successful transition to constitutional democracy, an effective government in place, the successful enthronement of yet another beloved king and all the favourable circumstances in place, nations around the world has many things to learn from Bhutan.
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More of such artilces would be interesting and also a sort of thanksgiving to our Indian teachers.
Such articles should be focus more to give thier appreciation and hardship endured during early days. It will also help to boster thier moral spirit.
I am touched by the article. The government should consider giving some kind of award in recognition such wonderful services by our Indian brothers.
Similar articles could make for an interesting read with various anecdotes. I am sure, like us students, who studied under them, they must be having a plethora of amusing recollections about our people and country. Jogging down those memory lane could also provide glimpses of different situations and scenarios of the past decades.
Respect for the past is a very essential thing in life, I suppose. And I am certain readers would eagerly lap up such segments in the paper. I am also wondering in dismay, whatever happened to the initial piece ” campus of the distinguished”!!!. I thought it was a very interesting segment. Its sudden discontinuation, perhaps, only goes on to demonstrate and reiterate, the all-pervasive, “non-consistent” nature of any thing and everything that we Bhutanese do!
I just came from one of the shopping malls, a station away from my university. I bought some winter garments to fortify myself against the piercing cold of Tokyo. As usual I browsed and am still browsing now the internet sites that keeps me updated of my beloved Bhutan. But surfing the web page of Bhutan Observer gave me a long awaited opportunity to see one my teachers who taught me in Yadi Primary School in 1992. I had already a conclusion in my mind that my English guru, Mr. Haridas might have resigned and gone back to Kerala. But to my total amazement he is still serving Bhutan and I know he can really teach English language in its totality. He teaches with great zest and commitment. Lastly, through Mr. Haridas I would like to convey my heartfelt gratitude and good wishes to all other Indian Gurus who taught me in Bhutan. Particularly I would like to wish Sir Haridas a great life at Shummer. It is really nostalgic to learn that he has attained to 53 years of age. But sir, I too am 30 years old now working as a civil servant in the Ministry of Labour and Human Resources. And currently I am studying here in Tokyo, Japan.
Karma Lhendup
Hitotsubashi University
Tokyo, Japan.
thank you so much for guidness to youth of bhutan ,, and we never forget your kindness and teaching ,,,,,