He
is educated till grade three, a village monk, also a carpenter who is fluent in
written and spoken Dzongkha. He belongs to the village just above Degala. My
first introduction to the school and the community is all because of this
person. He was in his late 20’s when I
first met him. He is a man who has the final answer, “yes sir” to all teachers
and the principal. He resides near the school with his wife and three children.
He
is an indispensable asset of the school and without him, we (teachers) wouldn’t
have managed things this far besides our regular duty of teaching. He is so
good in Dzongkha that before the year 2008, we used to deploy him at times as a
substitute Dzongkha teacher. To make him worthy of his ability, his Dzongkha
handwriting is far better than mine. When I compare my Dzongkha ability to that
of his, mine is at the ‘sea-level’.
One
service that I am grateful to this day is he was my cook, washer man, house
keeper and above all a revered adviser. I used to consult him on any decisions
that I had to make besides teaching. I was all alone during my stay in the
school and who will cook for me? I had to be in the school with kids till 12:30
pm in the afternoon and by this time my tummy would be rumbling. I had no time
to cook for myself in an hour’s lunch break. So, he came as a great help. While
he is around I don’t have to worry about cooking let alone vegetables and other
edibles. While he is around, teachers like me will never fall short of local
butter, cheese and other edibles. In the year 2009, a new teacher, Kesang
Phuntsho, from Paro came and he too was a bachelor. Now, my friend’s work
doubled, cook for both of us. Later we sorted out and then shared our meals
together. In 2010, another bachelor joined us, Mr. Kinzang Dorji to the dismay
of our friend.
I
neither had to wash my plates after eating nor wash my clothes during weekends.
I was so dependent on him that in his absence I had miserable time especially
while cooking, many a time. There is only sad thing about him. He is unaware of
the time factor when he drinks, which he occasionally does. If we in the school
deploy him to look for cheese and other edibles from the village during
evenings, then he would take advantage of this time and come home drunk. It is
the norm of the village that you start a day with a pot of Bangchang and no wonder he belongs to the village.
Another
good trait about him he is also educated monastically. So he is a store house
of knowledge on local rituals (Rimdro).
He can perform rituals like any other village Gomchen[1]
for he knows the dos and don’ts of such rituals. When we decide to have such
rituals (School Rimdro) at school, he is the big boss and when the date draws
near for the event, he is already there with things and accessories required
for such events. In the school if we ever claim to be successful in all our
attempts, then a ‘lion share’ of the credit goes to him.
He
is a man made for others-a helping personality. He was my friend, guide and
company when we went fishing during leisure. We used to return home in the
evening with a pretty good catch. Here too, without uttering a word he would
start chopping chunks of our catch into mouth watering meals. By the year 2008,
two of us promised not to go fishing anymore because of the fear of public
knowing about it.
I
can imagine now that I really must have had a different life of my own if this
man wasn’t there. I revere this person
for instilling in me the sense of duty and responsibility and the satisfaction
one derives from hard work.
In
my time as a teacher in Degala school he taught me the importance of respecting
each other as human beings, the need to help each other at all times and above
all the need to take care of the needy. He was my guide and a trusted friend in
the social aspect of life and he is a great personality in himself. He is
Ngidup Wangdi, our school caretaker-The Good Samaritan.
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