I had created my blogging account
in 2009 but couldn’t write anything that year. The actual writing began after I
started teaching in Lichen Community Primary School, Trashiyangtse in 2011.
 |
| Lichen Community Primary School, Trashi Yangtse |
Teaching in a small school in a
far flung village wasn't the inspiration alone. The life and the stories of
people and children of the community inspired me to blog about them on my
infant web page with almost no experience of blogging.
Life in the village was worth
living so it was worth writing too. I kept writing about their simplicity,
humbleness and their stories of patience and endurance. The humbleness of the
villagers, the hospitality they offer when I visit their houses on weekends and
the respect they have for others always moved me. My stay in the community was
indeed memorable with great experiences.
Let me share one such experience.
During any ritual in the community, I
would be invited and given a seat next to a Lam (priest) who conducts the
ritual. We would be pampered in all little ways.
We would have the best and the
most expensive ‘Dhen’ (carpet) of the
village to sit on, the best brewed local alcohol, a fine lump of fresh butter,
a hill of red rice, a flask of butter tea and aromatic cheese curry specially
prepared for us. The ‘jenda’ (house
owner) or an elderly woman would
be seated nearby to serve us, chat and to look after our welfare. We would be
the first ones to be served with the entire cuisine prepared for the feast that
would follow after the ritual is completed.
The villagers and their children
will be seated a few steps behind our attendant. They will be glaring at us as
if we two were the ‘MEN FROM THE MOON’. And when we are half-way in our dining,
then the villagers will be served. After the meal is over, folk songs and
dances will end the event for the day.
A new day for a media student-
turned- community teacher starts again with the oriental sun rising from the
eastern horizon.
Images: Google
