As a boarder student at Radhi L.S.S and Dungtse M.SS, Trashigang, Bhutan

Radhi Lower Secondary School 

After seven years of my primary schooling at Merak Primary School (MPS) at my village I went to continue my higher grades at Radhi Lower Secondary School (RLSS). All my seniors starting from the first batch of students of MPS had trodden the same path. I remember being the smallest boy from the batch from my village who got enrolled in RLSS. That was the year 2008, the beginning of my 10 years of boarding life (i.e, till my graduation from college).

My parents would worry a lot for me like they still do today. To have me go away from them when I was still a little boy (13 years old) was the most painful feeling, that the previous year, my father advised me to deliberately get failed in class VI examination. But I had anyhow passed the examination! Such was the innocence of my own parents. To them, happiness for the child mattered the most, not a lofty ambition, position, wealth or any other material accumulation. And I am still proud of my beloved parents for this sense of contentment they cherished their whole lives. This is indeed the reason for them to be happy despite all the hardships they faced throughout their lives.

So, my first year in Radhi, away from my parents was not free of sadness. Homesickness would strike me too hard I remember crying under blankets most of the nights. This would get all the worse when some big guy or an irrational captains would initiate senseless bullies on a helpless boy like myself.

Our day begins at the break of dawn, i.e around 5:30 a.m, starting with Physical Training Exercise which will be followed by morning study for an hour. Then, there was the day classes, followed by evening prayers, dinner and night study before we retired for the day. The routine was so mechanical indeed that we hardly had a space to breathe in between.

Due to our innocence we would find study hours too burdensome and as a result we would lend up chattering or napping more than actually reading books or revising lessons.

Often-times, we would be caught and meted with lashings of pipes by the study duty teachers or wardens. But those were bearable and I still feel very grateful to these set of teachers for their hearts were full of love and compassion for us. But I hatted PT the most for snatching away my most peaceful sleep. A long, undisturbed peaceful sleep was one thing I desired the most.

But as time passed, I got more and more friends apart from the ones from my own village and I also started liking the place. But gazing at Chorphu mountains (towards Chaling side) and Ranjung roads leading to Khardung and Chaling I couldn't help counting days for the summer or winter vacation to come by. Luckily, between every two to three weeks, my parents mostly my father, would come to meet me as they lived at Chabling, a pastureland of my community not so far from Radhi. He would leave me with a few hundreds of Ngultrums and some fried cheese and other edibles. But the moment my dad left my eyes would instantly get tearful and I would find the next four to five days too difficult to adjust with. I found the weather at Radhi so hot that in summer days I can't help myself falling asleep in the classes.

Dungtse Middle Secondary School

At the start of the next academic year (2009) I came to know that we will be shifting to Dungtse Middle Secondary School (DMSS) which was still being constructed. Principal Kunzang introduced during the morning assembly a set of new teachers (for DMSS), who were mostly fresh out of their training to the school. As the new school was not ready, we continued at RLSS. But there was clear demarcation between DMSS and RLSS administrations, if I may say so. Now, though we were in Radhi, we no more belonged there. We belonged to Dungtse. The RLSS multi-purpose hall was turned into a hostel for boys (I guess not less than 80). And since the students of RLSS would be occupying the classrooms during day time, our classes were conducted in the morning before their morning assembly and in the evenings after their classes. We were asked to revise and do self studies during day time. This was all together a different experience for both the teachers and students. I like this style for I could concentrate better in the early morning and evenings than during day time. On top of that we no more had to undergo PTs which we always found it to be too gruesome. This carried on for a considerable length of time.

I can't recall the exact date but around mid year or beginning of the mid year we got shifted to our new school, DMSS. New, large and tall buildings dotted the landscape but due to the massive construction which was yet to complete, the campus was very dry and vegetation was totally absent or very poor. So, the young, brilliant and energetic teachers and bright obedient students, under the leadership of a dynamic principal found the cause to contribute to the school. We started carpeting the grey and ash landscape of Dungtse with green grass brought from nearby places. We worked most Saturdays fetching black soil, green grass and on short and term breaks local boarders (students from nearby villages) would bring to school a bamboo each or more to plant in the campus. We tilled the land and grew our own vegetables though it was not fully sufficient. Nature club members led by Dorji sir would be seen diving deep into nearby forests foraging for orchids and other plants. On other days they would be seen busy painting, erecting signboards and in one or other form of beautification. Our hard work has been paid justifiably as I have seen the school turn green and much livelier during my own stay there. A few years later, when I went to DMSS to meet my younger siblings, I have seen the school turn into a so serene and hospitable a temple of learning in its truest sense.

DMSS catered mainly to the students of the four Gewogs namely Radhi, Phongmey, Merak and Sakten. It was by all means a very vibrant and happening school. We used to have inter-House literary (debate, extempore, Quiz) competition, Games and Sports competition, and cultural competition. On happy weekends, Bhutanese films would be screened when romantic feelings of fantasy would grip us, mostly the girls. We also used to host shows by other schools.

As a new school it had lots of attraction and appeal to others too and I believe it was also partly to do with the Principal sir’s dynamism and ability to connect with other leaders and managers. H.E T.S Powdyel, Sherig Lyonpo from 2008 to 2013, the then Tashigang NC Dr. Sonam Kinga, the then Dogchhog Gothrip Dasho Tshering Tobgay, DDC Secretary Dasho Sherub Gyeltshen had all visited the school and interacted with us, leaving deeply inspired. Most memorably, HRH Ashi Dechen Yangzom Wangchuck inaugurated the school in 2009.

As the first batch of students, I am highly privileged to recall to this day the moments of true caring and affection that existed between a teacher and a student. As aforementioned, more than three fourths of our teachers were fresh graduates from their training or apprenticeship. Though they were just beginning their career it didn’t seem at all to me that they lacked any experience or capability. This set of teachers possessed all the noble qualities of a teacher. They understood the language of their students’ life, their needs, their potential. I may say, they had a kind of clairvoyance to see the future of each students. All of them were so kind and gentle that they blended with students like they were students themselves. The perpetual desire to learn had filled their hearts. A special level of enthusiasm and vigour to teach, to affect a change in the lives of their students beamed perhaps due their youthfulness. And I am pretty sure at this point of time, that my batch mate friends who were fortunate enough to be the students of those teachers like I was, feel a special sense of love and respect for those teachers whatever our current standing in life may be.

I have seen a real sense of sacrifice and contentment in these young set of teachers. Since staff quarters were not completed and as the houses outside the campus were located far away, I have seen my young teachers putting up in groups just like their students. Around nine or so male teachers would occupy a hostel room upstairs amid cacophony of voices of their students. And all of them were so kind that they were very happy to have their students come to them with doubts on lessons any time of the day.

This way teachers were also always on their toes to help us. Some were strict while others were soft and gentle but they all possessed unassailable sense of compassion and kindness. They instilled and nurtured in us the best values. They showed us the way to our future. They were always there to embrace us in their compassionate folds if ever we stumbled and fell back. They were to us the real shepherds who made sure that no one is left behind.

My friends from those days, who I rarely get to meet today, are also the ones whose company I enjoyed the most. Most of us belonged to the same or similar backgrounds that we understood each other’s pains and joys well enough.

From that point in time only, I clearly understood why teachers are called and respected as the second parents and friends, no different from our siblings. As a boarder student, we would be spending only two to three months from the total twelve months with our own parents and siblings. While in the school, our teachers and friends were the ones always by our side, committing all their time and energy to help us. They were always there to celebrate as well as grieve with us in both happy and sad moments respectively. So, a boarder student would never enjoy his or her schooling if he or she failed to appreciate and respect his or her teachers and friends.

Though times were difficult then, I believe, I gained quicker maturity by being in boarding schools. By being away from the care and affection of parents, I have come to realize better how much they mattered, their struggles and sacrifices for me. That was in addition to the sense of respect and appreciation multiplying for my friends and teachers.

Looking back to a decade and a half of my life from this point, I can only conclude and appreciate that those were the most formative times of my life. Like in any other cases of life, there are moments I wish I lived bit differently but I feel I somehow lived those years the way it should have been. Yes, the life has moved quicker than I had imagined.

Torch bearers of Dungtse Middle Secondary School (P.C. Kunzang Norbu sir's Facebook upload)

Dungtse M.S.S covering an area of around 14 acres (P.C. Facebook Page of Dungtse C.S)

Note: This article is written as a humble tribute to the temples of learning, RLSS & DMSS (which are now Central Schools), a wonderful set of the most benevolent teachers and my dear friends from these schools, all that I hold in the fondest of memories and respect. The content is a mere recollection from my mind and as I never maintained a diary back then, some contents could be wrongly projected so kindly pardon me.