HALF WAY THROUGH

The last few weeks have been quite hectic. Anyways once we were done with the sixth chapter of Dawa, I thought it was time to unwind and recharge out batteries. So I decided to check their understanding by asking the students to answer some questions. In the last class, I asked them to answer a couple of questions as per the teacher’s manual. The questions were:

1.      How did Dawa contact mange? How did he feel about it? What lesson/s do you learn from his one, single unguarded encounter?

2.      Who was Gelong Ma Pelmo? Write what you have learnt about her.

Naturally, we began with a discussion of the previous questions. Then I wrote the next two questions on the board with the instructions to write the answers within 20 minutes. This time they were to write the answers to the questions:

1.      What was Dawa’s mother’s advice to him? Write about some advice that your parents give you from time to time.

2.      Briefly write about Dampa’s physical appearance and two lessons Dawa learnt from him.

I also told them that in the last 20 minutes they would have to work in pairs and make two short questions – questions that can be answered in one or at the most two sentences. I was pleasantly surprised therefore, when I found some of the students could finish their answers to the above questions within practically no time.

The answer to Q.1. was: “Always watch your tail. As long as you can see your tail behind you, you are safe.” His mother would tell him. She also whispered to him that in unexpected situations of great danger, it is wise to put the tail between the hind legs. Precious pearls of wisdom that helped Dawa survive through some of the worst times of his life.
While answering the second part of the question, they wrote: My parents always have my best interests at the back of their minds. They want me to be a responsible, contributing citizen of my country. So they keep on advising me time and again about the importance of being  (1) a good human being, (2) respectful to my teachers and the elders, and (3) being hard-working and honest. 

The answer to Q.2. read something like: Dampa was the most unusual-looking dog that Dawa had seen still then. He was called Dampa due to the muddy color of his skin and had a white neck. He had a strange, heart-shaped face. His eyes were too large for his face. His body was small and legs, spindly. Inspite of his apparent small size, Dampa moved with swiftness that few dogs could match.

The two important lessons that Dawa learnt from Dampa were – firstly, he was to learn from humans but not to imitate them. And secondly, to keep his eyes and ears open and keep his mouth shut unless he had to speak.

Almost all the students had answered the questions in a similar manner. Without any further ado, I then asked them to start making their own questions in pairs. Once they got the hang of it, they seemed to be enjoying themselves making their own questions. I kept moving around the class, providing help where necessary. Let me reproduce some of those questions here:

        I.            How did Dawa get his name?

Ans:   Dawa got his name from the moon.

      II.            Who was Gelong Ma Pelmo? What disease was she suffering from?

Ans:   Gelong Ma Pelmo was a Tibetan princess. She was suffering from the dreaded disease of leprosy.

    III.            Who were the three most important leaders of the dog community in Thimphu?

Ans:    The three most important leaders of the dog community in Thimphu were –

1.      The Leader of Territories,

2.      The Leader of Warnings and Signals, and

3.      The Leader of Howling.

    IV.            Name the chorten he used to visit during times of trouble.

Ans:    The chorten that Dawa used to visit was the Memorial Chorten in Thimphu.

      V.            Why was the cute, little dog in Trongsa tied to a bench?

Ans:    The cute, little dog in Trongsa was tied to a bench to stop him from running away or stealing.

    VI.            How did Dawa feel about the dogs in Trongsa?

Ans:   Dawa felt that the dogs in Trongsa were the least friendly of all.

  VII.            What kind of language did the second group of monks, that Dawa followed, use?

Ans:   The second group of monks that Dawa followed used some sort of Esperanto or a mixture of Dzongkha, Tibetan, English and Hindi.

VIII.            Who was Dawa’s first admired dog? ( I would have preferred to have rephrased the question to – Who was the dog that admired first?)

Ans:   Dawa’s first admired dog was Moley.

    IX.            Why did Dawa leave Thimphu?

Ans:   Dawa left Thimphu due to dirty dog politics and to cure himself from mange.

      X.            How did Dawa learn the honorific terms?

Ans:   Dawa learnt the honorific terms from school going children.

    XI.            Why did Dawa hesitate to scratch in public?

Ans:   Dawa hesitated to scratch in public as he had his dignity.

  XII.            Why was Dawa afraid on reaching Dochula?

Ans:   Dawa was afraid on reaching Dochula because the dog pound was there and he thought of being caught and impounded.

XIII.            What lesson did Dawa learn after the loss of his family?

Ans:   After the loss of his family, Dawa learnt that human beings are never to be trusted.

XIV.            What was Dawa’s best quality?

Ans:  Out of the many good qualities Dawa had, his best quality was the gift of his voice.

Continued on page 2/-