HAPPY TO BE BACK AGAIN !

I’D LIKE to begin the second half of the academic session, 2016, by thanking you whole-heartedly, dear reader. When I looked at the readership figure last time, it was nearly 5000, but I was in for a pleasant surprise when I found it leapfrogging to 7500+ last night. No matter what, you have persisted with me, you have shown your abiding faith in ‘Yours truly’, and that is the appetizer I needed desperately. Thank you once more and let me see if I am able to help sustain your interest in the novel that most of the Bhutanese of this generation, have grown up with.

Mid-Term English Paper-II was set by Mr. Tshering Dorji, who really proved himself to be a godsend when we were faced with an acute shortage of English teachers in CCS at the beginning of the year. I have dared to discuss his paper, for the benefit of you, learners, without his consent. I sincerely hope that Sir would not bring a case of plagiarism, defamation, or something related to copyrights or whatever, against me and take me to a court of law for this unpardonable act on my part!

Let’s discuss Section-D, that is, the Novel and take off with the MCQs under Set-I. There were 5 questions altogether and all the questions were interesting, a product of Tshering Dorji Sir’s diligence.

1.     Dawa had many qualities and the quality that shaped his life was his –

a.     perseverance.

b.     language.

c.      voice.

d.     ancestral background.

·       The answer to the above question is obviously his ‘voice’, option C.

2.     Singyemo rejected Dawa’s marriage proposal because –

a.     his legs were crooked.

b.     he was infected with mange.

c.      he was not romantic.

d.     he had no proper lineage.

·       The answer, it goes without saying, is Option D.

3.     ‘Dawa’s growth curve plateaued prematurely and he was destined to be a non-descript stray dog’. What do you assume the meaning of ‘plateaued prematurely’ to be in the statement?

a.     lacking physical stature.

b.     stopped growing before proper time.

c.      state of rapid growth.

d.     deformity due to malnutrition.

4.     The thing most dreaded by dogs is –

a.     being put in a pound.

b.     becoming a leader.

c.      becoming an underdog.

d.     being infected with mange.

·       Here Option C is the most appropriate answer.

5.     Dampa decided to live at Changanglha Temple because –

a.     It was his ancestral home.

b.     It gave him peace and tranquillity that an aged dog needed.

c.      It was a beautiful place.

d.     there was plenty of food everywhere.

·       The correct answer is …….. Yes, you have guessed it correctly. It is Option A.

Questions 1b had 3 short questions altogether:

1)     How would you show your understanding of how Dawa changed his name from Koto to Dawa?

2)     What roles did Dampa and Molay play in Dawa’s life?

3)     What imaginary lineage does he create to win his beloved? What characteristic does it reveal?

As we have already discussed the first two questions somewhere in the earlier blogs, there is no point trying to discuss them again. The first part of Q.3 has also been discussed, but let’s try to answer the question again, mainly for the later part of the question. I have referred to the answer scripts of Phuntso Wangmo and Sonam Zangmo as both of them came out with top-notch performances in IX E.

Answer to Q.3: Dawa invented the story that his great grandfather was a pure damchi from Lhasa. He was stolen on the day he was born by a vulture. He was said to be raised on bird food, kept as he was in the nest of the vulture on a sheer rock face, not in a dirty corner by any means. A sheepherder, having found him, presented him to the lady of an aristocratic family. He was rewarded with the post of the Chamberlain of the house as a result. There he was offered a handful of barley flour along with butter tea as the lady did not want her to grow any bigger, for her own comfort.

The invented story reveals Dawa’s intelligence, defence against his stunted growth and, to some extent, boastful nature. He wanted to impress upon Singyemo that he had a great lineage and was not really responsible for his small size!

THAT IS ALL FOR NOW. WE WILL TRY TO DISCUSS THE SET-II questions in the next. Till then, HAPPY WEEKENDER! STAY BLESSED.