SUMMARY OF CHAPTER - 5.

Dawa’s panic initially had more to do with his mental state than the itching all over his body. There was a kind of persistent, irritable itching that could be lessened only by the pain from scratching and biting. As he was a dignified dog, he preferred not to scratch in public.

The day he found bits of fur in his claw, he retired to the solace of the Memorial Chorten. Despite the presence of humans and dogs, the place was tranquil. Sitting all aloof, Dawa hoped for some soothing effect of the tranquil place on his mind and itchy body.

He made some interesting observations about how humans and dogs interacted and clashed with each other, why some humans were phobic about dogs, the negative attitude of humans when it comes to harmonious coexistence with dogs and how repulsive were some humans about the dogs with mange. Sitting hidden under a bush, Dawa felt tension ebbing and that he could also think in a cool way. Soon his symptoms will be apparent to other dogs. He knew that he had got it with his careless, unguarded encounter with the fluffy dog. She charmed her way into his heart and he spent many hours in her company sitting close to her, feeling good about it. Of course her symptoms were not visible as her owner had already taken her to a vet. Thinking about the owner, Dawa regretted not having an owner who would stroke and scratch him and a tear fell down from his right eye.

So lost in thoughts, Dawa was completely unaware of the onset of the evening and the couple sitting close to him, talking about a friend who was sick, how she could be cured through the healing power of prayers and meditation. They also talked about one Gelong Ma Pelmo, who also got enlightenment in a cave, which now happens to be a place of pilgrimage. Dawa got up all excited on hearing this. The old couple then noticed him and started hurling abuses at him for giving them the fleas while he stretched himself after a long rest. Dawa’s sense of shame took him farther away from the couple than was really necessary. As a result, he failed to hear about the location of the cave.

His anxiety made Dawa decide to discuss his thoughts, plans with Dampa and seek his advice e. As he did not want to inflict Dampa with mange, he wandered around the temple in the hope of meeting Dampa. Once he even called out to him (Dampa) from a distance, but Dampa greeted back and went inside. Finally he could send word to Dampa through a teenage dog.

Soon afterwards, Dampa came down, took a hard look at Dawa. Dawa talked about his problems – his disease, bewilderment and all. His pure Dzongkha with all the right honorific terms, in a modulated voice convinced Dampa of Dawa’s great language prowess. Dawa also informed Dampa of his desire to go away. Dampa tried his best to make Dawa aware of the dangers of the dogs in his area and in the other areas as well. They would tear him into pieces if they found him shying away from his responsibilities or intruding in their areas. But Dawa was prepared to take the risk. He then asked Dampa about the cave. Dampa replied that he had heard of the cave being somewhere in Tang, east of Thimphu. He also went on to add that there were four or five passes in between.

Dampa could not provide any more information, not even the names of the passes. But his eyes lit up when he saw the black-brown damchi sunning himself in front of the house across the street. As the dog was brought up in Tronsa, Dampa asked him about the passes. The damchi had difficulty in recollecting the names due to old age. He simply asked Dawa to go east. Dawa could not control his excitement and probed him further for the names of the passes, how high they were. The oldie could call up to mind Pelela and Dochula and a place called Bumthang nearby Trongsa. He then went back to sleep and was soon snoring sonorously. Dawa and Dampa stood there for a while watching with gratitude and tenderness the body heaving rhythmically.

Dawa felt like leaving immediately. He wanted to get away from the precarious situation and to cure himself. Dampa was not convinced and tried his best to stop Dawa from undertaking this futile adventure. So Dawa told him the truth that besides finding the cure, he wanted to be free from the dirty politics of the dog community. Dampa argued by saying that politics was there in every community and mange was a common disease among dogs.

Dawa decided to leave early morning the next day, when most of the dogs would be sound asleep, tired from the prolonged nightly howling. His departure was easier than expected. As he neared Dochula, where the dog pound was, he was suddenly paralyzed by the fear of being caught and impounded. His fear proved baseless as most of the early-risers were airport-bound or prayer-sayers, who had no intention of paying any attention to him.

The chilly morning air did nothing to soothe his mange-ravaged body, but the downhill climb was easy. He ate some cold food from the wayside. Dawa also met a group of aggressive dogs at Lungtenphu, at the outskirts of Thimphu. But he was a smart survivor and used his surviving tactics by walking with his head bent low along the edge of the road and keeping out of harm’s way. As he entered the parking lot in Wangduephodrang, he was greeted by a young dog, who remarked that it was the cleanest town in Bhutan. Then pointing to the billowing smoke rising up in the air, he said furthermore that the food was going up ("dogs paying the price for human cleanliness") into the pristine air, leaving the dogs hungry. Dawa moved on. He had no intention of staying in a place where there was no food for the dogs.

P.N. I am really busy these days. So I am not sure whether I could do a good job or not. Naturally, i'll keep on making some additions and alterations.

SUMMARY OF CHAPTER-3

Dawa’s appointment as the leader of the howling pack was predestined and not accidental. He knew every nook and corner of the city within a few hours of his arrival. Dogs in Thimphu, unlike their counterparts in Paro, who mainly depend on their sense of smell for finding food, have to keep their eyes and ears open for food and there is always plenty of food.

Once during a party, Dawa noticed a muddy-colored dog (physical features of Dampa – small, with a heart-shaped face, large eyes, and spindly legs) moving around the tent with an electrifying swiftness, grabbing a mouthful from a particular tent and disappearing. Dawa later followed the dog and was surprised when the dog spoke to him in Dzongkha. He told Dawa of his fondness for food from the special people. Till his encounter with the dog, Dawa always thought that his ability to understand human language and speak in Dzongkha was quite unique.

He was Dampa (his history – born near Changankha Lhakhang. His ancestry dates back to the time, hundreds of years ago, when the lhakhang was built). He told Dawa that he preferred to keep himself aloof from the other dogs and of his fondness for only Dzongkha. He also advised Dawa to work on his Dzongkha as he had leadership aspirations.

Dawa never forgot Dampa’s advice and followed various groups of monks to learn the best Dzongkha. The first group spoke in Dzongkha laced with curse words. The second group of monks spoke in a language similar to Esperanto – a mixture of Dzongkha, Tibetan, English and Hindi. Although they spoke in a fused language, Dawa followed them around from a distance and heard bits and pieces of their conversation. He was greatly intrigued by their incomprehensible expressions and realized only later on that their topic centred on chilli paste!

Disillusioned, Dawa went back to Dampa in Changangka. Dampa agreed with him, on having been informed of the difficulty of finding the right teacher, that monks today, under the influence of the cultures of other countries through TV, do not speak the best Dzongkha any more. Then pointing to a monk, he asked Dawa to follow him as he had the best Dzongkha.

The kind and gentle monk befriended Dawa with his amicable nature and Dawa found the best teacher he was looking for. He learned the best Dzongkha by following the monk around. With his flair for language, Dawa became proficient in Dzongkha within a very short time. When he went back to Dampa, he was impressed. He then asked Dawa to try to learn the honorific terms from a human school for children. At nightfall Dawa finally left Dampa for the joy of howling.

Dawa then followed a group of children, closely observed two teachers teaching two different classes and selected the class that looked more involved and animated for the sheer joy of learning.

To be continued ………

Together We'll Walk The Extra Mile. (2)

We were supposed to have the Mock Drill in connection with the Preparedness for Disaster Management today. Bhutan, like most of the countries in the Himalayan region, is an earthquake-prone country and therefore, preparation has been mandatorily underway for some time to be ready for all natural calamities. When it comes to the security and safety of her citizens, there is no room for compromise in the GNH country.

Last night while preparing for standard-IX, I had to keep a few things in mind. Now we are done with the second chapter of Dawa, the story of a stray dog, it was time to find out how much the students could make out of it. I also wanted to know if they have been studying seriously or not, considering that the Mid-Year Examination is not very far away. I decided finally to ask them to answer some Knowledge and Recollection.questions. I opted for the easiest type as classes were expected to be disrupted due to the Mock Drill session.

Right after a very refreshing presentation on Phrasal Verbs by Rajesh Rai, it was clear to me that the class was waiting for me to write the questions on the board. And I did as expected.

1.      Write briefly in your own words, what you have learnt about Dawa’s journey to Thimphu.                      (10)

Ans:  As per Am Moley’s instructions, Dawa set off for Thimphu without bidding ‘farewell’ to anyone. He followed the river down the valley till it was joined by the other river and after crossing the bridge, he turned left. While he was walking past the check post at Chuzom, the policeman, who was busy writing down the number of a vehicle, gave him a hard kick quite unnecessarily. Though hurt, Dawa displayed tremendous restraint and moved on, taking it as an auspicious sign. Soon he found himself surrounded by a host of mean-looking dogs. Fortunately for him, they let him go, having mistaken his intelligence for cowardice.

Once he had regained his composure, Dawa reacted quickly by following the furry dog with the bushy tail. They trotted across the Bridge of Prophecy, past the vegetable market till he reached the main road. He had his heart in his mouth while crossing the road and narrowly escaped being run over by the heavy traffic. Once on the other side, with his heart racing, Dawa realized that he had finally made it to Thimphu, the capital.

P.N: It did not take me long to write the answers. So I started moving around the class.  Bhim Maya was the first to finish, as there were still some 8-10 minutes left of the stipulated time, I asked for her notebook and went through the answers. The last two sentences of her answer to the first question kept me wondering:

Night fell as Dawa neared the city. He thought Thimphu was a city in the sky amidst all those twinkling stars, which he found out were the blinking lights of the cars parked outside.

While going through her answer, I was not sure if the above sentence should be included in the answer or not. I realized afterwards, while discussing the answer with the class that the above lines, though not indispensible, could also be included in the answer at the writer’s discretion.

Karma Zangmo is one of the brightest students of standard-IX. When she wanted to read out the answer next, I readily agreed. But during her reading, I realized that Karma had misunderstood the question and that is why she wrote about the lessons she had learnt from Dawa’s journey to Thimphu. I asked the class if anyone would like to comment on her answer. Raising his hand Rajesh pointed out her mistake. So I reminded the class why I had asked them to read the questions carefully at the start of the class and to make sure that they understood the questions. There is a difference between ‘what you have learnt about Dawa’s journey to Thimphu’ and ‘what you have learnt from Dawa’s journey to Thimphu’. This is why they have to read the questions in the exams very carefully. Otherwise, even after writing some one and a half page answer, they may secure 4 out of 10,  just 40% !

2.    What story did Dawa cook up about his lineage? Why?                   (8+2)

Ans:  When Dawa was rejected by the pretty but flirtatious Singyemo. who walked off with Katu, the adamant, on account of Dawa’s lineage, Dawa realized that life in a thriving city like Thimphu would be difficult without an impressive lineage. So he collected bits and pieces of his family history from scratches and cooked up the story.

As per the story, his great grandpa was a damchi born in a noble family of Lhasa and therefore, no ordinary dog. The day he was born, he was stolen by a vulture, which took him up on a stiff rock face. Bred on the bird food, his grandpa had a stunted growth. Later a sheepherder found and presented him to the lady of an aristocratic family. She was so charmed by the tiny damchi that his daily diet consisted of a handful of barley flour mixed with suja, so that he would not grow out of his small size and she could keep her in the sleeve always for warmth.

That is the reason why generations of descendants inherited the family trait of being small. Initially Dawa preferred not to share this story of his lineage with the sceptics like Nadola, but he grew more confident of it and started believing in this story as time fled by.

Dawa had to cook up this story to forget the hurt and pain that Singyemo had inflicted on him by rejecting his proposal to marry him for the season. He also had to do it for his survival in a big city like Thimphu.

To be continued ......

Together We'll Walk The Extra Mile. (1)

I thought about maintaining a running blog for all the questions and answers that we are going to discuss on every chapter from now on. The idea came to my head when yesterday, at the end of the second period, Rajesh Rai of IX A asked me two interesting questions. Today I had two periods with IX B. In the first period before lunch, I had to do a lot of reading, explaining and questioning. At the end of the period I informed them that in the fifth period after lunch they would have to answer some questions in writing. Just to prepare them for the activity, I summarized the whole of Chapter-2 of the novel once more.

Right after the Presentation in the fifth period, I asked them what we were going to do in the class. When the class answered my question in unison, I started writing the two questions on the board. I also informed them that for answering the questions, they would be given 25 minutes. I also made it known to them that the last 15 minutes would be spent in discussing their answers and writing the main points on the board. While they were answering the questions, I went round the class and finding them all meaningfully engaged, decided to answer the questions by myself.

1.      Why did Singyemo, the pretty dog, reject Dawa’s proposal? How did he react to such rejection?                                              (2+3)

Ans: Singyemo  , the pretty and flirtatious bitch, rejected Dawa’s proposal because he did not have an impressive, impeccable lineage like the other dogs in Paro. So when asking him about his lineage, she realized that Dawa was a dog without any pedigree and such dogs might not make the best of husbands.

If I was Dawa, I would be very upset and sad. I liked her very much and wanted to spend the rest of my life with her. The rejection will have a positive impact on me as well and leave me wanting to find out more of my lineage. And just like Dawa, I may even cook up a story about my lineage, if need be.

Ø  She rejected Dawa as she had already fallen for Kitu, the arrogant. (Con. by - Lhazin)

P.N:  While discussing the answers I told them that for getting the full marks, they have to add a couple of sentences more besides stating the main point, which is in this case, Dawa’s lineage or poor background. I also told them that for the second part of the question, they may have to state either three or two points, depending on the marks or instructions given.

Ø  I’d never ever give up and wait patiently for the next season.      (Con. by - Tshewang)

I was very impressed with the answers of the students and have taken the liberty of adding them to the answer above as points Contributed by (Con. by).

2.      What happened while Dawa was walking past the Check post at Chuzom? What conclusions can you make from the incident? (2+3)

 Ans:  While Dawa was walking past the check post at Chuzom as instructed by Am Moley, he was given a hard kick without any reason by the policeman, who was jotting down the number of vehicle in the palm of his hand. .

The conclusions that I can make from the above incident are - Firstly, human beings, especially policemen, are by nature cruel. They have no heart or love for other animals. Secondly, some animals are more understanding and considerate than us, human beings. Dawa could have especially retaliated by biting the policeman, but he knew best to move on. Finally, I have also concluded that a positive attitude will always help us inch closer to our destination faster. Dawa took the hard kick as a good omen and plodded on and became the leader of the howling pack in Thimphu on the same night.

Ø  Human beings have no empathy or compassion. Positive lessons are not always learnt in a positive way.                        (Con. by – Jigme Wangchuk).

To be continued .......

Summary of Chapter - 2.

Unknown to Dawa, he has another inheritance from his previous life – a strong desire for travel. The translator’s desire to travel remained unfulfilled till his last breath, but it manifested itself in Dawa. He wondered what lay beyond the Paro valley and was fascinated by the overhead flying planes disappearing into the mountains.

One hot summer afternoon Dawa asked Moley, one of the most ancient and wisest of the dogs in Paro, what lay beyond the Paro valley. Moley liked Dawa for his intelligence and spent the next hour or so talking about her noble lineage and descendants. Dawa regretted having asked the question to her and thought about the time when he proposed to Singyemo, the pretty and flirtatious bitch, but was rejected due to his lack of pedigree. First time he heard the word (breed). He was so heart-broken that he made up one and came to be more confident of it with the passage of time. His great grandpa was a damchi, who was stolen by a vulture and raised on a stiff rock head. Unfortunately, he had a stunted growth because of the vulture food. Rescued by a sheepherder, he was presented to an aristocratic lady, who liked the way he was. So great grandpa had the daily diet of a handful of barley flour along with some butter tea. This may be the reason why Dawa inherited the family trait of being quite small in size. He preferred not to share this the story of his lineage, unless he had to. There were sceptics like the big dog, Nadola, who always had a glint of mischief in his eye whenever he heard Dawa talking about his ancestry. He invariably asked Dawa if his great grandpa walked or flew.

Moley enlightened him about the world beyond and propelled him towards Thimphu. With Thimphu as his destination, Dawa hit the road. As per Moley’s instructions, when he crossed the bridge and passed the check post, a policeman shooed him away. Inspite of the hurt, he took it as a great omen.

He soon found himself surrounded by a group of mean-looking dogs. But Dawa was far too intelligent to challenge them. He put his tail between his hind legs, hung his head low in submission. They left him taking him for a coward and remarking that a county bumpkin like him would not survive in Thimphu for long.

It was a close save. Dawa,all shook up, yet had to act fast to get to the big gathering in Doebam Lam, he had heard the dogs talking about. He started following the furry dog with the brown tail. As he reached near the market, the delicious smell of the meat made him realize that he had not eaten almost for a whole day. Despite his growling stomach, he decided to move ahead and not to scavenge. He was destined to go to the big gathering.

Dawa narrowly escaped being run over by the onrushing traffic as he tried to cross the street. With his adrenaline all jumpy, he had finally made it to Thimphu. He remembered his mother’s advice of never losing sight of the tail in times of emergencies. Sadly for her, when the time came she seemed to have forgotten to take care of her tail!

He reached a large concrete area at last and knew that he was at the right place. An overwhelming smell of meat permeated the air. Dawa was relishing a piece of meat thrown at him by the disloyal meat shop workers. The restless nervousness around him was due to the dog leader having been taken to the pound earlier that day. Someone asked Dawa to lead the howling. Grabbing this god-send opportunity,Dawa took his stance, inhaled deeply, remembered his late family and then keeping his eyes on the moon, let out a majestic howl. All the dogs joined him in his magical howling. Dawa was here to stay.

To be continued .....

If Morning Shows The Day ....

I had the block periods with IX A right after lunch. Rajesh met me just outside the class and told me that he had made some questions from the first chapter of ‘Dawa, the story of a stray dog’. Good for him and good for all of us too. After the presentation on Phrasal Verbs, I made the objectives of the lesson clear to the class. At first I appreciated Rajesh for the trouble he had taken preparing the questions voluntarily and wanted to know if anyone could tell what they might have learnt from the previous lesson. Unfortunately, no one could. So I recapitulated the previous lesson and informed them that I would talk about the rest of Chapter-1 first and then have some of them reading out from the text. I’d also try to explain the difficult parts of the chapter.

I really enjoyed teaching the rest of the first chapter, the last four pages of the chapter. So with a little bit of prompting from the students, I did it for them and went on to finish It off in a grandiose manner.

How Dawa came to be called Koto. His reactions to the name, how embarrassed he felt about the name and how obsessed he was with the dreadful name.

I realized while teaching about Dawa’s embarrassment that I could do with some values here. Something that happened impromptu, without any preparation and mention of them in the Lesson Plan. I asked them how they would feel if other people called them names regarding their physical handicaps. The class seemed appreciative of the values of Decency, Understanding and Fellow Feeling.

I continued talking about how the positive influence of the moon changed Dawa for good from the timid, insecure and shameful dog that he was, into a courageous, confident and proud one. His friends, the other dogs, went on tormenting and teasing him. But finally he won the battle of wits and tenacity against them and came to be known as Dawa Koto.

Then I dwelt on Dawa’s newly acquired confidence. It gave rise to some sort of ambition in him. He wanted to be different, different from the other stray dogs. He wanted to be listened to, he wanted to be looked up to. He wanted to be the leader of the howling pack. As a concerned member of the dog community, he was thoroughly dissatisfied with the nocturnal, cacophonic howling of the dogs. He realized like a true leader that the responsibility of doing something about it rested on him. Instead of trying to correct others, he decided to change himself first. He really worked hard, honing on his skill till he was absolutely sure of success. Again I sniffed some room here for teaching values. Therefore, I told them that if they have some dreams and if they want their dreams realized, they have to work seriously hard and with dogged determination. Dawa, it goes without saying, became the undisputed leader of the pack.

I told them next, while talking about the last incident in chapter-1, that in making my own notes about the incident, I just penned three words – ‘The Shopkeeper Incident’ to be able to remember all of it!

Then I narrated the incident involving the shopkeeper. How he had his frustration and fear mounting at his huge losses, when he found the dried fish pouring down and the stray dogs devouring them hungrily. His pampered son, at his bidding, reluctantly fetching the whip made of twisted wires, for teaching them a lesson or two. How the dogs fled away, at a warning from Dawa and how the shopkeeper finally vented his fury on the TV-addicted son. This lesson turned out to be tailor-made for teaching values. Here I chipped in by asking them not to watch TV 24x7. They have to be more considerate. Their parents love and care for them. They toil day in and day out for the benefit of the children.  All they want is for their children to stand on their own feet.  So consideration for all their sacrifices is the least they can have for their parents.

Continued on pg-2

The Non-Stop Question-Answer Session.

Afterwards, I also read out and explained the difficult parts of the concluding part of the chapter. I asked Rajesh to read out the questions, I had already modified them. Reminding them of the Board Exam, I briefed them about the question pattern. That the paper would consist of 4 sections and each section will have two sets of questions. If they want to attempt set-I questions from any of these sections, they will have a maximum of 45 minutes to do so. So I asked them to try to answer the 4 questions I had in the meantime written on the board, in 40 minutes. We would discuss the answers in the last 10 minutes of the block periods.

The questions written on the board were:

1.      Describe Dawa in your own words.

2.      Why was Dawa called ‘Koto’?

3.      Why did he name himself as Dawa?

4.      State how Dawa lost his family.

I had answered all the questions before asking them not to forget to include the main points in their answers. Things were going on as per my plan, when Damcho stood up to ask me:

Do you think Dawa would have had the same voice, if he hadn’t lost his family? I told him that this being an open-ended question, it can be answered differently. That if I had to share my opinion, then probably Dawa would not have the same kind of voice. After realizing that his family members were not going to wake up from their sleep, he missed them and mourned for them. Sometime later, each time he cried for them, a different tone of voice came out of him. The slow-pitched bark for his mother, who was a slow mover and so on. His voice was the parting gift of his dead family to him.

Sitting near the wall, Karma Yeshey was the next the pick up: Sir, Is Dawa intelligent because of his previous birth? Is that the reason why he has such a big head?

May be you are right in thinking like that, I responded. He has inherited all the linguistic skills of the Translator in his present birth and that may be the reason why he has a big head. But let me tell you in this context that all big-headed people are not intelligent. The class let out a throaty laugh.

Kado from the back then pitched in: When all his siblings and mother could feast on the chunk of port, why could Dawa not do so?

I told him that Dawa was the youngest and the smallest of the lot. So when he tried to get past his siblings to the meat, he got pushed around. I further added that there is a lesson here for all of us. In today’s cut-throat world of competition, one has to be physically fit and strong. Survival of the fittest.

Ugyen Tenzin caught me off guard by asking: If the dogs are right, like it is written in the chapter, in discriminating against us.

I tried my level best to answer by replying that if one loses six members of the family within a matter of minutes on a day, due to a cruel act of whim and fancy of a fellow human, it would be very difficult for the one, be it a human or a dog, not to lose faith and trust in humans in general.

Pema Om queried about the reason why Dawa was unhappy when he heard the other dogs barking, yelping improperly?

I replied to the question to the best of my ability before taking on another from Jharna: Sir, After reading this novel how do you feel about dogs?

I told her about my childhood days. I was very fond of all kinds of pets. I had parrots, cats, guinea pigs and even one puppy that I found lost loitering  on the lane. I picked it up and brought home, to the utter discomfort of my mother. As I grew up, I understood more of their captivity and my heart bled for their freedom. I stopped buying them from the mela (fair) and torturing my ma. But even to this day, I have not lost a shred of my fondness for dogs.

Finally someone asked me: Why do you like this novel, Sir?

I was absolutely honest when I said, in response to the question, that there are many reasons. First of all, I am extremely passionate about Bhutan or anything Bhutanese for the matter.  I feel very proud of the fact that this novel is written by a Bhutanese. I want Bhutan to come up day by day and take her rightful place in the world. Secondly, I personally know Madam Kunzang Choden. I met her thrice and every time I found her to be a very kind, soft-spoken and intelligent lady. Finally, I like the novel as the central character happens to be a dog. The novel is about animals and the animal world. Not about human cruelties and atrocities.

I brought an end to the discussions by writing the home assignments on the board.

v  To note down the important points of the chapter.

v  To answer the two questions on the board, and

v  To go through chapter-2 very carefully, sorting out the difficult words, noting down the questions marking the difficult parts and expressions of the story.

As the bell rang, I felt tired no doubt, but I was a very proud teacher.

Summary of Chapter - 1 (Page-2)

Then one full moon night, on the fifteenth day of the fourth month of the Bhutanese calendar, after roaming around the town for the sixth time, Dawa looked up to the sky and was wonderstruck by the beauty and perfection of 'the big, circular yellow mystery’. He decided to call himself Dawa Koto, a strange fusion of the perfect and the imperfect.

Inspired by the name, he started walking around confidently. So much so that the other dogs became curious, teasing and tormenting him to no ends. But despite all the teasings and torments, Dawa prevailed over them. His new-found confidence instilled in him a desire, an ambition to be looked up to in the dog community. He wanted to be the leader of the howling pack. He practised day in and day out, taking his stance under the spread of the willow tree on the left bank of the Paro river. He put in all the hard labour till he was sure of leadership.

Exactly a year after he christened himself Dawa Koto, on a full-moon night, he patiently waited for ‘the glorious golden circle’ to come out. Finally when it was out and cast its hypnotic spell over the valley, Dawa let out the howl. He howled thrice. A few dogs pitched in the third time he was doing it.. Surrounded by the unbelieving dogs, he went on howling to the sheer distress and discomfort of the local populace. Dawa felt sad at humans’ inability to grasp the reason behind the howling. So this is how he became the undisputed leader of the howling pack.

One day he was sitting on a pavement near a shop when a shower of dried fish fell down from the sack being unloaded from a truck alluring some stray dogs to the spot in a flash. The angry shop owner, in order to teach them a lesson, asked his reluctant, TV addicted, obese son to fetch the whip, a bunch of electrical wires tied together. At Dawa’s prior warning, the dogs fled away, leaving the man frustrated and venting his anger on his son.

Later on, on being asked to explain how he knew human language, Dawa admitted his knowledge of human language. What he did not know, however, was that in his previous birth, he was a translator and knew many languages other than Dzonkha. In a strange twist of fate, he was reborn as a dog thereby retaining all his linguistic skills of the previous life. 

Summary of Chapter - 1.

We were done with Hellen Koller’s Nature is Not Alwawys Kind and Language. So it was time to start with the novel stated above. We took off with the usual presentation and the comments. I then introduced the term 'Novel' by trying to define it as a book-length story about imaginary or historical characters (Oxford Advanced Dictionary). I also tried to get them talking about the similarities and differences between the novel and the short story.

Then I took out the novel and pointed to the cover page asking them to talk about the pictures (there are three pictures of a dog, a majestic dzong and the landscape in the background). I asked them to guess the content of the story from the cover page. Most of them were right in saying that the story is most probably about the life- story of a dog.

Then I asked one of the students to read out the title of the novel. This done, I asked the class to talk about the same process again. I wanted to know why the word ‘stray’ was written like the way is is in the title. It was Karma Zangno who told us that probably it is the story about a stray dog. As stray dogs are normally unwanted , the word has been written above to express the unwantedness of the dog.

I also had a student reading out the blurb and the dedication as I am supposed to as per the teacher’s manual. It was time then to talk about the authoress, Ashi Kunzang Choden:

I introduced her by telling the class that Ashi Kunzang Choden is one of the few Bhutanese writers to have tried their hands at writing a full-length novel. There are other writers like Dasho Karma Ura or Dr. C.T. Dorji, but they mostly write about history or historical events. Mrs. Kunzang Choden was born in Bumrhang. After her early education in Bhutan, she studied in Darjeeling, West Bengal.

I informed the class that during my stay of over 14 years in The Switzerland of Bhutan, I had the good fortune of meeting her on three occasions. Once she was invited for a Book Talk in Jakar Higher Secondary School, once I was given a lift on my way back to school from the market. We spent some 15 minutes talking about her. She had her house somewhere near the dzong. I found her to be an exceptionally friendly lady with a very good command over the language.

The first book I read of hers was a book I really enjoyed going through called The Tale of the Yetis (if I am not mistaken). When I joined CHSS, other than all sections of standard XI, I was also asked to teach one section of IX. That was when I read Dawa for the first time.

I had to keep all the following in mind while going through the novel:

ü  How Dawa got his name.

ü  The concept of rebirth/ karma.

ü  His experience as an orphan, etc.

On looking around, when I thought the class was ready, I tried to read out the first paragraph of the first chapter. Once it was read out, I started explaining and then the thought of writing the summary of the novel erupted in my head. So here I am trying to summarize Dawa, the story of a stray Dog:

Dawa was yellow and brown. His had a scruffy and patchy coat. His head was quite big, which he held up proudly. Years ago, he was the leader of the howling pack in Thimphu. His howling companions made life difficult for the residents along with that of the expatriates and the tourists.

Now he has settled down near Changangkha lhakhang mainly for three reasons. Firstly, he is no more young. Secondly, he likes the tranquil atmosphere of the place and finally, from above the hillock, he can view the city he loves, that is, Thimphu.

It was his voice that shaped his future. His howling began with a low-pitched bark, rose to a high-pitched crescendo and lingered on before falling back on the way it started. It was not by luck that he became the leader of the howling pack. He dreamt about it, worked hard at it and practised it ritualistically. Naturally, many in the dog population knew that he was destined to be something great.

He was born on a cold, wintry night in a basket with a sticky bag attached to it in Paro. He was the smallest of a litter of six. His mother, a skinny, black one had a tough time feeding the puppies. She was old and finding food for survival and sustenance was always a problem. In order to supplement the breast-feeding, she started looking for food here and there. Soon the puppies were following her around, feeding on the scraps with her approval.

It was on one such occasion that she led her litter to a garbage dump just behind a restaurant. The sight of the chunk of pork lying atop the heap made them wild and Dawa got pushed around without getting anywhere near the meat, being the youngest member of the litter. Soon they all started frothing in the mouth, twitching and jerking before dropping down dead in front of Dawa. The chunk was poisoned by a human. Dawa came to have an utter distrust of humans from then on.

To be continued .....