Dawa Gets Panicky!

One more Wednesday, one more lesson with IX E in the last period. We have already discussed the meaning of ‘the underdog’; the reasons for Dawa’s fear of being eventually an underdog, a fallen, disgraced leader; the pathetic state of the former Leader of Warnings and Signals now reduced to an underdog and the difference between Dawa and the other dog leaders. Though the students were supposed to read Chapter-4 at home, we have spent the last two days going through the chapter, explaining, discussing things. Now it was time to see how much they have learnt from this chapter.

Yesterday, towards the end of the period, I informed them after I had summarized the chapter for them that today I would ask them to answer some questions. I reminded them to go through the chapter at home/hostel once more systematically to be able to answer the questions properly today. They were asked to answer 6 questions accordingly in 25 minutes. All the questions could be answered in one or two sentences at the most. I wrote the questions on the green board and went on to remind them that they would exchange their notebooks after 25 minutes and correct their friends’ answers.

While they got busy answering the questions, I went around monitoring their progress. Looking at how worn out they all were and how intensively they were trying their best to answer the questions,  a strange thought came to my head all on a sudden.  It is very easy for me to ask them to answer questions like that at the end of the day, but they must have gone through a lot during the day. They must have studied and learnt something about at least 6 more subjects in the previous six periods and to be asked to answer 6 more questions must have been quite taxing for them!

I told them at the end of the 25 minutes that one day they could ask me as many questions as they wanted from all the chapters we have covered so far. Then I asked them how many of them couldn't finish answering all the questions in the given time. I was not really surprised to find more than half of the class raise their hands. I told them that in the exams if they are going to answer Set-II questions from any section, they will be given 45 minutes for that. (English Paper-II will have 4 Sections and the students will have to answer either some MCQs and short questions under Set-I or 2 broad questions under Set-II in 45 minutes as the total time allotted for answering all the questions from all 4 Sections are precisely 3 hours.) Then finding the poor response of the students, I changed my mind and asked them not to exchange their notebooks and try to correct their answers by themselves instead. Abinash was eager to answer the first question. Though there was not more than 10 minutes left, I let him. The answer was correct but I told the class to try to answer questions in full sentences. Instead of doing it pointwise, the answer could be written like ( the questions along with the answers are attached at the end for your information) :

The three powerful dog leaders in Thimphu were -

        I.          The Leader of Territories,

       II.          The Leader of Warnings and Signals, and

     III.          The Leader of Howling.

Contd on the next page.

SUMMARY OF CHAPTER-4.

In spite of realizing his dream, Dawa remained dissatisfied. The post of a leader was fraught with danger and in that capacity he had to work in close proximity of other dog leaders he was not particularly fond of. The three most important dog leaders were the Leader of Territories, the Leader of Warnings and Signals and the Leader of Howling. The area of the Leader of Territories extended from the dzong to the National hospital and from lower Motithang to the Vegetable Market. But the boundaries changed with the change of leaders. His job was also to chase away the intruders. He had a band of trusted comrades, some well-muscled veterans for the purpose of fighting dog-wars – which were often ruthless, bloody affairs with many dogs injured, blood shed and lives lost.

Once there was a proposal/move that the Leader of Territories be assigned the extra responsibility of being the Leader of Population Expansion. Dawa opposed the move as he did not want the future generation of dogs to be cold-blooded murderers. As a result, he became the enemy numero Uno of the Leader of territories.

Similarly, the Leader of Warnings and Signals was a young, ambitious dog who did not want to make the same mistake having witnessed the poor plight of his predecessor. He was edgy and added on to the existing sense of tension and insecurity of the dogs. The previous Leader of warnings and Signals was the underdog, the fallen leader, left at the mercy of all and sundry. He was the butt of ridicule and torture. Even the puppies did not spare him. He was reduced to a pulp with terror writ large on his face.

His situation made Dawa wonder about his own prospect, which did not look promising either with the Leader of Territories always scheming behind him and breathing down his neck. He wanted to get out of leadership but leadership provisions did not allow voluntary resignation. A leader either died or became an underdog. He rued the fact that he had become a leader by circumstances, but what about the others? Why did others become leaders in spite of all the gloomy eventualities?

Dawa found the leadership rules of Thimphu stifling. He was appalled at the condition of the Leader of Warnings and Signals. Once he was a very popular leader with a lot of fan following. In fact he was entertaining a group of his comrades when he failed to notice the dog-catchers and warn the dogs in advance. No sooner had he become an underdog than his friends and fans left him. Dawa did not like being followed around by a bunch of self-appointed opportunists. He not only felt uncomfortable in their presence but also got weary of them.

Once he asked three of his ardent followers how they felt about a fallen leader. Two of them kept quiet as they were unable to think. The third one replied that a fallen leader should be treated according to the rules. Dawa knew what that meant.

Dawa was worried of his own end ('drying up of luck' in dog parlance). Consequently he howled longer due to fear, till the early hours of the morning. The immediate result was human beings became more annoyed than ever before. The only difference between Dawa and the other leaders was while they enjoyed their positions of power, Dawa did not.

Contd on page 2/-

A Reviving Lesson on Chapter-3 (3), 2016.

Continued from Summary of Chapter-3 (3)

By a cruel stroke of Fate, or call it what you will, I am entrusted with Standard IX E in the last period on most of the days in the week. By the time I take my seat for the attendance, the class look dead tired, barely managing to keep away from jumping out of their skin and the look on their faces says it all and sickens me to my stomach.

The last two days with them were quite disheartening, to say the least. On both the days, I, along with a handful of students, was the only one reading out excitedly, trying to explain things, while the rest fought helplessly, trying to drive away merciless sleep from their drooling eyes! By the time I was done with the summarizing of the chapter (we were into the third chapter of Dawa, the story of a stray Dog), I was not sure if I was doing the right thing by trying to force them into remembering the main points of the chapter. I knew by the symptoms that I had to do something immediately to keep my honour in tact.

On the third day, that is, Wednesday, I did some quick thinking and informed them, towards the end of the class that today (Friday, the 16^th of April) I would ask them to answer some 20 short questions from Dawa is educated (Chapter-3) of the novel. I would do so just to see if they are studying seriously at all these days. The dozing class nodded its head conveying that they had got the message all right.

I made some 15 questions for them. Questions that can be answered in one or two words, or one liners at the most. Mentally calculated the time needed by them for answering the questions. Thought that did not require more than 1 minute per question and decided to ask them to answer one short question in the end, a question that would take 10 minutes for them at the most for coming out with a satisfactory answer.

Once I was in the class, I instructed them as per my plan, made sure that they understood what they were to do by asking some students to repeat the instructions and proceeded with the execution of the plan. There was no need for them to copy down the questions. All they had to do was to note down the question number and write the answer beside it.They were to answer the first 14 questions including 1 that had two parts in 15 minutes. 15 marks were allotted for this. The last question needed to be answered in 10 minutes as the question carried 5 marks. Altogether, they had to finish answering 15 questions carrying 20 marks in 25 minutes. After the exercise over, they were to exchange their notebooks and correct their friends’ by listening to the teacher repeat the questions once more and the answers being read out by their friends. I even allowed them to write the answer to the last question by referring to the textbook, on the condition that they would write it in their own words.

We started at around 10 to 12 and concluded by 15 minutes past 12. The last 10 minutes were kept aside for discussing the answers. After the stipulated time, the questions were read out once more one after another, while the students read out their answers. Later, I asked them to tell their marks, which was expectedly poor. Only 1 student could score 70% while the rest secured below 60%.Most of the students failed to answer the questions correctly.

It was time for the remedial measures. I decided to do it verbally first of all. I requested them to be more careful about their studies. If they do not study seriously from now on, later they would have a tough time. What are they going to do during the Mid-Term Exam, if they had trouble recollecting the points that we finished discussing yesterday?

I asked them to go through the chapter once more, something I had been asking them to do throughout the year. More seriously and systematically this time around, sorting out all the difficult words, finding out their meanings, making notes and trying to write the summary of the chapter in their own words.

As I thought that they have had enough of Dawa for the time being, I asked them if they would like me to teach something else next week. The students surprised me with their answer (they never cease to surprise me, anyway). Despite their apparent tiredness, their poor performance, they suggested unanimously that I continue with Dawa till next week. These are hardy pupils and they will eventually succeed, if for nothing else, then only for this characteristic trait alone.

Continued on Chapter-3 (4)

Chapter-3 (4), 2016.

Continued from Chapter-3 (3)

Here are the questions along with their answers discussed in the class from Chapter-3 of Dawa, the story of a stray Dog for the benefit of our students:

1)     When did Dawa explore Thimphu city?

Ans: Dawa explored Thimphu city in the day.

2)     Use two adjectives to describe Dampa.

Ans: Dampa was an unusual-looking, muddy-coloured, spindly-legged, old dog, with a heart-shaped face and large eyes. (Any two)

3)     What were the two things that dogs in Thimphu have to rely/depend on for a bellyful every day?

Ans: The dogs in Thimphu have to rely on their visual alertness and auditory keenness for a bellyful every day.

4)     Mention any 1 thing that Dawa and Dampa had in common.

Ans: They both could speak in human language.

5)     Why did Dampa ask Dawa to learn correct Dzongkha?

Ans: Dampa asked Dawa to learn correct Dzongkha because he thought it would be for his (Dawa’s) own good.

6)     Where was Dampa born?

Ans: Dampa was born near the Changangkha lhakhang.

7)     What languages did the second group of monks that he followed, speak?

Ans: It was some kind of Esperanto, a mixture of Dzongkha, Tibetan, English and Hindi.

8)     “We can’t live without it”. Who is the speaker? What is he speaking about?

Ans: The speaker is one of the monks. He is speaking about the chilli paste.

9)     Why did Dawa learn Dzongkha quickly?

Ans: Dawa learnt Dzongkha quickly due to his flair for/interest in languages.

10)  How did Dampa know so much?

Ans: Dampa knew so much by listening and observing others.

11)  Complete the following sentence:

“We must learn from human beings but must not ………….. ………” (2 words)

      Ans: “We must learn from human beings but must not imitate/copy them.

12)  The tall and heavy lady called Sonam Pem lived in a house in …….. ………. (2 words)

Ans: The tall and heavy lady called Sonam Pem lived in a house in Lower Motithang.

13)  Where did the monk with pure Dzongkha go?

Ans: The monk with pure Dzongkha went to a holy place in India.

14)  Give one reason why you think Sonam Pem left the house she had worked in for long?

Ans: Sonam Pem left the house most probably because – a) she was not treated well, b) she was paid no salary etc.

15)  Why did Dawa stop visiting Sonam Pem/

Ans: Dawa stopped visiting Sonam Pem as one day on his visit to the house, he found her sitting on the steps, stroking and scratching the white dog with its chin on her lap. It hurt and pained Dawa to find her loving the dog so much. She never bothered even to touch him ever. She had a smug, satisfied look on her face. Dawa was happy for her but decided not to go back to her any more.

P.S: I am really sorry, Dear Reader.I have been meaning to get back to Dawa for some time. Unfortunately, my lackadaisical approach to everything under the sun did not let me. Now with this start, I am not going to let you down any more. I forgot to tell you, by the way, my class-IX students were awake during the whole duration of the period today!

SUMMARY OF CHAPTER - 3 (2)

Dawa met Dampa, having learnt most of the honorific terms and made him laugh with his imitation of human behaviour. Dampa asked him to learn from humans but not to imitate them.

Dawa always loved watching humans. Now Dampa's words acted as a stimulus. One day he came across a tall, heavy girl chasing aways the dogs in one of those mating seasons when dogs go sniffing each other's rears. The girl was fond of Dawa and offered him a bowl of rice with vegetables every day. Later on Dawa realized that she was the unhappy maid of the family.
One day when he went back to the house, Dawa waited for a long time for Sonam Pem to come out with the leftover food from the kitchen. She did not come out. Nor did the food. From the conversation going on inside, he realized that the household seemed to be angry with Sonam Pem's  ingratitude. They thought that they had treated her fair and square. She  had not only harmed the family by leaving it, but also made it difficult for them to find another maid. Just when Dawa felt that the information regarding her new employer was not going to come, he found the mistress of the house coming out in order to go to the house where Sonam Pem had moved in and to put some sense into her head. As Dawa was curious about Sonam Pem's whereabouts, he followed the mistress to a bigger house not very far away.A foreign woman came to the gate and greeted her in Dzongkha. Dawa felt sorry for not being able to use the linguistic skills of his past life as both the women did not understand each other. He felt relieved while he was leaving finding things between them coming to a head..Dawa went back to the house the next day and was offered food by Sonam Pem. Though it consisted of some pieces of meat and vegetable, he was used to taking rice in his meals. Even then he visited the house occasionally. One day he found a white dog being stroked and scratched by the mistress of the house. Another time he found the dog eating carrots and vegetables out of a nice, pink bowl, though he did not look very happy about it.
Dawa's visit to the house ended abruptly when one day he found Sonam Pem, with the dog's chin in her lap, stroking and caressing the dog. She never touched Dawa in a similar manner ever. There was a look of happiness about her and her demeanor was relaxed as well. Though feeling happy for her, Dawa decided not to visit the house any more.

Turn to page 3/-

Bidding 'Adieu' to Dawa is painful!

In the next class, I asked them to answer some questions. Unfortunately, I could not spend as much time on discussing Dawa as I wished. I had some great ideas like I wanted them to draw some pictures of their favourite characters, or their favourite scenes from the novel, but the time factor was weighing heavily on my mind. I still have to teach them a story entitled “I’ve got Gloria” by K.M.Kerr and another poem to boot! There are some holidays coming up due to the Chhukha Tshechu.

I decided to spend the last period on “Dawa, the story of a stray dog” by continuing with the question left unanswered in the previous class due to lack of time. The students were to verbally talk about their impressions of Dawa and they came out some 7/8 characteristics of Dawa. The question was:

1.      What are some of your impressions of Dawa at the end of the novel?

Ans: Dawa is a friendly dog. He went back to Paro towards the end of the novel to meet Moley. This simply proves his friendly nature. He was educated and intelligent. He, unhesitatingly, without going into any open confrontation with the dogs on the way to Thimphu, put his tail between his hind legs and showed them that he meant no harm. Similarly, he behaved in the same manner in the village below the Jakar Dzong, when the menacing-looking dogs came charging at him. These are acts of sheer intelligence on his part.

We get to see the romantic streak of Dawa in his infatuation with the beauty, Singyemo, who ditched him for Katu. He also fell momentarily for the beautiful, black yak-herder dog on the top of Pelela. The religious side of Dawa comes to the fore as  we find him spending a lot of time at the cave of Gelong Ma Pelma, though he was long cured of his deadly disease, mange. But what cuts out Dawa from the rest is his patriotism, his love for Thimphu or Bhutan for the matter. The last line of the speaks volumes of his love for and pride in his motherland.

After we were done with the discussion on Dawa, Rajesh Rai, who has been keeping quiet for the last couple of weeks, surprised me by standing up and asking me the question:

2.      Sir, can you share some of your feelings about the writer of this novel based on your reading and understanding of it?

Ans: I thanked him for the question and then told him that during my stay of over 14 years in Bumthang, I could meet Ashi Kunzang Choden only thrice. Once we invited her to read out to the students in the jam-packed MPH during the Reading Week. Another time when I was coming back to school from BoB some half hour's distance away, I was given a lift by her. We talked about a lot of things and she really impressed me with her knowledge of contemporary issues. As we reached near her house, she even asked me to come in for a cup of coffee or something. So it goes without saying that she is very knowledgeable, friendly and hospitable.

Apart from my feelings of her based on those personal encounters, I felt while going through the part of the novel where we find Dawa shifting to his new shelter at Thowadrak and spending most of his time looking at the vast empty space in front that most probably she spent some time there. Reason enough for her writing so vividly and poignantly! Only a religious minded person would do that.

She is the first Bhutanese woman to have written a novel in English and has a great command over the language. Despite my fault-finding nature, I could only marvel at her mastery of the language from the very first page of the novel to the last.

Ashi Kunzang has to be a fiercely patriotic lady as is evident throughout the novel. Through the portrayal of Dawa sitting near the temple overlooking the Thimphu town with loving emotion, she bares a part of herself or her love for her motherland. ( Bhutan is growing  and coming up. I purposefully talked about the football match between Bhutan and the Maldives on the previous night at Changlimitang Stadium. Nearly everyone had given up on Bhutan coming back in the match. But against all odds, Bhutan scored 3 goals in the last 15 minutes and created history!) She knows it from the bottom of her heart that Bhutan cannot remain the same as change is inevitable and welcome. But there is no doubt about the fact that she is a very proud Bhutanese.

I concluded the answer by asking them to be always proud of this glorious country as Peace and Tranquillity seems to have found a nest in this majestic, mountainous country like nowhere else.

Rajesh kept standing still throughout but the moment I finished answering his first question, he came out with the second which went like:

3.      Why do you think this novel was included in the curriculum, out of the hundreds and thousands of novels available in the market?

Ans: Dawa was chosen, from among hundreds of novels, due to various reasons. Firstly, earlier students in class-IX had to study a play called The Taming of the Shrew by William Shakespeare, the greatest playwright ever. But many students found Shakespeare very difficult to understand because of the language.  As a result, students performed miserably in the exams. Consequently, Shakespeare was removed from the curriculum and Dawa was introduced.

I also told them about the huge loss the government incurs every time a high school student flunks in the exam. The government spends nearly 70-75 thousands per HS student per year. I asked them to work out how much money the government has to pay if 5 students fail in one school and then multiply the amount by the number of HSs in the country. How much would that be?

Another reason might be when a book is written by a foreign author, it is difficult for the students to identify and relate to the places and people, but as this book is written by a Bhutanese author, students find it easier to do so.

Finally, I informed them that as the language used in 'Dawa, the story of a stray dog', is exceptionally good that might have influenced the teacher-educators to go for it, having obviously thought about the long term benefits the novel would have for the students in due course of time, so far as their English is concerned.

GOOD BYE DAWA, STAY GOLD.

Dawa Moves On ......

Contd from pg 1/-

After I finished reading and explaining the last two pages of the novel, I also shared with them my feelings of the previous night when I was going through the last few pages, preparing for the lesson. I told them that many of them will be successful in life, but only a handful of them may be coming back to CHSS as a teacher. They will replace the elderly teachers like me and teach a new generation of students. But whatever it may be, they will have lots of fond memories and they will be contented with their memories and achievements. , I requested the class to give a round of applause for Ashi Kunzang Choden for writing such a beautiful novel. Generations of Bhutanese students have already been fed on this value-laden novel and many more should be. I still remember having taught this novel some 9 years back!

There can’t be any better ending to the novel: Dawa looking down at the valley and getting apprehensive of its growing size. But he is happy for the capital and his love for his motherland; his patriotic feelings come to the fore. Jamyang asked me how would I have ended the novel, if I was the author. I told him in reply that writers like Mrs. Kunzang Choden are not born every day. They are blessed people, meant for all times and places. I was not sure if I would have wanted to end the novel any differently. But if I had to make any change at all, I would try to find a soulmate for our own Dawa. I would try to do that as Dawa is not getting any younger. In fact he is very old now. Most of the dogs do not know him and even if some do, they do not seem to trust him all that much. So who is going to care for him in his old age? He has no children of his own. If he has a partner, life would be still meaningful and pleasurable for him and the two of them can stay happily ever after.

All said and done, Jamyang seemed happy as the bell for the recess rang. As I was coming out of the class, I heard someone speaking in a singsong voice in my mind. Thank you so..oo very much, Ashi Kunzang Choden for writing such a graceful, value-laden novel. The constant presence of having Dawa Koto in our daily diet, will keep generations of Bhutanese youth healthy, happy and rooted to the ground and remind them of their role and responsibility of keeping this god-blessed country green and gorgeous for ages to come.

P.S: I would like to blog about some of the incredible questions we discussed along with the MCQs, nearly 40 in number, made by Class-IX A in the next couple of blogs.