Restructuring the structure of Teaching

Slap.

The teacher threw her notebook.  Bell rang and the teacher left the class.

The student was still crying.

“Come outside” I took her to a corridor so that she could open up.

“What happened?” I asked.

She didn’t speak for a while. I went back to class gave an assignment to the remaining students and returned to the corridor. I raised my eyebrows.

 “I know they have been treating me in this way because I am poor. The day I become rich I will make sure that I will take revenge” she said.  

“Bhaako chai k thyo?” I asked again

“I don’t know how to pronounce many English words as I came from government school. My English teacher had given me an assignment to mug all question answers up. I couldn’t answer it and I got slapped.” she was still crying.

Having faced corporal punishment myself from getting thrashed by  bamboo canes to getting pencil pressed in between my fingers, from doing up and down for 150 times and being barely able to walk  to getting hit with duster on knuckles, I knew how punishments tasted like. I knew the pain.

“Bring the notebook” I asked. I wrote the pronunciation of all tough words in Nepali alphabets so that she could read it out with meanings.

“Look at it during lunch if you don’t get it, ask me after the classes end.” I said

She hugged me and went away. 

That day I still didn’t have much idea on what kind of teacher should I become but I did understand what kind of teacher I shouldn’t be like. Here are 8 basic things a teacher needs to clearly understand:

     1)   Ever wondered why bouquets have multiple flowers?

When you yourself wouldn’t want to eat same food every day and wear same dress every time how valid is it to expect all of your students to be same? If all students were meant to be same why would we have so much of professions? Thus, embrace the uniqueness of each student and let them be as they are. Don’t assume the future of students because time is bigger than your assumptions.  Don’t expect a giraffe to fly and a crow to swim. Everyone has their own path and let them trod in their own ways.

"If only you used your mind on studies like you use it on guitar"

"In my 10 years of teaching, I have never seen a student as useless as you"

"Why are you wasting your parent's money?"

"You're never going to amount to anything" 

Sounds familiar?

Next time you say it, remember every individual is different. 

    2)   Get out of the bubble- mugging books won’t be enough

"Your daughter is really sharp. You must see the ways she leads. You must see how she always speaks against wrong fearlessly.You must see  how she debates. You must see how she never loses in any competitions. I can't assure you about the toppers but your daughter has a very bright future. Mark my words.You must be proud of her. "
   

      This was what my Compulsory Mathematics teacher said to my mom during parents teachers meeting in grade 10. All the parents started looking at me. Remember I had flunked in two subjects then, both mathematics. I felt really happy at that time as those words saved me from my moms punishment but today I feel way more better for he was the man who made me realize there's a world outside the books.

How can you expect your students to be creative when you impose them to write mugged up answers? Do you think an Oscar winner will be asked how much percentage did s/he secure? No.  Do you think a fashion designer whose designs sell like hot cakes will be asked if he has any gold medals? No. But aren’t they excelling?

No one has changed this world by mugging books. Don’t let formal studies judge a student’s capacity. Real world challenges are beyond the books. If they are good with studies awesome but don’t make it the only criteria.

    3)   Don’t make the students feel dumb

How can you expect your student to be confident when you thrash them every time they ask out of the box questions? Teachers are teachers and students are students for a reason. Students are trying to learn something so it’s obvious they don’t know everything and many things.

However stupid the question might be don’t kill the curiosity. If they fail help them out, if they stumble pick them up but don’t laugh at them. Don't ever compare them.  If they can’t make small mistakes in the class they are bound to make bigger errors in the future. Don’t belittle your students enrich them with knowledge and empower them.

A 45 minutes class isn’t enough for you to understand each and every student and give enough time. But again understand that you have 45 minutes and at times those 45 minutes a day is enough to change someone’s life.

   4)     Make it practical and use technology

There are very few students who have genuine interest to study. The very first day of the class is also forced. They are wailing and crying but yet they are forced to leave their home reluctantly. In this case it’s very necessary that you make learning fun.  If you are teaching about invertebrates then bring samples along.

Teach the practical implication of derivatives and anti derivatives before asking your students to mug the formula up. Use technology and if using technology isn’t feasible every time, just make it practical. One of my English teachers made English classes so much of fun. She used to bring a new activity each week, conduct brainstorming sessions, made us write poems, conducted quizzes and games which developed our interest on English and she also finished the syllabus on time. See how can one make such a theoretical stuff so practical?

   5)   It's high time that you update yourself (rather than only updating your mobile apps) 

When a dress you just bought few months ago stops looking good at you how do you think the teaching methodology you used ten years back will help you out? A great teacher isn't just a teacher he should be a learner too.  When you find pride on imposing your perspective and keeping a blind eye and deaf ears on students you become a perfect example of a bad teacher.

Make the class interactive. Don’t steal those 45 minutes from them by making the class one way traffic. Students these days have access to so much of knowledge they always come up with one thing or other. My students have taught me many things I was completely unaware about.

Thus don't just pump your information but draw their knowledge out too. Just because you have crossed the qualifying tests or met criteria set by the organization doesn’t make you perfect. There are always rooms for improvisation. Thus be humble and receptive.

   6)    Being Gabbar Singh of 21st century doesn't help

Don’t breed fear in students rather be respected because once students stop being afraid whatever you do, you can’t keep your class organized and that day will be the biggest failure of your life. Studying shouldn’t be equals to student dying.

 63.3% of the respondents in my survey had faced corporal punishment during their childhood. Thinking that being friendly with students will worsen the chaste student teacher bond  is the worst thing to do. Definitely too much of friendliness breeds contempt but the blend of discipline and friendliness makes things better.

    7)    Don’t try to be Google 

Which came first? Egg or chicken? If you don’t have the answer to this with proofs you don’t know everything.  Please don’t teach wrong things just to prove you know all. Instead you can say that you don’t have much idea on it and  teach it some other day after learning about it. If you are wrong admit it because we all know you aren’t always checking your students. :/

     8)     Be approachable and equal to all

Preferring one student over the other is the worst thing to do. If you don’t do that in your family, fearing sibling rivalry why do you do it in your class? When I was studying in grade 2 my science teacher always focused on one student, he brought her chocolates gave her stickers and smileys and was very stingy when it came to even making a smiley in other notebooks. I myself tried a lot to get that smiley. Improved my handwriting, drew lines after every answers but still  I never got one, breeding hatred towards that friend of mine.

This always creates a division so before favoring one student over other (in terms of beauty, grades, sex) be careful. Be equally approachable and fair to all.

"My BE teacher is my favorite" says Junu Kala Shrestha. "He always gives his cent percen and untill and unless all students don't understand, he explains the lessons without getting irritated. For weak students he conducts extra classes and teaches them in simpler manner. Through drawings and his own life experiences he tries to motivate all the students."

When I write this list of complaints I am not alone. I represent the voices of many other students. When I am talking about this, I don’t forget all those teachers who have made my learning life a beautiful one. Who have always believed on me, pushed me for more, who have made the classes so interesting that I never slept, who trusted on me even when I flunked, who have seen my hidden talent rather than judging me on academic grounds, who have been proud of me but then if I count 20 years of study and the number of good teachers they aren’t even handful.

I believe teaching is one of the most challenging professions as it is this  profession which breeds doctors, engineers and every other professionals. If teaching is a mere profession for you rather than a passion it's better you switch the field. The day teaching becomes your passion you will never need teacher’s day for your students to understand your value.

Colors of Chengdu

I rechecked all the things in my luggage just in case I had missed anything. My mom was constantly nagging on how lazy I was and how I was never prepared on time. So I hurried with my luggage towards the airport assuming that I would be the last one to reach there.  I rushed towards the waiting room (I reached there in 5 minutes thank god the immigration was way fast) but voila no one was there. After an hour I got to meet all. Passing the cold and heartless mountains of Lhasa, we stepped Anren, Chengdu. 

One of the reasons I have always loved China is because of the way it makes me feel beautiful. It makes me love myself and my eyes more and more. The happiness I get when people call me “Piaoliang” and rush for selfies is beyond words. It gives me a celebrity feel.

As the journey was exhausting and due to the additional flight delay in transit, we went straight to bed the first night . The hotel we were taken to was built in typical Chinese style. Making my mind to check everything around I went with one of my seniors to the park nearby for a morning walk the next day. Just like in a typical village in Nepal all the shop keepers were cleaning their shops, properly assembling there materials to display. Old men were sitting in a corner and chatting while some were playing cards. Each and every shop had completely different thing to offer which made every shop stand out. 

In the park there were people of all age groups who were practicing martial arts. Ancient home, Ancient lifestyle and simplicity of the people in Anren was completely different from the modern china. Anren was beautifully decorated with Chinese lanterns and colorful umbrellas. A stroll there could just erase all your stress.

 As the sun was approximately present only for three hours a day the weather was soothing. This city is famous for food with chilli and pepper, everything besides tea and water has Schezwan pepper in it!  It is believed that Schezwan pepper keeps your body hot and chilli makes you sweat.

We then visited the museums of Chengdu. The way they preserved their history using modern technology was commendable. There weren’t many things that were presented. Our Chawni museum has many more things than those places but the maintenance made the museum unique.

The other day we  moved towards the city area of Chengdu. The red, yellow, orange and white poppy flowers gave the roadways an ombre effect. The third, fourth and fifth day were meant for visits in world heritage sites. 

So firstly we went to Leshan Giant Buddha. The Buddha was the mountain and the mountain was itself a giant Buddha. It is believed that it took 90 years to carve the mountain. The craftsmen have done their work pretty well and that too realizing it was thousands of years back it makes you praise dedication and craftsmanship. The charm of the architectural artistry, coils embedded in the head, small Buddha carvings in the large Buddha was praiseworthy.

Next day we headed towards Mount Emei. Maybe because I belong to a mountainous country Mount Emei did not impress me. But one of the best things there were the monkeys. The monkey would pose for photos if you gave them food.

The last day and the best part for me was our visit to Chengdu giant panda research building center. The 3D movies, documentaries, skeletal replicas, fossils and models, breeding homes, flowers, swan lake, giant panda and red panda made the center lively and fun. Since my childhood I had always loved pandas and seeing it so close to me was surreal. There were large open areas for the giant pandas to roam where I could observe the giant pandas of different ages resting, eating drinking, and playing with each other. It was not only limited on pandas but the center also had swans, peacocks cranes, white storks, butterflies and insects.  It was an absolutely delightful experience. If I have an opportunity I would definitely bring my husband/ boyfriend (future) and my mom to prove that there is still an organism in this world who is way choosy and BHAU KHAANE and lazy than me.

For me the night life of Chengdu was better than the day. I have always been a photophilic: Lover of lights and Chengdu was the place I was searching for. Origami lights, Chinese lanterns, Chinese rooster lights, fairy lights, running lights fountain, you name it everything was there.

The best thing about Chengdu was that love was professed openly. Guys were wooing there girls, couples were walking hand in hand and women with their head bent on their men’s shoulders. It was a lovely sight. But within that it was sad to see how much of pressure Chinese men had to go through. While travelling to Mount Emei I couldn’t see any women carrying a single thing but the men could barely walk. Listening to cases where men would work for a complete day and had to come to home and cook and massage their lady’s feet was not that digesting. Nepalese men seemed pretty lucky compared to Chinese.

 The journey was definitely for a short time span but the memories were beautiful. From getting lost in the city with one of my friends, to hurrying in Chengdu panda research center so that I would miss nothing. From listening to beautiful tracks in the background and seeing people dance to lights everywhere that brought the child within me out. The journey was definitely wonderful.

Making the Holi HOLY

“Splash”

Every time the water balloon burst, I would take other balloons and start filling them. The elastic bands that remained on the tap would make a series of the entire spectrum of rainbow, giving that “balla holi aayo” vibe. I would sneak a peek just to check if I had filled more water balloons than that of my friends, and would carefully place them inside a tub with enough water. After all they were my weapons, and I had to protect it at any cost.

With a bucket full of colorful water balloons and my pichkari (water gun) fully loaded, I would choose the oldest dress out of the store room for the sacrificial ritual that lay ahead.  Even the realization of the scars of the war (the color stains that would remain like forever), were not able to deter me and I would run to the battleground already filled in the chaos of the battle against every other soul present. Warriors would be racing around and firing their ammunition (handful of colors) at each other.

Awakening the archer in me, I would close an eye and aim with the other and fire at my targets. My moment of glory was occasionally disturbed by the strong wind. :P . The colors that filled my nostrils and mouth were my battle scars and I would proudly carry them to other battle fields only to be filled with more. Only when my energy would be completely drained and some 4-5 head shots of eggs (conditioner for my hair) would I return home with my battle drenched piece of clothing dripping multitudes of color.

Holi was the day which added colors to my monochromatic life and also the only day that required no alarm for me to wake up. It was not just a thing for me but for everyone else as well as they lost their inhibitions and got to bring their inner child out. It is a day when one can forget all your worries, dress in their shabbiest clothes, forget their reputation, and just indulge in the fun.

With today’s changing lifestyles and values, Holi celebration has taken new hues. The traditional Holi celebration has slowly taken a backseat and has now molded to the times; less expressive, boisterous and a time to flaunt your riches. The natural colors have now been replaced with synthetic colors of metal oxides and lead. It has changed into a bandwagon and has been so commercialized that people would rather choose to celebrate it with the people whom they have no idea about in hotels rather than with their families. With Tuborg sponsoring every event in the valley and making Tuborg an official HOLI drink, the traditional drinks have been forgotten.

As a means of bragging, people wear dresses worth thousands that are going to be destroyed which makes no utter sense. It has created more social barriers today than at any other time. If you belong to a good economic background then you pay a few thousands and enjoy else you go to some free of places. How will the celebration create an environment for social harmony, when all its doing is driving a wedge deeper into the society?

The greatest problem of all is the fact that it has become an opportunity more like an open license for some men to misbehave without any conscience of guilt (not all for I have seen who strictly are against this hooliganism). This very thought of men holding down women and smearing colors on them, chasing them down streets and throwing god knows what, I shy away from the celebrations not that I have been through any cases as such. The only way out? If you are trying to protect yourself from these, be with your trusted guys or even safer, to play inside one’s home and be contented with those little color stripes on your white printed Tees of NRS 150. If that’s not safe enough then wear a dress so thick that no amount of water can make it translucent.  

 It wasn’t very long ago that even a week prior to Holi I feared wearing white dress and walking on the streets for getting hit with water balloons or plastic filled with water. Any sight of anyone holding them was enough for me to find a temporary shelter or to try and dodge the hits that were flung my way. Thanks to the Nepal Police and the governance, the deployed force deterred any untoward incidents, that I can now freely walk the streets. Definitely there’s no one pressurizing us to play Holi against our will, but with the Holi we witnessed in our childhood, it’s no wonder that we’ve lost the thrill for it. The charm of the day has been lost. If one thinks it’s because of me getting old, then they are completely wrong, as I really want to live like those old days only to hold my steps.

With the ongoing scenario, there raises a question that will our future generations be able to enjoy the festivals and create the wonderful memories like we did or will it transform into those couple of stripes of color and some pictures in the social media? I really hope that the next Holi regains its old charm. Without inhibitions to hold back the happiness, crazy  and yet  responsible. Where the skies drank the color and the people drowned in them. Where the Holi would be holy!

If you are 90s Nepali kid you can totally relate

No introduction or description. Here are 40 things you can totally relate if you are from 90s like me.

1) Saturdays and Moomin

2) Dhyakk

If only the boxes were this clean!

3) Damaru wala bhaiya

I still remember as soon as I heard him, I would collect all my old plastic shoes to exchange with new ear rings or toys. 

4) Slam books

Remember exchanging slam books with your friends when you were about to leave school? 

5) Mario and video games

The music of mario "tiding ting tiding ting ting!" felt so good!

6) 10 Rs ko ek plate paanipuri

"HAMRO JAMAANA MA 10 RUPYAKO 12 OTA PAANIPURI AAUTHYO" we in future

7) Butterfly butterfly which color do you like in your happy birthday

Guilty of doing this and running everywhere!

8) O mina captain cena haarera gayo mara dona

9) Orange ball and black ball

Did anyone keep it in the bottom of the jar thinking it would turn out to be orange juice?

10) Collecting tazos in Uncle chips

Guilty!
25 rupees per packet

11) Cartoon network, pogo and nickelodeon

Art attack, Tom and jerry, powerpuff girls, pokemon, Scooby dooby doo, ostwald and what not 

12) Floppy disks

Euta floppy disk ko value timile k bujtheu bacchhaas and baabus!

13) Slap bracelets

Hitting people without any reason and using it for an excuse! hehaha!

14) Thinararowt biscuit 

Thin ararrararr what???? I still don't know how to spell it right!

15) Hurray chowchow and shaka laka boom boom ko magic pencil

Expecting food items to pop out of notebook (never ever happened)

16) Butterfly hair clips

Every time I went to a birthday party everyone's heads including mine looked like a colorful orchard!

17) Pranks at its best (chewing gum electric shock)

18)Dial up internet

Pida hajur Pida!

19)Fukka Horlicks

Horlics chaatnu was much better than mixing it with milk and drinking it.

20) Name place thing

Your teacher is absent? Let's play name place animal thing!

21) Glitter pens and project work

22) If you haven't used wooden cardboard and cheated in your exams what did you do?

23) Nokias first phone

If you owned this! You were richer than Binod Choudary! :D

24) Beyblades

If you didn’t own them, you were not a part of the bachha gang. 

25) Photo negatives

Photo dhulaaunuko pida, Facebook generation lai k tha!

26)Trading pokemon cards and wrestling cards

Business ta ragat mai cha ni hajur!

27) Dhungri in five fingers

28) Glowing adhesive stars

Building a ceiling or roof yet wanting to look at stars! Irony!

29) Colorful wordart

Aren't you guilty of using these to score better?

30) Chelpark and camel ink

OYE! Ek drop ink de na bholi dinchu k kassam! Please kya!

31) Juice wala chocolate

32) Pil pil balne jutta

Jumping every time so that your shoes would light up 

33) Cigarette wala chewing gum

Acting like a rebel and flaunting that cigarette and opening it as soon as your parents came to prevent yourself from slaps!

34) Carrying that heavy tumlets everywhere you went

35) Pulling Lacto candy’s wrapper

36) Laamo tiffinko dabba

I don't know about you but my mom sent me the longest one with dhaal, bhaat, tarkaari, achaar and falfull and I would be eating untill the bell wrang!

37) Rangibichangi name tags

38) Watching kasauti zindagi ki even if you liked or not

39) Deception! 

Before

After

40) Tattoos

Remember how many chewing gums did we buy just to get these tattoos? And remember how dirty did they look at the end but we still went to the shopkeeper to get more of them?

Remember you asking some of them for free? You didn't? Well, I did!

(Additional)

Intu Mintu londonma, chungi, guchha