My students who ignored to prepare must be sweating now in the exam. But for those early birds, they might have already caught the worms. I did not get the chance to observe either of the scenes today because I was not on examination duty. I parked myself at home the entire day.
Late in the evening, to erase my boredom, I escaped from the bed to take a solitary walk. During that quiet walk, a thought struck me—one that resonated deeply:
I have been working hard so long
Seems like pain has been my only friend
My fragile heart’s been done so wrong
I wondered if I’d ever heal again...
Life’s too short to have regrets
So I am learning now to leave it in the past
And try to forget we only have one life to live
So you better make the best of it.
These words belong to one of my favourite songs, Today My Life Begins by Bruno Mars. It continues…
Just like all the seasons
Never stay the same
All around me I can feel a change
I will break these chains that bind me
Happiness will find me
Leave the past behind me
Today my life begins
A whole new world is waiting
It is mine for the taking
I know I can make it
A song so nicely webbed, with a captivating tune and a mesmerising voice. Worth listening to, repeatedly.
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Battling with a marathon of emotions 😕😔😟😠😗😥 |
Early Career and Early Struggles
Soon after my graduation, my wife and I struggled to get placed together in the same school. Both of us had the same teaching subjects—Physics and Health and Physical Education.
The education officers in the district administration managed to clothe even minute and silly reasons into official principles. Our pleas for some adjustments to be placed together were refuted with injustice.
Injustice—because they said we had the same teaching subjects, as if they themselves had married their spouse based on academic compatibility.
Injustice—because they claimed one of us would be vestigial and defunct if stationed together, as though they were never teachers before but directly appointed as officers.
These blatant rejections only added insult to injury. And deep inside, I was reminded of an old maxim: A thief thinks everybody is a thief.
Separation and Sacrifice
The first year in the service expired with the two of us surviving desperate separations. Our marriage certificate, barely 53 days old, was not mature enough to blunt the officials’ power to dispose us into separate school pits.
A year later, my wife left for her studies in Malaysia. This further disconnection intensified the pangs in my already wounded heart—because we had barely spent a few days together after marriage.
The following year, I sought a transfer to another district, hoping for better justice. Chaskhar Pam CPS and Chaskhar LSS under Mongar district became the alma maters of my first pedagogical drive.
By July 2012, six months after I was placed in Punakha, my wife returned following the successful completion of her studies. However, even this time, her homecoming was bittersweet. She was posted to another middle secondary school in the same district. I did not mind initially, because timely interventions from higher officials gave me hope that I would soon be accommodated with her.
Hope Deferred Again
Those six months, however, stretched to over a year. The stories felt like old wine in a new bottle. My transfer form once again failed to cross the bar of their reasons. The remarks column on the form stretched its hand to expose one word, clumsily scribbled: Scholarship.
They rebooted ‘scholarship’ as the reason to retain me. But getting selected for a master’s degree did not come as a boon—it came as a barrier. I resented it deeply. I asked them, if that was the reason to hold me back, I would gladly forgo it. If financial constraints were the issue, I would sacrifice my entitled transfer grants. I even pledged this in writing.
If my principal refused to release me, I could understand—perhaps he needed my service. But ironically, he was among my ardent supporters. After learning that I had been separated from my family for five years, he was firmly on my side.
During the two hours I stood in the education office, I reiterated my willingness to teach in the school where my wife was posted—even if I was not viewed as a necessity. The principal of her school even rang to state that he urgently needed a science teacher. But no matter what was said or done, there was no deal. I surrendered, ringing the same bell into waxed ears.
A New Chapter
This August, I am leaving for my studies—with a very heavy heart. But I also know a whole new world is waiting. And it is mine for the taking. I know I can make it.
Oh really exasperating and irritating. We must do something. Did you approach to the higher authority? You should have. Good teachers get dishearten and de motivated. I really feel bad about our education system. We have teachers shortage everywhere.
ReplyDeleteAnyways, good wishes and hope things will turn out good.