Teachers Day in Bhutan- The Day to Reflect

It might sound quite theoretical when I say Teachers Day is the day of reflection but I have realized that only on this day I get the right emotion to stop and ask myself if I am a good teacher. And I have worked on trying to carry the resolutions I made on Teachers Day to the rest of the days. Every year I am find myself smiling with lesser guilt, that I don't have to pretend to be a nice teacher on the day when students present me with gift, rather happily be the friendly teacher that my students have always enjoyed being with.
People are right about not having the high performers from schools and colleges in teaching profession, being an average intelligent student and below average performer I used to be worried but now when I look far back and remember the teachers that made impressions in my life I realize that teaching is not all about big brains, because I only remember the kind ones, the funny ones, the caring ones, the impartial ones, the truthful ones and the principled ones.
When we were young we would proudly talk about the teacher who wear different dresses on different days, teacher who could kick the football highest, teacher who could slap us to unconsciousness , teacher who could remember the whole dictionary, teacher who could remember every line in the textbook, teacher who could break 50 willow sticks on your butt... but these are not the teacher who make lasting impression on our lives.

Parents and Teachers on the Stage

I have suffered so much in the hands of brutal teachers and I suffered more because of where I came from and how I looked, but because that couldn't break me down it only made me the sensitive teacher I am today. I know when it hurts most and where it hurt worst, I know how it feels like to be treated this way and that way... I see hundreds of myself seeking love among the lucky many, I know how to make them feel nice about themselves because I also met some great teachers in life who made me feel good about myself.
So these are the types of reflective emotion I go through on such auspicious days and I don't leave this emotion here, it's another new beginning to cast away guilt and earn personal satisfaction on professional journey.  

2013 Teachers Day Cake in Bajothang

Today, Bajothang celebrated Teachers Day along with School Sports Day, making to fun for both teachers and Students. They had a cake and it seemed like a birthday party for all the teachers. The stage was set right in the middle of football ground, we have to walk there to receive gifts from students- I ran away before my name was called and I landed up missing the cake as well.

Gift!

Drunk Chorten on the Sober Road

I was looking for ST Auto Spa, the latest car servicing facility in Thimphu, to give my car a nice treat for the 90,000 km service it provided to my family. I could see the orange building with big signboard but couldn't find the road that leads to the facility. After a short drive I was startled to find a chorten standing on the road, I nearly honked at it. It looked like a drunk chorten on a straight road.

My Tweet! (@Passu_Diary)

For sometime I forgot everything, just came out of the car and stood there wondering what exactly must have happened with the chorten to be there right on the road. I joked about it on twitter but it's anybody's guess that it wasn't the chorten that encroached on to the road. It was standing there for ages not realizing that one day it would be standing on our aggressive road to change.

Election and Social Media in Bhutan

On 23 April 2013, when Bhutan voted for National Council election for the second time in the history of the newly democratic country, another history was made on an equally new platform. For the first so much information was generated by Bhutanese on Social Media, that when I return from short toilet breaks I could see over hundred updates on Twitter and Facebook- and yes everything related to election.
I wish I have the resources to count and analyze how much data was generated exactly but Bhutan telecom must have enjoyed maximum business. Twitter accounts of Kuensel and BBS were on fire that day- another record breaker! When BBS TV viewer were jumping in excitement with the result of fourth Dzongkhag we on Twitter were done with all 20 Dzongkhags results via two government media tweets.
However, National Council Election for some reason is taken lightly by people, at least on social media, and also among the 67 candidates who took part only about 10 of them were active on Facebook and just 3 on Twitter.
Come National Assembly Election and we will see the real revolution of social media. There are several groups on Facebook that are seriously discussing Bhutanese democracy and not to mention the so many anonymous intellects and analysts on Tweeter who have million questions to ask. Bhutanomics has made itself available to Bhutanese via Facebook (though its actual website is blocked) and Bhutantimes.com has made a comeback.
Feeling the need of the time all five political parties have established themselves on the major platforms of social media and are actively interacting with Bhutanese netizens. And interestingly many cabinet ministers have joined Facebook recently, and most of the new members of political parties have begun their introduction from Facebook. Some former members are already seeded player on Social media with amazing fan followers.
If you happen to see a party's page or a member's profile on your Facebook sidebar, that's because they have advertised with Facebook, which is another new thing in Bhutan.

Following table shows the presence of Political parties on Social media: (Click on the pictures to Follow them on Twitter or Like their Facebook Fan Page)



Now Imagine the amount of data Bhutan will generate, and imagine the dimension of debates and their influences on the minds of voters- even those of who are offline!

Fish on bBay

I am pleased to see my bBay appearing in Kuensel's List of "Site You Could Use". But more than that, Gyalsten K Dorji must be applauded for bringing bright new change to boring Kuensel pages, in fact Kuensel could build on this idea and make a list of their own like the famous Forbes List.

I created bBay two years ago and it enjoyed publicity from Business Bhutan and Thimphutech.com besides my own blog. Today it's one of the most active groups on Facebook where the following happens (from Kuensel)

"If you are looking to buy or sell something, the most active place to do this today is on Facebook. Named after ebay, the popular online auction and shopping website, a page named B-Bay currently has almost 14,000 members using the page to find buyers for their second hand items, or to find something they want. A wide range of items, like apartments, land, vehicles, electronics, jewellery, shops, and even doma can be found being marketed on the Facebook page. The page also provides for some entertaining exchanges between buyers and sellers. Since the page is hosted on Facebook, posts are free."

Page 13- Kuensel

I must thank my dear friend, idea box and brilliant businessman, Tshering Tenzin who helped grow bBay to the size it has today. Right from the beginning we made it clear to ourselves that bBay will help people from being bullied by brokers, which is why we have banned over hundred brokers till date. We, including my wife and brother, monitor bBay everyday to keep the wall free from spams, jokes, harassment, and brokers. We only earn a few Nu. from the Ads we post on cover and in pinned section, which is at times questioned.

What is the Fish on bBay?
However, recently I visited a big office where I met two smart guys who were upset with me. They confessed to me that they were among the brokers whom I have banned, but what they shared after that upset me. After they were banned they have fooled us by joining with new account and remained ideal to escape out censorship. But what they enjoyed was full access to what our members post and they were the active buyers. They buy from our members and sell offline. To shock me even more they say they have done two to five deals each week. Sometime they see their sold cars coming back on bBay, which happens because there are many more hidden brokers on bBay. They promised to give me a list of all the brokers they know on bBay so that I can make it a clean place I had hoped for. So my dear member on bBay, I must admit to you all that there are some fishes in the group, which is important for you to know, but as long as you are getting what you want for the price you agree they should be a problem.

The Sherig Collection in Bajothang

I wanted to write about the Sherig Collection right after I get back but now I see it has already come out in Kuensel and I am hopeful you all read about it. The 23 GB collection is the answer to all the Bhutanese school's question about internet connectivity and speed. It has my personal favorite Khan Academy and Wikipedia and your computer could become a mini internet server.
Read the detail report from Kuensel by Gyalsten K Dorji- he interviewed me too.

I started eLearning club in my school this year and we had big dreams but small confidence until we got our hands on Sherig Collection. Now my club is on a mission to promote the resources in and outside the school. We are designing Wiki booths in different location to make the resource accessible by every student. Our club is also going to build national question bank besides creating YouTube channel on Bhutanese syllabus- wish us luck.

Thanks a million to Rigsum and its research team for working beyond business and contributing significantly to Bhutanese Education System. I wish you the best in the second phase of Sherig Collection. Please invite me again. 

Afternoon with Farmer Sangay

Another big thing this weekend is finally meeting Farmer Sangay in person. We have been friends on social media for a long time. The man and his initiatives need no introduction and I am among the many people who couldn't dare to be different like him but I have all the respect and appreciation for the difference he is making. He calls himself a Farmer, but I see him as a social scientist. For the record, he is the founder of Happy Green Cooperative- "the cooperative model of green ideas and solutions to pursue social innovations."

Showing off our daughters!!

Sangay brought along another amazing young man to make my Sunday more meaningful- the founder of Bhutan Kidney Foundation, Tashi Namgay. Sharing table with two of them and measuring their achievements against their age I saw a beautiful preview of future Bhutan. I on my part hoped and prayed that some day some of my students will turnout to be different like them.

Between the Founders

Among the many innovative plans Sangay has, one of my favorites is his Cafe, which is also going to be the Innovation Lab for his Cooperative, where you and I can walk in with our ideas and give them shape and color over coffee. And you know him- He will make it happen!

Our Families 

We both brought along our families but it was a mistake, we should have left our wives alone with their Sunday because two of us had thousand things to talk about, much of which weren't of interest to our ladies. But it was additional pleasure to meet his actor wife, who stands strong behind him in his passion.

To interact with the two guys, Like their pages on Facebook:

• Happy Green Cooperative
• Bhutan Kidney Foundation 

Meeting ThimphuTech.com Authors

This morning I traveled early to Thimphu to attend a presentation by the two authors of Thimphutech.com, the most reliable blog on technology and tech-services in Bhutan. I will write about the program in the next post ( you can already read about it on their blog-Click Here).
This post is just to express my joy of meeting two great people Boaz Shmueli and Galit Shmueli, today and spending enlightening time with them. It has always been my dream to meet the two of them but on two occasions earlier I failed. I decided I won't let go this chance and even the luck gave with me- I received personal invitation to attend the presentation from Boaz, and my principal yesed it right away.

Boaz, I, and Galit