Lotus's Perspective- Journey through my teaching career.

Thank You; Kadrin Che La! Source: Google Images Okay, we are finally down to the near end of the year 2010. Everybody seems excited waiting for the ‘count down’. Within matter of minutes, and seconds, the New Year 2011 will unfurl right in front of our eyes. It is kind of weird to see other part (other half?) of the World already in 201l while rest half still in 2010, and eagerly waiting for 2011 to officially set its foot. Traditionally, people make various resolutions for the year; which they would strive to fulfill in the year before they either end up disappointing themselves for failing to live up and yet make another resolutions for the following year. Wishing for good health, to receiving a promotion or raise, to promising to quit smoking, to finding a lasting relationship, to cutting down the weight, so and so forth, the resolutions are varied. Some truly work for it, and live up to their promises. But mostly, they are forgotten midway through the year. It shouldn’t come ...

Goodbye 2010, Hello 2011! Photo Courtesy: Google Images Greetings to all my dear friends! By this time, I am pretty sure, everybody has something to thank for. It is very obvious not everybody might have had a good year; some might have lost the loved ones, while some might have failed to make a good living. But no matter how rough or bad the Year 2010 might have been, we know nothing remains for eternity, even the Year 2010 is on the verge of leaving us soon. For ones who had terrific year, you may feel emotional seeing years coming to an end. Its okay, that’s the part of life. But for some who might have had a tough year, it is only understandable that you would be waiting to get it over, and look forward to the New Year.  Anyway, lets look back to the bygone days, weeks, and months and feel proud that we have been able to survive the year 2010. That in itself lies a purpose for us to be thankful for. However, we are not to dwell with the past; marveling the goods or la...

Silver lining in the darkest clouds! Source: Google Images I woke up late today- at 11: 30 AM. I was okay, then. A few hours later, though, I began to feel something strange. I was feeling anxious, restless, dull, and many more. I just hate these creepy feelings! My heartbeat seemed to race abnormally high that left me in a complete scare. I didn’t know what was wrong with me, but I was very certain I was still breathing-alive. So I recomposed myself, monitored my breath, and lay back -hoping to calm myself. Just on time, quite coincidentally, I remember what I read in Mingyur Rinpoche’s book of “Joyful Wisdom” about tackling the stress, and the so called abnormal feelings. His Eminence provides the ways and methods to approach the stress, and help tackle it. Loosely paraphrasing, he advises to confront the stress directly rather than shying away and avoiding it for it will become worse. Digging deeper, and figuring out the source(s) of stress is what one of the authors of New York Ti...

Beautiful Christmas tree. Source: Google Images Today is Saturday, the 25 th of December. Which means, of course, the Christmas Day. It is “considered” as the birthday of Jesus Christ. I say “considered” because according to “ The History of Christmas ”, an online organizational source, the actual date was never known! It was in 4 th century that “ the early Church Fathers in the 4th century fixed the day around the old Roman Saturnalia festival (17 - 21 December), a traditional pagan festivity ”. But it was at the later period decided December 25 th as the official day. On this festive day, everybody looks forward to varied surprising presents supposedly “shopped and hidden” for them by Santa Claus. I can totally see what the day means to American people around here. I personally have come to know about this widely celebrated Day not very long ago. It was in 2007, as I came to the US, and got to celebrate the first ever Christmas Day with my ex-host family Kathleen Smith, and Jeff...

2012 Mystery. Source: Google Images. I don’t know if the media coverage has improved over the years in Bhutan, or cases of accidents have actually risen, but one thing is very clear-the case of accidents are reported almost everyday. This is very panicking and nerve racking! All of a sudden, Bhutan has become a sorrowful nation. As a kid, I remember hearing the news of accidents of such magnitude through radio only once in a while. Of course, most might have gone unreported, no doubt, but I wonder if nation has suffered such a loss then. The devastating fire accident that gutted down the entire Chamkhar town, several road accidents, the recent tragic flight accident that killed 18 Bhutanese people in Nepal, and yet the very recent bus accident below Dochula have added wounds to the already panicked nation. While the flight accidents are the case of rarity, what concern me most are the road accidents, which have seriously become the issue in Bhutan. I don’t know if we should blame the g...

With the Semester now over, the chilly winter campus of FIT (Florida Institute of Technology) wears a deserted look; with a fewer number of cars scattered over the parking lots, and fewer number of people hitting the gym. It is no surprise as everybody goes home to spend the Christmas with their family members. Only those who are far away from home, obviously those international students, are the ones who remain in the city of Melbourne. I am one of them. As the semester gears to an end, the most typical talk around would be about plans for the break. It is not a surprising thing to bump into someone asking you "So, whats your plan for the christmas?", on a day to day basis. Of course, my answer is always "Nothing really. I will be around here". This year's Christmas isn't any different, either. I am here, and will be here. No matter how bored you get, and lonely you feel, you are left with no option. I certainly feel sad having to spend whole winter vacati...

Sometimes, I tend to be very childish-a simple nice thing can make me so happy, and again a very silly bad thing can make be down! I won't say I live without a long term 'big' plan for my life, but I usually settle for a simpler plan. I strive for the best, try my heart out, but I certainly know how to accept the failure, no matter how unpleasant it is. University life isn't the bed of roses, and it comes with full of choices-either to make it work out good for you, or opt for something which may not be always good for you. You learn to take decisions of your own, and stand on your own feet. "University life is the most crucial part and the fastest learning period in your life..." says a professor of Mathematics, Dr. Tenali, answering to students' enquiries of life being so stressful. You grow both physically, and intellectually within four years. You come in as someone, and go away with entirely different person, an officially professional. Peer pressures...

This Fall semester has been very crucial one, not that others were not, and of course crucial-ness implies a greater challenge. This was the first semester of my senior year, and the courses were just as demanding. All six courses (three Maths, one Humanities, one Management, and one Environment) were very challenging, but I can't deny that they were all intectually stimulating. I had a very slow start, which I soon regreted for I struggled to catch up with the progress at the end. Somehow, though, I could manage to pull on track before it was too late, except the Numerical Analysis course, which I blew off completely! Not that I didn't try, but it just didn't work the way I initially thought. Normally, I consider first mid-term exams (yeah it sounds weird, but here they have a system whereby several 'mid-terms' are conducted before the final exams) as a kind of test drive as to see how professors assess our understanding on the material covered in the class. So tha...

Planets on their orbits. Source: Google Its really disturbing how I can become so outdated in this so called twenty-first century world when technology plays major role in each and every part of our life. Despite all the resources present right in my proximity, I still continue to remain outdated, which is evident as I keep hearing and coming across something new almost everyday. I mean 'new' or rather news to me, but not to others. But I think I can forgive myself for not knowing the silly stuffs, and of course not everybody can know and keep updated with everything.  I can't however forgive me for failing to know the number of planets in our Solar System. Till couple of weeks ago, I was so confident enough of my ideas on solar systems (at least pertaining to the number of planets, and their names). As a matter of fact, I have been fondly known to my friends as a 'very updated' person because I spend fair amount of time reading news papers, watching news and di...

Thus came an emotion of red-heart blinking on the chat window. "Are we doing the right thing?!" Rigdhen expresses his apprehension about the latest development as he reciprocates with an exact same emotion. "Hehe, I don't know, may be..." comes the reply from the other end. It is so miracle how such emotion could mean so much that a new beginning just got on to the verge of germination. Everywhere the air was filled with mysterious LOVE, and all he could imagine at that moment was her-his new-found. .......... ............ .......... ............ "I feel very insecure of you. I fear that you might leave me alone, and go. Dear! Promise me, you will never leave me..." Thus he reveals his fears of losing his soul-mate every time he calls and chats with her. "Why do you always stay with that fear? Don't even worry about that, darling" forth comes the answer to his great relief. The more they spend time together, the more attached they become,...

The homecoming event officially started since the 3rd of November, and today was the main event with a parade through the streets on the campus area. Homecoming is a tradition widely practiced in north American universities, colleges, and high schools to welcome the alumni and 'former residents'. (wikipedia) Bhutan joining rest of the countries. The today's parade included an ROTC troop, a merchant band, our university cheerleaders, and high school cheerleaders, a group of students representing the International Student and Scholar's Organization (ISSO), and several vehicles and people representing their sororities and fraternities. I was one of the students as a member of the ISSO representing Bhutan. Just day before yesterday, the student President of ISSO who happens to be my friend's girlfriend had emailed me asking if I could bear the Bhutan Flag and join the parade. I instantly felt excited about the idea, and promptly responded in affirmation. After all, this...

Pumpkin curving; Source-Google images The last three months of the year are highly looked forward to, and largely anticipated by many sections of people in the world. It could be attributed to having several holidays, festivals, (exams may be?) and above all the coming of the end of the year, or rather coming of the new year?! Yesterday was the eve of Halloween, "a n annual holiday observed on October 31, primarily in Canada , Ireland , the United States and the United Kingdom . It has roots in the Celtic festival of Samhain and the Christian holiday All Saints' Day , but is today largely a secular celebration" ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halloween ) This is my fourth time observing this annual event. So yesterday too like last year, I with my two roommates went to Melbourne downtown to join the thousands of people in their best choice of costumes to mark the event. The roads leading to the downtown as normal were closed for traffic, and they were fenced from every...

Ever since my friend Mr. Yeshi Dorji, a final year B Ed. (teacher trainee) at Samtse College of Education, under Royal University of Bhutan offered me to publish this story in his upcoming Book (seen at the right), I guess it has undergone a few times of editorial touches. So firstly I want to thank Mr. Yeshi for being kind enough in offering me a space in his book. Secondly, I would like to thank all reviewers for sparing their precious time and making my article readable and especially to the chief editor Mr. K. C. Jose, a lecturer of Samtse College for his valuable feedbacks and necessary changes.** Bhutanese Traditional Kitchen: 'Arsang'- the pot for making Ara resembles the one at the left. Photo credit: The Bhutan Travel Guide Bhutan has come a long way in terms of infrastructural development, and it has seen the state-of-the-art buildings mushrooming for the last few decades. It has, with no doubt, raised the living standard of the generally primitive people of the nati...

Lisa Marie Presley and 'King of Pop' Michael Jackson. Photo credit: Google Last night, despite my busy schedule, I kind of felt like watching TV, so I grabbed the remote control and turned on the TV. Subsequently, I went to the channel 11 where NBA basketball game Miami Heat vs. Atlanta Hawks was broadcasted. I watched the first half of the game, and scrolled down the channel guide. There I bumped into the Oprah Winfrey Show featuring a very attractive looking woman and Oprah. Immediately it caught my attention, not because she is very attractive and her eyes are very sexy, should I say?, but because their conversation sounded very emotional and 'real'. Although I had no idea about who that pretty woman is then, I glued myself to the TV, and waited for her name to appear on the screen. Within a moment and to my relief, a tag bearing the words 'Lisa Marie Presley' appeared just below that pretty woman. By the way, I had the 'google' search engine page alr...

After I have confirmed that I wouldn't be able to retrieve the phone, I declared it 'lost' and published a status on my Facebook page requesting friends to ' drop me your numbers in my inbox', but kept the story to myself. Heres how I 'lost' my phone three days ago. It was a dinner time, and having gotten home quite exhausted from the school, I headed in laze to the kitchen, downstairs, to help myself. I stuffed in all the leftovers to a plate, almost built a mountain out of it, and put into the microwave and let it heated for about two minutes. Then, I gobbled them up in few minutes. Got the dishes done, wiped the oven, and responded to the natures call. I was in the restroom (toilet) and relieving quite naturally until I heard a splashing sound beneath me. When I looked down in a rather terrified mode in a quest to find what that splashing sound was, I saw my three year old Motorola phone drowned into the ocean of water and pee and seemingly very suffocate...

One day when I was doing my Intensive English Course (rather called as English as a Second Language (ESL)) at an ELS center based in our university, I received an email asking me to submit a kind of report on how I was doing, and what my feelings about the Fulbright grant were. Having been only couple of months then, I felt so burdened and short of ideas to write. However, since I was mandated, I wrote a few paragraphs in a form of email, and sent it to them. Then it was forgotten completely until I received an email correspondence of the Fulbright Foreign Student Newsletter , Issue 10, published on July 2008. I scrolled down to check if there was any pictures, but I was surprised to find my article. Although, my article didn't address any issues or bear any professionalism, I thought it was cool. So I am reproducing it below: EXPERIENCING A WHOLE NEW FULBRIGHT WORLD by Pema Wangdi, 2007-2008, Bhutan I am Pema Wangdi, a 2007-8 Fulbright grantee from Bhutan. Currently, I am studying...

Dhur Da Chham: Photographed from the cover of Tshering Tashi's Book " "Bold Bhutan Beckons" It is a "No Gain, No Pain", not the famous saying "No pain, No gain"! The article " Reluctant mask dancers " by reporter Gyempo Namgayl of Bhutan Observer brought to light perhaps the most itching issue about the difficulties being faced in the village community to conduct their annual or bi-annual Tshechu(s) - the festivals. It is no new thing, in fact the local leaders have been facing similar difficulties for years. Now children go to modern school, and nobody wants to stay back at village and become "Gomchen", hence no dancer. As a village kid, I would be eagerly welcoming the Tshechu season, and I would be totally in a festive mood. I can vividly remember how I enjoyed those unique dances showcased by our monks and elderly people which now remained as a story of past. About five years ago, the last time I saw Tshebar Tshechu, it ...

This poem was written when I was studying at Nangkor Higher Secondary School in 11 Science. It obviously shows how I was stuck by the thunderous love with the relationship ending in a lightening speed! To maintain the originality, I did no editing and proof-reading of any sort. So please bear with the grammatical errors, and reading it with light heart would help for I retain no hard feelings on her. Oh! My Heart! Never stoop for she is no worth than own life. Here the death man lies... What cares the beauties on them? Reddened on his checks and smiling face white-washed Yet, no special path for him to leave this world! Than to follow the equal route does the poor fellows. You the unfaithful, And impious wench! As if immortal and eternal you are. Boundless are your talks propelled by The influence of thy boneless tongue. Talks! How to define it? It makes man laugh, and cry too. Thine truth-less talks spoken in dreamily Were merciless insult to me. But now you are against my wish. Dream...