I WANT TO GO AND STUDY: UGYEN, HER STRUGGLES, DOLPO, AND SOWA RIGPA

         “I was only 7 years old. It was winter and we took the path from Chharka to Mustang through Dhi-chey La (cut by a sword, pass) as I was sent by my father for an education in India. It was hard to move for whole 15 days and the snow nearly covered whole of my tiny body. Yet I succeeded to cross that way along with my sisters, Lama Tashi Yangton and few friends.” Those are some of the words shared by Ugyen, fuller name: Ugyen Bhuti Yangton, when we talked about her understanding about her education and her struggles. In May 2014, she completed her Bachelor in Sorig Medical Science (BSMS) Course in 1^st Division from Central Institute of Higher Tibetan Studies, Varanasi, India and now has been working in Sowa Rigpa International College in Kathmandu, Nepal since April 2016 after successfully obtaining the job. When she passed her BSMS, she also became first woman from the remote region, such as Dolpo, to complete her education in a local medicine. When there are many people around who are leaving the traditional idea of knowledge towards the so called modern idea of knowledge including , her experience to acquire that forgotten knowledge besides being a girl from the structurally excluded remote region, such as Chharka, Dolpo, also makes her struggle including continued life history informative, inspiring and enlightening.

I don’t exactly remember when I first met her but I do know that I came across her through my good friend, Bhuchung Gyurig. Bhuchung owns a ‘small’ shop nearby Srongsten Bhrikuti Boarding School. Gyurig and Ugyen are two very good friends, which was reflected when I asked her about what he thinks of her? She said without any pause, “he is the only one with whom I share everything and he has been very supportive throughout”. Gyurig shows his grin and approves the strength. Talking about her family, all of her family members are in the village, Chharka. It seems that her family has remained supportive to her cause too. From her experience, we would also know that the family support plays vital role in their children success in studies. She says, “they completely trust me and mine decisions”.

Photo 1: Ugyen in her village, Chharka

Born in 1989 in Chharka, Ugyen is the sixth girl child of her parents. She has got 3 elder sisters, 2 younger sisters and 2 younger brothers. All 3 elder sisters are married. She spent most of her childhood by rearing goats of her father’s aunt. That went on for 6 years. In these times, she also remembers one of her best times, running after the butterflies. Whether she ran after them to catch those or not, I tend not to ask. I don’t know why but the visual imageries of those moments including her interests towards those flies aesthetically froze me a little. Besides those times next to the Dhaulagiri, she also spent many times of her childhood with her mother in a ‘dhong/ghun-sa’ (herd).  During those times of two months, when I asked her what her mother used to do, she said, ‘my mother used to collect firewoods, do the dishes and used to weave clothes and make tents out of wools, mainly of Yaks’. On the other hand, her father used to do 'small' business in Tingyu (one of the 7 VDCs and the closest way to Mahango, the trading place in Tibet for Dolpo), Mustang and Shyaang (one of the wards of Mukot VDC).

Photo 2: Chharka Village is located at around 4500 meter above the sea level.

Meanwhile, when I asked her more about an education and how she got the chance to pursue that, she said that despite her family’s weak financial conditions, she studied, thanks to her elder sister, father and last but not the least, Menri Ponlob Rinpoche. Her father knew about the opportunity from the family members of Rinpoche. However, Ugyen was not the first one in the family to whom the chance was suggested. Her father asked her elder sister, Tenzin Jhyama, 12 years old who quickly refuted the offer by saying, ‘I do not want to go’. Immediately after Jhyama’s refusal, Ugyen relentlessly said, ‘I want to go and study’, which was later agreed both by her family and the Rinpoche. Generally, a male member is chosen for any endeavor outside the village as most of the female members are treated physically inferior to their male counterparts. One could interpret it also as a patriarchal society. One could clearly witness that also in the trans-himalayan trade, where the father of Ugyen bi-annually makes that trip to the northern neighbor leaving her family in the village.

Photo 3: Caravan in Chharka

It could be signaled as luck for Ugyen as most of her younger brothers were too young at that time to make any travel outside of their village. Therefore, when she ‘protested’ that she wants to go and study infront of her father, her father could not say no to her. Her father’s decision was also decisive for her study. Though his family faced several problems including financial, she believes that her father knew about the importance of education and wanted his children for better education. Consequently, he did not hesitate to meet the Rinpoche and request him to sponsor her education in India. The Rinpoche agreed, much to Ugyen’s happiness.  

With that, she started to dream many things including a foreign land, ‘Gya-gar’ (India). ‘I thought that there will be ‘mahng-bo na-ang kar-po’ (many white colored houses) in India’, was her reply when she enthusiastically shared about her imagination. What a better way to imagine anything new and how innocent it was. In addition, she also shared about her happiness with her friends during ‘ra cho-wa’ (herding goats and sheep).  ‘During that time, we used to talk a lot about our dreams’. Those empty pasturelands, those sheep and her friends remain a witness to her happiness. Indeed it was a joyous moment though when the actual moment of departure came, it moved her emotionally. She remembers quickly packing her stuffs to make that journey and her packing stopped when she saw the sight of her father close with that silk scarf. ‘I was so happy to go but when I saw my parents with ‘kha-taa’, I suddenly cried a lot’. At that time, she realized that she has to leave her family for many years. That realization turned sour on that day. As her tries dried up around her cheeks, she again moved her feet joyously.   

‘When you are happy, time runs faster,’ I remember this definition of time somewhere and it also ringed true for Ugyen. After one year of his father’s agreement with the Rinpoche, at the times of a seasonal migration preferably in between monsoon and winter, with her elder sister, 2 friends, and Lama Tashi Yangton, she started the arduous walk till Beni, Mustang. Though her feet were too small at that time, her dreams were bigger and sweet enough for her to cross those snowy hurdles.  

She was out of her village for the first time. Even a bird would love its flight for the first time to new and newer horizons and Ugyen was no different. She is yet to develop her wings or that understanding that will help her to face any challenge posed by life. Subsequent experience continued to surprise her.  Some of the moments she remembered were the ‘moving house’ and the none-white houses. While telling me about the first moment, she remembers many people inside that ‘house’ and suddenly moving. When I tried to know about that more, she later found that it is a bus. Suddenly we both laughed; I was also surprised by mine own naivety as I thought of any quake even at that time. Ah how the trembled reality continues to shake you? Coming back to Ugyen, she finally reached India after staying in Kathmandu for two weeks. She does not really remember anything about her stay in the city. She only remembers going and visiting few religious sites around when I asked anything about her short stay in the capital. The particular visits to these religious sites, such as, Pharping, Swaymbhu, Namobuddha, Budhanilkantha, Godavari and so on during the natives’ of Dolpo movement in the capital while staying in the rented places in Swaymbhu and Boudha, the sacred Buddhist sites still remain a usual activity till date and a favorite past time among them.

It takes time for everything and sometime that time takes a lot from you. Ugyen though got an easy admission in the Central School for Tibetans, Dholanji, Himachal Pradesh, under the guidance of Ven. Latri Khenpo Nyima Dakpa Rinpoche, times rarely were on her side. ‘For three months, I struggled a lot. I was directly put in Class 2, may be due to my age. I still do not know why. At first, I could not even hold my pen properly. Not only that, every language including English and Hindi seem same to me even those were written in my exercise copies. I could not find any difference. Also because of that, I was punished several times by my teachers. One teacher even banged my head on the wall. It was really painful. I have cried a lot too’. It was hard… Yet she found a humor in those times during our conversation. She shared how she copied exactly everything of her friends. This everything even included her friend’s name, roll number and exam number…

Her new found horizon yet forced her to miss her families. When I asked her about that, she said, ‘also for that, I have cried a lot, may be continuously for a month. I missed my parents, sisters, sheep and my village a lot. I used to tell that including about our homes to my other close friend, Karma Sherab who was brought in with me from the same village. We used to share a lot of things’. In addition, ‘My father and two sisters came and met me thrice in my school’ was her reply when I queried her about any family visit to her. Obviously it would have been very toughest times for her away from her family and friends though she slowly found respite and she started to smile, thanks to her friends including Karma Sherab and Daw Lhawang, and their newly discovered small ground nearby their hostel. ‘We used to go to that new ground, just ten minutes away from our school, mainly in weekends to spend our times happily. We also used to have ‘RaRa’ (a ‘Nepali’ noodle). Even in that ground, they were teased as ‘ge-pu so-om’ by other guys. She has also been helped and supported a lot in her studies by Geshe Tenzin Yangton. She still remains thankful to him. On the other hand, she also kept herself warm everyday by ‘mal-cheyn’ (blanket), which according to her, is the best one given by her father. This warm touch also kept her close with her parents.

Meanwhile, once she overcame the language barriers though till date Hindi and Tibetan language are hard to perfect and hardest for her, she excelled in her education. She secured first division from class 5–10. This position which also includes her strength in the education with its completion from Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) Board, India in 2005 also kept her busy and happy. Before she could directly apply for Central University for Tibetan Studies (CUTS), she prepared herself for two months and then joined in June 2005. Meanwhile, she was asked to join the ‘traditional’ Sorig Medical Course, Menri Ponlob Rinpoche. She readily accepted and started to pursue that though her teacher asked her study the commerce as she was better in Maths.

On the other hand, during her education, she even went back to her village after walking alone till Sangda, Mustang mainly after 8 years. She went to see her sick mother who was suffering from ‘Sog-Lung’ which affected both her sight and breathing. She only knew about this later though she only became helpless when she finally saw and met her. She again remembers crying most of the time, which only lasted for 6 days. She said, ‘it was not only hard to reach there due to inaccessible roads, those events including mine helplessness only disturbed me’. That particular disturbance pushed near to her objectives. This also might have forced her to choose that course though she says that mainly because of financial difficulties yet again, she could not pursue another education besides the Sorig Medical Science.

The long intensive BSMS course went on for 8 years. This technical learning included the basic education for four years and advanced education including the internship for another 4 years. Altogether, it is 8 years. Nonetheless she succeeded to complete this in time without ever failing once though she was severely affected by the climate of the region. The temperature of the region even reached 50 degree Celsius and physically this affected her and made her weaker too. ‘It was very hard to read in those times, mainly in that climate’, was her reaction about the climate. Initial year of her education included history of the medicine and anatomy of human body, which also according to her were very hard to learn. Amidst those problems, she finished her studies including 6 months Internal Internship in 2014. Likewise, she also attended 6 months external internship at ‘Men Tsee Khaang’ (Tibetan Medical and Astrological Institute of H.H. The Dalai Lama) Dekyiling Branch, Clinic in 2015 from Dehradun.

Photo 4: Her certificate indicating the completion of BSMS course

After this again, she made the trip back to Dolpo, this time to her village, Chharka. Home to around 30 Households, it takes at-least 5 days to reach Chharka village from Dunai, the district headquarter of Dolpa, but 4 days from Tiri, Mustang. Besides horses, there is not any means of transportation available. Most of the villagers usually choose the route from Mustang due to its affordability and also because of their ‘ney-chaang’ (friends) in the village, Sangda, Mustang. The route from Dunai and the airport are not really affordable for locals and there are cases when Dolpo locals are mistreated. On the other hand, through the Mustang route, they do not have to speak the Nepali language too, which is completely foreign to their own Dolpo language/dialects. Meanwhile, there is only district hospital in the region. To know more about the health situation of Dolpo, please do refer to this link: http://dolporises.blogspot.com/2016/01/the-inclusive-health-care-by-pema-dolma.html. This inaccessible prevention and cure in the region by ‘professional’ doctors and nurses also makes her visit with her knowledge and understanding back to her village important. 

Photo 5: Ugyen packing the medicines in Chharka Health Center

Though she was warmly welcomed by her villagers including her family, she confronted few problems. Lack of human resources including a regular staff, equipment (3 processor machines) to make those medicines from local herbs, and electricity are some of the major problems she shared. She clearly said that she was alone in village’s health center and she did all the works. Besides making medicines by using local grinder, she even went through many patients during her four months of medical trip in Dolpo. In addition, she recently made the trip to Dho VDC where she along with Tashi Bhuti and Lama Namgyal conducted a health care including sanitation training.

Photo 6: Ugyen treating her patient in Chharka

She feels that it will be very hard to return back to the village unless there is something concrete plan to implement. The remoteness of the community does not really help her plight too. In addition, she also has to look after herself in Kathmandu and therefore, wants to do something which could also assist her living. She is also looking forward to continue the traditional understanding by her continuous service. Therefore, when she got the opportunity to work, she applied and joined Sowa Rigpa International College in Kathmandu, Nepal as a Clinical Sorig Doctor in April 2016. Affiliated with Lumbini Budhist University and dedicated towards the cultivation of traditional study, practice, and medical heritage of Sowa Rigpa (the Science of Healing), the college is the first such institution in Nepal to offer an accredited degree program in the Traditional Himalayan and Tibetan Medicine Science. Though her position is temporary, she believes that she can again expand her knowledge by teaching others in the same college after July. Her insistence to continue her Masters in Doctorate (MD) in India for 3 years could not substantiate as India is yet to start the course. Yet she remains positive, patient and humble, and will definitely return back to her village whenever it favors her. 

Photo 7: Ugyen with her family in the city’s local photo center

Note: I should thank Ugyen also for providing Photo 1, 4, 5, 6 and 7. As she has been staying in Kathmandu for quite a while, it was hard to get her childhood photos from the village. She can be directly reached in her email add: bhuti_2006@yahoo.com.