‘A-lay med-ne dhan-da ka-lay kha-reyd’: A Monk, School and Dolpo #education

He was attending his usual morning prayers when I reached there. He was not surprised to see me over there as we planned for this before few days. It all started just with a conversation I had with Phurwa Tashi. Phurwa Tashi and I have known each other now for more than 4 years and we in the past have shared both personal and non-personal conversations besides our common name, ‘Tashi’. Whenever I get time, I do visit his shop, Dolpa Art Gallery (https://www.facebook.com/dolpogallery/) at Boudha. If nobody knows who is Phurwa? then he is one of the sons of the renowned Dolpo Artist, Tenzin Norbu. Futado as we (friends of Students of Dolpo) call him is also the student of Fine Arts and about to complete his Bachelor in Fine Arts from Srijana College of Fine Arts, Kathmandu.

So, the conversation with Futado all started while explaining my intention to continue writing about the locals of Dolpo and their ‘successful’ and enlightening experiences. Though there are many locals, some are not accessible as most of them live in their village, which is at-least 500 km away from Kathmandu. In addition, even those who have been living in Kathmandu, it is always hard to identify the ‘right’ person. Even I had few people in my mind, during the conversation, I however asked Phurwa, ‘about whose experience, do you think should I write about?’ and to my surprise, he instantly gave me the name, ‘Kunga Lama’.  

                           Fig: Kunga Lama in 'red' during the construction of the school. 

So then why Kunga Lama and his experiences will be interesting? For a conclusion to this paragraph which came from my overall detailed one-to-one conversation with him, I would only say that he worked beyond that ‘traditional’ boundary of religion for his people and by the end of this blog, my 8^th one, I am sure that you will figure out my motive to choose him. Let me first start with his village, Polde.

Polde is one of the three villages within Ben-Tsang valley. Ben-Tsang, as per the locals, is named after the gathering of respected ‘Lamas’, i.e. Ben- venerable, and Tsang- gathering place. Other two villages are Shimen and Tingyu. Tingyu is also the accessible route to Maryom La and then Tibet for many Trans-Himalayan Traders. Besides that, it is also one of such places in Dolpo, from where the current road project is planned (some of the road construction with bulldozer has already begun), making it much more interesting for many years to understand and analyze the impacts of road to the locals and their cultural heritage, and nature of Dolpo. Though I remain not really optimistic in terms of how such project could accommodate locals’ rights and issues including their participation, land, culture and many others, only time will tell whether such project will be a blessing or a curse for an entire Dolpo. This road will not only connect Lower Dolpa with Upper section of Dolpa via Dho and Tingyu, the road will also connect Dolpa with Rukum, Nepalgunj and Surkhet. The plan of the government to connect this particular road with Tibet, China further adds to the dynamic relations and impacts which will surely affect Dolpo soon.

                                Fig: The ongoing road construction in Tingyu VDC. (Photo courtesy: by a friend)

Continuing to the religious significance of the valley, many religious leaders have walked through that particular pass to reach Tibet and many from the northern neighbor have also come across. These movements might have also spread Buddhism as a religion in Dolpo. This strand of Buddhism not only includes Bon religion but also Vajrayana Buddhism and its followers in the remote region. Kunga therefore also became the first one among the seven children to join the monastery and become a monk after his birth in Polde. His ‘skilled’ father who always remained occupied in his work found a time to walk to Kathmandu and visited Therik Rinpoche for Rinpoche’s agreement to let one of his sons becomes a monk. Rinpoche chose Kunga without any hesitation.

                             Fig: Tashi Gomang Monastery, 750 years old (approx.) of Ben-Tsang Valley.

                                            Fig: The 'mane' laid nearby the monastery.

         Fig: The 'mane' laid in between the road. The road is the proposed one where the construction has already started. But are these cultural artifacts safe? 

When I asked him about this early admission to become a monk, he told me about the religious figure who came from Tibet and stayed in the valley. He said, ‘when Tenzin Rinchen Rinpoche came from Tibet and stayed in Bhalong Khampa Monastery in Polde, I became a ‘drawa’ (monk) for them. I was only 15 years old at that time’. Later from 18 to 21 years old (3 years), I stayed in conducting ‘Lo sum Da-sum’ (a ritual where a monk have to stay separately in a selected place for at-least 3 years and 3 months retreat away from his family). Subsequently, when he was 26 years old, Kunga followed the Rinpoches back to Tibet. But he came back to his village as he noted that it was also hard for him to stay in Tibet. Meanwhile, he later went back to Kathmandu via ‘Jhong-samba’ (Jomsom) as it also became hard for him to stay in the same Polde Monastery alone. Loneliness pushed him away from the village though he did not know any Nepali language at that time. The journey to Tibet might also have influenced him to move back to Kathmandu.  

Before examining his journey to Kathmandu, let me come back to his childhood which is another important part of anyone life. Before he became a monk, he remembers spending his 6-7 years of childhood as a shepherd while helping his family in their daily works. Though his work as a shepherd is not anew to the particular setting, the duration of 6-7 years might tell a different story for a young boy in the village. Usually in such work, the girls are assigned.

                                                              Fig: Tingyu VDC (this and below)

Closer to Polde, Shimen already had a ‘school’ though it was not managed well. When asked about whether he ever thought of studying in the school, he said that he was restricted from attending the class. His family brought him to become a ‘chyo-wa’ (Lama) who will concentrate more upon the traditional rituals and spirituals proceedings rather than the taste of modern education. According to Kunga, there was only one school at Shimen, run by the government. So there was clear demarcation assigned by his family regarding what he should do and what he should not. Even if he was a son, his gender became secondary when it came to the socio-religious values and was later sent to become a monk in Polde Monastery. However, one also needs to understand the socio-cultural and religious significance of a monk in these Himalayan regions and what positions do they hold in any Buddhist community. I won’t mind saying that they will be ‘everywhere’ in the community and they are usually treated in a high regard.     

                                    Fig: The Old Shimen School nearly before 40 years. 

   

When he returned back to Nepal, like many Dolpo, he came to Kathmandu also for that winter ney-kor (pilgrim). Subsequently, he stayed in the Therig Monastery for 11 years (he spend his 7 years in Pharping as a monk). Nonetheless, he was always concern about his village and its situation. There was only one school at Shimen where only one flat storied house existed with two rooms. These dark rooms rarely saw children and teachers studying there together and the walls less heard the nursery rhymes. As a result, in 1997, he went back to his village and stayed there for 3 months in winter while teaching ‘ABC’ and ‘dhaan-ga’ (Math) to the children. He even hired one teacher and paid his salaries for 2 months. At that time, he asked one young teacher from Tarap (one of the wards of Dho VDC) to teach. At that time, Polde had only 60 ‘Dhong-ba’ (households). The people were happy and even thanked him for that. But when he came back later to Kathmandu, he found out that the locals and the teacher failed to continue the promise. They did not send their children to study but he continued to help his villagers even in Kathmandu. During the winter season, locals migrate in the southern plain, mainly in Kathmandu for pilgrimage. This mobility also keeps them warm. When the villagers used to come down to Kathmandu, it was also hard for them to get settle for few months in Kathmandu. “I had to go and pick them at ‘Bus-pa-rak’ and then later, helped them in their living and then in their ‘ney-kor’. They were many who kept on coming for the same purpose. It never really stopped”. This is also persuaded him to do something for the villagers. He was clueless about what he should do until he met another villager.

                                    Fig: Kunga Lama with his good friend, Lama Tenzin Norbhu. 

Later in 2000 AD, he met his own villager, Lama Tenzin Norbhu (who has been staying in Aarubari while doing his art) and a foreigner, French Ayn. This friendship changed from ‘hi and hellow’ to more worthy one. To tell something about Tenzin Norbu, he was born in 1971 in Dolpo, Nepal, into a family of painters whose lineage stretches back more than 500 years and I won’t mind saying that his works also influenced the academy award nominated movie (in a foreign list), ‘Caravan’. Ayn was a friend of Tenzin. In addition, about Norbhu, Kunga clearly said, ‘we were the first ones from our village who stayed in Kathmandu’ but they did not really communicate till that meeting. There was no ‘he-ge’ (words) at that time. When Ein told about opening the school in Tingyu VDC even though she did not have money at that time, both Norbhu and Kunga supported the decisions. Nodoubt they trusted her. Subsequently, Kunga took the ‘gha-layn’ (responsibility) to take her to the village. They, as a result, took the route from Chharka to enter Dolpo and then later to Polde but without any money while solely depending upon ‘Tsam-pa’ (roasted barley). After watching the place, they again returned back.

Again in 2001, they planned to go back to the village. This time, they prepared two ‘ghu-r’ (tents) and went back with 5 porters again from ‘Shy-ar’ (East). Kunga remembers the time when Ayn was tired and resisted to move forward in Dhi-shey La. ‘Kunga, this is very dangerous’ what Kunga recalled Ayn saying when they were moving through that higher vertical rugged pass. It at-least takes 3 days to reach Chharka village from Tiri (opposite to Kagbeni), the gateway to Dolpo. Meanwhile, it takes at-least 4 hours to cross that vertical pass from the base to reach ‘Mulung-sumna’ (at the top). Finally, when they succeeded to reach Chharka village, Kunga asked the villagers to lend her a horse but the villagers instead asked NPR 2000 for the horse. ‘Dha open ghi ney sakye rayd’ (Would collect the money after opening the school). It was hard to pass that trust to everyone and not everyone buys that. Those were some of the initial difficulties Kunga shared.

Later, she did the opening ceremony of the school in Tingyu which admitted overall 30 students: 10 each from Polde, Shimen and Tingyu. The students were 7-10 years old. The problems have just started. Again the school ran only for 3 months and then it was closed for some more time. Nonetheless, during those times, for 2-3 years, Kunga Lama taught Tibetan to the children. As the school was located in the middle of the valley, it was a bit ‘gyang-bu’ (far; 40 mins of walk) from Kunga’s house. Yet he continued going back to his village and the school. He usually used to stop by Norbhu’s house for a ‘jhya’ (tea) which he drank with his own ‘paak’ (a Tsampa roll). Besides him, there was also one government teacher. And later, Urgyen Dorjee was brought in for the school as a government teacher in 2002. Urgyen Dorjee from Saldang is also the son of Dolpo ‘Chikyab’ (chief leader). He was educated from Likhu (Lower Dolpa) School. He completed his +2 from Pokhara ‘School’. He then taught English in the Tingyu school and was later became the Principal for the school.

                                  Fig: Urgyen Dorjee teaching the children of Ben-Tsang. 

Subsequently, the villagers came together to form Dolpo Locals Help Association (http://www.tenzinnorbu.com/projects.php) while succeeding to raise NPR 5000 each by both Kunga and Norbhu and NPR 20,000 by Ayn. The association was formed in Tinje VDC for the management of the school, ‘Shree Siddhartha Kula Mountain School’. Kula denoted the local pilgrim site. Before the official formation of the association, they also faced the technical difficulties. To make a code of conduct (Bidhan), they had to pay NPR 5000. Kunga busted into laughter when he told me that what he collected was instantly invested for the ‘Bidhan’. Obviously it would have been surprising for him to see the hard earned money used for that piece of paper. Before 15 years, he clearly said that it was ‘ghong-chenpo’ (expensive). He also remembered ‘Meme’ Dukkay donating I.C. 160 and few others helping them financially. Some of the locals did come together. They also hired one ‘Hyolmo’ to make that first Bidhan and most of the works were carried out by Kunga. Later all the renewal process was carried out by Urgyen Sir. Yet the challenges run the school in the village did not stop. Norbu was forced to sell his ‘Ree-moo’ (paintings) to raise the money for the school. And slowly and slowly the school became better.

(To be contd…)