By Bijaya Mani Paudel

These days bliss surrounds me. Happiness flows within me. Satisfaction glows in the core of my heart. When they look at me, I explore my pacific ambition through their eyes. I observe their twinkling faces.

But these feelings emerge amidst the circle of pain and frustration. My grand mother’s story was a fairytale for me. She used to walk 3 hours daily to bring water from a spring to the home. But the story of my students is even more difficult.  They walk six hours a day to commute to school. This pains me. I weep. I frequently wipe my tears. I cannot take a good sleep.

Democracy entered Nepal 6 decades before. Five years passed after the declaration of republic. But the fate of people in this region has not changed. Phulchowki tower of Nepal Television can be seen from this village. But this village is away from information and communication technology. People here are far away from face book or twitter generation.

When I entered class for the first time I felt silence. I cannot define that silence. Perhaps that silence rooted at innocence. Perhaps that silence came from voicelessness. That might be the result of cultural and ethnic differences between us. I was sad. I was frustrated. I could not communicate properly with my students. I found myself in an alien land. A deep frustration and pessimism attacked me. I found myself helpless. I was confused.

Amidst this atmosphere of frustration and confusion, I visited homes of students. I talked with them. I talked with their parents. I got motivation from their lives. Even with half-empty abdomens my students go to school. Their strong desire for education inspired me. Their dreams encouraged me. I thanked Teach For Nepal. Words of Dr Vidya Nath Koirala resonated within me. Actually I was there not to teach. I was there to learn. I was there to observe, to experience and to transform. I felt a blink of transformation within me. I realized none can transform me except myself. This buddhatwa simplified my way.

Next day I entered my class with smile and self-produced enthusiasm in my own style. I danced. I sang. I smiled. They started looking at me. They started smiling. I started to learn their language from them. When I spoke any wrong word they said, haina sir tyo ta yesto po ta. When I spoke in their language I found an amazing smile in their faces. I have no word to describe that smile.

For majority of my aale-aangas(younger brothers and sisters) science was the most difficult subject. I first tried to remove this mental barrier from them. I narrated some science stories. I related science with the animals and plants they see everyday. I related science with the physical realities they observe everyday. I introduced the names like Stephen Hawking, Isaac Newton, Michael Faraday, Thomas Alva Edison, etc. Inspired with the stories of Faraday and Newton my grade 7 and grade 6 students have named their classes as Faraday class and Newton class.

They have made various types of simple machines. Using bamboo they have made beam balance, spring balance,halo, doko, scale, pulley, pencil, thela gada, khukuri,etc. Today they interact with me. They play with me. They dance and sing with me. They meditate with me.  They have even started publishing wall magazine once a week.

Their curiosity to learn makes me happy. I told them the stories of Maxim Gorky, Dr Swami Prapannacharya, Parijat, Jhamak Ghimire, Aani Chhoyeng, Mahatma Gandhi, etc. These stories have inspired them.

These days I feel paramananda.But there is a lot to learn yet. The horizon is far away.

(Bijaya Mani Paudel is Teach for Nepal Fellow. Originally from Udayapur, Bijaya completed B.Sc. from Tri-Chandra College. He is pursuing Masters of Arts in Journalism. As a Teach for Nepal Fellow, he is teaching science to grade 6 to 10 at Shree Chandeshwari School, Simple, Pyutar, Lalitpur)