Learning should be continuous,constant yet dynamic. In a group of 37 students, I place myself mostly in the third row.Mostly, because-when I feel like having fun and enjoy a boring subject(personal perception)-you will find me in the last seat of the class-true for most of my older high school days.
A middle aged teacher enters the class,where students vary in age from early 20s till late 40s or beyond, yet act like mere teenagers. This diversity in tourism classes -the craving to learn or say,earn a license to keep as an armor when and where required. Geography-the subject to be learnt that very day.
Never judge a book by its cover-the teacher with the very simple attire,was struggling to open the slides to be projected for the lecture.Not to blame the teacher,as none of us could open it either-None of us…Though not all volunteered to try the technological aspect as we were busy gossiping with our diversified colleagues.
I had expected the class to be a boring one,first due to the simple appearance of the teacher and secondly because we were unable to move ahead in the content despite 15 minutes of vigorous efforts from the teacher and the colleagues. Then the teacher began. Oh my goodness-he was such a gem-simple, soft,always smiling,humble and knew perfectly how the content had to be delivered.The first word-COORDINATES, then followed latitude,longitude and topography of Nepal.
One Interesting incident….which he shared with all of us…
He had once been in a cultural event where people from all three geographical delineation of Nepal i.e. The Himalayas, The Hills and The Terai had participated performing their cultural dances. He watched them carefully and later came up with a conclusion-People in Himalayan region danced staying close together with soft songs, then followed people in the hills, with some gaps amongst the performers and slightly higher pitched songs,then finally staged by the people from the Terai- where performers danced with wide gap between them,high energy and very high pitched songs. He, as a geographer, could see the gaps,energy and pitch in different areas of Nepal and their culture.
Being snow clad in the high mountains, closeness among people keeps them warm.If you are in the hills, the temperature is moderate enough to allow some space between people,whereas in the plains of the terai, you would want people to be with some space to let the breeze flow around them. There could be various explanations and dimensions to this observation-scientifically or culturally.But, being born in Nepal and watching a lot of cultural dances live or recorded, me-at least would have never analyzed the dance and the song in this way i.e. through the eyes of a geographer.
Cultures are mostly endemic, sometimes exotic. Sky burial-a new term for a huge mass of us – is practiced in some rural high altitude areas of Nepal (Upper Dolpo) where, a deceased family member is offered to the vultures in the sky. Literally, you will chop them into pieces and with specific Buddhist religious chants,offer them to the vultures.It is a very pious ritual for them-inspired by the Buddha’s offering to the hungry tigress in one of his lives. Yet, as a born Hindu, it is still very difficult for me to open up with this thought. I shall consider myself a narrow minded person,in this regard. But, look into a different perspective-You are an offering even after your death-the highest form of giving….Offering the self.…
I can go on writing about unique analysis about so many things-from history,culture,architecture,religion to a vast dimension of arenas.Yet, that is not what I intend to do. But, I wish the readers of this blog to take some time to analyze, share and smile at your thought processes. One day, that analysis might really turn into a decade changing concept that can help, heal and lead our society to a better world.Who knows we might be the next Newton, who saw the apple falling like all of us-yet never thought about the reason for it to fall down(Only Newton analyzed immensely and fruitfully about the subject). I don’t want those analyses to harm humankind for sure,leading to the devastating chemical inventions dismantling the peace of the world and creating a havoc in the universe.
Let us simply open up ourselves to explore,learn and motivate.
Let us analyze,share and smile….
Dr. Yagya Prasad Timalsina
Dr.Yagya Prasad Timalsina 