COVID and Quarantine – Day 1

    After confinement of nearly two years in Thimphu, this winter vacation we decided to travel south and beyond. Upon getting a permission from the Department of Immigration to travel out (a requirement in Covid time) of the country, we packed our luggage, bid goodbye to our younger son, Suraj, who decided to stay back and work on his film, and drove enthusiastically towards Phuntsholing. Passing through new transit arrangements at Sorchen, briefly stopped in Phuntsholing and drove straight to Mechetar (Khandothang). After a couple of days, had a pleasant drive further to Dorokha and made some visits, and returned to Samtse for few more days of warmth and then to the exit point in Phuntsholing. The Omicron was on rise globally, few cases were suspected to be emerging in Bhutan but determined that we will travel out, we left the gate with some amount of hesitation. Life out there seem as normal as before and soon we forgot about the pandemic and spent our times with the near and dear ones that we had been missing for too long!

    After nearly two weeks, equally nervous we reported at the Bhutan border gate only to be welcomed back with all the protocols in place. Within an hour we were in a quarantine facility – Central Hotel in the heart of the town. There were some preconceived worries about the hotel, so I tried calling out some good friends for their help in securing a reasonably good hotel. We were advised that the hotels are packed due to the recent surge and there would be no choice of hotels. In his briefings, before getting into the hotel, the young Dessup mentioned that it will be a 14-days quarantine (unless we test positive when tested half way through) and the first night would not be counted. As we were settling down and got connected to the hotel wifi, the first news received was a very tragic one. We had just lost a veteran educator of the country and the first woman graduate of Bhutan, Ms CK Gurung in Samtse. Tulsa had been a huge beneficiary of Madam Gurung since her primary school days. Madam was not just her teacher and a mentor, but a guardian and a Godmother with whom she had stayed for couple of years until she became a teacher. Ever since Tulsa (called Tulsi by the family) remained a part of the family and particularly close with Madam. This loss was very personal for us and it was very hard for Tulasa.

    As the news got spread across the country and beyond, there were a lot of condolences and RIPs pouring in the social media of which the most comprehensive was the one from our distinguished educator and the former Education Minister Lyonpo TS Powdyel.  I take this honour and also liberty to quote and re-post his post as it is:  

“The Noblest of the Sector Noble... no more...

 It is difficult to believe that this life larger than life is no more. Just a few days back when I contacted the family, I was given to understand that our beloved Madam Gurung was getting better even though still very frail and bed-ridden.

 One of our brightest stars in the Sherig firmament dimmed into her heavenly abode at eighty-seven yesterday even as the day was drawing to a close at Gurung Basti in Samtse.

 Miss CK Gurung, as the outstanding life-time educator was well-known, symbolised the noblest virtues of the Noble Sector and inspired a whole generation of educators by her exemplary dedication, edifying grace and rare commitment to the highest ideals befitting the mission called Teaching.

 Even as a primary school student in my village, I used to hear my elder brother speak in glowing terms about his amazing teacher and mentor at the erstwhile Samchi Lower Secondary School and then as his trainer at the then Teacher Training Institute (TTI) where Miss Gurung was one of the only two Bhutanese lecturers when the first teacher education facility started in the country in May 1968. Lopon Samten Wangchuk moved on to pursue his spiritual calling.

 When I came to Samtse to continue my studies, I would often obtain fleeting glimpses of the highly revered Miss Gurung as she followed her trainees in her quintessential elegance and awe-striking presence. Years later, when I myself joined what had then become the National Institute of Education (NIE), of which Miss Gurung had become the first Bhutanese Principal, a fresh and excited young lecturer, just returned from my training, immediately found a true idol and mentor.

 The first batch of our B. Ed graduates passed out in 1986 under the oversight of Miss Gurung and her highly motivated team. Samtse and Paro Colleges of Education have over the decades done a most commendable job of preparing the nation’s vital teaching force and of strengthening the country’s educational destiny.

 As the first Bhutanese woman graduate, having attended excellent schools and well-known institutions including in Edinburg, Scotland, and with work-experience in Singapore, Hong Kong, the British Army School in Malaya, Miss Gurung was well-travelled and led many Bhutanese delegations to important events and assignments abroad.

 With all these distinctions, Miss Gurung still chose to continue dedicating her life and work to the cultivation of her first love – Education – when she could have selected any department in the government then and become what people would call ‘a big shot’. And, that made all the difference. She became ‘a bigger shot’ as an educator and raised hundreds of dedicated leaders who have made a difference in their own right.

 There was something uniquely characteristic about Miss Gurung. Despite being a scion of a well-known family, there was no trace of pride or arrogance in her. Though a spinster, Miss Gurung was a mother-figure to all and her benign warmth radiated everywhere even as she lived out and expected the highest professional and personal standards in those in her charge.

 Her self-effacing demeanour, innate good cheer, infinite goodwill and respect towards all, her positive outlook, and her almost saintly disposition earned Miss Gurung rare reverence from all whose lives she touched in her own endearing ways.

 Soft-spoken and approachable but armed with a no-nonsense confidence, Miss Gurung lived by example and naturally inspired numerous batches of young men and women who took it upon themselves to take on the most difficult, yet the most important, mission in the world – Teaching. And that generation of Miss Gurung’s students has done the nation proud in good measure.

 A veritable institution in her own right, Madam Chandra Kala Gurung was a recipient of coveted awards and singular commendations for her outstanding contribution to the advancement of education in the country. The Ministry of Education had the privilege of acknowledging Miss Gurung’s life-long service to the education sector in its own humble way during the celebration of Sherig Century during 2012-2013.

 At a time like today when education and educators all around the world are under the scanner for different reasons, it was our good fortune that we had the likes of Miss Gurung to look up to and do our part in this vital endeavour called nation-building.

 On a more personal level, it is a regret that I wasn’t able to visit and pay my respects to my beloved mentor, the dreaded virus having come in the way. But it was enough to know that Madam Gurung was there... With her gone now, like so many of my other venerable elders, there is a palpable void that will not be easy to fill.

 May the noble soul of our beloved mentor rest in peace in the loving company of her virtuous ancestors in heaven...

 And, may the Almighty grant the bereaved family courage to overcome this painful loss...

The legend is gone, but the legacy lives on...”

 I thank Lyonpo Powdyel for his succinct yet a complete account of the life of Madam Gurung and also pay our deep respect and homage to the departed soul.