Everyone believes that I am teaching kids in the village and helping them out but from where I stand, it is just the opposite.These kids teach me so many stuffs without the intelligent curriculum or confusing lesson plans.They have not mastered in any language but correct me every time I get wrong.

I teach them Science and my goal is to make them curious but they are the ones that make me wonder. On the way to school, they plug a green leaf from a bush; then they break down the stalk carefully making a loop out of the stalk skin and then blow out beautiful bubbles. It was my job to fascinate them with all the cool tricks and experiment but they beat me in this. I always get fascinated when many colors sparkle in those bubbles.

I ask them “makai kailey ropney?” and they will give me that look and reply “miss, makai ropdaina k makai charcha…dhan ani kodo matra ropcha…makai ,tori chai charcha”. I never gave thought on this.

I stress out my brain thinking about the ideas to motivate my students but turns out they are the fuels that help me drive. I was teaching Grade 7 and 9 chapters on Simple Machine. I wanted a model of pulley to demonstrate in grade 7. I asked grade 9 if they had made the model in their previous classes. They replied “chaina!”. Next day I enter grade 9 and then what I saw hanging on the wall nearly made me cry.There was this wooden model of pulley. Upendra had made the pulley; it was like getting the best birthday gift ever. He had used bamboo and wood to make the model.

There is this topic in Chemistry which I dreaded so much as I had never understood that when I was a student. I begin scribbling in the whiteboard with the marker that I held in my nervous hand. All I knew was the question and the answer but not how to make the kids understand “Why?”.I was praying they don’t catch me being nervous; as I started writing this and that in the board suddenly those words I jotted started making sense to me. By the time I reached the frame of white board I had explained “Why”; while explaining them answer even I understood the reasons. Then I said “timi haru lai bujhauda bujhaudai mailey ni bujhey”. (I know it was not the right thing to say but I was so happy and excited that the answer finally made sense after all those years. I had mugged up the answer when I was student; knowing the reason was not less that revealing a grand secret).

Being a teacher I am practically supposed to teach but now that I am playing the role of a teacher, I have never been so much of a student. I learn. I grow. I know!

It was unnecessary and foolish and definitely stupid! (yaya foolish and stupid direct to similar meaning but it was needed to use the words …you will know why)

I went back to melamchi with my friend. It had been so long(almost a month) I stayed back at ktm and busied by nothing and everything; so I decided to go back to village for few days. The almost three hours bus ride seemed like forever but I loved this ride…I got the window seat so I could see everything outside the window as if I was the first time I saw the scenes and be mesmerized. It never occurred to me while I was in grade -I don’t remember which that I started writing “hariyo baan Nepal ko dhan” and didn’t think how many trees there must be in Nepal to be thattttt rich (ofcourse just for the natural resources that is).At that time, I never even imagined the number of trees nor the tree itself…but I remember there was a black and white picture of forest in the beginning of the chapter. Now, all I see is green trees piercing the ground and erupting from every place.

I thought I was having holidays in ktm but the days made me tired and exhausted so much I wanted to cry. I just wanted to do nothing and wala! I got to do nothing at melamchi. I watched three movies, read “the fault in our stars” , took nap whenever I felt like taking one, didn’t bother getting up on my feet for all day. I was so happy to be lazy like that. The next day I decided to go back to my village early in the morning but I guess I was too much in holiday mood that my body took the liberty of sleeping extra few hours and woke up at 8. There was no way I was walking right away; so, I had my lunch ,observed the classes my friends were teaching and then gradually went to bus park to catch my ride.

Well, this is where me being crazy part start(actually it starts from the moment I decide to go back to my village without any purpose). So, I reached Sindhukhola at around 12:30pm … one hour uphill walk was waiting ahead of me. I opened my umbrella, forgot to take a deep breathe and began my stupid journey.Well, actually truth to be told I had purpose for this stupid walk. I wanted to be in the village and feel the village and just be there as me.you know how school feels different and free when you go school on holidays with no classes; if you know that feeling that was exactly what I had in my mind. I simply just wanted to be there.

The hot sun must have in its jolly mood that it was throwing some extra hotness.I reached halfway when I wanted to just turn around and quit my idea of “just being in the village”. I looked at the hot sun and instead saw this beautiful clean stroke of blue in the sky and that made me smile. All the way was dipped in green colour…it was all pleasant except the stone road which was heated like hell.i know it sounds disgusting but only if one would collect all the sweat on the way and apply the method of evaporation, there would atleast be a bowl of salt or not. . After almost an hour, I reached the village…I felt like I was placed in some zombie zone with no one to be seen. The whole village was empty except the gai bhaisi bakhra and tall corn fields everywhere.

After few minutes I reached to one of my student’s home and rested there. There were few kids playing around; among them two little may be three year old kids just blew my mind.They were super cute, they wanted to come along with me so I said “jau ramro bhayera auu”.so this kid hurries herself to a tap and washes her face and comes back with “miss,lamro bhayo?” and then the other kid also runs saying “ma ni lamro bhayera auchu”. I asked them abcd… and here is what I get “A B C D thul dd…E F G H kacho pyaj…I J K L marya shyal…M N O P bajey ko topi… Q R S T palastic … U V W X Y Z khaireni ma gate. I was like “WOW!”.

I got to introduce myself to few of the parents and it was just great. On the way back I met few kids and just to see them smile was totally worth it. I just wanted to go hug each of them but I didn’t . On the way back one of the parent called me for tea (it was the first chiya with her or any one else in the village)The tea was supergood , I could tell it without even drinking cause it had all the oil floating,which means sudha dudh le banayeko chiya. I was jumping inside my heart like a kid but acting all grownup and miss from the outside.

Couple of days back I had seen Anup in my dream, I saw him and first thing I say was “asti timi lai sapana ma dekheko, kati saro dukha deko thiyou badmass bhayera.” He had really scared in my dream acting all rebel and turning bad. “sapana ma ho ni sachai ta hoina ni!”-he answered with that amazing wide smile of his which gives his face 3/4 wrinkles around his smile.

I met Sudha and asked her “kata jana lako?”. I heard “gadyaula tipna jana lako.” “K garna?”was my quick response and she said “bechna!”. “Huh???mall ma rakhna ?”I asked. “hoina”…after a quick thought I said “GO-L-VEDA? Eh eh golveda bhana na ta.” She replied “aghi nai maile tei ta bhaneko ni.”

Then I met deependra, rajaram(whom I failed to recognize with short hair) playing in the field. I was all in “Namaste”mode. Remember how zombies and vampires come out after sunset, just like that the silent village was starting to feel alive now. People were out of their hiding places and I could see whole bunch of villagers.

I climbed downhill with all the light memories, special as well as much needed to me.