Spare a Stick OR Spoil a Child

9^th graders, their young faces flushed with the nippy morning, stand up as Sharma Sir the Nepali teacher enters the classroom. It's the day for 'Sabdartha'(when the teacher asks for meanings of words from a chapter). As he points his finger to a student and begins his prodding, all eyes are downcast. Glances rise furtively as a student stumbles in her response.

"Okay Bhaju Ratna tell me the meaning of 'तिथि'".

Bhaju Ratna looks up at Sharma Sir, with a tinge of fear and guilt. He lowers his eyes and begins to stammer, "टिठी……टिठी…"

Sharma Sir admonishes him, "टिठी होइन तिथि".

"Huh!!!! टिठी…..huh……. टिठी".

"टिठी होइन तिथि भन्".

Bhaju is silent.

"भनेको सुन्दैनस्? तिथि!!! तिथि!!!!!..... तिथि भन्!!!"

Bhaju Ratna, by now scared our of his wits, gives it his best shot, the effort visible in his gaping mouth and startled eyes, "टि……ठी".

Sharma Sir, flushed furiously, walks up to the kid and grabs a lock of hair near his left temple and shouts, "तिथि!!!!! तिथि!!!!! तिथि!!!!!"

Bhaju Ratna lets out a cry of pain but still manages to reply, "टिठी!!!! टिठी!!!!!".

Sharma sir grabs the hair from both sides of his head and pulls them furiously as he threatens, "If you cannot pronounce तिथि tomorrow I'm going to uproot all your hair!". The only thing Bhaju Ratna is capable of is a silent scream.

As Sharma sir walks away, he adds indignantly, "I do not care if you hate me now. What matters to me is what you will think of me ten years from now".

 

I am sorry to say Mr. Sharma, but you have failed, and failed miserably. At least when I was in that classroom I used to think you had a point. But that was because I always did my lessons and had an impeccable standardized Nepali accent. But as I look back to that day now, I see an ignorant sadistic and self-righteous man.

I see now that a person's accent is just a cultural construct and to punish him for it is called cultural persecution. I see that you Mr. Sharma are just another agent of forced assimilation that has been going on in Nepal for centuries now. That you are the one who has marginalized ethnic groups for ages and you are the butt of the gun that has been humiliating the minority for centuries. But you don't realize it, do you?

I see now that you were the one who gave me the bogeyman that I am still trying to fight off. I see now that you were the reason why freedom was so hard for me to handle. I see now that you were the reason why it was hard for me to think of what I wanted when I did something. I see now that you were the reason why I developed an irrational hatred towards authority. I see now that you were reason why fear works better than reward for me. I see now that you were the reason why I had a tough time to figure out why one had to do something in life.

And I tell you now Mr. Sharma and I feel ashamed that I have to say it, that respecting cultures is more important than the marks you get in the SLC. I tell you now Mr. Sharma that creativity cannot flourish under fear. I tell you now Mr. Sharma that there is no bogeyman out there. I tell you now Mr. Sharma that desire for good is much powerful and lasting incentive than avoidance of harm. I tell you now Mr. Sharma that you are an anachronistic organism, a relic of the past.

I do not know what Bhaju Ratna thinks when he looks back at you now, but I, the student you never had anything but commendation for, think that you Mr. Sharma have no place in Nepal, if she is to ever move forward.