CONTEXT (FALL 2024):
Dear Students,
Here we are doing some fun writing. We will call this assignment “Ask Thy Teacher Two Good Questions.” Remember the simple rule:
- You will ask me (your teacher) two good questions. You must know that a good question (i) reveals the wisdom and intelligence (probably innocence, too) of the questioner, and the questioner crafts it heartily, and (ii) gives the answerer a pleasant challenge, and the answerer responds to it heartily. To make it simpler, you will have a smile on your face while crafting your question and reading my answer, and I will have a smile on my face while reading your question and crafting my answer.
- If a question fails to bring a smile to my face, I will bother not to answer it. This means if you do not receive my answer, you will have to rewrite the question. And, if my answer does not please and educate you, you can ask me to rewrite it.
Let us agree on this deal. Doesn’t the condition itself bring a smile to your face? I am already smiling and excited for this “creative mandate.”
PROBINGS:
Have you ever made an important life-changing decision that you didn’t really want to make at first but later realized it was the right choice? What was that decision, and how did it turn out?
I have, and a number of times. First, I decided to continue teaching at Kathmandu University (KU) in August 2000 and shifted to Banepa in January 2001, though I did not want to leave Kathmandu. Second, I decided to compete for a permanent position at KU even though I wanted to secure a permanent job at Tribhuvan University. Third, my wife and I decided to have a second child when the first was six years old. Fourth, I decided to pursue PhD at KU though my initial plan was to do it elsewhere. Fifth, I agreed to be transferred to School of Engineering in 2013 though I had a clear career track at School of Arts. Sixth, I took a transfer to School of Education (SOED) in April 2022 although this involved staying away from my family and frequent long travels to and from work. There are a few more, in fact.
All these were life-changing decisions, whose actual values I realized later. For example, only after working for three years I realized that KU was a perfect place for professorship and my decision to join, continue, and become permanent was well-placed.
Some of my experiences at KU are recorded here: https://hkafle.com.np/archives/1425.
If you go through my website, you will get more posts on my life at KU. Having two children made a lot more responsibility in our lives, though we thought that having a second one was the continuation of the same way of bringing up the first. But I do not need to explain this here.
Let me focus on the sixth decision: transfer to SOED. It was more unplanned and abrupt than any of the earlier ones. Till April 2022, I was certain that I would retire from KU central campus and migrate to Morang, where I have a house and family properties. My family lived in the university quarters. Our sons were happy being there and wanted to complete their undergraduate education at KU central campus. But as I was nearing promotion to professorship, I began to realize I needed to contribute to my field of specialization (English and Rhetoric) to further consolidate my eligibility. Coincidentally, the Dean of SOED asked me if I would be able to serve the school for three days a week. I replied to him that such partial involvement would only add burden, and I would prefer a full transfer if he could make it happen. This casual response became a serious agenda for two reciprocal reasons. First, the Dean was looking for a senior faculty member to support the Department of Language Education (DoLE). Second, I was looking for an opportunity to join a postgraduate studies unit to consolidate my professorial engagement. The agenda became a proposal subsequently approved by the Registrar, leading to my full transfer to SOED, Hattiban. It became life-changing because I landed in a labyrinth of challenges and opportunities. Consequently, I served as the Head of DoLE for two years and could introduce a couple of new programs while being able to heighten the image of the Department. I was entrusted with the role of Associate Dean in April 2024. I also won the promotion to professorship in June 2024. Becoming a professor is the biggest achievement a university teacher ever dreams of and labours for. I know now that my decision to shift to SOED was the best decision.
Imagine you are standing with your biggest competitor, and you can steal one of their qualities. What would it be, and how would you use it?
This question is irrelevant to me in the sense of being in any competition and having any real competitor in sight. I do not have competition with anyone because I do not aspire to snatch an important job or a position now. I am a professor at a prestigious university, which means I have achieved the highest position a university teacher desires. I can only assume that some people may consider me a competitor and try to judge my weaknesses so that they can prepare themselves to outsmart me when a real competition arises and I become a part. Given this scenario, I would rather peek into one of my weaknesses, which may benefit my competitors. It is that I do not care what my weaknesses are, on which my competitors would found their strengths. If I knew my competitors and knew that they were intelligent enough to build strengths considering others’ weaknesses, I would steal that intelligence and train myself to be unbeatable.
How can I maintain such a unique personality like yours? In other words, how can I find my own unique self, one that is solely mine and not influenced by others?
Your question gives the impression that you want to imitate me. But I do not understand it that way. Other readers may. Modify the question a little to mean your uniqueness: ‘How can I maintain a unique personality like the way you do?’ This means you want to learn the process but not be influenced by the results. Right? The second part of this question is only the explanation of the first. So, how can you maintain uniqueness? You have already partly answered it by saying you want to have a personality ‘uninfluenced by others.’ You may also be thinking, ‘Is that possible?’ If I reflect on the meaning of uniqueness you observed in me, I can trace sources of inspiration and intrinsic motivation and no influence of a real individual except those I have read about in literature.
I have developed these commitments in real life. First, I listen to people carefully and judge their competencies and personalities. While I do this, I check how I think and should speak differently than they do. And I speak the points they somehow fail to speak about. Second, I try to bring references and examples from subjects other than those common people may have had access to. Third, even when I present thoughts and examples from a mundane subject, I present only those that I think people are unfamiliar with. Fourth, I make sure to add personal anecdotes that are peculiar to my or someone else’s lived contexts. Overall, every time I present myself to others, I remain guided by the urge that I must defamiliarize my thoughts and approaches. I do not react to things that usually anger or agitate common people. I avoid being where I should not be and speaking when I should not. I mostly dress according to the setting and model my ideas to sound differently relevant. In most cases, I give people the assurance that I am interested in, listening to, and concerned about them. Probably this gives me a unique personality. You know, it is hard to find people who have the patience to listen to you long before they decide to speak. It is equally rare to find people who communicate to inspire your thoughts rather than to engage your ears.
If you can emulate some of my approaches, you will probably achieve uniqueness of your own. But do not try to imitate me or anyone. Just be inspired and try to do better than them.
Everyone has their own attitude or traits in life. We’ve known each other for 4-5 months, and I’m sure you have noticed a few good and bad traits of mine. So, I ask you to point out my bad traits without mercy. I’m asking you this because I don’t want to be the same person after graduating with this degree. I truly want to correct myself and grow. I hope you will help me in this process.
I have tried to see you as a struggling individual apart from being a student. To me, you are someone who has just decided to hold on to a purpose: a bachelor’s degree with a promise to open up sure paths for life. One important trait I have noticed in you is the ability to decide amid dilemmas. This is a very positive trait. One weaker trait appears side by side. It is that you seem to spend quite a good amount of time juggling between options and not grabbing the right path early enough. But the time spent before coming to us can’t have been without rewards if you have considered understanding its impact on your life. You must have seen the world in its different dimensions. You must have tried to negotiate with your family about the value of your dreams, and they must have learned to trust you and wait for you before you found your direction.
I have seen nothing big to comment about you ‘without mercy’ in the last four to five months. Imagine how many problematic and good-for-nothing kids I may have come across in more than three decades of my career. If I reflect for a while and compare you with the many thousands I have met, only a few come to mind who match your elegance, preparedness, and sense of direction. However, amid all the good traits, one that you need to develop around this time is the audacity to ask ‘why’ and ‘how’ of people who assign you errands as if you were there to obey everything under the sun. I mean, if you accept challenges and responsibilities without questioning, that’s one bad trait you should correct. But I don’t mean that you must be blunt and superficial in your questions and responses. You may simply say to people, “I understand what you mean. This will probably teach me something. But may I know why it’s so important and how it’s going to help?”
You have just set foot on a great trail, my dear. The remaining three years and six months at KU will certainly transform you. I have seen many directionless fools turn into achievers. You are already a lovely boy able to perceive your destination. Never fail to take advantage of the knowledge and wisdom of people who have offered you space in their lives. Never forget to be grateful for that space. The more you utilize the space and show gratitude, the wider it will be made for you. The fact that you are treated both as a student and a colleague may sometimes give you an odd feeling. But maintain a fair balance between collegiality and studentship. This dual exposure is a great platform for transformation.
I don’t want to moralize you at this point. Just let things unfold for you. You are surrounded by extremely good people who will help you nurture a great career as an educator.
How do you manage to make us remember the stories and format of writing literature even though students are mostly daydreaming with open eyes during your class?
This question has a paradox and is slightly challenging for me. On the one hand, it intends to appreciate my ability to make you remember ‘the stories’ and ‘format of writing.’ On the other hand, it indicates my inability to involve you in the learning process, as you are ‘mostly daydreaming with open eyes.’ If I take it positively, you may be trying to say that my approach has such magical power that you remember and understand the lessons no matter how distracted you tend to be. If this is your intention, I must reflect on what I do. Probably, the daydreaming is the result of the atmosphere of magic I create through my words. My long engagement in poetry and poetic imagination has enriched me with the power to craft images (auditory, visual, tactile, olfactory, gustatory, thermal, etc.) and metaphors in my lectures on literature. When you hear lectures filled with imagery and metaphors, you are transported to a world of imagination. You begin to relate the elements of the lecture to your own life. At least, some people like you and me begin to daydream, trying to find their faces and emotions in the stories and poems. If you do not believe this, try to remember why you must have daydreamed (if you have) while I was speaking about a poem or telling a story. For example, what made you daydream while I was discussing the scenes in Bhim Nidhi Tiwari’s “Dera” or “Kharaniko Shishi”? Did you find yourself in one of the characters? Or did you remember someone who had similar experiences?
What was the word or sentence that I used so casually during the interview that completely caused the sparks in your eyes?
I can’t recall the words now. But I can guess. You may have said you loved teaching or (English) literature. You may as well have told us your aim was to become a professor of English in Nepal. Also, you may have appreciated the fact that the course was an integration of arts and education. You may equally have said that you wanted to study at KU because you had heard about the quality of mentorship that teachers try to provide. Now, you try to remember what exactly you may have said because you know the type of person I am.
By the way, I may not have been doing something on my mobile phone that would make me ignore you. I may have been fixing some technical error or sending a quick response to an urgent message while paying attention to the questions and your answers.