BSA (Bhutan Students Association)meets for Dawadangpa Losar

However we are close or near to each other it’s very difficult to meet each other, keeping one way or other always engaged in our own way, unless propelled by inevitable circumstances. Bhutan Student Association (BSA) own by four executive members was born to bridge this gap of Bhutanese Students overseas who are for studies and more importantly to prove and flaunt to the world that Bhutanese culture is the inherent quality of every Bhutanese fellow and not forgotten wherever we go. Without such association overseas it would be too disgraceful for not being able to notice Bhutanese fellow even next to your door. So, BSA pulls all Bhutanese students together at least once in a year to mark Bhutanese festivals, during which many get to meet their friends who have been lost without met for ages.

As far as BSA at my place is concerned we get together twice in a year, on Thrue Baab and Dawa Dang pa Losar. When it is very thorny to meet even two people’s convenience together on the same day, what to say about meeting of 80-90 peoples’ convenience together on the same day!, it’s very difficult. Bhutanese festivals rarely fall either on week ends or either of the holidays we get here, as a result to mark on actual day becomes unfeasible. So we celebrate normally on week ends if it falls on our working days. This year though Dawa Dangpa Losar was on Sunday (14th February) but as we had exam on Monday just a day after the actual day of Losar, so we gathered on Saturday (13th February) for the same.

The day was maneuvered to be spent with gamut of activities no lesser than what we used to do back in home land. Both undergraduates and masters students from different colleges and universities dressed in best of their attires gathered to kick off the first program of the day, to have lunch. With lunch all were energized to move to another program of the day, the football match, which was the main program of the day. There were four teams. Under a sweltering sun all team toiled best of their ability to notch up as many goals as they could to get the little price. All teams’ best effort with a desire to legally snatch the little price vanished in the air when our college team beat all three teams and took the price. By the time football match was over the day was already turned to dusk.

After football match all gathered for election of new BSA executive members as the year long tenure for old executive members was over. The election was done for four executive members, president, vice president, general secretary and treasurer. This was done within an hour. After election all executives’ members, one by one, both new and outgoing were let to address the gathering. After this, the night program which consisted of cultural programs and hip hop dances was started together with drinks. Few group dances lasted an hour which was then followed by couple dance.
For sometime hall turned to discotheque with music on the top of everything and everybody dancing. Dance was halted for dinner and after dinner it was already 11.pm then. Every body rushed to wrap up the program. Finally with Tashi Labae, the celebration ended. After Tashi Labae every body dispersed to their respective colleges with contentment that they had fun and enjoyment not lesser than what they would have  had they been back in homeland.

The Surprise Test

Since the day I was told about this odd exam called ‘surprise test’ that I have to give every first month of every semester, I was never left in peace from wondering that whose brandchild it was and for what greater purpose it was brought into our curriculum? Does any other university also conduct this sort of test? It’s been three years living with this exam now but till date I don’t have any idea whether any other university anywhere in the world has similar system like ours. My ‘frog in the pound’s knowledge would be too less to conclude that there is no university other than ours' which has such a  system, nevertheless, at least  from  the universities I know, I would admit that there is no such system. What ever may be, this is really a unique test, a schedule-less test, that has immense ability to screw the students to the extent of lamenting that if they are ever given chance to choose either of electric shock or surprise test shock they would go for electric shock.

This time is the 6th time I’m appearing and yeah! Compare to first time I’m bit adapted with it. I vividly remember how it has screwed us in the very first month of first semester when we were struggling to get rid of our nostalgic ridden heart. At least, University prescribes limitation period during which, by any means, this test should get over. Unlike previous years this year they have reduced the period to one week and accordingly eased the students. Though the nature of test demands to get prepared all subjects together as they would not know which subject they would get next day but it’s very difficult to study all subjects together, so  many students take risk and go for predication only to find next day just topsy-turvy, not what they predicted, and as a result many land up in zeros. This time it happened to me it was cumbersome to study all subjects together so I took risk and left one subject simply by flipping few pages only to find next day the same subject which I barely touched the previous day. But, thank god! At least there was a question from what I’ have flipped few pages the previous day. It’s for sure I won’t get good mark but at least I saved zero…and more over every mistake is a great teacher. I won’t make same blunder in coming semesters.