The last few nights, I could barely sleep. A deep sense of fear and anxiety was sitting on my chest. My breaths were shallow, and I was feeling suffocated. As a claustrophobe, the last time I had similar bouts of anxiety attacks was when Prince was found deep inside the borewell, and a football team of young boys got trapped inside a flooded cave in Thailand, and rescue attempts were being made from outside. Every minute was like an hour.
Helplessly watching someone slide to death requires insensitivity of the worst kind.
How are they keeping calm, waiting without knowing if any attempts to rescue them at all are being made? Will they remain alive till help reaches them? These questions kept haunting me.
I knew what was causing the anxiety yesterday. Sonam Wangchuk was on indefinite fast at Jantar Mantar seeking the resignation of the central education minister. The resignation was a symbol; what he was asking for was performance from the government and accountability from the people who are at the helm of affairs. His health was deteriorating fast, almost taking him dangerously to the point of no return, and the government was playing deaf to his demands.
While the majority remained blissfully oblivious to the current state of affairs, a few by the name of cockroaches dared to fight in their quixotic bid to redefine the education landscape. Sonam chose to make a common cause and stood with them. But what was disheartening was the jeering of a small section of people, for whose interests he was fighting. They were not only seen hurling abuses but were seen mocking and questioning his credentials as a citizen and the ones who were supporting this protest.
Yesterday morning on the TV, we saw policemen swarming the protest venue and forcefully lifting him to the hospital to prevent him from dying. Not because the government loved him, but they didn’t want to gift him martyrdom, which might fuel an uprising. The uprising to make an elected government accountable.
Some solace. We are not losing him.
He will live to fight another day for our people, our country.
This morning, almost half asleep, I remembered his speech and could reproduce it verbatim. In today’s world, when our heads of state give speeches that make you cringe and run to close your ears, his speech was absolutely old-school—coming from a role model and an example for society.
That was the April 27, 2024, the Convocation of the Undergraduates of XIM University. Sonam Wangchuk was the Chief Guest, and I was there as one of the guest faculty members in the audience. Seeing your students walk away with the degrees they have earned into the life ahead is a joyous occasion. Another attraction was Sonam Wangchuk, whom I had heard of but had never seen him in person.
His exterior of a small, smiling, shy, quiet, and polite person with a glint in his eyes barely hid the cold determination of a fighter. His reputation had preceded him. He was with his wife, Gitanjali J Angmo, who is an Odia from Balasore and also an alumna of the university.
His message to the graduating students was unambiguous. That students are not given education to serve as a slave for someone’s unethical interest but are designed as potential change-makers – the solvers of problems of their own, of their organisation’s, and that of society. And he gave the mantra of how to be a change-maker.
A great takeaway that has remained etched in me even after almost two years. I let my imagination travel back in time. This was the summary of his speech, which I recollect clearly.
Curiosity:
Stay curious. Try to know how things around you operate – from nature to people. Doubt the established dogma; know the rationale behind the established things. See who the ones are benefiting from it and who are resisting change and want the status quo to continue. Only when you understand how it works can you solve the problems.
Empathy:
Develop empathy. Try to put yourself in the position of the disadvantaged and weak and see things from their perspectives. In a democracy, their voices have to be heard and factored into all the development initiatives. The small and big all have their right over this planet. The brute majority should not be only for the majoritarian agenda. This place belongs to all.
Spirit of Initiative:
Be the first one to stick your neck out and risk being seen standing alone. Not many will like it, but a beginning has to be made. Voice it, transmit it. Be heard. Others will join.
Action:
Being sympathetic alone is not enough. It can only make you a couch warrior. You need to participate. You need to take the initiative to set examples by doing it yourself and by mobilising people to join your initiative. Change happens when more people join.
Experience:
Nothing teaches you more than your own experience. Others’ experience might give you perspectives and insights to avoid their mistakes, but your own experience still is the best teacher. Never avoid being a part of some different experience. Don’t be afraid to fail.
Confidence:
Earn confidence. Confidence comes from you being right. Also, with your knowledge, experience, and deep understanding of how individuals and systems work, you can see how loopholes in the systems have developed and how that can be plugged.
Success:
Success should be seen differently. It should not be seen in terms of power, position, or material success. That’s a faulty social construct. You should see your success in terms of the positive impact you are creating around you. Apart from your own safety, security, and growth, you need to be a person who speaks for the weak and disadvantaged and has the least negative impact on our environment.
This was not a message only to the students; it was a message to the parents too. Are we raising change-makers, or are we raising prized oxen and draft horses — strong, obedient, and useful to someone else? And to the people out to burn him at the stake; are you listening? Because killing him is not just killing one man to save your interest. It’s killing the future we owe our children.
(Views expressed by the columnist are personal and do not necessarily reflect the opinion or policy of the news portal)
