MI
Foundation Day message By Amrith
The moment I received an email requesting for an article about how MI has contributed to my personal and professional life, it straightaway dragged my imagination to the conditions of the lives of so-called visually impaired people in Bhutan before 1973 and the difference MI has been able to make after its establishment. It is clear to everybody that MI has made a huge difference in the lives of many visually impaired Bhutanese over the past forty years and it’s truly painful to imagine what could have happened to all of us had there been no such an institute established.
Although the institute has undergone quite significant change in its infrastructures today, the old landscape in which I grew up as a student still lingers afresh at the back of mind. The old hostel which provided me shelter for eleven years, the kitchen and the dining hall which me fed me for years and the sacred academic building where I received the first light of education can never fade away from my memories. The institute had really been my second home where I got even more than what I would have got from my actual home: love, care and guidance from the teachers and friends. It really served as a “home away from home” because it never made me miss my actual home throughout my academic life in the institute.
In addition to academic learning, I have also learned values and confidence from the institute that have been guiding me forward even to this day. The Institute has significantly shaped both my personal and professional life and I have gained a new outlook of the world around me. I am truly thankful to the teachers who served as my second parents at the Institute for their consistent care and guidance.
Today, I am a counselor by profession and I should say I am able to comfortably fulfill my duty. I am confident that this would not have been possible if the Institute had not groomed me well. I am also a successful family man since I am able to look after my children and help my wife in cooking, washing and cleaning like any other man. However, I should confess that these skills are not self-learned. I am grateful for MI for providing us with independent living skills which play a huge role in my daily life. People around me wonder in amazement when they see me do the household chores independently and I make it a point to let them know that I have learned all those skills from MI in Khaling.
So, my ability to interact and socialize with people from any society today and the professionalism with which I have been able to carry out my professional duty, all reflect the tremendous contributions made by the Institute to my life.
In short, I should say that I have found the real purpose and meaning of life at the Institute. I cannot still imagine what would have been my life like, had I not joined the Institute on time or had the Institute been not there at all.
The time may pass by with days, weeks, months and years, but I can never forget how MI has made me a proud citizen of Bhutan.
On this joyous occasion of the 40th Foundation Day of the Institute, I would like to take the opportunity to heartily thank all the teachers and non¬teaching staff of the Institute, both past and present, for their unwavering support and services till date. May the Institute continue to pave new ways for the visually impaired citizens of Bhutan and produce many more promising graduates every year.
Tashi Delek. (Amrith Bdr Subba) Counsellor, Youth Center Division, Dept. of Youth and Sports, MoE. Thimphu: Bhutan. (Currently undertaking Masters of Counselling under Endeavour scholarship at Curtin University of Technology, Perth, Western Australia)