Painting a glimpse picture of my debut posting place, Ukhrul Hr Sec School and the invaluable experiences garnered thus far

Tongtong Serto *

The Day was 29 August 2016, overwhelmed with excitement built up for the D-day, I went to the renowned showroom in Imphal where I could see myself dress with expensive branded touches like Arrow, Van heusen after all the first impression is the last impression.

Those were the days where one read or heard a bit of this hill town, the land of Shirui Lily viz; Its beautiful people and vibrant, colourful culture and especially welcoming hospitality sounds music to my ear.

Not a surprise package, picturesque town and surrounded by all the good records, the reader of this article who aspires to be in the teaching profession won't hesitate to get posted there too if given a chance, not running for stay order huh!

Then comes the first official day of the School, 1st Sept, 2016 all prep up in typical teacher formal attire and the glittering shining shoes adds the perfection but to my utter surprise I was greeted with the kind of mud and slush fest a sign of pathetic road condition, looks like prolong overlooked neglected area where only gumboots respected.

Hilarious isn't it! Picture yourself covering from head to toe with branded stuff and the height of shining shoes even to the extent of reflecting your charming face gone to the wind at instant and the rest 5 years stint in UHSS was a lifetime thrilling experience altogether.

No different from any place, Ukhrul town too have echoed the same cynical feeling towards the Govt School, unconvinced parents who are from well to do family care to send their wards to some other States like Shillong, Guwahati etc and to say the least if in Manipur to Imphal or Ukhrul private institution.

To be honest, only students who couldn't make a cut in the said school and from economically poor background families look up to the Govt school for the last resort. Any Tom, Dick, Harry no matter how good or well experienced they will face an arduous uphill task. Against this backdrop, a novice probationer all set for the exhilarating teaching profession.

Lucky enough the whole teaching fraternity of the school were like a close knit family working as a team to churn out the best out of the students.

There were times where I struggled to communicate as students preferred local Tangkhul language for better grasp of the lesson but somehow we managed to click and subsequently the joy of learning thrived leaps and bounds, and of course I hit some choppy water too for e.g water scarcity in many occasion despite the flourishing gumboots sale signifying the rain-fed region really gives us a scratching head like situation.

Plethora factors attributing to the water crisis which I later wrapped around my head and penned down my reflection in my paper publication entitled '' Sustainable water management and way forward to replenish the water resources in Ukhrul town, Manipur'' in the International journal for multidisciplinary research.

Flipping on the other side of the coin, the school pass percentage keeps on excelling even surpassing some of the schools in Imphal city though the school placed in a remote geographical landscape and limited facilities speaks the volume of excellence level in quality wise.

Very normal to say some critics might be pointing fingers at us "exam center do nungairamgani blah, blah.." (Questioning the credibility of the fairness of exam) pooh poohed the eyebrow raised, I proudly, guaranteeing you the exam in Ukhrul is one of the finest in terms of quality and fairness as I have the experienced of invigilating in different districts and a part of State flying squad team navigating around the State.

Moving fast forward the year 2021, so called the pandemic year, a blessing in disguise I should say Ukhrul started to witness a sea change in different department, juxtaposition picture of then and now with finest black top road adorning the hill town, revamped fully furnished school displayed in full glory, massive jump in enrolment, new recruits native young guns filling the vacant post.

Should I call it serendipitous? The timing when the house is getting in order and everything looks set, the transfer order bell buzzing to pack things up and bid adieu to my beloved colleague.

On a lighter note, I wish I could use a magic wand to turn things around the 1st Sept, 2016 branded attire with mud free shining shoes walked past wino bazaar. Nonetheless, priceless good memoirs will remain etched on my memory.

The debut posting place Ukhrul laid the groundwork of grit, never give up attitude and more importantly diversified perspective amidst unforeseen challenges profoundly emboldened me to throw more punch here in my new posting place Ibotonsana Girls' Hr sec School in shaping students with all the hard earned invaluable traits garnered from UHSS ecosystem to replicate the same with new modus operandi.

The punch line is dare to face the myriad challenges life throws at us with out of the box ideas and enjoy the journey.

Happy ride!

Three cheers to UHSS! and welcome onboard to the world of IGHSS.