As Lop.Gembo Tenzin bent down to pick up the list of Dzongkha words, there was a pin drop silence in the auditorium. The audience was agog with excitement not knowing who among the three contestants left in the fray, out of a field of 20, was going to be the eventual winner. Would Kinlay Dorji of XII Com true to form, go on to win the contest, or would Mr.Sonam Penjor, XI Arts turn the applecart and upset all predictions? There was another possibility – the only girl contestant, Ms. Ugyen Dema of XE, might prove more than a handful for the senior contestants to prove the pundits wrong. No one knew the answer and there prevailed an air of suspended tension and excitement in the old MPH.

Ugyen Dema, unfortunately, got eliminated at the start of the fifth and final round. The other two finalists had in the meanwhile crossed the first hurdle by spelling out their words correctly and waiting for the next words. Both of them failed to spell though the next words correctly. The score was a tie and the auditorium was not a place for the weak-hearted at that moment. Kinlay Dorji looked nervous in spelling the third word. “CORRECT’ pronounced the Spell Master, much to the delight of the speller as well the audience. Sonam Penjor looked quite relaxed in between the two finalists awaiting his turn. He spelled it out with confidence. Lop. Gembo Tenzin was playing his role to a T and kept up the tempo and the suspense by simply repeating the first part of the word after Sonam. He did the same thing twice. The audience now shifted its focus on the large stage screen with bated breath. The word was displayed simultaneously as Lop. Gembo Tenzin blurted out the word! Glory and Honour gave Sonam Penjor the slip by a whisker. He stood a proud second in the Spelling Contest. Congratulations to Mr. Thinlay Dorji for being the Champion Speller of Chhukha Central School for the year 2016. You have really made us proud.

Our Principal Sir summed it up aptly by reminding the audience about the importance of the National Language, modelled after the ancient Chokey, the language of Tibet,Besides being a core language, said he, Dzongkha also has the advantage of opening up new vistas for the students of all streams. Even the science students can opt for honours in Dzongkha, if the situation so demands. He asked the students to take Dzongkha far more seriously.

As I stepped out of the hall, I was overcome with a strong sense of shame. After 27 years stay in this god-blessed country, Dzongkha remains all Greek to me. Having heard the students spell out everyday words like: Lyenpo, Drangpa, Ugyen, Drangchen, Dzongda, Gup, Zimpoen, Drangpoen, Drimpoen, Penlop, Lhengye Zhungshog, Tengay Lengkha, Chhorten, Bungchhung, Chhorten, just to sample a few, I realized that mastering a language, especially the one like Dzongkhag, has very little to do with Phonetics. There are no secrets to sure success in spelling especially in Dzongkha, other than hard work.