Does this part of the story seem almost cosmic to you? It does to me and I think the details are worth understanding and contemplating because they push our perception of control off the edge of the planet and into the realm of the Celestine Prophecy.

The streets of Kathmandu are awash with the color of everyday life.

Although intelligent and educated how can one man hindered by an undeveloped country, poverty and limited resources defy the odds and connect with a professor thousands of miles away in Nebraska? There’s Mahabir, sitting day after day in the American library in Kathmandu, laboriously writing letters and mailing them one by one to hundreds of US colleges. He waits week after week and month after month for a reply never knowing if the letter even made it out of Nepal owing to the archaic postal system. Even if the letter left Nepal the odds of finding a sympathetic recipient was limited by the time of year, school location, size, resources and the improbability of receiving a scholarship. Add to that the poor odds that even if someone wrote back the letter would make it through the Nepali postal system and back to Mahabir.

Yet across continents and oceans the letter went and landed on the desk of Dr. Leonard Skov in Kearney, Nebraska. Dr. Skov described receiving the first letter from Mahabir as a surprise but the more he contemplated the sheer incredibility of Mahabir’s endeavor the more he decided to jump into Mahabir Pun’s dream. Dr. Skov wrote: “That first letter from Mahabir is still almost “word for word” even now.  He was asking to come to Kearney State College, now University of Nebraska Kearney. Because all his resources were to be used to get to the USA,  he needed support for tuition, housing, books, food (everything).  The college never had a student seeking such an arrangement, but President Bill Nester turned us loose to make it work.”

Mahabir said it was not a full scholarship but covered the tuition….$3000 USD…a sum his $15.38/month teacher salary wouldn’t have come close to paying. Given the improbable odds one could say Mahabir Pun had hit the lottery. This was the best offer he had received to date and he accepted. He also had a $1000 USD/year grant from the American Nepal Association in Oregon to help with expenses. Making this even more incredulous was the fact that he had also asked on behalf of his friend Dhanajaya…and they both were offered the same scholarship and opportunity.

Dr. Skov sent a letter and Mahabir told me he had saved it for many years but he no longer has the letter. It would have been nice to see it when I was in Pokhara for nostalgic reasons…but it had served it’s purpose…Mahabir is not sentimental so it is only a memory.

Do you have  story to tell about an odds defying event in your life? Share it with the readers and join me next week for more of Mahabir Pun’s incredible journey to study abroad.

Mahabir Pun quit teaching and left Chitwan in July of 1987. He left behind a successful and satisfying teaching career along with his family. He had no wife or children of his own and his younger siblings had finished their education, so he was free to do as he dreamed. And dream he did…of studying overseas in America.

The tuk-tuk is a three wheeled taxi in Kathmandu.

He lived in Kathmandu and applied to colleges in the USA and England for a year and a half. Using money from his Provident Fund, which was a required savings of 10% of his teacher’s salary that was matched by 10% from the government he managed a meager existence paying for room and board as he researched and applied to schools. This was not a pension as the funds were available if you quit or retired. Remember his 225 rupees/month ($2.35 USD) starting teachers salary? Thirteen years later he was making 1500 rupees/month ($15.68 USD). Mahabir told me this was “an OK salary” back then.

This was the pre-Internet era so he went to the American Library, housed in the US Embassy, for information. Many countries that had embassies developed libraries that allowed open access to ex-patriots and local Nepalese. The libraries had catalogues and videos that provided all the information needed to apply for study abroad: requirements, how to apply, application forms, and addresses.

Like this young boy, Mahabir Pun got around Kathmandu by foot during his years of applying to study abroad.

Mahabir mailed one letter a day. He requested a full scholarship to study Education at each institution. He applied to hundreds of schools. Many schools returned formal letters of rejection and maybe 3-4 letters offered some hope. He recalls receiving a letter from Piedmont College in Georgia, which offered a small sum of scholarship money, but without a full scholarship he could not afford to go. Then one day he received a letter from the University of Nebraska at Kearney from Dr. Leonard Skov. Dr Skov was the Dean of Education at UNK. So began a mentorship that was to last for decades and once again changed the trajectory of Mahabir Pun’s career.

Did someone change your life through mentorship? Have you mentored someone? Share your story with my readers and join me next week to read more about Dr. Skov and Mahabir Pun’s growing friendship.

Mahabir Pun taught for thirteen years in Chitwan. Contrary to cultural norms and the wishes of his parents he deferred marriage so he could cultivate his dream to study abroad. Then one day another pivotal event occurred which changed the course of his life.

Author with teachers at Himanchal Higher Education School auditorium.

Each school district has a Chief District Officer (CDO). This is a very powerful position and the CDO yields unfettered power from overseeing schools to maintaining law and order. Mahabir describes this particular CDO as a “jerk”. “This man was difficult to work with and treated people poorly, he yelled and was rude”. According to Mahabir’s account, one day when school was in session, the CDO went to classrooms and reprimanded teachers for no reason in front of the students. Everyone was afraid of the CDO because he could fire them or have them arrested. No one argued with him…until that fateful day when Mahabir stepped up and told him “it was not good to yell at the teachers in front of the students.”. The CDO became angry and a heated argument ensured where Mahabir and the CDO exchanged verbal insults back and forth.

Students from Himanchal Higher Secondary School, Nangi, Nepal.

You can see where this is going….but interestingly it wasn’t until a few months later that the CDO came back one evening and took Mahabir to the local police station. He remained there for six days in police custody. Mahabir is very clear in saying he was not arrested…simply placed in police custody. I’m not sure what difference it makes except he was never charged with a crime. This man processed power and he wanted Mahabir to fear him. But Mahabir, true to character, was not intimidated. Quite contrary to the CDO’s desired results Mahabir was even more angry. He confronted the CDO again and asked why he had him detained. He was told “forget it” by the CDO, but Mahabir would not forget or accept. He quit after this incident and left for Kathmandu in 1987.

His siblings were educated and he had no family of his own to consider…he was free to launch his dream to study abroad. For the next year and a half he lived off his small savings in Kathmandu and doggedly organized a plan be accepted at a foreign university.

If you have ever quit a job to pursue a dream share your story by leaving a comment. Join me next week and read how Mahabir figured out the system he needed to attain his dream.

Mahabir Pun taught in Chitwan for thirteen years. As the science and math teacher he would have direct opportunities to influence many students daily and some of his students continued their education earning college and masters degrees in the sciences. He does not take credit for their accomplishments or attempt to keep in touch with them. He is not someone to look back, but instead keeps up a relentless forward thrust. However over the years he has been approached by former students via social media and during his lectures and travels.

11th grade students at tika welcoming ceremony, Himanchal Higher Education School, Nangi, Nepal. October 2012.

“I have lots of students from that time, who remember me, contact me or meet me whenever possible. Many of them look even older than me. When we come across, they come forward and introduce themselves to me and tell that they are my students from the specific school and specific year. It is difficult to remember all the faces for such a long period of time. Many of them are even in the US or Europe or Australia or Japan working now. I don’t keep record of them as who is where, but they post me messages once in a while through Facebook or email. I have one student in Denver, who is running eight UPS stores. I have one students running two restaurants in Nebraska. Two students are working as engineers in Virginia area. I have one student in Nepal, who is the Chief Consultant of the company that is building 85 Mile fast track highway and tunnel from Kathmandu to Hetaunda to connect Kathmandu and India. I have a student, who is working as Country Director of Save the Children in Sweden. Some students joined Nepal Army and they have reached to the post of Colonel. Several engineers and doctors or businessman whom I taught in Chitwan are either working in Nepal or abroad. My students come to meet me whenever I travel in different cities in different countries or they at least ask me to stop by when I travel in their area.”

Nangi student wearing traditional head strap bag to carry school books and supplies.

Mahabir described himself as a tough teacher. He demanded discipline in his classroom and was known to occasionally smack students for being disrespectful or disobeying. Some might find that offensive but the one time I witnessed this in Nangi it was not done with malice, nor was it a regular means of discipline. Students present and past respect, admire and try to emulate him. He is their national hero.

Do you recall a teacher who left a lasting impression on you? In 1980, as an LPN, I attended college for the first time at Parkerburg Community College to earn my RN degree. The biology teacher stopped me after class one day and asked if I’d ever considered going to medical school instead. On a legal pad he wrote all the qualifying classes I would need to take…it was a long list. I wish I had kept that list…but for six years I slowly ticked off those classes…one to two a semester until I was ready for the MCATS (Medical College Admissions Test). I can’t remember his name but I remember his face…and how he changed my life. Join me next week to read about the week Mahabir spent in police custody…an event that ended one career and launched another.

Mahendra, seven year old student in Nangi 2009

When I was in Nepal last September and October I interviewed Mahabir in Pokhara and Kathmandu. For those of you who know him well…it is difficult to get him to sit in one place for long. He was most gracious and patient with me as we sat for long hours of discussion. I had questions prepared over a chronological timeline but mostly he just talked and I took notes.

Over the last several months as I reviewed and organized my notes I find many detailed conversations but an assortment of cursory notes which I scribbled as I listened to some extraordinary stories. We covered as much as possible, yet there was so much I didn’t know enough to ask about. Mahabir has continued to support this project by answering in great detail my weekly questions as I whittle away at the specifics of his life, and lately his early teaching years. The following is an excerpt from one of those emails….he describes it so well, there seemed little I could improve on so I have copied his note to share directly:

Young student in Pokhara, Nepal 2009

“I taught in four high schools in Chitwan over a period of 13 years. I started teaching from Dibyanagar High School and taught there about a year. Then I was transferred to Nepal High School where I taught for about four years. From Nepal High School I was transferred to Birendranagar High School where I taught about a year. Then I was transferred to Khairahani High School…from where I had completed my 10th grade. The district education office transferred me wherever they needed me to fill in the post of science and math teacher. I was happy to go anywhere.”

“I was a good science and math teacher and the students liked me, wherever I went. Actually I had turned just 19 years when I started my teaching and the students I was teaching were like my friends. I treated the students as my friends in all the years of my teaching career and spent more time with the students than I did with my fellow teachers. I was strict teacher in the classroom and the students were afraid of me for being naughty, however, I was just like their friends outside classrooms.”

Himanchal Higher Education School students playing volleyball after school, Nangi 2009.

“I organized several programs with the students to raise money to build a good science lab. We did cultural programs during the festivals to raise money. We planted banana, ginger and turmeric in the field owned by the school and sold them. We raised pigs and built fish ponds in the school’s land. The science lab that we built in Khairahani High School was the best science lab in Chitwan and I taught students lots of practical sciences. Therefore the students were happy with me. I even published a Science Lab Practical Handbook for the students. I went to India to get the handbook printed.”

“In this way I spent most of my time in the school with the students doing different things and teaching in the schools. We worked even during the holidays. As told by some of my friends, some of the parents of Brahaman and Chhetri students were not happy with me. It was because Brahamans and Chhetris were not supposed to touch pigs because they were higher castes. However, I had made the Brahaman and Chhetri students to be involved in the pig farm, which they were doing happily. But the parents never complained directly (even if they were unhappy) for making their sons and daughters work in the pig farm.”

Last week I wrote about the challenges in educating the Nepali rural poor. Even then, Mahabir was a pioneer in methods to engage students, raise money and improve the education of his students. Have you ever had to raise money for your own projects? Share you story with our readers by leaving a comment. Join me next week for more of Mahabir’s stories of teaching in Chitwan.

Mahabir Pun moved back to the Chitwan area of Nepal in the summer of 1973. His hometown was Birendranagar, but the government placed him in a small village where he began teaching science and math from 1st to 8th grades. It is interesting to note that despite being a large city for the area and far removed from available universities, it wasn’t until 2010 that the first university, Mid-western University, opened it’s doors to students. It demonstrates the lack of higher education and resources available to students in the Chitwan area.

Mahabir Pun at work in the Nepal Connection, his restaurant and think tank located in Thamel, Kathmandu.

Mahabir was a government appointed teacher and subject to their rules and regulations. He was paid by the government but was not considered an employee so he had no benefits. He began teaching science and math at a school in a small village called Dibyanagar. Over the next 13 years he was placed in five different schools. He had little control over his destiny due to the political corruption that stretched deeply into the education system especially in the rural districts. His tenor ended abruptly in 1987 when he had a run in with the Chief District Officer.

During his 13 years of teaching in the Chitwan area he was responsible to educate his younger siblings. His sisters, Dhankumarie, Gaumaya and Maya, along with his brothers, Ratna and Dambai were educated through the 12th grade with Mahabir’s help. As the eldest son he took this responsibility seriously, but told me once his youngest sibling was finished: “I was now free and no responsibility”. He began to dream again…and as so often occurs in life his dream was turned into a reality by the unexpected….one gnarly district officer.

Have you ever had an unexpected change in the course of your life driven by an unlikely source? Share your memories and comments with your fellow readers. I remember the day in August 1986 when a park ranger knocked on my tent and told me I had an emergency call. The call was from the admissions office of Marshall University School of Medicine which had tracked me down through friends to a national park in North Carolina. I had applied to medical school but not made the cut. Dr Brown, the Dean of Admissions, had an unexpected opening and chose me…he was willing to believe a 32 year old single mom with two kids could meet the challenge of medical school…he changed the course of my life and I am eternally grateful.

Thank you for reading my blog book and supporting this extraordinary man, Mahabir Pun. Join me next week for more stories about Mahabir’s early teaching years in Chitwan.

Kathmandu prayer wheel.

Mahabir Pun passed the entrance exam to study 11th and 12th grades at the most prestigious science college at that time, the Amrit Science College. Living in a rented room for 30 rupees/month (33 cents USD) he had no money for books or clothing. Most of his books were borrowed from the school library and he wore simple attire. In his own words: “I wore short pant, simple shoe and shirt all the time in Kathmandu. I had bought a woolen sweater for the winter to keep me warm. Many people used to tease me wearing short pant and shirts in the college. I did not listen them because I did not want to tell that I could not afford to do it. I was the only student in the college with short pant and shirt. That was why I still don’t care about what I wear even now. That was the way I grew up.”

Kathmandu vegetable and fruit vendors sell rural farmers’ produce.

He struggled in class because the science and math classes were taught in English. Imagine trying to study difficult courses such as physics, math and chemistry in a foreign language while lving in a strange large city without knowing anyone. His goal was to take the final exam and make the required passing grade of 60% in order to qualify for a scholarship through the Columbo Plan. More information on the plan can be found here. He wanted to study Engineering abroad but his total average on the final exam was a disappointing 53%. Although his father wanted him to continue his studies Mahabir knew he didn’t have the money and it would place a huge burden on the family.

Like he would do his entire life he made a difficult choice and put his studies on hold to return to Chitwan. He told me: “My dream to become an engineer was shattered. I did not want to be burden financially to my father. That was why I went to Chitwan and applied for a teaching job.” It was July 1973 and he was 19 years old. Packing a small sack he went home and took a teaching job for 225 rupees/month ($2.48 USD) so he could put his younger siblings through higher education.

Have you ever given up a dream or put your goals on hold? Share your comments with the readers and join me next week for chapter three which begins the story of Mahabir’s teaching years.

Flower stalls, such as this one at Pashupatinath Hindu Temple, would have been a common sight in Kathmandu when Mahabir was a young student.

After Mahabir completed the 10th grade he was sent to Kathmandu in 1971 to continue his education. During this period of evolving Nepal education the 11th and 12th grades were considered college level studies but there were no colleges in the Terai region where he lived. His father did not have the money to send him to school so Mahabir’s father applied for a scholarship from the Indian Army. As a retired Gurkha his children were eligible for educational scholarships. Most retired Nepali Gurkhas were unable to navigate the mine-field of paper work required to apply, but a family friend helped him compete and submit the application. Mahabir did not name this man but I could see he was greateful for the assistance. Mahabir is a humble man and he knows along every step of his journey many hands have reached out to guide him. Some of the encounters are brief and others last from the time of the first meeting, such as Dr. Leonard Skov who you will meet later in the story.

Boudhanath Buddhist Stupa.

Mahabir received a scholarship of 75 rupees/month….roughly one US dollar. That’s one dollar…for a month. Better than nothing but still hard for me to wrap my head around the value. Back then a dollar bought a good bit of rice and lentils, but how did any student live on one dollar when they needed books, paper, pencils, clothes, room and board. Knowing Mahabir I’ll assume the clothing, room and board were not an issue. Even now he wears the same clothes day in and day out because he gives no thought to style and he lives a spartan life with few possessions in the modest home of a relative. He would have walked everywhere as a young student in Kathmandu and his most useful school tool would have been his mind. Mahabir never squandered his time in school and lack of financial resources did not hinder his growth.

Kathmandu back then was smaller, less hectic and filled with western flower-power hippies seeking a simpler life, but it must have been a huge change in life-styles from the country-side of his youth. Have you ever moved from the country to the city? Share your experience by leaving a comment. Return next week and read how Mahabir used his education after leaving Kathmandu to help his siblings.

Looking northwest from Pokhara to Mt. Machapuchare in the Annapurna Himals. Nangi lies on the other side of this mountain locally known as “Fishtail”.

When Mahabir Pun was 14 years old his father, Kisna, moved him to the Terai region of Nepal so Mahabir could attend the 9^th and 10^th grades. The year was 1969. It was out of the question to have sent him to a boarding school in Pokhara due to costs. Kisna would have to pay a monthly fee for the 9^th and 10^th grades because the Nepal government only supported education until the 5^th grade. It was all he could afford. Pokhara would have been closer and allowed Kisna to continue farming his Nangi lands, but there were no relatives in Pokhara at that time and he would depend on his Terai relatives for housing and work. This is why only Kisna and Mahabir went; the rest of the family followed two years later. It was a huge sacrifice to leave his family lands and start anew…to leave his family once again must have been a difficult decision. It is also a tribute to the strength of his mother, Purbi.

The Terai is the southern most part of Nepal; the plains are as flat as the mountains Mahabir grew up in are high. This land was once a great forest but lumber was harvested in the 1800s for the railroad industry. During the 1960s malaria was eradicated using DDT and the area became the equivalent of the American frontier back in the 1800s. Even now it is reported as the most productive region of Nepal with agriculture as the backbone supporting industries such as tobacco factories and rice mills. During the 1960s farmers from the mid-hill regions came in search of better land for their animal stock and crops. They found the flat plains more fertile and easier to farm then the narrow terraced fields of the mid-hills.

Buddhist prayer flags. West of the Chitwan area is the birthplace of Buddha in Lumbini, twenty-five hundred years ago.

Mahabir recalls walking from Nangi to the Terai region with his father. I know it takes two days to walk from just Nangi to Pokhara and six hours by bus from Pokhara to the Terai. He said they walked for days, but according to Nepali custom they had only to knock on a door and ask a stranger for shelter and a meal along the way. Arriving in the Chitwan area, which is the central Terai, they lived with relatives. Mahabir attended school and helped his father farm. He told me there were trained teachers, not just local volunteers, who taught in the schools and he used textbooks for the first time. Two years later at age sixteen he completed his studies only to be packed off to Kathmandu and what was then called college by a father who would not pause his quest to educate his children.

Do you have a memory of moving and/or changing schools to tell your fellow readers? Share your stories and comments by clicking on the comment bubble in the upper right hand corner of this blog entry. I can still recall sitting in my first college class at age 29. 18-year-old students who were debating the best way to get drunk surrounded me. I knew the best way to get spit-up stains out of a blouse but I didn’t think they would be interested….or maybe they would be after a night of drinking. Join me next week and read about Mahabir Pun’s high school days in Kathmandu.