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WFP
in Bhutan: A lifetime of cooking - Ata Thaptshangpa: cooking for generations |
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Bhutanese style kitchen
People
say he epitomises being dirty and ugly but there is no count of how many
children who literally ate from his hand. Today he feeds the children of
parents who, once as students, ate what he prepared.
Rinchen
Wangdi, better known as Ata thaptshangpa (cook), has been cooking meals
for students of Galing Primary School in Shongphu gewog for the past 27
years.
Former
students remember him from day one of their schooling years when they nervously
lined up to be served food. |
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Ata
thaptshangpa would use a big ladle to scoop the food, wipe off the mound
with his hand, and serve them. He was the liveliest figure in the otherwise
serious atmosphere of school.
"I
cooked for students in Galing ever since the school introduced food," 50-year
old Rinchen Wangdi, said. "The drangpons and many senior government officials
and entrepreneurs of today ate what I cooked for them."
The
school was earlier located at a place called Chuthung. When the school
moved to its present more central location seven years ago, Ata thaptsangpa
also moved along.
He
now has a mud house kitchen, which he claims to have built himself. "I
missed the kitchen and dining hall in Chuthung," he said. "The new location
did not even have a proper kitchen. Then it was just a bamboo hut."
The
World Food Programme's (WFP) Bong kharang (grounded wheat) and Levi bokpi
(soya bean flour) was the staple menu then recalled Ata thaptsangpa.
"I
felt bad those days because the food had to be rationed and the kids always
wanted to eat more," he said. |
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Today
with a variety of nutritious food on the menu supplied by the WFP, Rinchen
Wangdi said the students were fortunate and could eat as much as they wanted.
The menu included rice, kharang, potato, fish and dal (lentils).
Ata
thaptshangpa's said that he was on his way to becoming a farmer as any
of his village friends when the head teacher of the school enrolled him
as the school cook. "I am glad I got the opportunity," he said.
Ata
thaptshangpa's day started at six in the morning when he walked from his
house and prepared breakfast to be served an hour and a half latter. And
his work continued till 6:30 pm.
Cooking
for more than hundred heads was not an easy task, especially when they
demanded quality and quantity. "I was alone without a helper for seven
years, but I enjoy my job and that keeps me going," he said.
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Back
home, the father of seven hardly cooked for his family, except on rare
occasions like Losar (new year). "But I feel proud that I have cooked for
thousands of children and I intend to continue doing that," he said.
A
Galing primary school graduate, who had come to vote for the general mock
election, said that he was surprised to see Ata thaptsangpa still with
the school.
"He
was young and energetic during our days. We used to be very fond of him
and enjoyed what ever he cooked for us," he said.
Galing
primary school today has 170 students. |
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Contributed
by Kesang Dema, Kuensel, Bhutan's National Newspaper, 2007 |
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