Indian teachers in Bhutan: A cross-border story of love and respect
Chintan Girish Modi
Did you know that several generations of Bhutanese students have been taught by Indian school teachers? I had no clue until I visited Thimphu, the capital of Bhutan, for the Drukyul’s Literature and Arts Festival in the first week of August 2024. At the festival’s opening dinner hosted at the Indian Embassy by Ambassador Sudhakar Dalela and his wife Namrata Dalela, a stray comment about Indian teachers in Bhutan from one of the attendees got me curious and I made up my mind to find out more.
The festival was hosted by the non-profit organization Bhutan Echoes, under the patronage of Her Majesty the Queen Mother of Bhutan Gyalyum Ashi Dorji Wangmo Wangchuck in partnership with the Indian Embassy and the India-Bhutan Foundation.
To my utter surprise, the highlight of the evening – at least for me – was a moving speech by the Queen Mother. The warmth in her words left me teary-eyed. She said, “Bhutan and India share a sacred and special bond, nurtured by our monarchs and successive Indian leaders. Despite our differences in size and geography, we find common ground in our cultures and shared values. This enduring relationship is characterized by friendship and mutual respect.”
She spoke about strengthening people-to-people ties through literature and arts alongside official relations. “India holds and will always hold a special place in the hearts of the Bhutanese people,” she added. It was not just a formal speech. There was depth and feeling in her words. It was only later that I read about her experience as a student at an Indian boarding school in her book titled Treasures of the Thunder Dragon: A Portrait of Bhutan (2018).

She writes, “We were among the early batches of Bhutanese children who went to India for their education. By the late 1950s, increasingly convinced of the need for educated manpower, the government of Bhutan began to urge people to send their children to study at boarding schools in India, where they would receive a modern education and learn English.”
She and her sister Tshering Pem were sent to St. Helen’s Secondary School in Kurseong, West Bengal, in 1963. Two years earlier, her elder sister Beda and brother Sangay had joined the school. Her grandparents were disappointed about their departure, but her father argued that “an English medium education was essential for the future of all his children.”
What’s refreshing about her account in this book is that she comes across not as royalty but as a regular schoolgirl. She reminisces about the American, Irish, and German nuns who taught her, and the slices of bread and butter that she devoured at tea time with pickles bought in the market. She recalls learning Hindi, Bengali, and Nepali at school, winning prizes for academics, buying chocolate from a tuck shop, not performing well in sports, trying to emulate Indian film stars, and playing a farmer in a dhoti and the Mayor of London in two different school plays. She notes, “A favourite role model was Zeenat Aman, whom I found absolutely gorgeous and the epitome of stylish elegance.”

Photos: Chintan Girish Modi
While I was thrilled to read the Queen Mother’s anecdotes about her student days in India, I was also keen to hear from Bhutanese people taught by Indian teachers who had moved to Bhutan. I mentioned this to Lhakpa Tamang, one of the numerous car drivers helping delegates commute from one festival venue to another or make it in time for lunch.
He told me that he had Indian teachers for mathematics, chemistry, and physics in the 7th, 8th and 9th grades. “I liked the way they spoke English, and the way they taught us. Their classes were interesting, so we understood quickly and never fell asleep,” he said.

Afterwards, at the festival, I met Chador Tenzin Rabgay, who studies at Royal Thimphu College. He spoke glowingly about his economics teacher from school, Mr. Manna, who had moved from India to Bhutan for that teaching job. He said, “Bhutanese and Indian people have a close relationship, so our teacher used to make comparisons between the two cultures. That made the sessions fun. The learning environment in class was so relaxed. It made me want to study, especially because our teacher was not fixated on theory and also spoke about practical application of ideas.” Now, in college, he has an Indian teacher named Stephen Victor for a subject called strategic management. The pedagogy continues to be engaging. “Most of the learning happens through quizzes. It is very interactive, so we feel like paying attention unlike classes where teachers mainly use PowerPoint presentations,” he added.
It turned out that even Tshering Pelden, a senior tour guide from the Department of Tourism in Bhutan, who took all the Indian journalists on a sightseeing trip in Thimphu, was taught by Indian teachers. She grew up in Punakha, which was the capital of Bhutan until 1955.
She said, “Mr. Gaffar Khan was a very nice man from Kerala. He taught me history in the 11th and 12th grades. His teaching was outstanding, and he was a big source of inspiration. We liked him and his subject, so we were never lazy about doing our homework.” Gaffar Khan taught Indian history, Bhutanese history, and world history. She remembers his classes on the Mughal Empire with great fondness. She and her schoolmates stay in touch with their Indian teacher via WhatsApp and Facebook. She says, with pride, “After going to India, he came back to visit us once. All his former students took care of his accommodation, meals, and transport. Everyone came forward because we wanted to show him our gratitude.”
I was touched by the love with which she spoke about her teacher, and that made me think how rare it is for countries to acknowledge the role of teachers as cultural ambassadors. Luckily, diplomat and author Navtej Sarna, who served as the First Secretary at the Indian Embassy in Bhutan from 1989 to 1992, was also a speaker at the festival. He said, “Some senior ministers in Bhutan have told me that, in the olden days, when transport and communication were limited, many of them used to study in Indian boarding schools. Later, Indian teachers began to come to Bhutan as volunteers and as contractual employees.”

Photo: Disha Madan
When the Bhutanese Prime Minister Tshering Tobgay was in India on an official visit in March 2024, at the invitation of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the joint statement put out by both the countries recognized the contribution of Indian teachers in strengthening the teaching of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) subjects in Bhutan.
On the website of Kuensel, Bhutan’s national newspaper in English, I stumbled on an article by Karma Cheki and learnt that, when India and Bhutan completed 50 years of diplomatic ties in 2018, several retired Indian teachers who had served in Bhutan were invited as guests of honour on Teacher’s Day. This occasion is celebrated on May 3 in Bhutan to coincide with the birth anniversary of the Third Druk Gyalpo Jigme Dorji Wangchuck.
My heart was full when I read about how Indian teachers are treated in Bhutan. More recently, in mid-August, when Indian filmmaker Onir’s father Aparesh Dhar passed away, Onir posted a stirring video on Instagram with Bhutanese people offering prayers. Onir spent his childhood in Bhutan, where his father was the principal of Motithang School for 11 years.
Overcome with emotion, Onir wrote, “I am sure he would be smiling seeing the love and respect all his students are giving him across different schools and monasteries in Bhutan.” It was indeed a special moment. The love of students is bigger than any award a teacher can get.
The author is a writer, journalist, and educator based in Mumbai. He can be reached at chintan.writing@gmail.com.