Prof. Dr. Tulasi R. Joshi

“A child who took his early education under a tree and used rocks as his pen is now a prominent professor of Geography in an institute of world’s super power country.” This might sound utter joke but this is a reality. That person with strong determination studded with undeniable will of climbing the height of success is Prof. Dr. Tulasi R. Joshi of Fairmont State College, USA.

Born in far western district of Bajhang where electricity and telephones are still a distant dream, got over each and every hurdle and proved –“Success is the manifestation of internal spirit and discipline and not that can be achieved with shaky determination.” In search for better future he traveled 10 days on foot to reach Kathmandu from Bajhang. This journey went on picking up success on each step of his career ladder and finally landed in the US.

After living in USA for more than 40 years and being a naturalized citizen of that country, his love for his mother country where he came from never diminished. He has already helped numerous students from back home in their further studies both in Nepal and in the US. He may be in the foreign land and must have taken oath to be abide by their rules and regulations but his heart always goes out to roam in his beloved motherland. His mind and soul still lives in Bajhang, which couldn’t provide him better school but gave sufficient blessing and inspiration that made him able to stand where he is now.

Following is an excerpt of the interview we had with him through email:

Could you please tell us about your school life? How was the school then?
I was born in the far western district of Bajhang , Nepal where people still do not have electricity and telephones except in the district headquarters. There was no school building; classes were held under a large tree and on open ground. There was only one copy of the arithmetic book and a few books on geography, history and literature that the teacher used to teach us. We did not have paper or pencil for school work; we did every work by writing on a slate board with rock sticks that we made out of soft rocks. This was the school life of grade 1 thru 4. At that time the education of grade of 4 was the highest level of education in the district.

I attended a different school for grades 5 thru 10, that was located at a day walking distance from my home that later turned into a high school called Satyavadi High School. Here we had at least a school building but other school facilities also were nonexistent. There were no chairs or desks; books and supplies were very limited. We used discarded courthouse Nepali papers that were already written on one side. We sat on dirt floors that we had to clean once a week. To study at night, we had to burn pine sticks for light, which we gathered from the woods. This school was run by a dedicated teacher (Ram Dutta Awasthi) from India brought by the district king Ram Jung Bahadur Singh. The goal was to turn this school into a high school. The teacher taught us, the upper class students at night, and we taught students of lower grades during day time because of the lack of teachers and money to hire teachers. Under the guidance of this teacher, during the harvest time, we went to different villages collecting rice and wheat from the farmers for the school as a donation. We made money by selling the crop donation that was used to pay teacher’s salaries (altogether 6 teachers were brought from India), and buy books and supplies. The school eventually turned into a high school, and I was one of the first 4 students to pass the SLC exam in 1957 from the high school. We had to go to Kathmandu to take the exam; it took almost 2 weeks to travel from Bajhang to Kathmandu, about 10 of these days on foot.

Any particular memories you would like to recall about your childhood?
I was born in a religious family and brought up in a religious way. We had the Ramayan,. Mahabharat and prayer books. I read/recited these books on a daily basis as soon as I was able to read. I really enjoyed reading the religious stories very much. The one month long Swasthani worship time was my favorite one since religious stories were read every day for a month. My father taught the real meaning of the Hindu religion which was the task of helping others. I still use Sanskrit verses that I memorized during my early childhood to make my points. Reading of these books and the teaching of the Indian teacher to build moral character made a great impact on my life style especially in terms of disciplining the mind and body that eventually lead to my present success in spite of being born in a poor village of Bajhang. I still try to follow these norms. For example I was told by the teacher not to drink alcoholic beverage, tea and coffee, and I still do not even after living in America for over 40 years. Simple living, high thinking and practicing it was the gist of it.

When I was about 8 years old, my grandfather was over 80 years old. My job was to make fire in a makal (a large pot made out of clay) to keep him warm in the winter evenings. It was a very rewarding experience as it made me very close to my grandfather. It was very touching that he wanted to drink water out of my hand at the time of his death. For this, my mother had to wake me up in the middle of the night. Right after I put water with a teaspoon in his mouth, he closed his eyes and passed away. Remembering this event still makes me cry.

How was the education system during your college life?
During my college life, the college education system of Nepal was under the control of Patna University, India. Patna University prescribed the syllabus and books, conducted the final exams, and graded the final tests for the colleges in Nepal. Nepali colleges played no role in the educational curriculum and policy development; they merely prepared students for the final exams of Patna University. For example I attended Tri-Chnadra College, and took the final exams of the Patna University for my I.A. diploma in 1959; this may have been the last year for Patna University to conduct final exams for Nepali colleges. But by the time I took my exams for the B.A. degree in 1961, Nepal had already its own Tribhuvan University in 1959, that took over the control of Nepali colleges from Patna University to conduct the final exams. I received my Master’s degree from Tribhuvan University in 1963. In spite of having its own university, the higher education system of Nepal during this time was still a copycat of Patna University, in which we had to pass the board exams (not the college exams) for our degrees.

Could you please tell us about how you use to study during your school and college life?
I took studies very seriously from the very beginning of my school life as I knew that education was the key to empowerment and success. I tried to carry out the following simple routine of studies. A) Do not miss the class; B) have a head start of the prescribed materials (study the materials that the teacher has not covered yet); C) go over the materials covered by the teacher in the class the same evening; D) keep on reviewing covered materials in a cumulative way; and E) get plenty of rest and do not study hard during the time of the final (board) exams.

Talking about education system what radical change do you think we need to bring in our education system in compare to one in the US?
I am sure Nepal has changed its higher education system a lot since I left the country over 40 years ago. Now the country has more than one university each having its own policies. Since I do not have a good knowledge of the present educational system of Nepal, I do not feel comfortable to make a comment on this topic. However, I believe that Nepal’s higher education system mostly is not compatible with the western system, e.g. American. I think it would be a good idea to make the system compatible with the West so that Nepali students would be able to transfer their completed works in Nepal to colleges/universities in America as I find so many students from Nepal studying in America are having problems to transfer their course works completed in Nepal in a fair manner. Nepal needs to participate effectively in the global society.

What qualities in you, in your opinion, were you able to come to the point, where you are now?
It was the discipline of mind and body. In other words, be able to do things that are right. Most of us know what is right, but practicing it is not easy. For that we need to discipline the body. Especially my helping attitude and trying to put it in practice benefited me a lot although I did not expect anything in return. Here are some examples. When I was in Kathmandu, I tried to collect books to set up a library for my village in Bajhang by approaching different people and institutions. This gave me an opportunity to meet and talk to famous people such as Lekhnath Paudel and Bal Krishna Sam. While I was studying at Tri-Chandra College, I volunteered to teach geography in some high schools since they needed geography teachers. This provided me with opportunities to tutor SLC students for money. My efforts here in the US for assisting international students especially Nepali students for their studies at Fairmont State University; raising funds for earthquake disasters in Nepal and India; and bringing international awareness in my community of West Virginia, USA became a basis for winning the top prestigious Cyrus R. Vance award from the state of West Virginia, and eventually was honored by being nominated to the West Virginia Commission on the International Education in West Virginia by the Cabinet Secretary of Education and the Arts of West Virginia.

When you first came out of Nepal in search of better career, you must indeed have gone through great deal of hardships. Would you like to share with us some of those moments?
Yes, you are right. There are many Nepalese that I know who have gone through immense hardships before they became a success story. Although this did not apply to me in America, it was not easy for me to get my higher education in Kathmandu coming all the way from Bajhang, a traveling distance of 2 weeks. I could not study science because I did not have enough money to buy science books. To meet expenses including my room and board in Kathmandu, I had to be very inventive; strong determination and the discipline of the mind and body eventually paid off. In America, my life was easy. The dedication for my education in Nepal started bearing fruits for me in America. I received a full scholarship to study at the University of Hawaii; then a fellowship for my Ph.D. degree at the University of Pittsburgh. After that I became a professor at Fairmont State University.

In process of building your career and coming up to this point, you must have gone through multiple proud moments. Could you please share some of those moments with us?
A) Received the Mahendra Vidya Bhushan gold medal from the King of Nepal in 1963 for scoring the highest first division marks in the Master’s degree exam of Tribhuvan University; B) received a full scholarship to study at the University of Hawaii; C) received a fellowship for the Ph.D. degree at the University of Pittsburgh; D) winning of the prestigious Cyrus R. Vance Award in 2003 for international education in West Virginia, a top award from the State of West Virginia with a purse of $5,000 (perhaps I am the only Nepali in America recognized by any of the 50 states); and E) appointment to a membership of the State of West Virginia Commission for International Education by the Cabinet Secretary of Education and Arts of West Virginia (perhaps I am the only Nepali in America appointed to a state commission).

Although we would like to come to foreign country for living and work but most people find difficult in coping with foreign culture and certainly, we wouldn’t want to forget our identity and our culture. Given such a vast difference in ours and American culture, what suggestions would you like to give to those who already are and those who are planning to stay abroad for long term?
To tackle the situation, we need to balance our acts as we balance our body by two legs while we walk. We cannot afford to ignore one at the expense of the other. It is important that for our materialistic success, we have to assimilate in the mainstream America. At the same time, the maintenance and promotion of our culture which is vastly different from the American mainstream are very important to us as well. Various cultural groups have done it; we can do it too.

In past few years, many people have left our homeland and came abroad. It is good in one way that it brings hefty remittance to our country and as well make individual’s lifestyle better but the major problem lies in keeping up with our culture and our language. Those kids who were born abroad don’t speak Nepali and have very little awareness of our culture. What do you think we should do to tackle this kind of situation?
It is very difficult to maintain our identity in the West in the same way as a river has a problem to maintain its identity when it enters into an ocean. The same thing is true even in America, in spite of it becoming a melting pot of different cultures. No matter how difficult it is, we need to maintain and promote our culture for a number of reasons. To do that, A) every one of us must convince our new generation regarding the importance of this task; B) start teaching/exposing to our language, music, dance, religion, etc. when the kids are young; C) undertake these activities in an organized form like people in the Washington, DC area and various Nepali organizations in America are doing; and D) everyone of us must participate and support these kind of joint efforts.

How would you define ‘Success’?
Success is to reach a desired goal. A person’s goal may change from time to time and from subject to subject, and range from small to big. But the ultimate goal of a human is to have peace and be happy. Often people fall in a trap to reach the goal and never get there in spite of being successful in making money. For example, executives of very big companies such as Enron and Tyco have ended up in jail. So, is making a lot of money a success? Not always. Then what is it? The desired goal to reach has to be achievable, means to reach it has to be legal and ethical, and its outcome has to help others. If a person can do it by disciplining the mind and body, it would be the true success; the size of goal may be large or small.

What sort of contributions do you think should the successful Nepalese living abroad make towards development of our country?
I think our biggest problem towards making a contribution for the development of Nepal is “attitude.” We are mostly self-centered, our leaders are power hungry. For example, if a leader of a party does not get his way, he starts his own party. We need to change this kind of attitude from grass root level to the highest level. Successful Nepalese living abroad must set an example of a helping attitude by deeds so as others will be inspired to follow their example. With this helping attitude, the human and physical resources will go a long way for the development of Nepal. People on the bottom need help from people on the top. Otherwise the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. Money is pouring into Nepal from all over the world to help poor people of Nepal. But the money is mainly used to build palaces for the upper class people in the Kathmandu valley. To set an example, I started sixteen years ago a scholarship program for the remote district of Bajhang in Nepal to assist deserving impoverished students of that district for their higher education, hoping others also will start similar programs for other districts under the scholarship program of the Association of Nepalese in the Americas. This program assisted 7 students for their college education in Nepal. I also started sixteen years ago a scholarship program to assist Nepali students to study at my University. This program benefited 21 students in the amount of about $300,000. I started these education projects, because they were achievable, and I thought there was no better gift than the gift of education. I think we need to undertake similar projects in different fields—small or large for Nepal’s development on an individual basis and organization basis with an attitude of helping our country without any expectation in return. In addition talented individuals can provide the services of their expertise working with different government and NGO offices or through their own team/individual works.

What is your plan for your future, I mean after you retire. Do you wish to stay in the US or go back home?
I am a naturalized American citizen, and current Nepali laws do not allow me to purchase and own a house in Nepal. For this and other personal reasons, I plan to stay in the US after I retire. But Nepal is my root; I will never forget my motherland Nepal, and I will always think and try to find ways to be useful and helpful to Nepal. I have been able to help a number of Nepalese for their higher education in Nepal and the US. I would not be able to be so helpful if had stayed in Nepal. Therefore, I do not regret for working and staying in the US.

What message would you like to give to the younger generation back home?
I was born in the remote far western district of Bajhang. Against all odds I received a gold medal from the King Mahendra, Ph.D. degree in America, and the top prestigious Cyrus R. Vance Award in International Education from the state of West Virginia, USA. I do not think I am a very smart person. But with the strong determination, hard work, helping attitude and the discipline of the mind and body, everything fell in place. If I could do it, any member of the younger generation in Nepal with average intelligence can do it. Do not forget “where there is a will there is a way.” Once you are successful in a material world, do not forget to help others especially those who are less fortunate. Helping others is the true meaning in a single word of several words-- love, peace, success, humanity, life, happiness, etc.

More about him can be found here.

We should be all proud of this Nepalese son. We take this opportunity to include him as a member of 'Nepalese Hall of Brain'.