Passang, the Healer

The story below was written by Sherab Zangmo, one of the students from class six. I reproduced her story here as she asked me to publish it on the blog.

Once upon a time, there lived a woman named Passang. She lived on a mountainside in a small hut made of bamboo. She lived in a fresh surroundings and she depended only upon the forest. Berries and forest products were her food. She was lonely and no one wanted to see her.

Passang was sent away from her village for a crime she didn’t commit. Everyone in the village considered her evil and believed that she cursed her village. When a small problem came in the village, they used to blame her. They hated her and made her feel low and bad. But she never said anything back to them. She was too kind to say anything to them.

One day, an unknown disease started to spread in the village. Everyone got infected with it and no one knew its solution. As always, people went and blamed Passang. She wanted to tell them that it was not her fault but they never let her answer her. Passang was then banished from the village.

Passang had the ability to understand different diseases and make its cures. The ability of Passang was known by only one person. But she was too afraid to tell about it as she thought she would be blamed like Passang. As the disease never stopped spreading, Passang’s friend finally spoke up. She told that Passang only knew the cure to the disease and that she was an expert in it. 
 
Finally, the villagers desperately seek help from Passang and Passang first examined the disease and knew the problem. She went to the forest and collected a unique flower that contains a cure, extracted and provided it to the people. The sick people got better and they apologized for their mistreatment. She was able to return to her village at last.

Sherab Zangmo

Class VI C

Darla Middle Secondary School