S.Yeshi | The Crossword of Choosing a Thesis Topic

Every topic looks alike.

I thought I had a thesis topic in place when I first applied for the masters program from home with a little knowledge of it being an unsolved crossword. 

We always have more than one word that would fit into a fill-in of the crossword puzzle or none at all in a crossword attempt. But the worse I realise in this thesis puzzle, it is harder than a crossword you have attempted on a literary page of a newspaper. It demands moths of input, several of head scratch and ample of time to figure out the right vocabulary. 

We are often good at more than one ‘good’ ideas or 'topics', and often we do also perceive it as the 'best' choices in our own standard. We also probably trend to think that we have great choices to make our lives easy, as picking one of them is already good and without problem.

But reality in my case, presented a different situation. I realised that I was messed up already the moment I had more than one topic in my head. Worse it was when every topic I realise was dear to my interest.

Leveraging Culture for Environmental Conservation and Protection is my perceived interesting topic when I was applying for Cultural Heritage Studies Program at CEU. But studying ‘Policy of the Material Culture Preservation in Bhutan’ and the ‘Medieval Heritage and Today’s Ruins of Bhutan, What Next’ are another topics that often hovered over my head equally perceived interesting and important.

I continue to swing my thoughts over these three topics from one to another, and I know I have only one gap to fill-in to get it complete with a choice. The process so takes place, like one has to think hard and have knowledge of vocabulary built to fill the crossword puzzles easily. The exercise of self-argument on the topics was in itself an academic training, a part of developing an epistemology of processing your thoughts.

For now, I am at least able to get the divisive conscious in me fighting over the topics to a gradual agreement. I am trying to channel my conscious in a mindful unity to collaborate into building the vocabulary that I needed to have a rational settlement on a topic.

I began searching for reading materials and started to read those books in expectation to figure out something out of it that could play the magic to resolve the internal conflict within myself to reach to a rational choice. I am able to find few Books and articles related to material culture and the culture and environment but I am yet to land my hand on anything on the heritages in ruins. 

So, you now know I have began reading books with an 'expectation' of coming to a rational choosing- a successful adventure indeed-and I realise that my expectation was a hope which could further my problem. The challenge is, when will I finish reading these materials while you have in every two hours an assignment of reading, writing and presentation politely slipped onto your table? The only option to buy a bit of relief is of trying to think on another 12 months waiting in reserve but the risk is, it could easily drag you into the malice of procrastination.

Well in such a situation-through this adventurous exercise-it brought into light a valuable cultural lesson.  I realised that there are no hundred percent best options as such without any problem or doubt and apprehension. But choices are to be made without a guarantee of the expected outcome. So, here I made it one in the process to claim an experience if not a grade.

While taking the long way approach remains a concern, I managed to convince myself with the old Bhutanese proverb, which says: “A donkey, if walks slowly can have a time to explore Lhasa in Tibet.” So I will continue to follow this process of analysing the topics in option to complete the very first process in a thesis, 'sorting a topic' with a rational basis'.

Fully aware that I am taking a long walk, which I believe is better than the short cut in this case. With awareness of all the odds in the approach, I expect to arrive to a more informed rational decision in the making of my choice to settle on a topic. Fear is, it might just end up to be a hope.

I have three topics in head and not one in hand until the next phase of this process. Till then, fingers remain crossed and I said to myself "good luck boy."