One step at a time…

You meet so many different kinds of people while traveling and it just so happened that I bumped into a very resourceful ones. The Swedish couple who were documentary filmmakers with an interview of the Karmapa under their belt. Then I bumped into Tishani, a half Gujju half welsh free lance writer who lives and works from madras. What a beautiful girl! A dancer’s eyes with honest expressions. Turns out she is a dancer without any formal training. Beauty that radiates. I asked her for her autograph just in case she turns out to be this very famous Tamil actress that she resembles. Anyway, she looked like had plenty of connections and I was happy to tag along while she went on meeting some of them as I really was not in a mood for touristy things but something else. To look deeper and closer into the Tibetan community in Dharmsala.

At a local bookstore she happened to ask the owners name and exclaimed “ah you are the man am looking for”. Turns out he is the local rebel who another author friend of hers knows from ages. He is a renegade as he is one of the few who disagrees with His Holiness The 14th Dalai Lama on his policy with China. The Dalai Lama since 1988 wants Independent rule within China, where as there are other who feel that they should ask for complete independence. I really wonder if this will be a possibility in our lifetime. Will Tibet ever see the light of self-rule? Sad plight as a generations are still living without a country. Neither home in India nor in Tibet.

Tishani and I went to meet the Director of the Tibetan school 3km from McLeod Jung. This residential school run with the support of individual donors and organizations and is a haven for children who managed to escape the horrors of Tibet. Children who have lost one or both parents are also given shelter here for all their school life. The Tibetans and their supporters offer free housing, schooling, meals and a little bit of love that can be provided. It’s amazing to see what the Tibetan community here had done in McLeod Jung in a span of 40 years. A school that gives support, shelter and education to their own as well as children from local villages.

It’s was great to see the spirit behind the school. The Dalai Lama wants his people to have modern education as well as continue the followings of Buddha. So boys and girls have a option to go into monasteries, nunneries or get a high school education preparing them for entry into mainstream India. The hope that they will educate themselves and prepare to serve Tibet once it’s free! A nation in exile trying to reconcile its past glory with a uncertain future.
My heart tugged when I saw kids in the crèche. Little ones under the age of 5 are looked after here, after they pass this age they enter the school system and also are sent to live in the dorms. Little self-contained houses with a house nanny. These kids are the cutest little things I have seen in a long time. One of them who I nicknamed “Chipko” (one who clings) kept following us with puppy dog eyes all over the crèche. Such a happy baby, her smile told me that the people here cared a lot for these kids. Felt the need to do something at that moment for these kids. I could not shake the love that shined in their eyes. A carefree beginning without the knowledge what life has in store for them? Imagine with all that was provided for us we still had issues growing up. Can you imagine children of this lost nation starting their life with a handicap? I have felt like this in Cambodia and Laos as well where a little good can bring a lot of more good. But how does one start. Have to seriously give some thought as to how we can do a little to bring a lot to some of these children. Good thoughts like this get lost in the grindstone of daily life. How do people who devote their life to causes start. I know I cannot do much but hope with a little inner push and some support from friends I can do my part. Talk is very cheap, must put these thoughts in action.

The plight of the Tibetans in Indian is strange. Thanks to the then (1959) Indian Prime Minster Mr. Nehru the nation on the run found a home in India. But they do not have any rights in India. They are still refugees, even those born here. Each year they have to go to the local police station and register themselves. Year after year. Here I keep cribbing about Immigration rules and regularities in America. Some might never be citizens of any land, neither Indian, neither Tibetan. I sometimes wonder if they will ever return to their land. Some of the elderly folks have this very sad look on their face, their eyes searching for familiarity. Are they at peace in India? The search for their Shambala/Shangri La still continues. For a large population home is where his Holiness is. There is also a prophecy that the 14th Dalai Lama will be the last Lama in Tibet. Hope this is wrong. A nation and its people need a permanent home, how long can wait.

——————————————————————————————–
At Tishani’s invitation I went to see a Puja ceremony at the Norbulinka Monastery. It was a bit strange experience as I felt as if I was intruding a bit. Does this interest of mine in a ceremony where I just want to feel the spirit of the worshippers and par take in the ceremony make me a hypocrite as I really am not a very religious person. I was a bit uncomfortable but still managed to sneak photographs. Even though we had full permission to do so I still sneaked like a burglar taking a few pictures here and there as I just was not comfortable surrounded by nearly 200 orange clad monks.

Sitting neatly in rows according to their seniority they started their prayers and chants. Accompanied by some drums and horns a uniform chant took hold of the prayer halls. I felt as if the “Tankas” were slight swaying with the music. Or was it my imagination. The latter is more likely. A strange calm broken by a little monk blowing some bubble gum. He was a backbencher who seemed to have very little interest in what was going on. Tishani and I wanted to snap a picture of his but the kid was too naughty and knew he would be in big trouble if we had evidence.

It’s sad to see these little monks, running around being children. They do everything a normal child does and are given opportunity to choose the life he wants but I think family circumstances force these kids to be “psuedo” monks. While talking to the Ripoche that Tishani knew (forget his name) I realized that each of them just like is pretty much asking the same questions. Since she was the journalistic I kept passing my 20 questions to her. Are they escaping from the real world or is it we who are missing out on life, its purpose and its truth in our daily quest for bread, butter and some rum. This was a very modern cell phone carrying monk that we were having dinner with. He even shook hands with me! and here I thought they are supposed to stay ten foot away from us women. Seemed like somebody who had not made a choice to live a monastic life on a whim. He had a very spirited smile, a inteligence that radiated and charisma that put people at ease. Talking to him was not too hard. He was one of us just clad in orange robes, fighting the same wars as all of us. Not that different.

Time to sign off, relax and see if I can decide on which Tanka painting beckons me. They have a mystical pull especially if the artist has poured a little bit more than just paint on the canvas. I have been visting all the shops learning about them but still have not found the one that is “The One”. Maybe next trip.

Tags: India

This entry was posted on Thursday, October 14th, 2004 at 7:50 pm and is filed under India. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.