Tibetan Buddhist monk Phuntsok was known among his friends as a shy novice until one afternoon he marched into the street, soaked in kerosene, and set himself ablaze. Police rushed towards him, beat him to the ground with iron rods and doused the flames. By then the 20-year-old had already been consumed by fire. Continue reading
Category Archives: Articles
The future is here and the leader has seen it
In the 1970s, when the Tibetan exile government in Dharamsala had only one telephone, a secretary called the Dalai Lama’s office which was two kilometers uphill on the ridge of McLeod Ganj. The secretary called the Dalai Lama’s PA, Lama Tara la. The voice on the other end said the PA was not in his office Continue reading
Tibet: A room for hope?
Indians call me “ching chong”, the Chinese arrested me when I walked into Tibet, beat me up in jail and threw me out and said “Get out of here, you bloody Indian.” Continue reading
In a muddle kingdom
On June 28, 1992, three senior lamas responsible for the recognition of the reincarnation of the 16th Karmapa approached the Dalai Lama in Dharamsala. Following instructions in a poem-letter left behind by the 16th Karmapa, Continue reading
An open letter to Wen Jiabao
Dear Mr Wen Jiabao,
I welcome you to India. Although I am not a citizen of this country, I was born and raised here in exile. India is the only home I’ve known. I belong to the second generation of Tibetan refugees, Continue reading
The moral defence rests
When Manmohan Singh clearly and courageously said last month that there was no question of his government cancelling the Dalai Lama’s Arunachal Pradesh visit, I was proud. As refugees in India, Continue reading
The Bounty March
As a schoolboy in Class VII, my first serious Tibetan history lesson was one of provocation. I used to listen to Professor Samdhong Rinpoche’s Tibetan history lectures on audio tapes Continue reading
The Tibetan Resolution
Freedom First
The Tibetans recently took a major decision in their 60-year freedom struggle by re-adopting Independence as the alternate goal of the freedom struggle. The decision taken at the “Special Meeting” called by the Dalai Lama himself Continue reading
Now Tibet is not so far
When I packed my sleeping bag that early morning before sunrise for this long journey, I placed a white khatak (scarf) at the altar of His Holiness and said I have decided, whatever happens, I will make my way through. Continue reading
Celebrating Exile II: Our religion and the struggle
Many of my non-Tibetan friends get quite disappointed when I say that I don’t do prayers, prostrations and other rituals. They wanted me, not only me, all Tibetans to be staunchly Buddhists; Continue reading