It’s been four days since we arrived to Mcleodganj, the city where the Dalai Lama lives in exile, and the city where Caleb has spent the last month. Because Himachal Pradesh is in the north of India, and closer to the Himalayas, the weather is a lot better than in Delhi. However, the monsoon season is starting and it has rained a lot; so we have spent most of our time in our apartment (which consists of a bed and a balcony with a gorgeous view) sleeping, reading and planning our trip.
Mcleodganj is not a pretty city though. It is congested and packed with “Buddhist” tourists that come to practice yoga, learn ayurvedic medicine and meditate. And because it is built on a very steep hill walking requires serious good shape; of course, Caleb and I don't have such a shape, but all the hipsters and local Buddhists do, probably because they do not smoke, do not drink, and would rather eat sea-weed tofu and green tea over greasy puri and lassi. But despite all the honking cars, the sore legs, and the rain, our time in Mcleod has been great. Especially because Caleb had made some friends before I arrived, so we have a little bit of a social life here. The Tibetan reality, however, is very difficult, and I would have liked to spend more time here to understand it a little bit better.
Last night, Caleb and I went out for dinner with Paula and Francesco. She is from Colombia and he is from Italy. They have been traveling for the past year. Paula studied Anthropology and did a master’s degree in “Resolucion de conflictos.” She describes her work as “peace education,” and she has spent time in Bogota, Choco, and now here in Mcleodganj, teaching kids and adults who experience violence, discrimination and segregation, how to express their feelings and their ideas through non-traditional ways of communication. Ways that instead of perpetrating war open new windows and possibilities for discussion and reconciliation. (I am not sure Paula will accept my definition of her work as an accurate one, but that is what I understood.)
Paula and Francesco are wonderful people. They are romantic dreamers, but they also are incredibly pragmatic. They do not stay still. They are always in action, coming up with new ideas, new strategies to bring peace to communities in conflict, to share different ways of acting and thinking. Paula and Francesco really believe in human kindness and compassion, but above all in change. And even though being around people like them injects my soul with good energy, it also makes me feel uncomfortable and insecure. Partly because I do not believe in human kindness and compassion, partly because I move at a different pace, and I think there are conflicts in this world that in order to be solved need, more than new forms of expression and communication, time and patience; that was our discussion last night around the Tibet.
Paula and Francesco were frustrated because they feel the Tibetan community here in Mcleoudganj is hermetic and too traditionalist. And it is true. They have been in India for half a century and they have not integrated at all with Indian people. In fact, their relations are not good; Tibetans are “invading” Indian territory but refuse to have anything to do with Indian culture or people--the typical immigration problem. I do understand why, nonetheless.
The Tibetan people have been persecuted for more than fifty years. They are not allowed to live their culture in their own land, and here in exile they have found the space to build monasteries, listen to the Dalai Lama’s teachings, learn and speak Tibetan. In exile they feel stronger as a community because it is the only place where they can actually be a community. A community that shares the same beliefs, that speaks the same language, that has the same political and religious leader! Caleb told me the Chinese government has banned people in Tibet from pronouncing the Dalai Lama’s name, and that school lessons are taught in Chinese. So how can you blame the Tibetan community for being hermetic and traditionalist? They are simply trying to keep alive a culture in foreign territory, because in Tibet where most of Tibetans live, it has almost already disappeared.
Paula and Francesco’s argument, however, is that Tibetans should be more honest about their situation in India and stop referring to Mcleod as a “temporary” place because they have already spent half a century here. So Francesco believes they should build a community with Indian people and be more inclusive. “They will not be less Tibetan for doing so,” that’s what he says. And I think he is right. But Paula and Francesco also argue that Tibetans are very passive and static because they leave all the decision making to the Dalai Lama. Paula and Francesco think that a democratic system could help Tibetans feel more empowered and stop thinking the Dalai Lama is going to solve all of their problems. However, I think Tibetans have done great at keeping alive their beliefs and culture, and that in itself is a victory for them because that’s exactly what the Chinese have tried to destroy. And it is especially a victory for Tibetan people because they are doing this when they have no land, when they have no community life. How do you keep a language and a culture alive when there is no official territory in which this language is spoken? When families are dismembered because in order to preserve their beliefs and freedom kids have to be sent to adoptive families outside of Tibet, or walk for three months across Nepal toward mcleodganj? What the Tibetan community in exile has managed to do requires a lot of work and cooperation among them, and what is even more interesting is that mixed Tibetans that live in America or Europe are learning Tibetan, are going to Tibet, and are being educated by the Students for Free Tibet organization.
Tomorrow we leave at 8 p.m to Manali, where we take the bus to Leh in Laddakh, another Tibetan territory in India. Tongyot, a Geshe with whom Caleb studied Buddhism for a month in Mcleod, invited us to spend a week with his family. I cannot wait to be in Leh, but at the same time it is hard to say good-bye. We met amazing people here in Mcleodganj, and I do hope one day we have the opportunity to come back.
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| A huge Dhramsalian slug |
Our balcony
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