ABSTRACT
The early morning sunrays shine through my window and encourage me to go for a small walk before breakfast. I am in north India in a town called Dharamsala, which in Hindi means ‘resting place for travelers’ (Bhattacharjea 1995: 9). This former British hill station on the southern edge of the Himalayan mountain range is the exile headquarters of the Tibetan government-in-exile, the Central Tibetan Administration of His Holiness the Dalai Lama (CTA). On my walk through the already busy streets, I see Tibetans at the side of the pathways. They wait for Yeshi Norbu, the ‘Precious Jewel’, better known in the Western world1 as the 14th Dalai Lama who is, at present, the Tibetan religious and political leader. The Tibetans have already been waiting for some time and I see them still standing at the same spot, accompanied by some Western tourists, when I return from my early walk. While they burn incense and quietly murmur mantras, the Westerners exchange information on Buddhist philosophy classes, which they have attended during previous days. The majority has not been to Tibet yet, but they are happy to visit ‘Little Lhasa’ to get to know Tibetan culture and religion. I decide to accompany the crowd, waiting in the last row. After some time, the 14th Dalai Lama passes by, escorted by Indian and Tibetan bodyguards, some even armed. The ‘Precious Jewel’ is smiling while the tourists look at him with great appreciation, and the Tibetans devotedly bow their heads. He enters a nearby building, the so-called Tibetan Reception Centre of Dharamsala. Inside, he blesses those Tibetans who have recently arrived in exile, most of them are children. The Tibetan leader leaves the place after an hour, heading downhill towards his private complex that is surrounded by barbed wire fence.
