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His Holiness on His way to the car after the talk, met and blessed some of the members of Dung-dkar. Deepali being first in line had to say this.
I have never been more present in a moment or aware of the Here and Now, as that one. I stood there transfixed in the left wing of the stage, as the Ocean of Wisdom, the Dalai Lama slowly climbed down and made His way towards the waiting car. I was due to go on stage as soon as His Holiness left and was thus the first person He would meet on the way. Behind me stood Ly, the children, Tenzing, Kalsang, Yanchen-la, Tashi and others.
I stood there transfixed in my Dhega costume and the mask in my hand, watching in slow motion as the Dalai Lama jee came towards me. I became aware of a deep warmth and love flowing and enveloping me, somewhere deep within me my spirit sighed, my soul sang. En fin!
My hands reached out to touch Him and for a brief moment found and held His hands, as he peered through his glasses and spoke to me in Tibetan. Unable to understand and too overwhelmed, I simply nodded to which He smiled. For a split second, I held His gaze. Twinkling eyes that bespoke of infinite compassion and understanding. I lowered my head and His Holiness blessed me. The words aren't enough to express my feelings but I can try to give an analogy.
It was like a moment when a mother holds her newborn, with whom she has a bond long before it has come into being. I finally and truly had come a full circle of my Tibetan connection. I walked ahead into the lights of the arena, shouting with great joy, keke tso tso Lha Gelo!
Later Tenzing told me that HH had asked me, what is happening here? She also told me that when her turn came for the blessing, nervous as she felt, she had answered for me, that we are performing Tibetan dance and song, to which He had replied, yagpho rey yagpho rey (very good, very good).
That's all we need to hear. We rejoice and our hearts are filled with a new purpose as we continue to rehearse for our much cherished dance-drama. Lha Gelo!
Deepali
Allison Eades sums up the day for Dung-dkar.
This Saturday the members of the dung dkar collective and I had the honour of performing the first scene of our upcoming dance drama Lha Gelo for His Holiness the Dali Lama at the Bell Centre. Unbelievable — the only word suitable to describe such an experience. What can you say about performing at Montreal’s largest venue for such a man. The words of my fellow collective member Tenzing come to mind, in a pre-performance interview with CBC, she stated that HH is more than a political leader, He is our god. After having the great fortune of seeing him on Saturday I couldn’t agree more.
Emotions were high that day. Between the anxiety of performing in front of 15 000 spectators, the desire to accurately represent Tibetan culture, the intensity of being in HH’s presence. Back in our dressing room, we screamed with joy as our fellow cast member 13 year old Kunphel walked up the stage and presented the Dalai Lama to the public, in his clear and steady voice. And when HH presented Kunphel with a Khata, more than a few tears of overwhelming joy were shed… This would always be a beautiful memory to cherish.
It is hard to describe the events of a day that you experienced but that you couldn’t even have imagined. It was an amazing feeling to be standing backstage at the Bell centre waiting for our turn on stage. As Deepali suggested, it was easy to feel his presence. I can’t describe what it was like to stand six feet away from his as he got into his car. What intrigues me the most is how in his presence, the simple acts of watching and even dancing became magical. Taking this with me I will continue to seek out the sublime in the simple and to remember the magic of simplicity.
Congratulations to everyone on our performance and I am honered to have been blessed with this experience!
Allison
Bir
I am here in India, doing the ‘Tibetan trail’ for one to understand them closely, live with them and learn more of their culture as they still seem to be following it in their everyday life. The second most important purpose is to get stitched the many chupas and other dresses for our dance-drama.
28 June 2009
Tibetan colony, Bir
The little sleepy town I had visited in 2000 is still very much sleepy except that the small houses have been replaced by big ones. People seem much better off then last I saw them, but equally laid back. Many of them seem to have small shops or restaurants serving to a few costumers. But it is still as green and beautiful as I remembered. Even the monastery which I last visited has been replaced with something grander but the lifestyle still seem to be the same. Today I was drawn to it by the sound of the trumpets, cymbals and the drums. Inside, in one of the rooms were the monks doing the evening prayers. It was hilarious to see one monk blowing trumpet with one hand and with the other, a mobile to his ears. As soon as there was a break he would attend to the caller and then he would blow the trumpet again. Very hilarious…
Also later I saw the ‘Cham’ dance being rehearsed by the monks, for an event that will be held this coming week. Though the dance is quite slow and the movements repetitive as they slowly move clockwise, it is still interesting to see them move in unison as though in meditation.
We also came in hope of paragliding but the weather is not the best and today we witnessed our first monsoon rain after waiting for it for 3 weeks. It was so nice to see the downpour that I had to do a rain dance of my childhood. Oh! what a beautiful moment.
The Tibetan family where I stayed 9 years ago didn’t have any room (due to water shortage) but we found another at the end of the road, which was the biggest house in the vicinity comprising of 3 floors. The house looks into an open field where once terrace farming was done but today lays barren with some trees on it. The view from the terrace is breathtaking as you see the mountains in the distance and a lot of prayer flags hung between the trees fluttering in the wind.
Time certainly has stopped here and we too have become effected by the lazy atmosphere here, though we have been going for walks around the village. Even the dogs, of which there are many seem to be doing little else then sleeping, though they bark whole night long.
Deepali
My First glimpse of HH, the XIV Dalai Lama
30th June 2009
McLeod Ganj
When we arrived at Mcleod Ganj, we were met by Jinpa, Gyamtso’s friend. A smallish, sweet guy who took charge and carrying one of our bags marched straight ahead. A hotel, bath and some good breakfast later, we started to look for a tailor. I found a group of women who charged much less then Wongden. Then later we walked into a house of tailors sewing away. I had no real intention of getting anything stitched but when I started talking to them, I realized that they have much better sense of the costumes I wanted stitched. Also, the material and the labor costs were cheaper.
3 hours later, all the dress orders were transferred from Delhi to this co-operative. We even got a 15% discount at the end. Talk about that. While I was still talking to Tenzing, the manager, suddenly everybody rushed outside and I was taken along. Someone gave me an incense. Soon the reason became apparent. His Holiness, the Dalai Lama was returning from a talk at Upper TCV (Tibetan Children Village). So as I stood there alongside others and got my first glimpse of the Dalai Lama, his left hand raised in greeting and a soft smile upon his face.
I couldn't help but think What a difference from ‘Mayawati’ the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh in North India (6 hours from Delhi). Few days earlier the entire road was blocked and cleared as she would be passing by with her entourage of 50 cars or so. I fumed (and I know most do alongside) at the wastage of public money on showing her status that we do not think she has earned it. There is a big controversy going on how she is cutting down trees and gardens to create statues .
Anyway's back to Mcleod.
This place lives off tourism and I was pleasantly surprised to see many Indian tourists as well, other then the many ‘Ingies’ (foreigners in Tibetan). Another thing I was curious about was how the native Himachalis co-exist with the Tibetans living there. There seems to be limitation in the kind of work Tibetans are allowed, for example there is no Tibetan cab drivers. Also there are many Rajasthani and Kashmiri handicrafts which seemed to have found their way to the markets here, a pity as it competes with the local Tibetan and Himachali handicrafts.
I visited TIPA (The Tibetan Institute of Performing Arts) but due to the lack of personnel and being expensive, I was unable to learn the dances I had hoped to learn. So, 2 days later we left the crowded Mcleod to go to a small Tibetan Colony in Bir, few hours away.
Deepali
The Tibetan trail- Majnu ka Tila
25 June 2009
In the balcony of Yongten Guest house, McLeod Ganj
This is how I would like to have my morning tea and I am actually having one (though the tea itself leaves much to be desired for). The mountains of the Dhauladhar range looms ahead majestically, with houses in some. The cool wind blows through the numerous Tibetan flags that is scattered all through. They flutter in harmony.
I heard men’s voices talking to each other animatedly when I went to bed last night and I still hear them. They seem to be avid talkers. Depending on the wind I hear a glimpse of Tibetan songs and chanting. After the long bus ride that was driven at a break-neck speed and the break-neck positions I slept in, we both were in a much needed sleep scenario and but it was not to be so for many hours as after arriving at Mcleod ganj, it was a hectic day.
But let’s backtrack to the very beginning at Delhi.
The cab driver from the airport took a shortcut and before long we were at the Tibetan colony at Majnu-ka-Tilla (rock of ‘Majnu’, the famous lover). As I walked through the main alley, I saw many Tibetans sitting by the side, biding time till it’s time to open their shops. It felt surreal to see so many of them, after seeing so few of them in montreal.
The camp seemed very cramped. Hotels, restaurants, shops and living space all put together to make maximum use of space, that only left enough space to walk through the alleys. The only big space I came across was the courtyard of a temple.
While in Montreal, I was advised to go to the tailors at Delhi rather then in Dharamshala. So I looked for some and met up with Wongden, the Tibetan tailor who seemed to have a thriving business but employing only Indians (wonder why?). A very sweet person, who always mixed up the numbers, he seemed reluctant to take such a large order but then I managed to convince him that it was all for a good cause. Nevertheless he advised me to go to the Indian tailors to get a better price and so I did. I went to Punjab Basti.
Now Joli was with me and it did not make any impact on Wongden but the Indian tailors, simply doubled the price. I felt saddened that they would do something like that as soon they see a ‘Phirang’. So I didn't even try to haggle, just came right back to Wongden and spent many hours explaining, choosing fabric and making sure, he knows what we want.
Then we started for Dharamshala. Now no one told us that we should take the bus all the way to Mcleod ganj. Come morning, when the bus driver announced Dharamshala we got down. We realized our mistake only after the bus left. Oh well… a cup of tea and some wait later, we found a shared jeep to our Mcleod Ganj.
Deepali