August14

Through My Eyes

Saturday August 14

(We continue to listen to the Dalai Lama as he tells of his journey to India!)

" 'Don't worry too much,' he said. ' If you have any difficulties, our Ambassador will always be there to help you.' With that our meeting ended. the General stood up and, with his customary formality, took leave of me. As soon as he was gone, I rushed off, smiling as if my mouth would reach my ears, to tell my personal attendants the news.

In the few days that remained before our departure, I heard an interesting story about this sudden about face by the Chinese authorities. It transpired that the Indian Consulate in Lhasa had asked my officials whether I would be going to India to attend the celebrations. On being given a negative answer , the Indians relayed this message to their own Government- with the result that Mr. Nehru personally intervened on my behalf. However, the Chinese authorities still did not want to let me go. It was not until General Chiang arrived back in Lhasa and discovered that the Indian Consul had told a number of people about Nehru's communication that , under treat of harm to Sino-Indian relations, the Chinese were forced to change their minds.

I finally left Lhasa towards the end of November 1956, full of joy at the prospect of being able to move about freely without the constant supervision of some Chinese official or other. My entourage was quite small and, thanks to the military roads that now ran north and south, east and west linking all of Tibet with China, we were able to travel almost the whole way to Sikkim by car. At Shigatse we paused to pick up the Panchen Lama and then continue on to Chumbithang, the last settlement before the Nathu pass, where the border lay. There we exchange cars for horses and I bade farewell to General Tin Ming-yi, who had accompanied us from Lhasa. He seemed genuinely sorry to see me go. I think that he was convinced that my life was in danger from foreign imperialists,spies, reactionaries and all the other demons in the Communist pantheon. He gave me another warning along the lines of General Chiang's and urged me to be careful, adding that I must explain to any foreign reactionaries I met all about Tibet's great progress since 'Liberation'. If they didn't believe me , he said, they could come to Tibet and see for themselves. I assured him that I would do my best. With that I turned to mount my pony and began the long trek up into the mists.

At the top of the Nathu pass there stood a large cairn set about with colourful prayer- flags. As is the custom, we each added a stone to the cairn and shouted , 'Lha Gyal Lo!' ('Victory to the gods!), at the top of our voices before beginning the descent into the Kingdom of Sikkim.

On the other side, just below the pass, we were met in the mist by a welcoming party consisting of a military band,which played both the Tibetan and Indian national anthems , and several officials. One of these was Mr Apa B. Pant, formerly Indian Consul in Lhasa and now Political Officer in Sikkim. Also present was Sonam Topgyal Kazi, a Sikkimese who was to be my translator throughout the visit. And of course my friend Thondup Namgyal, the Maharaj Kumar, was there too.

From the border, I was escorted down to a small settlement on the edge of Lake Tsongo, where we were to spend the night. It was by now very dark and cold and snow lay deep on the ground. On arrival, I recieved a wonderful surprise-both Takster Rinpoche and Gyalo Thondup, neither of whom I had seen for several years now, were there to greet me. Lobsang Samten and little Tenzin Choegyal had both travelled with me, so, for the first time in our lives, all five brothers were together.

The following day, we moved on to Gangtok, capital of Sikkim, first by pony, then by jeep and then, for the final leg of our journey, by saloon. At this point, I was met by Maharajah of Sikkim, Sir Tashi Namgyal, whose car it was. There followed an amusing, but telling incident. Just as we were entering Gangtok, the convoy paused amongst a large crowd of people that had gathered. Thousands of people, including many joyful schoolchildren, pressed in from all sides, throwing katas and flowers, and prevented us from moving , when suddenly, an anonymous young Chinese appeared from nowhere. Without a word , he tore down the Tibetan flag that flew from one wing of the car, opposite the Sikkimese state flag, and replaced it with a Chinese pennant.

We spent one night in Gangtok before leaving very early the next morning for Bagdogra airport. It was an unpleasant journey, I recall. I was very tired from having travelled all the way from Lhasa and , moreover, there had been a state banquet the night before. On top of that , I was, to my dismay, given noodles for breakfast, and then the heat in the car as we descended to the Indian plains was stifling.

The aeroplane that was waiting for us was much more comfortable than the one I had flown in in China. It took us to Allahabad, where we stopped for lunch, and then to Palam airport in New Delhi. As we sped along, thousands of feet above the teeming Indian towns and countryside, I reflected on how different India felt from China. I had been there for no time at all, but already I was aware of an immense gulf between the way of life of the two countries."

( India certainly was far different! I promise to add more tomorrow...)

*( please click here to read of the day with me )

* This is from the book Freedom in Exile The Autobiography of the Dalai Lama by Tenzin Gyatso, the fourteenth

Dalai Lama of Tibet.

( Please see my spinning for you!)

( Tahshi Deleh gentle one! Kehrahng kusu debo yinpeh? I began the day spinning for you and working more on the weaving spinning a lot more thread then stringing it for the weaving of your backstrap. With us working two as one it's going quite well! Then I headed up our precious snow mountain to scythe around the trees and native plants. On the way though I had the distinct sense I was being shown something important for us. One of the wild grape vines near the stream had shed large peices of bark and I was drawn to try weaving it into loops for the backstrap to connect to the loom. It works fantastically! Actually you may like it if the entire backstrap were made of it! It has a beautiful dark red brown color and contains tremendous vitality. I'll keep weaving the backstrap of course. After scything I rested by your Medlar for awhile then returned to our studio to work on our a land of Tibet. I'm going to put the pages up on our infosite; I'll put this up so we can rest.

And so, as always we'll continue two as one on to tomorrow

my one gentle beautiful patient swift dream bright

long dark mane in sunlight

so for now I bid goodnight...Simjah Nahngo!)


	Through My Eyes Saturday August 14 (We continue to listen to the Dalai Lama as he tells of his journey to India!) " 'Don't worry too much,' he said. ' If you have any difficulties, our Ambassador will always be there to help you.' With that our meeting ended. the General stood up and, with his customary formality, took leave of me. As soon as he was gone, I rushed off, smiling as if my mouth would reach my ears, to tell my personal attendants the news. In the few days that remained before our departure, I heard an interesting story about this sudden about face by the Chinese authorities. It transpired that the Indian Consulate in Lhasa had asked my officials whether I would be going to India to attend the celebrations. On being given a negative answer , the Indians relayed this message to their own Government- with the result that Mr. Nehru personally intervened on my behalf. However, the Chinese authorities still did not want to let me go. It was not until General Chiang arrived back in Lhasa and discovered that the Indian Consul had told a number of people about Nehru's communication that , under treat of harm to Sino-Indian relations, the Chinese were forced to change their minds. I finally left Lhasa towards the end of November 1956, full of joy at the prospect of being able to move about freely without the constant supervision of some Chinese official or other. My entourage was quite small and, thanks to the military roads that now ran north and south, east and west linking all of Tibet with China, we were able to travel almost the whole way to Sikkim by car. At Shigatse we paused to pick up the Panchen Lama and then continue on to Chumbithang, the last settlement before the Nathu pass, where the border lay. There we exchange cars for horses and I bade farewell to General Tin Ming-yi, who had accompanied us from Lhasa. He seemed genuinely sorry to see me go. I think that he was convinced that my life was in danger from foreign imperialists,spies, reactionaries and all the other demons in the Communist pantheon. He gave me another warning along the lines of General Chiang's and urged me to be careful, adding that I must explain to any foreign reactionaries I met all about Tibet's great progress since 'Liberation'. If they didn't believe me , he said, they could come to Tibet and see for themselves. I assured him that I would do my best. With that I turned to mount my pony and began the long trek up into the mists. At the top of the Nathu pass there stood a large cairn set about with colourful prayer- flags. As is the custom, we each added a stone to the cairn and shouted , 'Lha Gyal Lo!' ('Victory to the gods!), at the top of our voices before beginning the descent into the Kingdom of Sikkim. On the other side, just below the pass, we were met in the mist by a welcoming party consisting of a military band,which played both the Tibetan and Indian national anthems , and several officials. One of these was Mr Apa B. Pant, formerly Indian Consul in Lhasa and now Political Officer in Sikkim. Also present was Sonam Topgyal Kazi, a Sikkimese who was to be my translator throughout the visit. And of course my friend Thondup Namgyal, the Maharaj Kumar, was there too. From the border, I was escorted down to a small settlement on the edge of Lake Tsongo, where we were to spend the night. It was by now very dark and cold and snow lay deep on the ground. On arrival, I recieved a wonderful surprise-both Takster Rinpoche and Gyalo Thondup, neither of whom I had seen for several years now, were there to greet me. Lobsang Samten and little Tenzin Choegyal had both travelled with me, so, for the first time in our lives, all five brothers were together. The following day, we moved on to Gangtok, capital of Sikkim, first by pony, then by jeep and then, for the final leg of our journey, by saloon. At this point, I was met by Maharajah of Sikkim, Sir Tashi Namgyal, whose car it was. There followed an amusing, but telling incident. Just as we were entering Gangtok, the convoy paused amongst a large crowd of people that had gathered. Thousands of people, including many joyful schoolchildren, pressed in from all sides, throwing katas and flowers, and prevented us from moving , when suddenly, an anonymous young Chinese appeared from nowhere. Without a word , he tore down the Tibetan flag that flew from one wing of the car, opposite the Sikkimese state flag, and replaced it with a Chinese pennant. We spent one night in Gangtok before leaving very early the next morning for Bagdogra airport. It was an unpleasant journey, I recall. I was very tired from having travelled all the way from Lhasa and , moreover, there had been a state banquet the night before. On top of that , I was, to my dismay, given noodles for breakfast, and then the heat in the car as we descended to the Indian plains was stifling. The aeroplane that was waiting for us was much more comfortable than the one I had flown in in China. It took us to Allahabad, where we stopped for lunch, and then to Palam airport in New Delhi. As we sped along, thousands of feet above the teeming Indian towns and countryside, I reflected on how different India felt from China. I had been there for no time at all, but already I was aware of an immense gulf between the way of life of the two countries." ( India certainly was far different! I promise to add more tomorrow...) ( please click here to read of the day with me ) This is from the book Freedom in Exile The Autobiography of the Dalai Lama by Tenzin Gyatso, the fourteenth Dalai Lama of Tibet. ( Please see my spinning for you!) ( Tahshi Deleh gentle one! Kehrahng kusu debo yinpeh? I began the day spinning for you and working more on the weaving spinning a lot more thread then stringing it for the weaving of your backstrap. With us working two as one it's going quite well! Then I headed up our precious snow mountain to scythe around the trees and native plants. On the way though I had the distinct sense I was being shown something important for us. One of the wild grape vines near the stream had shed large peices of bark and I was drawn to try weaving it into loops for the backstrap to connect to the loom. It works fantastically! Actually you may like it if the entire backstrap were made of it! It has a beautiful dark red brown color and contains tremendous vitality. I'll keep weaving the backstrap of course. After scything I rested by your Medlar for awhile then returned to our studio to work on our a land of Tibet. I'm going to put the pages up on our infosite; I'll put this up so we can rest. And so, as always we'll continue two as one on to tomorrow my one gentle beautiful patient swift dream bright long dark mane in sunlight so for now I bid goodnight...Simjah Nahngo!)