By Tenzin Dickyi
New Delhi
After escaping from a major accident, Tibetan flautist and Grammy Award nominee Nawang Khechog is recovering well in a Hospital in Delhi where he is taken care of by his wife and family members.
According to sources, the accident took place on the eve of Losar (Tibetan New Year). He was on his way to meet his father in Orrisa Tibetan settlement, eastern India when a truck hit the jeep in which he was travelling. He was along with his son Sangye Tenzin and niece Pema Chodon.
Unfortunately the driver died on the spot while his niece Pema Chodon breathed her last a few minutes after the accident. Pema Chodon was one of the applicants at this year’s Miss Tibet Contest. However, she had to withdraw her name from the pageant as per the order from the Indian government. She was in the Indian Army.
Tenzin saw his father suffer the injury which left him unconscious and his face covered iwth blood. Nawang survived the accident despite serious injury to the head but his son only had a minor injury on his head. However, they both were shifted to a Hospital in Delhi where currently Nawang Khechok is under intensive care and receiving proper treatment.
He is recovering quicker than the medical staff expected and the injuries have subsided as well, says his wife Tsering.
Khechog had 20 concerts scheduled in Korea in the month of April, which are all cancelled now according to musictibet.com.
Born in Tibet, Nawang Khechog is a flautist and one of the popular contemporary Tibetan musicians who has won global acclaim. A son of Tibetan nomads who migrated to India, Khechog learnt to play the bamboo flute, old and popular instrument in rural Tibet. At the age of 20 he looked for the guidance of the Dalai Lama and went into retreat as hermit in a cave, to meditate and learn philosophy. Four years later, he emerged from his self-imposed exile and went to Australia, where he learnt how to play the aboriginal didgeridoo, a long wooden flute. His music is found in the soundtrack of “Seven Years in Tibet” directed by Jean Jacques Annaud, among other films and documentaries.
An ardent follower of the Dalai Lama, Nawang’s quest is to use his music to highlight the cause of Tibet. He currently lives in Boulder, Colorado in the US.
With input from musictibet.com
