Opinions

peaking in Paris on November 26, 2011, the Kalon Tripa, Lobsang Sangay, commented that the first 100 days of his administration has been "one of the busiest Kashag [cabinets] in recent memory". The Tibetan Political Review posted a low-key commemoration of this 100 day mark on the actual date – November 16 – but we believed that the American custom

ike most children, I was a rebel too, more inclined to do things that were opposed to our Buddhist values. My friends and I enjoyed catching fish and crabs in the ponds. We often tracked down birds’ nests and followed Indians hunting wild deer and pigs in the jungles of tribal Orissa.

These days whenever the Dalai Lama is received by any world leader or celebrity with a modicum of civility, Tibetans understandably become enormously pleased and gratified. In our somewhat desperate situation all publicity is regarded as good publicity.

In 2009, Kunga Tsayang — the imprisoned writer and environmentalist — wrote a bold essay titled Who are the Real Separatists? “China Television, Lhasa TV and others, while ignoring the truth, have excessively branded all Tibetans as separatists.

Leaving Lhasa for Beijing one month ago, I was relieved to no longer be living under martial law, with soldiers and police everywhere. But for Tibetans the pain follows wherever we go: The news that another Tibetan has set fire to herself arrives.

No lie is too big or small for the paid posters of Chinese propaganda, especially when it comes to attacking His Holiness the Dalai Lama and discrediting the peaceful nature of the Tibetan freedom movement.

Hollywood actor and musician, Johnny Depp, was bullied everyday in school by a big fat boy. "Punch him in the face once and he will not bother you any more!" said his mother one day.

The life of a people lies in its history, culture, literature, religion and the arts. These are taught in Tibetan schools in India. Unfortunately, not much progress has been made as far as Tibetan students’ interest in them is concerned.

If you have ever visited a Tibetan household, you will know that its most important room is the chausham or prayer room. Even a Tibetan nomad whose house comprises of nothing more than a tent and a few utensils, its best corner will always be reserved for the gods.

ON one side, we have ‘great leaders’ taking ‘vital’ decisions for our future at the G20 summit in Cannes on the French Riviera, while on the other ordinary people (known as the ‘common man’ in Indian political parlance) struggle with their miseries and their aspirations. In today’s world, there is no connection between the two.