Yes. I am that happy in every photo they sent us. That silly and stupendous smile might have been because when I shook His Holiness' hand and bowed down, he giggled. It was a distinctively happy, 80 year old man kind of giggle, and I had no clue what provoked it. One of the monks who heard this story later told me that some monks who practice Tantric Buddhism wore their hair the way I do, so maybe that made him laugh. It was kind of a terrific moment for me.
There are so many things that could not be shown in this photo, and we were not allowed to take anything into his residency with us, so the group photos will remain the only photo we have of our visit. However, what we saw on this early morning will stay with me forever.
Our first day in Dharamsala delivered so many memories. Our 16 hour bus journey here, receded into the distant past, except for the lingering exhaustion that I ignored for most of the day. Our day started early, a 5:45 AM wake-up call for the students, in order to make it to the Dalai Lama’s residence by 7:30. We ate breakfast and had coffee at the hotel, and then set off to meet the 12th grade group. Once there, we waited while Mr. and Mrs. Chophel helped one of our Tibetan students into his “national dress” as we call it. This took a while, as it seemed fairly complicated and the Chophel’s fussed to get it just right. In the meantime, I met one of their daughters, who had come up for this special occasion. She gave out the white scarves we wore when we met His Holiness.
We walked the rest of the way to the “cora” which is the grounds of the Dalai Lama’s residence, the temple, and monastery grounds. It was a beautiful morning, and there were a hundred people or so, mostly in Tibetan clothing standing in line. Mrs. Chophel told me that some of them were from Tibet, and had come to Dharamsala secretly. I asked if I could take their photos, and they clearly told me no. Some of them would be returning to China, and it would be quite dangerous for them and their families if the Chinese government knew that had made the pilgrimage to Dharamsala. They had basically risked everything to come to this place, to see the Dalai Lama. They had brought various religious items, the Buddhist wheels, scarves, small tokens, to have them blessed. Most of these people were quite old, definitely old enough to have witness the Chinese invasion and takeover of Tibet. One woman was in a wheelchair, and was pushed up the hill to the audience by a monk.
We stood and talked, Mrs. Chophel, her daughter, Charlotte and I about what their journey might have been like and what could happen to them if they returned to China, or were discovered and arrested on their journey back. We also talked about Tibetan culture, and the role that women play in family and social life. Mrs. Chophel described as more equal than Indian society. Tibetan women, she says, don’t stay at home. They typically work, both in traditional society and in the modern world. Parenting responsibilities and household chores are shared, in fact, she pointed out that the traditional man’s Tibetan clothing has lots of fabric in the front of the jacket, which allows him to carry babies and small children close to them to keep them warm.
Once the Tibetan group had gone through security, we lined the students up, distributed their ID and, after another 10 minutes of waiting, went in to have our passports and ID checked by security. Once we had completed that step, we went one by one to be inspected by another layer of security. For all of us, this was a surprisingly thorough and intimate inspection. I do feel like the Dalai Lama is quite safe in his residence, because they checked everywhere on my body in which I could have hidden any weapon. We shared our reactions while we gathered in another line for another 20 minutes or so.
While we were standing there, we noticed two of the Tibetan women had walked over to a retaining wall and were scooping soil from around the ground at the top of the wall. The put the soil into small bags, and then walked back over to the group. Mrs. Chophel told us that many people who are going to return to Tibet do this, and ask the Dalai Lama to bless it. Then they take it back to Tibet as a symbol of what Dharamsala has come to mean as the home of the Tibetans in exile, the center of their culture, their religion, and their spirit. I had an intensely emotional response to witnessing this. I tried to explain it to the students, some of whom immediately understood, and others who asked what they would do with the “dirt” when they got home.
We followed this group throughout our time in the residence, and I was fascinated to observe them as they took in this place, this experience that clearly meant so much to them. I watched as these same women, after having met and been blessed by the Dalai Lama, wept openly as they walked back down the hill. I felt so much gratitude to have been in this place, on this morning. To have eyes to see, and ears to hear. To have a heart to break, and a mind to learn. I felt all the weight of my own good fortune, and tried to imagine even a part of the lives of the people I was watching, and sensing my own incapacity to truly understand the suffering of others.
Soon enough, we were ready to have our audience with the Dalai Lama, which entails individual handshakes and a group photo. The machinations of the security and timekeepers were efficient, but not cold. All of it seemed designed to meet the clear desire of His Holiness to make himself available to people, while allowing him to rest. After all, we did not imagine that this brief encounter with him would have even happened a few days ago. He was scheduled to go to the US, but his doctors told him that he needed to cancel his trip, stay at home and rest. While he did seem a bit more frail than I have seen him appear in photographs, otherwise he appeared exactly the same. His spirit clearly gets captured.
I had butterflies in my stomach when it was my turn to approach him, and as I shook his hands and bent forward to pay respect, the funniest thing happened. I will forever swear to all of you that he giggled. I believe that I made His Holiness, the Dalai Lama giggle. And that was actually enough for me. I could have ended my day right there, because it was worth the planning, the hot, dusty, and very long bus trip. In fact, none of that seemed like much trouble at all, given what I know some of the other people on that hill, on that morning, had gone through to get there. This will forever be one of the highlights of my time in India. I made the Dalai Lama giggle.
After this, we basked in the glow of our good fortune, then Mr. and Mrs. Chophel led us up to the temple, where monks were praying. We got a tour of one of the side temples to the Tara, then walked around, talking and taking more photographs. The monks finished their prayers, and we got to see the temple where the Dalai Lama teaches the monks in the monastery. It was a very special thing to walk through these temples with these lovely people, both of whom fled Tibet in the 1960s, when they were very young. Sharing this experience with them make the entire morning even more wonderful.
After this, we walked back to the hotel, ate lunch, then headed off in taxis to visit the TCV school. I had initially planned this trip for my class around the idea of having the students spend time over several days with the students from TCV who were about their age and grade level. I wanted the students to make some connections, and then do a short oral history session, where students would ask and answer questions for each other. It had become clear to me, that my vision was not going to be possible. The TCV students were busy with their school elections, exams, and preparations for a big founders’ day celebration that will happen in a few weeks. The new plan involved us meeting with a few of the top students in their grade 12 for about an hour, which was nice. We were waiting on their outdoor basketball court, when our students spotted some young children on the adjacent playground. Before long, our students were down on the playground, chasing and being chased, playing what was to me an incomprehensible game involving 2 marbles and frequently contested rules. Also, somehow our students had candy, which they quickly shared. Many photos were taken. This was one of the most spontaneously fun parts of the day, and our students were quite sad with the Tibetan dorm parents called their children up to go to their next activity.