The Dalai Lama

19.09.11

So far it has been a great day and it is only midday. We got up earlyish to go in to town to see whether there was any sign of the Dalai Lama arriving. There wasn't so we went to a tiny restuarant for Tibetan brown bread with honey and the biggest bowl of 'special' muesli and had ever seen. This was no ordinary muesli; packed with fresh coconut, guava, apple(?) peanuts, corn-type flakes and other grains, then covered with curd (like yoghurt). A very healthy start!

There was still no sign so we walked out of town to the Tibetan Institute of Performing Arts, unfortunately there are no performances for a while because it is out of season. So we continued walking on to Dharamkot, a tiny village with a little school and some retreats and places to 'find yourself'. Martin decided it was probably safer for everyone if he didn't find himself so we headed back to Mcleod.

As we got back to the main square there was quite a commotion with groups of local people gathered, blocking the road. We took the hint and decided to wait in the square and secure a good view. We were not disappointed as 15 minutes later, the Dalai Lama drove past in a large convoy. We had been told, by our informer yesterday, to stand on the left hand side

of the road to get the best view. So there he was waving and smiling to the small crowd as he drove past. There was no hysteria just a quiet feeling of excitement, respect and admiration. I was suprised at how excited I was to see him. I know very little about Buddhism and the Dalai Lama, only what I have experienced previously in Thailand, and I have seen one interview (with Michael Palin of course). He just seems to have a quiet, wise, open minded presence. I am definitely going to read more into Buddhism. I am suspicious of religion in general because of what seems to be an emphasis in some religions of their beliefs being the right and only thing to believe, oh and the idea of there being a God! Whereas in Buddhism there is no God as such and it hopes that one day all religions will continue alongside each other with mutual

respect and understanding.

This evening we went to a film showing at the Learning and Ideas For Tibet Society. It's a small chirity that's set up to teach Tibetans with English Conversation classes and to educate tourists about the Tibetan situation. We watched a film called The Cup which was about 2 boys who have been sent to a monastery in India by their parents, in order to get them out of Tibet. To be honest I was a bit disappointed because I hoped to get more information from the evening about the Tibetan situation. However the film did not give any incite in to this, but it was an enjoyable film and interesting to watch my first Tibetan made film. We were expecting there would be some discussion or Q&A session about the current situation when this did not happen I tried to engage the English girl who ran the session in conversation,unfortunately she hurried off!!

Afterwards we went to Mclo for a Himachal cider. There we met an Argentian couple, Alehandro and Lucila who were in India on their honeymoon. They were a very friendly couple, a film producer and Psychiatrist. Alehandro also had an interest in football and knew of Saints, much to Martin's delight and also watched poker frequently on Sky. So as you can imagine

neither Lucila or I could get a word in edge ways. We are hoping to meet them tomorrow for a drink/dinner.