Dalai Lama Land

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Over the weekend, Dharamvir (the head of RUCHI), Neelam (another RUCHI employee) and I went on a trip. The first place we visited was Dharamsala. Just north of Dharamsala is Mcleod Ganj, which is where the Dalai Lama resides in exile as well as where the former Tibetan government in housed. There are tons of Tibetan refugees here. We went to a museum about the atrocities that have been committed there.

If you're not quite sure about the history, basically what happened is that China decided that Tibet needed to be "liberated" which meant that they were going to annex Tibet. I'm not sure how they felt that this could be called liberation, since it doesn't appear that tibet was being liberated FROM anything. This all happened in about the 1950's. Then in the cultural revolution in the 80's, the chinese (thanks to chairman mao) decided that everything culturally significant to the tibetans should be demolished. tibetans who protested were arrested, tortured, and subjected to any other crimes against humanity you can imagine. many of them escaped, and one of the countries they escaped to was India, which shares a border with Tibet. The only problem is to get to india, they had to cross over the Himalayas, which are snowy and treacherous. At some point they managed to smuggle the Dalai Lama, who is both the political and spiritual leader of the country, across the mountains. Now he resides in Mcleod Ganj. There have been several Dalai Lamas, and each one is supposed to be the reincarnation of the same being. The next Dalai Lama is recognized by the outgoing Dalai Lama when he is a young boy.

Dharamsala was the most touristy town I had visited up to that point, but it was very cool to check out. I also appreciated seeing a different ethnic group (the Tibetans), although they certainly seem to share the same haggling customs as the Indians.

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Photos

Shopping
Neelam is an excellent bargainer.

Neelam and me drinking chai
Probably our fourth cup of the day