Long-time ATC supporter Jill Lancashire shares some of her experiences on the November 2010 Dharamsala Insight Tour.

Day 1: Arriving in Dharamsala
It’s been 25 years since I’ve been here in McLeod Ganj (Dharamsala). It’s almost unrecognisable. Big building expansion, unfortunately in my most unfavoured building style - the concrete box. Our hotel (Hotel Surya) is pretty swish, hot water for 4 hours morning and night, and Indian TV.

Tonight three monks from ‘Learning and Ideas for Tibet’ cooked dinner for us. Geshe Lobsang Gyatsen told us his tale of torture and humiliation at the hands of the Chinese. His words explained what happened, which was shocking, but his manner was measured and detached. Since escaping to Dharamsala he’d become a Geshe and was more than intact. What kind of mental approach can do that? What scars could he not erase?

Day 2: Norbulingka Institute and Meeting the Karmapa
Norbulingka Institute this morning. Driving down the hill again through the maelstrom of traffic, endless shops all selling the same things, and concrete box houses. I wasn’t really sure what to expect. The driver turned down a dirt road and an exquisite building appeared - an oasis, a Shangrila!

Inside the vibe was peaceful and everything was perfect. Stone buildings were decorated in traditional Tibetan style, beautiful gardens. You breathed in calm upon entering.

Mr Dolma Kyap, the Director, greeted us and explained that 420 Tibetans are working there and the Institute is now self-sufficient.

The magic about Norbulingka is that it offers training and employment that maintains the traditional Tibetan arts and crafts. While there are a few older Tibetans working at the Institute, there are lots of younger ones painting thangkas, making statues and carving wood. Each piece takes months or years to complete.

New refugees have a place to go and a career to develop. The Institute plans to create a school that provides a quality education incorporating Tibetan values. They hope to stem the flow of Tibetans leaving for the west, where their culture will soon be lost for the next generation. Perhaps they can attract the kids back for a year here or there - boarding school style. A superb lunch was served, no-one wanted to leave.

Next stop a blessing from His Holiness the Karmapa at the Gyuto Tantric College. We lined up, received a red blessing cord and it was over all too soon. If ever there was someone who looked like a Buddha, it’s the Karmapa. Lucky day.

Day 4: The Dalai Lama’s Temple and NGO Meetings
I’m very definitely starting to mellow into the flow of this place and am over the self-pity of not finding McLeod Ganj in the same way I left it 25 years ago.

Two to three thousand refugees have been crossing the border into India every year since then (although the Chinese government has squeezed it down to 2-300 over the last 2 years). Where did I think they were going to go? I’m incredibly glad they are here and flourishing.

Today we set off around the kora surrounding His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s temple, Namgyal Monastery. Lots of older Tibetans were walking purposefully around it, some on walking sticks, some of those passing me!

The many flags and carvings all around it stood as testament to the thousands who have walked it before. The odd dog and cow wandered around nibbling the offerings. The walk seemed to be part of many sentient beings’ daily routine.

Inside Namgyal Monastery absolutely everything was going on. It’s the hub from which everything emanates.

Tibetans with green books were voting for a Tibetan Prime Minister; chants and claps of debates echoed around the courtyard, old ladies slid down shiny boards doing hundreds of prostrations. Tourists were walking, monks were busy. Some drove into the outer grounds in a converted military truck sporting the sign Namgyal Monastery on it…..classic. The place was buzzing.

I went inside the several gompas and felt the power of the place. The statues and thangkas were magnificent. After sitting and taking it in for a while I ambled into the museum, which had an incredible chronology of history in picture and story. Reading personal stories, spanning decades, I was reminded afresh of the extent to which the culture and the people of Tibet had been devastated. It’s humbling in the extreme to see what they have achieved in exile.

Did a bit of browsing in the shops this afternoon and missed the Tibetan Handcrafts tour. It’s here in town so will go another time. Went with Judy to buy some Tibetan texts for Tara Institute. We met the quintessentially beautiful Tibetan shopkeeper who wrapped the text carefully, in cloth and paper, and charged the princely sum of 120 rupees - about $3. He then gave all three of us a photo of His Holiness….deeply moving.

Tonight we had a slap up Indian feast here at the Surya Hotel. I’d actually been hanging out for some good Indian food and we got it aplenty. The purpose of the night was to meet some of the NGOs based here in Dharamsala: the International Tibet Network, Tibet Women’s Association, National Democratic Party of Tibet, Gu Chu Sum and the Tibetan Youth Congress.

The representatives were young, sharp and deeply positive - and of course bilingual! Each got up and told us about their organisation and what they did. Members of the tour talked to them, made connections and offered assistance where/if they could. Both sides were happy they’d made genuine contact with each other.

Jill Lancashire

Read Dharamsala Insight Tour Diary - Days 6-8
Read Dharamsala Insight Tour Diary - Days 9-13