World Tibet Day celebrated

The bonhomie was there to see and the whiff of momos, the favourite snack of Tibetans wafted through the air at the Daira Centre for Arts and Culture on Wednesday. The small Tibetan group in the city under the Friends of Tibet in association with the Daira Centre for Arts and Culture celebrated the 81st birthday celebrations of XIV the Dalai Lama.

Tibetans marked the day with the screening of the biopic of Dalai Lama ‘Martin Scorsese’s ‘Kundun’. It traces the journey of Dalai Lama. The small Tibetan group in the city under the Friends of Tibet gathered to share their joys, aspirations and thoughts about their culture.

Lodoe Gyaltsen, 24 who was born in Dehradun and presently doing General Nursing in the city said, “This is a big day for us as we all come together and share our feelings about Tibet and life in general.”

Another student, Phula Tsering, 22 who is studying a cookery course said, “We are a minority in the city and are a peace loving people. If given a chance we would want to Tibet but our parents and grandparents had to come to India after Chinese took over Tibet in 1959.”

The event was marked by poetry reading by Eswar Anandan from the organisation, 'Friends of Tibet', and singing of the favourite Tibetan song of Dalai Lama. One of the members, Thpten Isewar shared that the song represents peace, love, respect, joy and Tibetan way of life and is usually sung at every art and cultural festival in Tibet.

There were also food stalls serving culinary specialties like Momos, Tsampa and butter tea. On the occasion, Daira Art Gallery owner Atiya Amjad announced an art exhibition of select artists from Tibet. Scheduled to be held between August 12 and September 9; the exhibition will showcase works that represent political turmoil and feelings of the people.