Others Before Self! : A Tibetan cry of colour

*@!!!*!!@&!!** (Mac Speak for ARGHHHHHHHHHHH)

  I just spent half an hour trying to be brief yet witty in my explanation as to WHY I have been having soooo much trouble posting about India, and with one false 'tap' on a key, I've wiped it all.

Sigh

That will teach me two things:

1) Not to make excuses

(sheepish grin)

2) to be more present with what I am doing :)

Honestly though, the real problem is,  WHERE DO I START?

It's not just that there are 2000 photos to go through (yes, you did read right, 2000 photos in 3 weeks). It's more about the inspiration and admiration I feel each time I flick through them again. Now how do I convey this adequately to you? In chronological order? 

I could regale you with quips (a 'Mise' word that I like very much ;-) and anecdotes about missing planes and having to take buses 500km overnight after endless hours flying and a 12 hour wait in Delhi airport. You might think it interesting, or even entertaining. Even a tiny bit. 

However, it has come to my attention (through repeated frustration personal experience) that life does not happen in quite the chronological order one, or at least I, might expect!

So I'm cutting straight to the nitty gritty.

It's not about me.

It's about THIS!!

The colour, gratitude, generosity, courage and love 

that exploded forth during

The 50th Anniversary Celebrations of the

Tibetan Children's Village

Below are a few words to describe the TCV's beginnings in a nutshell, but I strongly advise you to click on the link above to find out more. It is truly a message of dedication and strength, as well as being a testimony to the value of education (you know -  the subject I get on my high horse about ;-). 

After the Chinese occupation of Tibet in 1950, and H.H the Dalai Lama's escape to Dharamsala in 1959, many Tibetan children were left orphaned and destitute, separated from their parents during their long and arduous escape from their homeland.  On 17 May 1960, fifty-one children arrived from the road construction camps in Jammu, ill and malnourished. Mrs. Tsering Dolma Takla, the elder sister of His Holiness, volunteered to look after them. 

When her older sister sadly  passed away in 1964, Jetsun Pemma, who came to be known fondly as Amala (mother) left her studies to dedicate her life to the education of an increasing flow of orphaned Tibetan children.  Since its beginnings, the TCV has grown from one small live-in nursery school, to a number of schools spread across India. More than 34,000 children to date have been educated in both Tibetan language and culture, as well as receiving professional training so Tibetain children have a viable future not only in exile, but the day they regain their homeland.

I could go on about this forever. I have frivolous photos, slightly more arty ones (although you and I all know I'll never be a photographer) bits and bobs of colour and calligraphy from around Dharamsala that I will undoubtedly inflict on you over the next few posts. 

However these are my favourite. For the colour, yes. They vibrate with aliveness. But more importantly because they inspire me every time I look at them and remember the sincere gratitude and dedication  these children showed to H.H the Dalai Lama (yes!! I saw him up close!!), to their teachers and to Life itself.

"From the day we became refugees, our basic objective was to rise to the very place from where we have fallen down."

- H.H. the Dalai Lama 

What better lesson for us, than that?

Love to you all

See you in a couple of days

I may be on a roll with this ;-)