Dharamshala: “The book is a story of ordinary Tibetans leading ordinary lives, but doing extraordinary things”, said Tsering Namgyal, the author of the Little Lhasa: Reflections on Exiled Tibet at a launch of his book here in Dharamshala today.
In his extensive comments, Bhuchung D Sonam, a poet and author of Muses in Exile: An Anthology of Tibetan Poetry, said, ” Little Lhasa depicts the realities of Tibetans living in exile exceptionally well”.
Bhuchung D Sonam said that such books written by the Tibetans themselves are far more accurate in interpreting the Tibetan realities than those authored by non-Tibetans.
“The books authored by non-Tibetans are based on what they have seen or heard, whereas books authored by Tibetans themselves tell what they had experienced”, he added.
The blurb on the dust jacket of the book, published by the Indus Source Books, says, “In these ten essays Tsering Namgyal reflects, with curiousity and compassion, on this “in-between world” in which he grew up and which is now transforming at a rapid pace. He combines his own experience of growing up among the Tibetan communities of India, his extensive travels, and many interviews, to explain to himself and to others why his “virtual home” is so unique and intriguinig. And why, despite the poignacy of dislocation, the stories from exiled Tibet have a strange ability to touch and inspire.”
Releasing the book, Thubten Samphel, Secretary of the Department of Information and International Relations, Central Tibetan Administration, said that Tsering Namgyal’s book is written in lucid and fluid English, which makes his narration of the Tibetans’ exile experience so powerful and moving.
Samphel said that he hoped that this book would be an inspiring example for new generations of Tibetan refugees.
The release of the book was attended by Gyari Dolma, the deputy speaker of the Tibetan Parliament-in-Exile and Pema Jungney, the former speaker of the Tibetan legislative body.
Tsering Namgyal was born, bred, and buttered in exile. He studied journalism in Taiwan and had been a reporter of Taipei Times. His writtings have appeared in many of the leading regional publications including the Asian Wall Street Journal, Asia Times, Dimsum (a literary journal), and Tibetan review. He is currently based in Taiwan.
(www.tibet.net is the official website of the Central Tibetan Administration of His Holiness the Dalai Lama.)
