Dharamsala, April 16 - The officials of the Central Tibetan Administration were blessed with a rare opportunity to see and listen to an unglamorous celebrity from the Tibetan freedom struggle. Takna Jigme Sangpo, the veteran political prisoner, yesterday talked to the officials of the Central Tibetan Administration. Jigsang la as he is called affectionately by his fellow prisoners, was speaking at the Gankyi staff mess at the invitation of the Department of Information and International Relations.

The septuagenarian patriot walked slowly between his walking stick and an assistant over the dais as the audience stood up to greet the feeble old soldier of the Tibetan freedom struggle.

As Takna's history of involvement in the freedom struggle was being read out few in the audience could solve the riddle of his imprisoned years.

" I have always wanted to meet and talk to Tibetan government officials and I am happy that I am here today", says Takna in his Lhasa accent which has retained its originality as his typically un-Tibetan beard.

The strong respect and sympathy of the audience could be felt when the oldest man in the hall stood up with his right handmoving towards his seahorse-hat in an attempt to remove it in a gesture symbolising expression of reverence, humility and simplicity.

The inspirational former teacher of a Tibetan school took the 400 plus audience which comprised mostly of ones who have not seen Tibet through a journey into more than three decades of life under Chinese occupation.

Before his release, the Chinese officials told him to give in writing that he would not return to Tibet. "I felt like I was betraying myself if I accepted that. Later on, they made me agree that I did not want to go to the United States".

After his release, American negotiators accompanied by Chinese officials, he said, approached him at his home and asked if he wanted to leave for United States for medical treatment.

A strong believer in independence for Tibet though, Takna never underrated the middle way approach of His Holiness and the exile administration.

The first concern expressed by Takna when he landed in Washington after his release on parole in 2002 was about His Holiness the Dalai Lama's health.

Takna arrived in Dharamsala in early March from Switzerland which granted him political asylum.