By Pooja Kumar
New Delhi, October 19 – Twenty-year-old Tsering Kyi, dressed in traditional Tibetan finery, was crowned Miss Tibet 2003 at a non-descript day school at Majnu Ka Tila on Saturday night.
Kyi, who was the lone finalist, hopes that her parents in the Amdo province of north-eastern Tibet will hear of her achievement on the Radio Free Asia network. She has no way of communicating with them.
Over 700 Tibetans gathered for the Miss Tibet 2003 finals and the first Tibetan Music Awards, which were part of the 4th Free Spirit Festival.
The crowd, which came mostly from Tibet, Nepal, Dharamsala and Mussoorie, roared for a song on the Dalai Lama, Akhopema.
Every year almost 2,500 people cross the Himalayas into Nepal and finally Dharamsala to seek asylum. Most of the Tibetans seen at the function in Delhi this weekend were not much older than Kyi, who had herself crossed over with a group of 17 youngsters when she was 16. ‘‘I come from a nomadic background. I wanted modern education,’’ said Kyi who plans to work for the Tibetan woman’s cause.
The festival has been partly funded by an Italian and an Amsterdam-based company. But a large portion of the Rs 10 lakh has come from director Lobsang Wangyal’s own pocket.
As the 16 contestants who performed at the festival moved from meditational music to hard-core Tibetan rock, Wangyal said: ‘‘Tibetan music is an amalgamation of mystery, imagination and healing power but very few are aware of it. We want to creat an awareness.’’
The number of finalists at the Miss Tibet contest dropped from four last year to one this year, but the community is not disheartened. ‘‘Even if one Tibetan woman is liberated, it is a big step forward for the community,’’ said Wangyal.
Kyi’s predecessor, Dolma Tsering, believes that the drop is symbolic of the close-mindedness of the Tibetan community. ‘‘The young respect elders too much to defy them and it is harder for girls to break free,’’ said 20-year-old Tsering who fled to India with her parents in 1994.
Close by, a monk sang in memory of his mother. Dressed in the traditional amdoshopa, Jamyang Yeshi recalled his journey from Tibet’s Kokonor Lake in 1998. He hasn’t heard from his family for the last five years. ‘‘If the Chinese government gets wind of any effort on my part to communicate with my family, there will be trouble for them.’’
