Tsering Namgyal Khortsa, the author of the newly released Little Lhasa: Reflections in Exiled Tibet, reviewed another book by saying, “books on Tibet roughly fall into the following categories: Western romanticized versions, communist propaganda, academic treatises, and sentimental accounts by Tibetans and some sympathizers”.’ By this measure, Khortsa’s latest publication is unusual and entirely outside the purview of this classification.Little Lhasa is a delightful collection of essays and interviews, written in an easy contemporary style, possibly taking off from V.S. Naipaul’s writings, and really does convey a sense of the life of the community in Dharamshala. The book had an earlier edition; the new edition includes more recent interviews.Tsering Namgyal KhortsaLittle Lhasa: Reflections in Exiled TibetSpeaking Tiger, 2024I like the turn of phrase used in the writing. I identify with Tenzin Tsundue’s ‘impoverishment by his idealism’. I had seen the pioneering film We Are No Monks, produced by my brother Rupin Dang, and am pleased it is still remembered in this compilation.The essays avoid high-minded subjects and focus on banal life, specifically in Dharamshala. The list of essays includes ‘Shangrila Online’, describing the ubiquitous internet cafes. ‘Buddha’s Children’ describes how a mostly secular education in Tibetan schools in India is now supplemented by so many courses of religious self-discovery for young Tibetans in Dharamshala, Varanasi and Gaya. ‘The Memories of Protests’ describes the role of activism and protest in ordinary life. ‘Of Exile and Activism’ describes how Dharamshala is a base for the activism of so many outfits like the Students for Free Tibet and Friends of Tibet. ‘Movies and Meditation’ describes how Dharamshala has become a base for film festivals and filmmaking, with a pioneering role played by Ritu Sarin and Tenzing Sonam’s Dreaming Lhasa and Khyentse Norbu’s Travellers and Magicians. ‘Dharma Talk’ is on the subject of libraries and more religious classes with international attendees.The last three essays are general excursions and bypass Dharamshala. ‘The Lure of India’ is an exposition on the history of the Karmapa in exile, and how and why a ‘Little Tibet’ exists in India, even as Tibetans are leaving India for the West. ‘The Monk in Manali’ is a paean to Manali and a search for the polymath Gendun Chophel’s tracks at the Roerich Art Gallery and Urusvati Himalayan Research Institute in Naggar, with a poignant excerpt from Chophel’s poem ‘Repkong’. Finally, ‘The Nation of Stories’ makes it easy for us to follow the chronology of Tibetan literature in English, covering the contributions of a roll call of all the writers one would expect, including Jamyang Norbu, Tenzing Tsundue, Tsering Wangmo Dhompa, Bhuchung Sonam, Thubten Samphel, Tsering Wangyal, Dr. T.Y. Pemba (interestingly, doctor to so many of us in Darjeeling), Tenzin Dickie and Tsering Yangzom Lama.Tsering Namgyal Khortsa.The interviews conducted in 2023 and added in this second edition are the stories of an eclectic mix of people, all drawn to Dharamshala. An Australian woman who found Buddhism in Dharamshala, an Indian from Chhattisgarh who made a similar journey, the story of a Tibetan monk-prisoner, a Swiss Tibetan who discusses the scars of separation from his family, conversations with a pioneering filmmaker from Dharamshala, and the difficulties of being a young Tibetan poet.The thread that binds these excursions is, of course, the life of the author, a pioneering novelist from the exiled Tibetan community. Just a bit on his early life, the draw of Dharamshala and his views on the life of the community in exile are all interspersed in the essays. For example, the ‘The Lure of India’ describes the devotion of this family to the 16th Karmapa, following whom they fled Kham in the 1950s. If there is a third edition, it is hoped the author will offer us his own story in the interview format.I would recommend this book to readers who wish to learn of the Tibetan community in exile, bubbling with artists and activists, no less than the more famous Dharma practitioners. And to those who wish to experience Dharamshala, truly deserving of the moniker ‘Little Lhasa’. Having read this book, I am now prepared to visit.Himraj Dang writes on environmental issues.
