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  • Dalai Lama's Birthday in New York

    Phayul, Tibet
    July 6 2004

    Dalai Lama's Birthday in New York

    Office of Tibet, New York[Tuesday, July 06, 2004 07:17]
    NEW YORK, July 5 - They were on subway trains from Queens and
    Brooklyn. They were on cars and trains from Connecticut and other
    parts of upstate New York. Some of them had journeyed the day before
    on the cheap China Town buses from Boston and Washington, D.C. Others
    had journeyed from Pennsylvania and Minnesota.

    As they headed toward Manhattan's Armenian Church, their colorful
    chubas and traditional hats attracted curious looks from fellow
    travelers and holiday-makers, who tried to guess their nationality
    and but did not venture a question.

    Even the lone Tibetan layman from Florida was on the New York subway
    train that morning, having come all the way to take part in the
    famous New York celebration of His Holiness the Dalai Lama's
    birthday.

    Armenian Church, the favorite venue of Tibetan events in New York, is
    just 15 minutes of brisk walk from the United Nations headquarters,
    where three Tibetans had nearly starved themselves to death two
    months ago to demand justice for their countrymen in Tibet.

    Last Saturday, 1,500 Tibetans gathered there for the first day of a
    two-day celebration to mark His Holiness the Dalai Lama's birthday,
    which actually falls three days later, on 6 July, when very few
    Tibetans can get leave from their jobs in this energetic and
    relentlessly toiling city.

    The celebration was organized by the Tibetan Association of New York
    and New Jersey.

    Mr. Karma Khedup, president of the association, started the morning
    ceremony by offering a white greeting scarf at the portrait of His
    Holiness the Dalai Lama.

    Dr. Nawang Rabgyal, Representative of His Holiness the Dalai Lama to
    North America, addressed the gathering and said the birthday should
    not become an occasion for mere festivities and that it should
    instead be made more meaningful to the self and others.

    He called on Tibetans to use this occasion to "rededicate our mind,
    speech and body to the advice and vision of His Holiness".

    Dr. Rabgyal emphasized the need for introspection at a time like this
    in order that "we may feel inspired to commit ourselves afresh to the
    efforts of internalizing basic human values", and to studying our
    culture and language, as well as to bringing the light of freedom in
    our homeland.

    Cultural performances and talents shows, followed by
    all-can-participate gorshey, a circuitous folk dance from western
    Tibet, took the best part of the first day.

    On Sunday, Tibetans and other Buddhists from the Himalayan regions of
    India and Nepal gathered in Central Park for a day-long picnic.
    Stand-up comedies and songs from Tibet, Nepal and India regaled the
    crowd till five in the evening.

    It was a measure of the singers' talent that a family of Indian
    tourists from Mumbhai was lured to the site to witness what they
    thought was the local Indian community's live concert with artistes
    from Bollywood. Their eyes nearly popped out when they saw a tiny
    white awning under which a "Japanese" face was mouthing Bollywood
    strains into the mike in front of hundreds of other admiring
    "Japanese" faces.

    Ironically, the Indian family had to come all the way to New York to
    learn that over 100,000 Tibetans were living as refugees in India and
    the seasonal sweater sellers on the "footpath" of Mumbhai were
    Tibetans and not Nepalese. They promised to say "Tashi Delek" to the
    sweater sellers back home and also to visit Mundgod, the nearest
    Tibetan settlement from Mumbhai.

    The day stealer, however, was a stand-up comedian's mimicry of a new
    Tibetan dialect that has evolved among the Tibetan emigre community
    in Darjeeling. Known as the Darjeeling Tibetan, it sounds like a
    hybrid language, has heavy Nepalese intonation and is laced liberally
    with Nepalese words.

    The Tibetan Association of New York and New Jersey took the advantage
    of this large large gathering to conduct an election for its new
    office bearers. The biggest winner was Sonam Wangdu, one of the three
    hunger strikers, who is presently in California playing soccer for
    the New York Tibetan team.

    On 8 July the Office of Tibet in New York will host a special
    reception at Tibet House. Dr. Nawang Rabgyal said invitations had
    been sent to 400 people, including diplomatic missions, US Government
    officials, local Tibet Support Group members and leaders of the
    Tibetan community.

    "This year we are expecting attendance from many important
    dignitaries, including members of the UN missions," Dr. Rabgyal said.

    The increase in attendance, Dr. Rabgyal, said reflects growing
    awareness of His Holiness the Dalai Lama's contibution to the
    promotion of peace, non-violence and human brotherhood.
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