The Book of Joy

three hours scouring the floor to prepare for their visit.
The Archbishop and the Dalai Lama walked past the children who had
been selected to share their stories. The children were bowing forward
respectfully, holding scarves draped across their hands. The Dalai Lama
stopped in front of one of the younger boys, who had a scar running from
his nose across his cheek. The Dalai Lama touched it tenderly and asked
him how he had gotten the scar, and then showed the boy a scar on his
own scalp.
As the Archbishop and the Dalai Lama took their seats, a young
woman stepped forward. She looked very studious and stylish in her pink
metallic glasses. “A very warm good afternoon to you, Your Holiness and
Archbishop Desmond Tutu. My name is Tenzin Dolma, and I am from
class twelve. Today, I’m going to share my experience of my journey
from Tibet to India. I was born in a small village called Karze in Kham
province in Tibet. I am the youngest in my family. My two sisters and I
were brought up by our mother, who is a farmer. My oldest memory was
of my uncle, who was hiding in our house because the Chinese were
looking for him. In 2002, when I was five years old, my mother told me
to go to India with my grandma.
“I was very happy because I loved being with my grandma. The
journey to India was very long with many difficulties. We had to hide
from the Chinese pol—so my grandmo—” She broke down, and started
crying, and could not go on. Mpho Tutu stepped forward and put her arm
around the girl to comfort her.
As she wept, the Dalai Lama said, “Almost every Tibetan family has
had a member of their family either killed, or arrested, or tortured.”
After a few minutes, the girl had recovered and was able to continue.
“So my grandmother and I hid under the luggage or under the seat of the
bus. At the Nepal border, the Chinese police pushed my grandmother
away. We were stuck at the Nepal border for a week. One night, my
grandmother told me to go with a Nepalese man to Nepal. I was very
afraid, but I went with the stranger. The next day, I reunited with my
grandma. When we reached India, we first went to Bodh Gaya for
Kalachakra.”