Stories of Tibetans: Documents in the time of Amnesia

It’s a rectangular room. It resembles a trolley or a train compartment. The aroma of coffee wafts even as you take a few steps down to reach the café. It also doubles as the office of ‘Stories of Tibetans’.

Earlier it was known as ‘Hope Photo Café’. A cabin at one end serves as the pantry. A long, rectangular table is used to serve visitors coffee and muffins. But it was neither coffee nor the muffins that drew my attention. It was actually a poster that announced an exhibition of photographs.

One of the walls was covered by photographs, colourful, vivid images and portraits of Tibetans. The photographs taken by the young owner of the café, Kunsang Tenzing, were for sale as memorabilia. The portraits had pictures of Tibetans speaking of their lives. The other wall was covered by a large book shelf.

Kunsang was busy on his laptop. I busied myself in reading the stories.

Picture of a handsome young man with an infectious smile on his face, a cup before him, drew my attention. Behind him in the picture was a lady holding up a cup with the message ‘Coffee Refreshes’ emblazoned on it. Striking as the picture was, the text was even more remarkable.

“I hate coffee! But I’m the Barista boy, man!” declared Tabo, who worked at a Barista outlet in Mcleodganj. The story of his journey from Tibet to Mcleodganj was no different from thousands of other Tibetans who fled their homeland.

“I didn’t know anything about coffee back in Tibet. I had just seen pictures of people drinking coffee in fancy cafes. But somehow life is strange in that way, and you end up in places you never thought you would,” reflected the young man about his life in exile.

Eight-years-old Tenzin Kelsang Gyalpo is lucky to have his mother in Mcleodganj. The young boy gets to see her every second Saturday, when his school in Gopalpur is closed. He likes pop corns, loves Dalai Lama and is interested in Tibetan language as he is a Tibetan.

Sonam Sangmo (14) is a striker in Tibet Women’s Soccer team. The first time, she saw Ronaldinho play football, her mind was made up. She knew what she wanted to do.

“The boys can’t dominate the girls in football anymore. Soon they will respect girls in every field of life,” says Sonam.

Kunsang himself left his home and parents in central province when he was barely five years old and came to India with his aunt. He has very faint memories of his home and the aunt and her family is more like his own family now. They landed at Mcleodganj under arrangements made by the Tibetan Reception Centre in Kathmandu and Kunsang was sent to the Tibetan Children Village School (TCVS). After completing his school, he left for Bengaluru to complete his undergraduate studies even as his aunt left for USA.

English was his subject of interest. “To me the Tibetan language is the most important one and then it is English,” says Kunsang, who on his graduation started an NGO ‘Tibet Hope Centre’ with some of his friends. The group just wanted to help Tibetan youth gain fluency in the English language.He thought of the project ‘Stories of Tibetans’ after he took up photography as his tool of communication.

“I have problem remembering! Looking at the photographs helps me recall those moments from the past. Photographs make a good document of our times. I believe it is an important medium and is a universal language we can use to promote our cause. It also helps in educating non-Tibetans about Tibet and our community.’

He keeps searching for inspirational stories. “Sharing is caring,” he adds as a parting shot.