HIMANI SANAGARAM
Once again, Tibetan Alliance of Chicago (TAC) celebrated Tibetan leader His Holiness Dalai Lama’s 87th birthday with fervor this year.
Dalai Lama’s three principles of impermanence, interdependence, and compassion were reiterated by the emcee of the event. Green crepe-paper streamers were used to decorate the event. H. H. the 14thDalai Lama was born on July 6, 1935.
A huge cake was cut by TAC President Pema Rinzinand was distributed to the audience. “We opened the Tibetan Alliance center in March after the Covid ban. Masks were required then and now it is optional,” Tenzin Jamyang, who works at Amazon Flex, said.
“A lot of our American guests came for the Trungkar celebration,” Jamyang added. Kids sang and danced on traditional Tibetan songs. There was a song on Tenzin Gyatso, the Potala Palace, a dance of nomads from all regions of Tibet, and a celebration of the Diphu region of Tibet.
At the end, the Tibetan community performed the Tibetan Circle dance or “Gorshey” on Tibetan songs and danced on Bollywood and American rap songs.
Tibetan women seemed to light up and feel happy when their Tibetan hit songs like “So Ya La” was played as they reminisce about going back to Tibet and getting autonomy from Chinese rule.
A junior high student, Tenzin Trinle, played on the traditional Tibetan instrument called dramyin on a song about everyone coming together in one place and having fun
Old Bollywood hits like, “Happy Birthday To You,” “Pal PalDilKePaas… were sung by Yashoda, Bina, Anil and Mahabir, who enthralled the audience.
70-year-old Norbu Lhamoalso danced sprightly to the Tibetan and Hindi songs Like “Jimmy JimmyJimmyAajaAaja, Aaja” and “Ghungroo Toot Gaye”.
Commenting of the recent Tibetan elections, Ngodup Wangmo said,“ I am proud of former prime minister Lobsang Sangay. He is very well-educated and outgoing, and he confidently led the Tibetan people. He did lots of fundraising to support Tibetan children for their education. Since His Holiness retired Sangay gives speeches to encourage young children in education. Wangmo got her teaching degree from a college in Pune and was a teacher in TCV Dharamsala. She likes the new Prime minister Penpa Tsering too.
In February this year, a documentary by U.K. journalist, Rani Singh“Never Forget Tibet” was released.
“I cried in the end when the Dalai Lama and Padmashri HarMander Singh, embrace each other,” Chime said after the movie.HarMander Singh, a Sikh officer,successfully rescued the Dalai Lama across the border, when he escaped Tibet in 1959 and took exile in India. Har Mander, who died in 2020,was Rani Singh’s uncle. Rani Singh’s book – “An Officer and His Holiness” highlights their friendship and narrates how her uncle managed this assignment with the North East Frontier Agency (NEFA) with limited resources from precarious Tibetan mountains amid foreign threats, to Tezpur, Assam, and then via train to Mussoorie and later to McLeodGanj near Dharamsala after Dalai Lama’s meeting with former Prime Minster Jawaharlal Nehru.
However, LakhpaLatristsang, the past president of TAC, said that toward the end of the documentary, some people used Dalai Lama for their own means.
The documentary ends with Green Tara chanting. While many Tibetans have migrated from Chicago to other areas, Tenzin Chutop has moved to Chicago from Minneapolis two years ago. “I came to know about India and Tibetan relationship by watching the documentary,” he said.
