Non-Refugee Refugees: Tibetans’ Struggles for Visibility in Bureaucratic India

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The struggle for visibility (documents) has always played a central role for Tibetans living in exile, especially for those living in India and Nepal. In this post, I look into this struggle that Tibetans in India face as newly arrived Tibetans from Tibet (second half) and Tibetans born and raised there (first half). During my stays in Dharamsala, India, I came across several different socio-cultural-political-economic phenomenons that have been emerging as a result of the lack of visibility for Tibetans living as, what I refer to as non-refugee refugees, in bureaucratic India. In the following, I take a closer look at one of these emerging intercultural phenomenon currently shaping the possibility of existing on paper for Tibetans especially from Tibet that bureaucratic India has yet to offer.

A Home in Tibet : A Review

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(Guestpost by Thupten Kelsang Dakpa. This review is for the recently released book A Home in Tibet by Tsering Wangmo Dhompa) “The pathos in writing about life in exile is marked by an… Continue reading

Lhakar Memories

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(Guestpost by Thinley Dorjee) Lhakar has been widely observed both in and outside of Tibet since 2008. In Tibet, most of the Tibetans observe Lhakar in more traditional ways to preserve and promote… Continue reading

Ethical Shopping

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Dear readers, it’s been a long time. Much has happened (both tragic and wondrous) in my life in the months since my last post, but I’m very excited to bounce back on Lhakar… Continue reading

Parliamentary Friends of Tibet Internship Program Wraps Up 2013 Edition

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Like every year around this time, the Ottawa Tibetan community said goodbye to a group of bright young Tibetans who came to stay with us for 2 months. Under the leadership of Canadian… Continue reading

Resilience & Fortitude: Tibet Movement through the youngest Tibetan woman parliamentarian

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When some members of the Lhakar Diaries family contacted me to see if I could do an interview with her, I was more than excited since I had been thinking about it for some time-it also helped that I am currently in Dharamsala. When I contacted Dhardon la, she was more than accommodating. She took some time off her busy schedule and we did a quick interview over some tea.

The Chang ma Ama las of Dharamsala

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The following post is a section in Ch. 2 “There Is a Tension in Our Hearts” from the book Echoes from Dharamsala by Keila Diehl (2002, p57-62).

Chura from Tibet

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Below is guest post from Sangmo, a 17-year-old high school student, who has recently become active in the Lhakar movement in New York City. Hello people of the world, or at least the… Continue reading

Game of Tibet

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Below is a guest post by Rignam Wangkhang, who is interning in the office of a Canadian Member of Parliament this summer as part of the Canadian Parliamentary Friends of Tibet Internship Program.… Continue reading

Ongoing Lhakar Pledge

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Woahh! Its been about 4 to 5 months since my last Lhakar post, apologies! I dont have any new cooking videos right now, as its been pretty hectic after getting back from India.… Continue reading