Delhi & Prof. Lokesh Chandra

It has really warmed up here in Delhi. The dust and smells have also increased. You simply cannot walk with your mouth open or you will literally be feasting on luscious fat flies.

Yesterday I had a very long and successful meeting at Tibet House. I finally had to say that I needed to go. I was tired and mentally worn out. After that the three of us, Tsedor and Jamyang Lekdrub, went to Cannought Place and found a a restaurant named Becor's. It is primarily Thai and Chinese cuisine. One of the juniour chefs is the nephew of my hosts and travelling companions. The food was very good and I recommend the restaurant to anyone travelling to Delhi.

Last night was probably my worst night in India. I had become tired during the day because of the heat and also I think because of a slight salt deficiency. I had a heat fever throughout the night and worse, the mosqitoe repellent that plugs into the electrical outlet did'nt work. It could be that the chemical chip was old, but that wasn't the worst. Sometime after 2:00 a.m. my right arm was attacked by bed bugs. In the Tibetan language these creatures are called 'dre shig' which means demon lice. They are really awful and itch like hell. Generally by morning the itching stops unlike the milder mosquitoes bites.

This morning, Tuesday, we had breakfast at 8:00 and then left at 9:00 with a driver to go to my last appointment with Prof. Lokesh Chandra. We had a very good time. The uncle of my two companions was hired in the sixties to re-draw many of the block print images published by Raghu Vira (the father of Lokesh Chandra).

Saujanya Books has a new outlet in Majnukatilla. I spent some time with the sisters that own the Saujanya book shops and purchased a recently published set of the Collected Works of Dagchen Kunga Lodro. He is one of my favourite authors and many of my translations from Tibetan are of the texts of Kunga Lodro.

I'm off to pack and tidy up some loose ends like hotel bill, etc. If I'm lucky I can get a short nap in as well. We leave for the airport at 7:30 and my flight is at 11:30 p.m. The Hong Kong Airport offers free wi-fi throughout the complex so I will e-mail from there.

New Delhi & Tibet House

It is Monday morning in Delhi. The sun climbed through a dusty haze which will probably stay for the day unless a big wind comes up and sends the dust to the east. I had a relatively mosquito free night although it was warm even with all the windows open and the overhead fan spinning. We are off in a few minutes to go to Tibet House. If we have good luck we will even be able to arrange my second meeting for the afternoon. Dinner is already planned with my good friend Pema Wangchuk. He is Bhutanese and always brings a fresh perspective to Indian and Tibetan cultural life. You are guaranteed to be laughing at his irreverent observations of the various quirks and customs he observes.

Pema Wangchuk and I spent August 2004 together in Eastern Tibet documenting all of the art of an entire monastery. For relaxation we hiked the high mountains above 14,000 feet that rose behind the monastery. We were looking for caves and special places associated with Tertons and Padmasambhava. We found one cave. We stopped for a little while to let our clothes dry after a torrential mountain down pour caught us out in the open. I had to scramble to keep my camera equipment dry. (The image above which I had already posted earlier is from that rainy trek in 2004 with Pema Wangchuk).

Anyway, off to Tibet House......

The Day That I Ate Delhi

Arrived in Delhi after 7 and a half hours on the road. It was a good ride until we hit the northern edge of Delhi and there were two large traffic jams. Each took one hour to get through. What about that wind and dust storm? That was something else. At times you could only see about a 100 yards. I swear there were sand dunes forming vertically on the sides of cars and then just as quickly as they appeared they were blown away by another gust. It is safe to say that this is the day that I ate Delhi. Aside from these minor inconveniences, and clearing the dust out of the throat, it is important to know that horses, cows and buffaloes are the kings and queens of the road here. They can block traffic anywhere they please.

After that and during lunch we learned that there is a new short cut through Sahrahanpur that cuts the trip down to three hours. We asked the directions but were told you had to know the road. That was a lot of help. Jamyang Lekdrub will look for the short cut on his way back to Dehradun later this week. I had lunch with the younger Dungsay Rinpoche yesterday and he is now staying in the same guest house as us. In fact the guest house in owned by the Drolma Palace of Sakya and it is where the Lamas usually stay when passing through Delhi. It is called the Tara Guest House. The Ngorpas also have a guest house as does the Chu Shi Gang Drug and many other Tibetan religious and cultural organizations. The area is in the extreme north of Delhi and called Majnukatilla. The Indians tend to stay away because it was once a cemetery of sorts, rather a charnel ground. It also figures very much into a Muslim love story akin to Romeo and Julliet. Needless to say it didn't end well. The Hindus especially never populated this area. It borders on a tributary of some river which I don't know the name of. Mosquitoes are the largest cash crop. Dirt and bad smells are the runners up.

I will be meeting again with Dungsay Rinpoche later in the day and then plan a quite dinner with Tsedor and Jamyang Lekdrub. The meetings for tomorrow and Tuesday I will also set up by phone later in the day after a nice long nap.

New Delhi, International House Seminar

On Friday afternoon and evening there was a seminar titled 'What the Panditas and Yogis Brought to Tibet.' There were four speakers (from the left) made up of Steven Goodman, John Dunne, Gene Smith, and Jake Dalton. It was very well attended with some recognizable faces of old friends such as Virendra Kumar, patriarch of the Kumar family, and others. The event was co-sponsored by the Khyentse Foundation.

We are up at 5:00 tomorrow morning and then off to see the (Situ) Gyalwa Karmapa for an audience prior to the 14 or more hour bus ride to Bir. It should prove to be a thoroughly exhausting day with or without the audience. It seems there will be a convoy of three mini buses.

Holidays and Holy Days

Tuesday was March 10th - a Tibetan Holiday. Wednesday was Holi - an Indian holiday. Thursday is Tibetan Women's day - a holiday again. It can be very hard to see people here when they have so many holidays. Yesterday I ate lunch in one of my favourite restaurants in the Defense Colony. Sagar, they specialize in vegetarian South Indian food. The obligatory and necessary nap was soon to follow. Today I move to a central Delhi hotel and meet up with the main conference group. Jamyang Lekdrub's wife arrives from Mysore today and then they travel back to Manduwalla tomorrow.

I can't say that it will be sad leaving Majnukatilla. I have many friends here but it is so dirty, smelly and with lots of mosquitoes. The food is certainly affordable and the guest houses are reasonable to the point of being down right cheap. When I first came to India in the 1970s the $ was worth about 10 rupees. Now the $ is worth over 50 rupees. It is 5 rupees a minute to call Canada or the States. What does Verizon charge for overseas calls?

Sunny, Windy & Dusty

Dirty, windy, dusty, mosquitoes, smelly, but still preferrable to elsewhere. I have met so many people today that I know from the past that I can't keep them all straight. I couldn't keep them all straight in the past either. Slowly plans are being made, the conference topics are becoming clear, and the invitations to visit various places and spend time with specific people are starting to arrive. Delhi is such a bustling crossroads of people and activities. If you want to meet somebody then you just have to pick a spot and sit. At some point everybody will walk past.

Arrived in New Delhi

It is a bright warm sunny day here in New Delhi. I have made contact with everybody I need to contact and everything is proceeding as smoothly as possible for India. I have already run into several people I knew from nearly forty years ago. I am staying in Manjukatela but move on Friday to a more central hotel closer to the main group of translators. On Saturday we meet with the Gyalwa Karmapa before leaving for Bir and the beginning of the one week conference. The morning has been spent talking to old friends and discussing art and looking at many paintings some of which were painted by the uncle of my friend Jamyang Lekdrub. I will try and document as many traditional paintings by known artists as possible.