Fifty Years After A War

                                                                  Photograph@Arijit Sen--All Rights Reserved

This year we travelled extensively in Arunachal Pradesh for a news documentary on 50 years of the 1962 Sino-Indian war. This photograph was taken at the Sela Pass. A link to the report. 1962: Lest We Forget

Chasing The Old Monk

He spoke to the media twice inside the Tawang Monastery. That was the first day of his visit. And he spoke at length. Dalai Lama: I am not the issue, issue is 6 million Tibetan people’s well being, their basic rights, unless the Chinese govt address these basic issue seriously, there is no question my return, the very reason why we left Tibet because of there is some problem so unless the Chinese govt you see address these basic problem you see no use

Tawang

Fifty years ago, the 14th Dalai Lama made his escape into India through Tawang. He stayed in this monastery, the 328 year old Galden Namgey Lhatse Monastery, Tibetan Buddhism's biggest monastery after the Potala Palace in Lhasa. Fifty years later much has changed. We now have the 1962 war and a defeat--deep imprint of which still remains in the minds of Indians and residents of Tawang. Fifty years later, we also have the Tawang Lhasa highway. A highway that I thought looked better with all the distance maths on this beautiful yellow board. I visited Tawang to find out if indeed people were waiting for the Dalai Lama's much talked about November visit. Last year he had cancelled his visit reportedly after he was denied permission to travel by the Ministry of External Affairs. This year the story so far seems to be different. Tawang remains the shortest route from Tibet into India. When we went, it was early morning, very few people and the monastery was just waking up.