Dharamsala, June 14 – As soccer mania grips nations across the globe, young and energetic Tibetans monks living in Dharamsala are kicking the ball hard to match the rising fever.
Dharamsala is the headquarters of Tibetan exiled spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama alongwith hundreds of Buddhist monks.
While there are strict rules and regulations to be followed in the lifestyle of the monks, they say, they are allowed to indulge in sporting activities and soccer tops the list of favourite games.
“They are all crazy for football. Especially, monks are very interested in football,” said Tenzin Gyeajey, a Tibetan monk.
As tens and thousands of soccer fans have converged in Germany, the monks in the northern town too have a gala time, watching their favourite teams and players on television sets and cheering for them.
“If you see these monks, they all are mad after soccer. Their first choice is soccer so since the world cup is going on in Germany, the fever is high. They are watching the game on TV,” said Tsering Dorjee, a Tibetan football player.
With dream of a national team of Tibet participating in the World Cup some day, they have divided opinions for the present teams.
The young monks, though, together vouch for Brazil’s magical quartet — Ronaldinho, Ronaldo, Adriano and Kaka.
Brazil beat Croatia on Wednesday by 1-0 though Brazil coach Carlos Alberto Parreira paid tribute to Croatia’s stubborn performance as the holders got their World Cup campaign off to a winning start.
About 130,000 Tibetan refugees are settled in different parts of India.
Since fleeing Tibet in 1959 after an abortive uprising against Chinese rule, the shaven-headed Dalai Lama has spent most of his time in Dharamsala in the Himalayan foothills.
