By Prerna Uppal
Chandigarh, October 13 – FOR somebody who saw him in person for the first time, he was an ordinary looking man with an extraordinary presence. He is a political and spiritual figure for the world but for the 200-odd believers gathered at the Punjab Bhavan today, the Dalai Lama is a father figure. And the father always wants to know how his children are doing.
‘‘He asked me how were students doing academically,’’ said Tenzin Norsang, president of the Regional Tibetan Youth Congress (RTYC). Norsang came to know that the Dalai Lama was in Chandigarh for a while since he had missed his afternoon flight to Delhi from where he was scheduled to go to Nagpur to attend the 58th Convention on Buddhism.
This was at 3 pm. Norsang immediately got in touch with the presidents of Ladakhi and Bhutanese students’ association.
Within a couple of hours, a huge crowd of young and old Tibetans and Ladakhis and Bhutanese students was gathered in front of Punjab Bhawan.
Seven-year-old Tashi Norbu met the Dalai Lama for the first time. The little boy, with a leg deformity since birth, was in town for treatment. He was brought here by his school nurse Tsering Wangmo. What did he feel? ‘‘At peace,’’ is what Norbu, whose parents are in Tibet, had to say.
There were few others who also saw the Dalai Lama for the first time. ‘‘I am so exited that I will get a chance to see him in person,’’ said Navneet, accompanied by friends Hardeep and Rigzin, all PU students.
There was no jostling or pushing around. Just a calm peaceful snaking queue waiting for the Dalai Lama. And when he appeared, heads bowed in reverence, for many tears flowed unabashedly.
Not all could see him at close quarters, but Purunita and her friends, MCA students from PU, summed up the experience in one sentence. ‘‘We feel blessed.’’
