DHARAMSHALA, March 3: A Tibetan man referenced often by the Tibetan leader His Holiness the Dalai Lama in his speeches to the Tibetans, especially officials in the administration, as the “blind man” who translated for him in the early days of exile has died on 27 February, the first day of the Tibetan New Year.
The Tibetan leader often made references to the “blind man” who was his Hindi translator in his dealings with the Indian government officials to describe the desperate and dire times under which the Tibetan administration under his leadership operated to rehabilitate thousands of Tibetans.
Aku Pema Bhum, who first translated for His Holiness the Dalai Lama in 1962, passed away at his quarters in Old and Infirm People’s Home in Mungod Tibetan Settlement in South India. He was 93.
Born in 1924 in Rebkong in Amdo Province, northeastern Tibet, Pema joined Rongpo Gonchen Monastery and later Penkar Monastery. In November 1944, at the age of 20 he went to Lhasa in Central Tibet and joined Jangtse Monastery of Ganden Monastic University. As the political situation in the Tibetan capital turned volatile and his dream of seeing His Holiness the Dalai Lama did not realise, he ran away to India and joined a road-building group in upper Shimla in Himachal Pradesh.
Pema lost his eyesight at 27 while trying to light dynamite on a mountainside. After a few years of treatments at various hospitals, he joined the Training Centre for the Blind under the Ministry of Education and Scientific Research in Dehra Dun and successfully completed his studies in Canning, Spinning and Bharati Braille. He was perhaps the first blind Tibetan to have a degree in the field from a recognized institution.
In the aftermath of China’s occupation of Tibet, when His Holiness the Dalai Lama and thousands of Tibetan were forced into exile, Pema went to Mussoorie to have an audience with His Holiness who sent him to Old People’s Home in Dalhousie. A few years later, Pema had the privilege to be His Holiness’ Hindi translator.
Bhuchung D Sonam researched for this story
