Hello Dalai
McGowan, Jo
JO McGOWAN HELLO DALAI My brush with His Holiness In these anxious days, when world leaders astonish us with their deeply held stupidity, meeting a man like the Dalai Lama-whose very being...
...As the Dalai Lama left the hall, one of the organizers announced that there would be a photo opportunity-first with the Dalai Lama and the children, and then with the adults...
...Four months, the baby books agree, is the perfect age- all charm, no ego-and Moy Moy is a particularly good advertisement...
...Moy Moy was taken from us for the picture and placed at his feet...
...Although the audience was clearly in awe of him (no one stood straight when addressing him...
...You have to work at it a little, which makes the reward seem as if it is meant for you alone...
...The school, the first of its kind for Tibetan children with disabilities, had been established at his insistence and he makes it a point to stay closely in touch with its growth and functioning...
...She smiles at just about anyone...
...The moment when the blankness disappears and the look of amazed delight sweeps across her face never fails to enchant...
...He dresses in traditional Indian clothes, and that day he wore a flaming red kurta (a knee-length tunic), a white waistcoat and closely fitted white pajamas, a woolen cap with a woven border that matched the kurta, and a brightly colored shawl draped over his shoulders...
...The atmosphere was electric: even the children with mental handicaps were beside themselves...
...hugged him...
...As he turned to leave, he blessed me once more and then, over my shoulder, caught sight of Ravi...
...He paused often to consider what he was being told, teased the young woman who was interpreting in sign language for the deaf children, and smiled extravagantly throughout...
...I had that opportunity recently when he visited Dehradun, the small town in the foothills of the Indian Himalayas where I have lived for the past fifteen years...
...It was not simply a speech...
...Seeing the Dalai Lama's curiosity, the translator stopped to introduce Moy Moy, my colleague Linda, and me (she didn't know Ravi), and told the Dalai Lama at length about Karuna Vihar, the school where we work...
...His talk to the full group was also in Tibetan, but he was at pains to ensure that we all understood what he was saying, interrupting himself at one point to ask that a translator be deputed to us...
...He wanted to meet the children and to find out how the teachers felt about their work...
...Yet it's not just a look: his whole life is devoted to working for people few care about-the poor, the forgotten, those whose villages have been destroyed by earthquakes or cyclones, those who walk miles every day for water and firewood...
...He asked them about the progress they had noted, whether they needed anything, and whether he could do anything more to make their jobs easier...
...Meeting the Dalai Lama was all her doing...
...At the same time he was to visit a school for Tibetan children with mental handicaps...
...She spoke in Tibetan, so I don't know for sure what she said...
...Dehradun has a large Tibetan population, and the Dalai Lama had come to inaugurate a library at a monastery...
...Then, giggling, he put his arms around Ravi and hugged him...
...And although our interpreter kept forgetting to translate, so rapt was her attention, the forty-five-minute session, mostly incomprehensible, ended too quickly...
...Ravi is a striking, and even unforgettable, man...
...But as he listened with great interest, it seemed to me that what he really wanted to know about was Ravi...
...First you catch her attention, then hold eye contact long enough for her to recognize yours as a friendly face, then smile encouragingly and talk sweetly...
...When it was our turn, I was stationed next to him...
...So I expected that if he noticed us at all, it would be because of her...
...I reckoned without my husband...
...Bent almost double in their eagerness to show proper respect, they stood waiting for him to pass, hardly daring to peek out to catch a glimpse of him...
...Moy Moy is thirteen, but her developmental level is about that of a four-month-old infant...
...Only five-foot-three, he nonetheless has a presence that commands immediate attention...
...It was for her that I started the school I now direct, and because of her that my whole life has changed...
...Smiling mischievously, he reached over and pulled on Ravi's beard, as if he had been wanting to do it all morning...
...He stopped to bless a child just opposite us, turned to continue up the aisle, and then noticed Ravi...
...JO McGOWAN HELLO DALAI My brush with His Holiness In these anxious days, when world leaders astonish us with their deeply held stupidity, meeting a man like the Dalai Lama-whose very being radiates peace and tranquility-is a corrective and a restorative...
...The gist of it was a perfect understanding of inclusion...
...His visit was a pastoral one...
...His face is serene and saintly, his eyes sparkle...
...The clothes alone make him stand out-most Indian men favor gray or brown as the color of choice-but Ravi also has a long, full beard which is soft and mostly white...
...Usually, our daughter steals the show at such events...
...When the Dalai Lama arrived, everyone in the little hall (there were around one hundred of us) stood expectantly on either side of the aisle...
...people who need love and affection, dignity and a place in the community...
...People with disabilities, he said, are just the same as anyone else: people first...
...they bent at the waist and would not look him in the eye), his style was casual and affectionate...
...I am the director of a similar school for children with physical and mental disabilities, and I had been invited to attend the gathering, along with one of my colleagues, my husband, and our daughter...
...She is my ticket to most events nowadays...
Vol. 130 • June 2003 • No. 11
