Tibetan Society in Exile
- New Delhi Raj Publications 2000
- 240p.
Displacement of communities and cultures due to political intolerance, either across national borders or within national boundaries, has become common. The Tibetans are one such uprooted group. The community has attracted the author's attention because of their deep-rooted attachment to tradition (in culture) juxtaposed with their remarkable capacity to adopt themselves to the values of modernity. Their government-in-exile has adopted a democratic Constitution which has made a pre-1959 feudal society perfectly clars and gender equal. The conclusions drawn are the results of the author's long association and interaction with hundreds of post & pre-1959 migrants, now living in various parts of the Himalayan region.
Religion, i.e. Buddhism, is a way of life for the Tibetans and the lamas, headed by the Dalai Lama, are the guiding stars. So, a thorough study of the basic tenets of Tibetan Buddhism & Lamaism has been attempted. An attempt has also been made to understand the unique institution of the Dalai Lama-so overpowering in their lives. The position of women deserved to the focussed since the primary motive behind this study has been to partray this 'gender-equal society' as a model for all other societies striving towards such a goal.