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While Waiting for the Lama
By
Adrian Heggem Misfjord
Project statement
In 1959, the 14th Dalai Lama fled to India from his Tibetan homeland, afraid that the Chinese authorities would detain him. On the other side of the vast Tibetan plateau, hundreds of nomads decided to follow in the footsteps of their spiritual leader, and settled in the remote northwestern province of Ladakh, India.
“It’s really important that you write about how Tibetan people are treated!” Karma says, in his house at 4500 meters above sea level. When asked how he feels about the situation, his response is swift and firm: “There is a difference between talking about these external things, and internal things. I would not like to comment on this.”
His hesitancy to elaborate on the topic is shared with many in the village of Puga. But during the last interview the translator, Tsewang, chose to interject: “Everyone who lives here wants to return to Tibet if they get the chance. We do not have anything here in Ladakh. Even this mud brick house we are sitting in front of is not owned by us. I think 2000 years ago, the people of the Stone Age lived in similar houses”.
“We always carry a big R with us, for refugees. We are Tibetan refugees.”
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