Exactly ten days from now, I will be on a flight to New Delhi. Yes, I'm going back to India. But this trip is very different from my past trips.
First of all, I will only be there for three weeks, or the duration of my winter break. Secondly, this is a research trip, hence why I am able to go.
I will be going to research the living traditions surrounding the epic of King Gesar of Ling, a topic which I have spoken on at my university before. I hope to find out a little bit about the significance a king from an 9th century epic has on the lives of 21st century Himalayan people, especially Khampa Tibetans, and how is the tradition manifesting in our lifetime.
Why India? Why now? My trip will encompass the 30th Kagyu Monlam Chenmo (Great Prayer Festival of the Kagyu Lineage) which will be taking place in Bodh Gaya from December 20th through January 2nd. I will be attending the festival in its entirety, as I have for the past two years. Each year, there is an artistic performance under the auspicies of His Holiness the 17th Karmapa. This year, unlike previous years, instead of a religious biographical play performed by the highly trained, generally exile born Senior Artistes of the Tibetan Institute of Performing arts, there will be a performance of the Ling Dro (Dances of Ling) performed by the young, Tibetan born students of TCV Suja. Some of these students come from regions where Gesar is a celebrated member of society, others may not have heard of Gesar prior to performing the dance. The audience will likewise range from Tibetans coming from Kham for whom Gesar is a living protector, to exile born Tibetans who often view him as a work of fiction, to Spitians and Ladakhis who also revere Gesar as their king and walked across the mountains to attend the Monlam and see the Lingdro. Not to mention foreigners from all corners of the globe who's only exposure to Gesar, if any, is from the religious tradition stripped of all cultural context.
I will also interview Tibetans in Dharamsala and Bhutanese in Bodh Gaya, who may not be adherents to the Kagyu tradition or attending the Lingdro.
And, if I have an internet connection, I will make daily posts here with photos and interesting experiences, starting from today.
So, T Minus 10 and counting:
My first observation is how different it is to prepare for a 3 week trip to India. My shortest trip to india, in my life, has been 5 months. On a five month trip I can afford to book bus tickets, train tickets, or plane tickets when I get there. If I can't leave on Thursday, Friday is fine. I can afford to take the 30 hour train from Patankot to Bodh Gaya.
Now, suddenly, I find myself on the phone at 3 AM with a travel agent in Delhi trying to book everything in advance and arrange how to get him the money, and having to take a plane because 30 hours is a substantial percentage of my total research time.
I can't afford to not pack EVERYTHING. Anything that wastes time is out of the question. This has been a bit stressful. Yesterday, for example, after painstakingly cleaning my apartment ahead of a dinner party tomorrow night, I realized that my camera was not with my charger as it was meant to be. After looking all the logical places, I proceeded to tear my apartment to shreds. I finally found it in a small bag that I had already searched four times.
Being without a car, I don't have the time to go to REI and get extreme bug repellant, an absolute necessity in Bodh Gaya. Fortunately, I have a friend who works there and will pick it up for me.
And, as usual, I'm wondering where the hell all my socks went.
As for the academic side of things, I'm dealing with school bureaucracy. The funding that was a near-guarantee just one week ago has now run full force into school bureaucracy over the simple question "Is Tibet Central or Inner Asia?" Funding may be denied, to the dismay of my professors, because of an imaginary line that no one has clearly defined.
As for me, I'm taking it day by day. I will leave the day after my last final, and come back a day and a half before classes start. I'm excited but also more nervous for this trip than I have been for any of my previous trips to India! I'll keep you all posted.
First of all, I will only be there for three weeks, or the duration of my winter break. Secondly, this is a research trip, hence why I am able to go.
I will be going to research the living traditions surrounding the epic of King Gesar of Ling, a topic which I have spoken on at my university before. I hope to find out a little bit about the significance a king from an 9th century epic has on the lives of 21st century Himalayan people, especially Khampa Tibetans, and how is the tradition manifesting in our lifetime.
Why India? Why now? My trip will encompass the 30th Kagyu Monlam Chenmo (Great Prayer Festival of the Kagyu Lineage) which will be taking place in Bodh Gaya from December 20th through January 2nd. I will be attending the festival in its entirety, as I have for the past two years. Each year, there is an artistic performance under the auspicies of His Holiness the 17th Karmapa. This year, unlike previous years, instead of a religious biographical play performed by the highly trained, generally exile born Senior Artistes of the Tibetan Institute of Performing arts, there will be a performance of the Ling Dro (Dances of Ling) performed by the young, Tibetan born students of TCV Suja. Some of these students come from regions where Gesar is a celebrated member of society, others may not have heard of Gesar prior to performing the dance. The audience will likewise range from Tibetans coming from Kham for whom Gesar is a living protector, to exile born Tibetans who often view him as a work of fiction, to Spitians and Ladakhis who also revere Gesar as their king and walked across the mountains to attend the Monlam and see the Lingdro. Not to mention foreigners from all corners of the globe who's only exposure to Gesar, if any, is from the religious tradition stripped of all cultural context.
I will also interview Tibetans in Dharamsala and Bhutanese in Bodh Gaya, who may not be adherents to the Kagyu tradition or attending the Lingdro.
And, if I have an internet connection, I will make daily posts here with photos and interesting experiences, starting from today.
So, T Minus 10 and counting:
My first observation is how different it is to prepare for a 3 week trip to India. My shortest trip to india, in my life, has been 5 months. On a five month trip I can afford to book bus tickets, train tickets, or plane tickets when I get there. If I can't leave on Thursday, Friday is fine. I can afford to take the 30 hour train from Patankot to Bodh Gaya.
Now, suddenly, I find myself on the phone at 3 AM with a travel agent in Delhi trying to book everything in advance and arrange how to get him the money, and having to take a plane because 30 hours is a substantial percentage of my total research time.
I can't afford to not pack EVERYTHING. Anything that wastes time is out of the question. This has been a bit stressful. Yesterday, for example, after painstakingly cleaning my apartment ahead of a dinner party tomorrow night, I realized that my camera was not with my charger as it was meant to be. After looking all the logical places, I proceeded to tear my apartment to shreds. I finally found it in a small bag that I had already searched four times.
Being without a car, I don't have the time to go to REI and get extreme bug repellant, an absolute necessity in Bodh Gaya. Fortunately, I have a friend who works there and will pick it up for me.
And, as usual, I'm wondering where the hell all my socks went.
As for the academic side of things, I'm dealing with school bureaucracy. The funding that was a near-guarantee just one week ago has now run full force into school bureaucracy over the simple question "Is Tibet Central or Inner Asia?" Funding may be denied, to the dismay of my professors, because of an imaginary line that no one has clearly defined.
As for me, I'm taking it day by day. I will leave the day after my last final, and come back a day and a half before classes start. I'm excited but also more nervous for this trip than I have been for any of my previous trips to India! I'll keep you all posted.
