The Dalai Lama flew into Gaggle airport on March 2^nd. The entire school of Sarah Institute of Buddhist Dialectics walked to the airport (a little over two miles away) in order to greet him. This is not the first time that the school has cancelled/suspended classes in hopes of students / teachers / administrators getting a glimpse of the Dalai Lama. A couple of weeks ago our Tibetan language teacher told us that the Dalai Lama was coming down the hill from McLeoud Ganj on his way to the airport. (This was when he went to a Delhi hospital because of a pinched nerve in his arm). The entire school suspended class and ran down the hill to meet His Holiness. Everyone had katas to greet him. People picked flowers and started a large flame to burn incense. We waited for about forty five minutes when apparently someone received a text from the other side of the mountain – the side the Dalai Lama used. Everyone walked back up the hill in a large cloud of disappointment. I couldn’t help but wonder why he couldn’t at least be sure to drive by this side of the mountain…the side that has a school dedicated to him and a shrine built to worship him. The degree of happiness that a large number of people in the school would get from seeing him is probably too large to describe. And he can’t drive by for people to see him wave out the window? Despite this unfortunate event…the entire school walked in the heat for hopes of even one look at their leader.

Everyone lined the entrance to the airport. Members of the school had prepared dances and songs and wore traditional Tibetan dress to show their respect. I walked to the front entrance of the airport with a friend because we thought that’s where we had the highest chance of getting a good luck at the Dalai Lama…and perhaps even a handshake (fingers crossed).

There were armed guards at the entrance along with a few high-ranking monks of various sects. It was quite a peculiar juxtaposition – men carrying machine guns standing next to a number of people who have dedicated their lives to seeking peace, love, and compassion. We waited for about thirty minutes. Photojournalists began to claim their spots in front of the doorway to the airport – the place through which the Dalai Lama was supposedly going to walk. After a few minutes there was some commotion and the men with cameras starting becoming a bit aggressive and asking the monks to move out of the way. I was a bit offended…but I was also frustrated because these men were beginning to crowd me out of the spot that I had essentially claimed much earlier so that I could get some good pictures of the Dalai Lama. Turns out…I would love to be an Indian photojournalist. I began to elbow my way into the crowd – finding it quite easy to reclaim the spot I had lost. People began yelling and shouting questions for His Holiness to answer about Losar and Uprising Day. The pictures I was able to take are available in the gallery.

The Dalai Lama spent only a matter of seconds answering the questions…suggesting that Tibetans must remain calm. He then entered a car that was waiting for him. The prime minister of Tibet, Samdong Rinpoche, was waiting for him in the car. The car drove off as Tibetans who had lined the airport offered their katas, danced, and sang. Most people were lucky to see the Dalai Lama through the closed window of the car. Once the car had disappeared into the distance – they began to walk over two miles back to school in the heat. For many of them…this was the best thing that happened to them since the last time they were able to see the Dalai Lama.