TCV School Anniversary Report 25-27 October 2008

Tibetan Children's Village School Dharamsala grandly celebrated its 48th Founding Anniversary from the 25-27 October 2008 with the sunshine of blessings from His Holiness the Dalai Lama and His Holiness the Gyalwa Karmapa Rinpoche as well as other honourable guests from the Cabinet Ministers to ATPD Speaker and its members, Indian Officials foreign sponsors and supporters and undoubtedly thousands of locals both Tibetan as well as Indian people.

The day has begun with opening ceremony March Pass by hundreds of children led by the school captains and prefects as well as the flag bearers, school band and the competitive houses, each with their striking coloured flags and logos in a very splendid way. This was followed by the welcome and introduction speech about the Tibetan Children's Village school by Mr. Lekshey Tenpa la and Mr. Tsewang Yeshi la, President of TCV. After the speech from Honorable Ven Tsering Phuntsok la, Religious and Cultural Minister and ATPD Speaker Karma Choephel la, His Holiness the Dalai Lama gave his address for the public.

In his address, he spoke about the current Tibet-China relationship, his diminishing hopes in the Chinese authorities but not the Chinese public, need for upgrading the Education Systems for Tibetans under the Education Department, CTA, importance of learning Tibetan language and preserving our culture, about the importance of people's initiative to come with solutions to our Tibetan cause as well as the upcoming Emergency Meeting to be held in the November, etc. This was followed by Awards ceremony to TCV 20 years service holders, Class V & VIII Common Exam toppers as well as the Individual toppers of Class XII CBSE 2007-08

In the afternoon, Tibetan Institute of Performing Arts (TIPA) presented the public with their opera performance. Lhamo (Opera) with its roots in the masked dance-drama tradition was actually developed in the 14 C by Thangtong Gyalpo. He perceived the power of the performance medium as a way of telling moral tales, based on Buddhist philosophy, in the words of the common people through a unique style of song dialogue, dance and pantomime with the help of cymbals and drums.

"Prince Drimeh Kunden" is a famous jataka (former lives of Buddha) story. The opera has been adapted from a story in the Buddhist scriptures (Tengyur). A long time ago, the land of Beta was ruled by King Sayong Drakpa, very powerful king and holding in his possession many rare and beautiful treasures including precious wish-fulfilling gem. The Prince gave away the gem to a beggar and as a result, the King punished him by sending out to wilderness to face numerous hardships. After 12 years of solitude, he returns to his kingdom and the King begs forgiveness son and offers him the entire treasury to give as alms and announces that Prince Drimeh Kunden is his regent. Under the rule of Prince Kunden, the Kingdom of Beta prospers and strengthens. He and Sangmo eventually attain enlightenment.

All in all, the children, staff and the general public altogether had so much fun and joy by receiving the grace and blessings as well as the wonderful food and weather they had during the day.