Hidden Tremors-Part 2/4 : The Young India

Kartikey Sehgal

–Drugs and economic disparity in the Indian home of the Dalai Lama

continued…
“If you have the money, you can buy anything here”, says Manoj and feels strongly about the drug problem especially because it affects the local Indians more than it affects the Tibetans.

I have already learned from some locals about the rules of selling the drugs. You have to approach the vendors. If you are a foreigner then they will sell you what you want easily. If you are an Indian then they will be suspicious; what if you are sent to them by the police?

Tourists from Punjab and Haryana are charged more money for a tola of drugs than the Indians from other parts of the country. The reason is resentment. They are seen to come over and take much of the business from the local population.

Sonam admits that there is a growing resentment towards the outsiders. “The Punjabis open shops and restaurants and employ Tibetans just to attract customers. So the local Himachal population feels that we are eating into their business”.

Most of the market is targeted at the foreigners and the effects of recession are already visible. At around noon, I buy some wooden necklaces from a shop owned by a Tibetan family and ask them, “How is business?” “Very bad”, the man responds and adds, “You are the first customer since morning”. He knows the reason for the decreasing sales. “Foreigners are spending less money than before”. He hopes that his business will grow soon.

Not all are willing to reduce their prices yet. “It is tourist season now. More tourists will come and buy the goods”, says a Tibetan lady who refused any negotiation on the price of a kurta.

Manoj, however, is sure that the recession will affect the locals more than it will affect the Tibetans. He feels that the economic disparity between the Tibetans and the Indians is perpetually increasing. “Have you seen a Tibetan beggar here? Most of them are taken care of by their local government. Unlike the Indian locals, they won’t go hungry because of recession”. Manoj has made no sale since morning and doesn’t have enough money to last him the day.

Sonam agrees that Tibetans are well-off when compared to the locals. He says that he is aware of the increasing tensions between the local Indians and the Tibetans.

He credits the Tibetan population that works towards making their stay peaceful and economically beneficial. “Every Tibetan pays 30 percent of his income to the government. If you don’t pay this tax, then you are not even considered as a Tibetan. This money is then used for there own good”.

Manoj says that the state government must work towards making the life of the locals on par with the life of the Tibetans.

This view finds favour in Swargesh Kaundal who has forever stayed at McLeodganj and now studies in Chandigarh. In his holidays he comes over to McLeodganj and manages an eating place right next to the waterfall at Bhagsu Nag. “The Tibetans and the locals are very peaceful but sometimes now there are fights especially in the peak seasons”, he says and adds, “the Tibetans are very nice, but the number of monks seems to be forever increasing. What exactly do they do?”

The feeling that Tibetans have it easy is echoed elsewhere. “The monks come here every morning and buy the most expensive vegetables or eat what they like at any of the restaurants they like”, says a taxi driver not willing to be named.

“Also”, adds Manoj, “foreigners come here and sponsor the education of Tibetan children. But there is not enough provision for us from the government. We feel left out”.

Manoj is not married. He doesn’t feel that this is a good place to raise a family. He is 34 now and will consider marriage when he goes back to Punjab, where he feels there should be better provisions for him and his children.

Sonam agrees with every grievance that I bring to his notice. But he asks me to consider; “We are refugees and a displaced population. Naturally we get more sympathy and support from outsiders. But any benefit to us is not at the cost of the local population”.

It is to work towards reducing this disparity and “paying the debt to India” that Sonam has signed on as the ‘Health Project Officer’ of an organisation ‘Tong-Len’ that works among the slum-dwellers in Dharamsala.

Sonam says that he reaches out to about ten thousand slum dwellers in the Kangra district through this organisation and up to forty talented children are now studying in private schools.

“We are the perhaps the most successful refugees in the world, but the number of local Indians living in slums is increasing”, says Sonam. “We want to bring this number down. This country has given us so much love and we want to return it”.

End of Part One.

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“We are the perhaps the most successful refugees in the world, but the number of local Indians living in slums is increasing”, says Sonam. “We want to bring this number down. This country has given us so much love and we want to return it”.

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“Have you seen a Tibetan beggar here? Most of them are taken care of by their local government. Unlike the Indian locals, they won’t go hungry because of recession”.

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“Every Tibetan pays 30 percent of his income to the government. If you don’t pay this tax, then you are not even considered as a Tibetan. This money is then used for there own good”.

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“The monks come here every morning and buy the most expensive vegetables or eat what they like at any of the restaurants they like”, says a taxi driver not willing to be named.

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Most of the market is targeted at the foreigners and the effects of recession are already visible.

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Most shops target foreigners thinking that they will spend more money on the ‘Buddhist’ or authentic Tibetan products.

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Manoj, however, is sure that the recession will affect the locals more than it will affect the Tibetans. He feels that the economic disparity between the Tibetans and the Indians is perpetually increasing.

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“The Tibetans and the locals are very peaceful but sometimes now there are fights especially in the peak seasons”, he says and adds, “the Tibetans are very nice, but the number of monks seems to be forever increasing. What exactly do they do?”