Today is His Holiness’ birthday. I woke up to singing in the streets. All the shops are closed. The students and I made our way down to the temple and squeezed in with thousands of Tibetans into the courtyard. The temple was impressively decorated, with garlands of flowers hanging on the pillars. His Holiness wasn’t actually here today, he’s in Ladakh giving an initiation ceremony, but that doesn’t seem to matter to anyone. There was music and dancing and speech-making. Wishes for the well being of all people and all things. Brightly dressed children and smiling monks. Traditional songs and dancing.
Walking through the streets coming back from the Kora, I ran into a young man I recognized from a previous visit to Mcleodganj. He recognized me first and approached with a big smile, hugging me and introducing me to his friends. It was so nice to recognize someone while walking down the street here. It made this place feel a bit more like home.
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