March 17, 2011
Karnataka University, Dharwad
Department of Dr. Ambedkar Studies: Site Work at Mundgod Tibetan Settlement
A talk on The Principle of Buddhism Organized and Facilitated by Drepung Gomang Monastic University
As Geshe Samten, the chief administrator of our monastic administration, did ask for my help a week earlier as with the said intention for the monastic wellbeing to be able to organize such interacting talk with the group of Dalit students and teachers, Buddhist converts or to be converted, from the university, I was informed last evening by the informant Chabril that it’s going to be this morning at 11:00am with the requested speaker Geshe Lobsang Gyaltsen La. But it can begin almost at 12:00pm at the monastic assembly hall on the top of the grand prayer hall. Through my first time translation assignment, which I take as an opportunity worth optimizing, I first fail to remain calm by knocking down the water bottle before me with my hand as I sit down, but, fortunately, it doesn’t fall down on the carpeted floor but the disposable paper glass. I feel stuck incoherent as I try to translate Geshe La’s first greeting speech, but I find relaxed later being able to keep up with what I should say. But I can’t carry on further, when complaint is made through Geshe Samten La that most of them can’t catch up with my English as of their core medium for their academic fields is Kannada. Right there, after discussing it with the speaker Geshe La, I ask them if my translation is helpful or not. There is a low roar of laughter. I add if they find the talk rather tedious as from the way some of them express being seemingly indifferent, they should put forward so or come up next time, if possible, with more active program; you can ask for question answer session longer. But a single comment isn’t made. I carry on until that short grey haired monk form Gaden, who is called for help by Geshe Sherap La for his fluency in Kannada, arrives and takes my seat. Before his arrival I can translate an answer to the question raised by the student, bearded but shaved with brighter complexion and more formal or sedate demeanour, who is more educated and proficient in English as I find later through being friendly with him only except the frisky professor who later, as there is only me to help them to fulfil their task of family background information questionnaire to be collected at the camp going at the doorsteps of those households by being polite, sticks to me and tries to flatter me. But I find him good after all despite his seeming easygoing air like asking me, “Do I look young? Have I melted the lady’s, the one at the representative office who we approach for permission to be able to go out at each doorstep for collecting the data (the chief representative is out on a duty tour), heart as she accepts my request instantly?” In that case I find him rather silly not like a real professor. I later learn from a student that he has LLM and PhD in a field. But his easygoing and rather itchy air is nothing other than an Indian youth possesses and acts before a girl. So he does before the short but cute smiling student girl. As I try to please him telling he is really brilliant and skilful in doing so, he pauses in a suppressed joy and bursts, “Am I? You should tell so before them, the students.” Such is the simplicity they can be rated, I find so from my coming into contact on several occasions with Indian youths being so.
The Kannada speaking monk’s seeming fluency does help them a lot. The young professor, the slim frisky guy in clear glasses and white cotton trousers and shirt, later tries to flatter him to stay with them, but he can’t as he says he is busy after the brief lunch arranged by Geshe Sherap La by ordering South Indian cuisine from Mundgod. The talk is over but there is touring the monastic temples and the new task of collecting the questionnaire data, for which I have to devote my time on Geshe Samten La’s request.
During the Kannada translation period the crippled lady student, who is rather different from the others speaking less, makes comments on those residential, hostel buildings and grand congregation halls in the monastery. Her point seems to be drawing the paradox between a monastery and the seeming luxurious disclosures. She is partly right but doesn’t know how a monk’s life is in real term at his quarter. I think my instant impression of taking her remarks out of jealousy must be false.
The other short and dark lady with spotted face in a limp salwar kameez outfit, who I learn from her holds PhD in Buddhism and is fluent in English but doesn’t talk much, puts forward why this monastic university doesn’t carry out such sort of educational activities like seminar and talk with the local ones. It’s a hard hit, I find. To her answer the speaker Geshe la says that it’s mainly of communication problem. Even if he’s right, it’s rather raw-cut self exposition in such poor way. A university with communication problem isn’t possible in a standardized norm she holds. She adds it’s, however, solvable only for some problem with accent of English. She still doesn’t get him. How she can! I ponder over her question and find it worth heeding in the long run. Her point in gaining publicity for others’ welfare rather than remaining shut off is a timely call or challenge against how we run our traditional learning schemes without any reforms when the world is talking about revolution in education system. Even if our case is different from conventional learning for learning monastic studies, in true intention, should be conformed to the practice of Buddha Dharma, namely to be intended for liberating practice, the case now has affected a lot as of the challenging changes. That way it can be linked up to the standardized norm of conventional learning system by preserving the core bases. Her remarks, must be out of her concern and sincerity, leave me pondering over: We should do something!
The professor guy, the one in charge of mustering and heading the group with an older senior one who seems to be inactive and demure, stands up and puts forward in a rather lecturing style as for his being a lecturer. He only adds to the former suggestive question of the importance of disseminating through such activities. He speaks about the translation of Bible, Koran, Gita and other prime religious literatures in multi-lingual corpus and implies the same importance of translating prime Buddhist ones so.
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After having the permission from the representative office we begin our data collecting task at the camp # 3 visiting the core area at almost most households. I try my best to appear deferential and yielding to their demands like asking why we are here and so on. Accompanied by the bearded but shaved student with bright complexion (sorry I can’t get his name here), who holds Master degree in Botany and is after his PhD in it, I find most of the visited ones polite and yielding, good Tibetans, only the one, the lady in a sort of loose outfit sends us around rather than treating us with telling about her family. She sends the chubby topless boy, may be her son, with bulging stomach and spiky hair to show us the way around through the crude fence with a crude gate made of bound twigs and thorny bushes. Thanks he helps us. After lifting the barricade open by the boy we are in the unpaved narrow yard that leads to the yet unfurnished low mud tiles roofed ramshackle house at ground level with the crude wooden door locked with the old fashioned bolt on the grimy door plank. An aged lady in grubby Tibetan Chuba and apron stands next by the door. I greet her. She nods and speaks a sort of life difficulty through her sunken eyes and wrinkled grime coated facial expression. She looks feeble. When I introduce about our coming here, she says, “Only we two old are here.”
I get from her remarks plus air that they, the aged ones, don’t have anyone who looks after them. Her partner isn’t around. After getting the material regarding her social background, we leave through the other way out. I tell the student about her, how poor she is… He remains silent. But he is impressed by those well maintained flower beds of the other households and strong physiques of our people he finds so. “We are lazy and can’t maintain such home gardens. I find them beautiful. Your people are strong,” he says in a low tone as we move from one door step to another.
Almost at 5:45pm we can round up at the site, the main piazza. I find all of them have finished their shares of assignment. I am pleased that I can gratify their wish by visiting or leading to the households here only. No, they can’t bear any longer and don’t have time too. Thanks for their ride up to the monastery in their reserved bus and for being considerate to offer a donation to the monastery.
