PETOEN Quarterly Publication of Petoen School VOLUME– XXI A REFLECTION Oct - Dec, 2018 HIS HOLINESS’ Thank You India Samdol Lhamo, Class VII Message On Attitude As most of us know, this year is especially dedicated to thanking India for all the support that they ren- “If you can cultivate the dered to our country. Since 1959, when the Peoples Liberation Army of China invaded our country, right attitude, your ene- thousands of Tibetans fled to India where you offered us refuge. This is the most commonly known act of immense kindness that India has shown us but it was not the only one. In fact, this is the only one mies are your best spiri- out of many things that make us eternally indebted to you. We have a long history with India and once tual teachers because you closely examine that history, you’ll realize how much we owe to India! So that’s why, as a way to their presence provides express our gratitude to India, we are now writing this essay …. I hope that anyone who reads this will be reminded of how without the aid of India’s people and government, we Tibetans would be gone you with the opportunity since long time and our culture and tradition would be no more in this world. to enhance and develop One of the first and most important things we owe to India for is our Tibetan script. Many people will tolerance, patience and most likely overlook the fact that our script is indeed originated from the ancient Indian script. A long understanding.” time ago, the great King Songtsen Gampo sent some of his wisest ministers to India, the land of Aryas. At that time, we only had a dialect but no script. Just as a human without a heart is dead, so is a lan- guage without script. THE STUDENTS AND STAFF OF MEWOEN TSUGLAG The journey to India was a long, strenuous and dangerous one; the ministers of King Songtsen Gampo PETOEN SCHOOL WOULD faced many trials during this hard time. Many died due to the wild beasts killing them, others perished LIKE TO EXTEND OUR from the severe weather. Most died as they could not adapt o the change in their environment. So, in HEARTFELT GRATITUDE TO the end, only one minister remained, he was Thonmi Sambhota. THE GOVERNMENT AND For the seven years that Thonmi Sambhota stayed in India, he studied the ancient Sanskrit language PEOPLE OF INDIA FOR and script from many great masters. He also studied the Tibetan dialect of the time in detail, thus he THEIR UNWAVERING created a Tibetan script, especially tailored to perfectly fit our speech. When he returned to his home- SUPPORT. land, he presented that script to our king and it was approved. Slowly our script spread to all the re- gions of Tibet and that is the story of how our beloved script was created. Over the years, several al- terations have been made to it so as to fit the needs of that time and throughout the time we have kept it strong. Thank you India! for without our script we could never have maintained our rich culture. It would have been lost decades ago and we would have been stripped of our identity. Buddhism is one of the many traits that make us the people we are. A wonderful religion based on love and compassion, one that also originated from India, the land of Karuna. When Prince Sidhartha of Magadh left materialistic happiness for inner peace and enlightenment, Bud- dhism was born. Then it slowly spread to the highlands of Tibet where we changed our lifestyles drasti- cally following the principles of Buddhism. While in India Buddhism slowly faded away, we kept it alive and nurtured it over the centuries. Now, even Buddhists have become scarce in India whereas it is thriving within our community. Thank you India for our religion, without it so many of our people would have led meaningless lives, only seeking materialistic happiness. Art Section Petoen School We have kept your Buddha Dharma alive for centuries and now the time has come for us to use it to contribute to world peace and to end suffering of all sentient beings. All the articles, poems and In 1959, when His Holiness The 14th Dalai Lama along with thousands of Tibetans fled to India, you stories in this publication are original and written by the received us with warmth and kindness. Any other country would have turned us away without a second students themselves. However, thought to it, but you took pity on us. As a father you protected us, and as a mother you motivated us. minimum corrections are done by the concerned teachers At that time, His Holiness was only 25 but his vision was that of a great leader and his wisdom without affecting the originality far exceeded his years. Pandit Nehru guided him and together, the two leaders set up separate schools and settlements for Tibetans. The aim was for Tibetan children to be able to study their own language and maintain their own culture. Nowadays, Tibetan children get a wholesome education and are fluent Editors/Teachers in their dialect. We can all speak Tibetan and we all grow up with the Tibetan beliefs and moralities. In-charge Setting & Layout Mrs. Tenzin Choedon Ms. Tenzin Kyizom It would have been much less difficult to place all the Tibetan kids in Indian schools but you thought our Ms. Tenzin Kyizom culture was important and so granted us land and funds to set up our schools. Thank you India for un- Mrs. Kelsang Wangmo derstanding the importance of our culture. Thank you India for saving the souls of Tibet! For suggestions and feedback, write to: His Holiness granted us modern democracy, but for that to be possible we need our own government. Mewoen Tsuglag Petoen School You allowed us to start our own independent government. For a country to remain great, a good and Khanyara Road, P.O Lower Dharamsala smooth running government is needed. The CTA takes immense responsibility over the fate of our peo- District Kangra - 176215 Himachal Pradesh (INDIA) ple, for that to have been created we thank you India! Phone : +91-1892-202117 / 222462 E-mail : [email protected] Thank you India for being there for us in our times of need. Thank you India for being our savior! Website : www.sambhota.org / www.petoen.com MEWOEN TSUGLAG PETOEN SCHOOL ARTICLES 01 PETOEN - A REFLECTION Khanyara Road, Dharamsala- 76215.(H.P) Thank You India Tenzin Sangmo, Class VII In 1959, China occupied our Country, Tibet. Since then, we have been living in India as refugees. Sometimes, I wonder, where we Ti- betan would have gone to and what would have happened without the help of the Indian Government and the Indian people and I al- ways worry about what the status of Tibetans’ future will be. Few people think that we would be fine without the help of Indian Govern- ment but I know it wouldn’t be fine without them. If we didn’t come to India, Tibetans would be staying in different parts of the world and the rich Tibetan Culture would have slowly disap- peared from this world. There would not be any Tibetan Schools, no exile-government, no Tibetan institutions and most importantly, no identity as a Tibetan. Therefore, I think the Indian government and people are really supportive to the Tibetans. Indians have always been helping and supporting us since from the very beginning, even before we lost our country. The Tibetans have always considered India as our Guru and we Tibetans as students of Indian rich Nalanda tradition, from where Ti- betan religion called, Buddhism originated. When the Tibetan King Songtsen Gampo realized the importance and need of standard language for a country, he sent some of his wise ministers to India to learn Sanskrit which is the basis of the Tibetan language. After occupation of our country by China, the Indian Government and the Indians welcomed us with open arms when the Tibetan had nowhere to go. The Indian government tried its best to make us (the homeless ones) feel safe and feel at home. They did and still are doing their best to support the needs of the Tibetans. After the Tibetan people settled in India, the Prime Minister of India Jawaharlal Nehru Ji listened to the appeal of His Holiness the Dalai Lama to establish different schools for the Tibetan children to be able to learn our language and culture. Nehru Ji approved the appeal by understanding the importance of preserving our language and culture. Because of all the support, we are in Tibetan Petoen School to learn our language and culture and got the opportunity to learn many other new things too. Nehru Ji also approved the establishing of settlements for the Tibetan people in different parts of India. Therefore, India has played a really important role in the Tibetan’s achieve- ment. Without India, I am sure that we wouldn’t be the same. I would like to end my essay here with a few words for the Indian Government and the people of India. As a mother you loved and motivated us, and as a father, you encouraged and protected us. I am really very happy and thankful to India for everything you did for us till now and for the continued help. I will do my best to repay your kindness that you have shown to the Tibetans when it was needed the most.