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"Siddharth and Parvez have the objectivity of outsiders. And yet, having
lived and worked in Ladakh and Bhutan, where people have the same religion,
race, script and culture, it was like moving to another room within the
same house--the sacred room.
Even though Parvez Dewan was born in mountainous Kashmir, he saw his first
snowfall in Tawang, an easterm region of India where Tibetan Buddhism is
practised. Four years and two thousand kilometers later, Parvez got caught
in a snowstorm in a comfortable house in a village in Zanskar (Ladakh), a
region in the northern extremity of India, which, too, follows the culture
and religion of Tibet. With nothing else to do for almost a week, he
decided to learn the Tibetan script, which has been derived from India's
Devanagari.
After serving Zanskar, Parvez translated a Buddhist epic, wrote Ladakhi
phrasebooks, promoted tourism in Ladakh and, in 1993, started the
now-famous Ladakh Festival. He has been researching Buddhism in Himalayan
lands as far apart as Tawang and Ladakh, with Sikkim, Bhutan, Nepal and, of
course, Tibet, in between."
[from Blurb]
Contents
Acknowledgements
Foreword by H. H. the Dalai Lama
1. In the fabled land, at last!
2. On the one hand...`The most romantic town in the world'
3. Buddhist Lhasa, Tibetan Lhasa
4. India in Lhasa
5. On the other hand...Resentments
6. The three main issues
7. A self-sufficient land?
8. Demographics : A population diluted?
9. Independent nation, protectorate or province?
10. How Buddhism came to Tibet
11. China increases its role : and splits Tibet
12. Phase I of the PRC : 1951-'59 : The Tibetan system is left alone
13. Phase II: 1959-1978 : The old order is destroyed
14. Phase III: 1978 (or 1980)-1989 : Liberalisation and Tibetanisation
15. Phase IV: 1989-2008 : Martial law, and then a cautious stand-off
16. The Indian position
17. 2009 : Gloomy predictions for--and a bad start
18. All we are saying is give peace a chance
19. Symbols of Sovereignty
20. Tibet before 1959
Index
Endnotes
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