An Angel without wings

I met her at Ponta Sahib (a small town in Himachal Pradesh) during Tibetan march. They were having rest at a Tibetan monastery when got arrested. I was so tired after a long journey from Macloed Ganj and was trying to find a place to rest. But she approached me with a bright smile and offered all the help to rest at her place. Obviously the place is not very spacious, but I found her presence so comforting. She is not fluent in English, but managed to convey through a translator that there is lot in her heart to tell me, but can’t express. It was the beginning of a great friendship between us.

Her name is Kunchok Lhamo, she is an Angel without wings. She came to India with her old father on foot. She was accompanying him who had to leave Tibet to escape Chinese army. He was tortured in prison for many years due to his political activities. On their way, the Nepalese guides never helped her old father to cross the mountains, instead they were giving a helping hand to beautiful girls, she says.

I was so moved by the kindness and love she shows to everybody, she is a girl who is devoid of any worldly vices. An innocent wild rose who doesn’t aware of her beauty, but spreads her fragrance to all around her unselfishly. She has a big house in Tibet, but she has to live in a tiny room at Macleod Ganj. Sitting in her little place, she dreams of the peach fruits, apple and wall nuts in her garden in Tibet. She desperately wants to be in her beautiful home with her affectionate mother.

When in Macleod Ganj, I am a regular visitor to her home. Probably nobody take care of me as they do. I learned from them the art of giving more than you have; loving more than you get. Sometimes her father says I am his elder daughter. I can’t hear her father’s story without tears in my eyes. What moves me is the amount of kindness in him despite the inhuman tortures he had gone through in Chinese prison. He surprises me with his knowledge about India and world at large, though he had never been to school. They are so close to my heart, may be that existed long before I met Lhamo.