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"A F R I E N D O F T I B E T"
(By Sagnik Chowdhury, The Indian Express, July 07, 2008)
Vijay Crishna speaks at Max Mueller Bhavan, Mumbai on July 06, 2008 - World Tibet Day.
Mumbai: You may remember him as Sir Narayan Mukherjee - Shah Rukh Khan’s father in Devdas, or for his roles in Richard Attenbrough’s Gandhi and Sea Wolves, but Vijay Crishna is a man with several other facets.
The managing director of multiple companies including Lawkim India, a Godrej concern that manufactures motors, Crishna is a seasoned thespian, a corporate honcho and an avid mountaineer. Currently, Crishna is taking time out from other commitments to deliver lectures on the Tibetan dispute, an issue he feels very passionately about.
Checking the projector at Max Mueller Bhavan, shortly before he delivers an audio-visual presentation entitled ‘Tibet of our Minds: A Journey’s End’ at a programme organised by non-governmental organisation Friends of Tibet on the occasion of World Tibet Day, Crishna says too many Indians feel the Tibet dispute does not affect them. “To many, Tibet is just something that riles the Chinese. However, there are very serious issues which people need to know about. One such issue I am presently speaking on is the environmental angle to the issue. The timing and the intensity of the Asian monsoon system are driven by the Tibetan plateau,” he says. “I keep changing the focus of my lectures from time to time.”
Over the past year, Crishna has delivered 12 lectures and presentations on Central Asia in Mumbai, Pune and Kolkata, and about 10 more on Tibet. On March 27, in the aftermath of violent protests in Lhasa, he delivered a lecture in Dharamsala.
Lectures and presentations apart, this St Stephens graduate also has a strong passion for trekking, and has explored Tibet and its surrounding areas on several trips. In March this year, he was appointed as the Honorary Secretary of the Himalayan Club.
Since 1973, Crishna has been on numerous treks to places such as Garhwal in Uttaranchal and Nepal’s Annapurna base camp and Muktinath, to name a few.
“My school was located in the hills, and ever since I was a boy, I was fascinated with trekking and mountaineering. In 1992, I went on the government-recognised official pilgrimage route to Kailash Mansarovar, and this is where my interest in Tibet was sparked off. In 2004, I visited the Greenlakes just below base camp at Kanchenjunga. My interest in Tibet and Central Asia was fuelled by extensive reading on the matter. In 2006 and 2007, I made two visits to Tibet with my family, and covered the area spanning 500 km north and east of Lhasa,” recalls Crishna.
Amongst Crishna’s professional achievements is the establishment in 1991 of the Naoroji Godrej Centre for Plant Research in Satara, to research and propagate rare species and endangered species of medicinal plants endemic to the Western Ghats.
Asked about his acting portfolio, Crishna smiles: “My first job was in Kolkata, and there I started acting in plays, and have continued ever since. Acting gives me a lot of fun and satisfaction, and it has helped me make many friends and understand different characters.”
Latoya Mistral Ferns-Advani, one of the youngest supporters of the cause speaks on World Tibet Day. She has received a number of awards for her poetry, speech and proactive efforts and was the youngest member to attend the Global Young Leaders Conference in 2006 at the age of fifteen. She was the youngest member of the Poetry Reading Club run by her seniors as well. A core group member of the Amnesty International, Latoya is currently the student leader and “architect” under the guidance of Mr. Joseph Roos a professional activist, of both the Amnesty International Group and Free Tibet Movement in Kodaikanal of which she is also the founder of.
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"W O R L D T I B E T D A Y A T K O C H I"
(Lumiere, Panampilly Nagar, Ernakulam, July 06, 2008)
Suku Dass introduces World Tibet Day at Kochi on July 06, 2008.
Kochi: Friends of Tibet and Design & People joined the international observance of World Tibet Day on Sunday, July 6, 2008. The groups discussed the Tibet issue and screened the film 'Dreaming Lhasa' by Ritu Sarin and Tenzing Sonam at Lumirere, Opposite Andhra Cultural Centre, Panampilly Nagar, Kochi. Suku Dass, Friends of Tibet Campaigner based at Kochi introduced the significance of the day and the film to the public.
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"W O R L D T I B E T D A Y A T T A M I L N A D U"
(Chennai, Tamil Nadu, July 06, 2008)
K Chandrasekaran speaks on the occasion of World Tibet Day in Chennai on July 06, 2008.
Chennai: Dhamma Group in association with Friends of Tibet under the leadership of K Chandrasekaran celebrated World Tibet Day at Chennai, Tamil Nadu on July 6, 2008. Kundun, a film by Martin Scorsese on the life of HH the XIV Dalai Lama left the hall with a heavy heart for what has happened and what continues to happen in the most peaceful nation of the world.
World Tibet Day event held at the Memorial Hall was attended by Venerable Monks: Ashin Wathawa of Myanmar, Mouriya Methapal, Mahanama of Mahabodhi Society. Asha Reddy together with Tibetan Students also participated and extended their solidarity. The meeting started with Trisaranam, panchasheela and Buddha, Dhamma and Sangha vandhana by the monks, followed by the speeches by the learned participants on the contribution of HH Dalai lama to World Peace and to Buddhism and about the current unrest in Chinese-occupied Tibet.
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"W O R L D T I B E T D A Y I N N E W D E L H I"
(By Tenzin Sangmo, Phayul, July 07, 2008)
Tenzin Tsundue speaks on the occasion of World Tibet Day at Habitat Centre, New Delhi on July 06, 2008.
New Delhi: July 6 marked the 73rd birth anniversary of the Dalai Lama, what it is also significant for is the international observance of World Tibet Day. The World Tibet Day dates back to 1997 in Chicago where the Dalai Lama's younger brother Tenzin Choegyal and Richard Rosenkranz, a Pulitzer Prize nominated author and former correspondent of the US Senate started the idea of an "annual worldwide event designed to help Tibetan people regain essential freedom." The Day was to be held in July coinciding with His Holiness's birthday.
The Indian chapter of Friends of Tibet observed the WTD in Mumbai, New Delhi and Kochi respectively yesterday. Tibetan activist and General Secretary of the organization, Tenzin Tsundue who gained notoriety in January 2002 after scaling the 14th floor of Oberoi Towers Hotel to unfurl a Tibetan National Flag and a banner reading 'Free Tibet' while the then Premier of China Zhu Rongji addressed a business conference inside was the key speaker at yesterday's discussion at the India Habitat Centre in New Delhi. The talk was facilitated by noted activist Jaya Ayer, who specializes in a form of theatre called 'Theatre of the Oppressed".
Having recently returned from the March to Tibet where marchers walked for 110 days and reached up to the entrance of Dharchula, the remote town before the Indo-Tibet border where they faced resistance from Indian authorities, Tenzin Tsundue spoke at length about his experiences and the challenges the novice marchers faced during its course. He said as the march made progress the gravity and intensity of something they saw all along as their right to enter their homeland weighed heavy on them. The Indian Government had initially viewed their action as just another campaign which will dissolve after a little pressure and intimidation from the authorities. Notwithstanding any form of coercion the marchers had pushed forth in their quest for realizing a vision and a romantic dream they had believed in all the while. Tsundue also said that the 300 odd marchers had created a flurry of activities behind the Chinese line of control, which resulted in China transporting heavy artillery and stationing a large number of officers at their side of the fence. Dharchula is the last civilian town after which lies a military ground close to the border. A few 30-40 kilometers shy of the border saw the end of a dream and a stronger understanding of the political truth and factual limitations which dawned on the remaining 50 marchers when they were hurled into police vans and taken away. Thus the image of snow capped mountains and their will to feel the Tibetan soil under their feet came to an abrupt end.
He further discussed the March peaceful protests in Lhasa earlier this year and China's interpretation of it as violent and how carefully they manipulated the issue of Tibetan independence digressing from the root cause labeling monks as violent and a threat to society. The question of the Olympics which China is politicizing and using as a means to showcase that Tibet is a part of China and how happy they are under the present colonial governance was covered as well. He said participating state nations have a responsibility to speak against injustice and about what really is happening in the run up to the Games and all through.
He reiterated the disappointment of the Tibet-China talks and how the latest dialogue saw no concrete results wherein the Tibetan envoys found China's attitude difficult and unyielding even in face of the current crisis. On asked whether Tibetans should be satisfied by the extent of development China brought into Tibet, he replied saying no amount of development or modernization justifies the invasion, occupation and colonialism of a nation.
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Friends of Tibet, PO Box 16674, Bombay 400050, India.
Friends of Tibet is a people's movement to keep alive the issue of Tibet through direct action. Our activities are aimed at ending China's occupation of Tibet and the suffering of the Tibetan people. Friends of Tibet supports the continued struggle of the Tibetan people for independence.
