Monday, October 23, 2006, Dharamsala. (Day 2 of the conference)

This is the day of surprises!.

The first surprise is that the restaurant of the hotel is closed. Next door restaurant is also closed and so are all the other ones. Luckily I see a small shop that sells me a box with chocolate goodies and a liter of mineral water.

The second surprise is that all taxis and rickshaws are taken to bring the whole village to TCV for the celebration of their 25th anniversary. Although I had promised my body to take a taxi this morning, I can not do else but start to walk again. I am not the only walker.

As I arrive at the TCV, the normal entry is blocked. The remaining way forward is to walk on a 2 inch thick wall of a two foot wide gutter that climbs around 30 degrees over a length of 4 m with a row of other people. Following the detour to the auditorium, I see that many people have already taken their seat to watch the ceremonies and the sports events.

Note the balcony under the text "Come to learn go to serve" in the fist picture . That will be our place to watch, although it is against the direction of the sun.

As soon as I hear that the balcony to the auditorium is reserved for us, I dash over and just se the arrival of His Holiness. A very effective smoke generator and the sun are against any good camera recording, but I try nevertheless.

In the meantime, the area is is pretty well occupied by public. During the national anthem, I can see His Holiness, may be the camera will show it. He is in front of the Tibetan flag.

 
Then the ceremony starts with a parade headed by the drumband of the school. After two full rounds, they settle themselves and they let the children sit. A wise decision because the speeches take a lot of time.
 

The third surprise is the excellent lunch called a Dham or feast. We are called to the balcony and are to sit with the feet crossed (kleermakerszit in Dutch). We then get a set of three leaves, held together by a number of thorns. Then the boys come along and gets you rice, followed by all kinds of curries.

We have to use our fingers to eat. Fortunately I am next to Arun Mehta, a Professor in Delhi. He teaches us how to scoop the rice on the four fingers. Hold the fingers so they form half a cylinder against your lips and use your thumb as a plunger to move the food inside....
After our shift, the remaining people get their lunch, while we take our seats. The person to the right on the benches in the front is Dr. Richard Stallman, the man behind GNU, next to him is Ngawang Dorjee, a head of TGV, my empty seat, next Dr. Roger Downer and then our Colonel, Dave Hughes. They are the speakers of today.
 
The last surprise is that the restaurants are still closed. I hear that the are also closed tomorrow. It may be related to the demonstration 5:30 tomorrow on the bus station against the killing of the border travelers.