Yesterday, i attended an award ceremony. the 'Light of Truth Award' is presented on behalf of the International Campaign for Tibet to individuals and institutions who have made significant contributions to the Tibetan struggle for human rights and freedom. This year, there are two awardees. Archbishop Desmond Tutu, for championing the rights of the oppressed and for his vocal support of the Tibetan cause. And the Herge Foundation, for upholding the legacy of the author of Tintin in Tibet (the author, Georges Remi, long dead, was lauded for having resisted politicising Tibet and highlighting themes of friendship and spirituality, way back in 1958).
I, of course, had gone for the sole purpose of seeing the Dalai Lama, who was to present the awards. Yes, I saw him, that too from quite close. He looks exactly like he does in his pictures, beatific, benevolet and peaceful. He doesn't walk...he glides. He didn't climb stairs, he floated onto the podium (not unlike Sri Sri Ravishankar). He got on to the stage along with the awardees and a few others, and he was the first to fold his hands and bow low to the hushed, standing audience. Others simply followed suit. Apparently, the Dalai Lama is always childlike and playful, and has to be be constantly reminded to stop behaving like a child and to act like a "Holy Man" (so said Desmond Tutu). I was not priveledged to see him in that avataar.
The programme began with a live performance of Tibetan music. A girl sang a few songs with an instrument that I am ashamed to say I could not recognise (it was a cross between a sitar and a guitar...one of you music gurus may know of it). The music was simply soul-stirring, though I didn't understand it. After some random but thankfully brief introductory speeches, the Dalai Lama presented the award to Desmond Tutu, who was then asked to "speak a few words".
From the word 'go', Tutu rocked. He regaled the audience with little anecdotes, lavished genuine praise on the Dalai, laughed at himself, narrated jokes...and had the audience enthralled the entire time he spoke. I have a particularly bad attention span (considering I've been out of school for a year and remain jobless!), especially when it comes to so-called World Leaders. But Tutu had me hanging on to every word he said, and asking for more. The most amazing thing I thought was not that he had such an inspiring command over himself and others or that he spoke with such elan, but that he did so with an almost contradictory sense of humility and love, and enjoyoed himself immensely. One look at him and you knew that he had no presumptions. And along with his little jokes and trivia, he sent out his message loud and clear. One, that this is a moral universe, and ultimately, truth will win. Two, that the Chinese government must "Please do the right thing". And three, "God is not Christian". I loved the way he put this last one across..."The Dalai Lama is easily THE holiest man I have ever met. Do you think God is thinking, 'Hmmm...this Dalai Lama, he's not a bad guy...but he's not Christian'. No...God is not thinking that, because God is not Christian". This was said with a real sense of amusement and conviction, and followed by thunderous applause (here, in Brussels, i have sensed a genuine disillusionment among Christians with their religion and the Pope, and perhaps he said this because he was aware of it).
The Dalai Lama gave an address to formally close the ceremony. This was probably the most eagerly awaited part of the event. But it was disappointing for me, because he spoke in Tibetan and his translator spoke in French. So while I managed to gather the gist of his speech, I failed to connect personally with him. Yet, his sheer presence was more than I could have asked for.
After the ceremony, I chanced upon Desmond Tutu in the crowd, and I grabbed the opportunity to fold my hands and tell him what an absolute pleasure it was to hear him. He held my face in his warm hands, and gave me a look that I cannot even attempt to describe. I had no such luck with the Dalai Lama, he had disappeared soon after.
PS: Did you know that the Light of Truth Award has been conferred upon "the People of India" for their support of Tibet? It was collected by the then President R. Venkataraman. PPS: As a gift, they gave each of us a copy of Tintin in Tibet. except, it's in Esperanto. in the hope that one day, we'll all speak the same language (a bit much, don't u think?!).
