Susan Murphy - Toppled World: A Political and Spiritual Trek through India, Tibet and Afghanistan

Toppled World

APolitical and Spiritual Trek through

India,Tibet and Afghanistan

Astold to Susan Murphy

Praise for ToppledWorld...

The observant understandingof changing times in these eyewitness accounts make these memoirs a firstdraft of history , recording as they do the transitions in the political andspiritual life of Tibet and Afghanistan, recorded through the keen eye of thewife of a key Indian diplomat.

Namita Gokhale, author of Things to Leave Behind

2018 Susan Murphy

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be

reproduced or transmitted in any means,

electronic or mechanical, without permission in

writing from the publisher.

paperback 978-1-945805-80-6

Cover Design

by

Bink Books

a division of

Bedazzled Ink Publishing, LLC

Fairfield, California

http://www.bedazzledink.com

Toppled World is dedicated toall people of Tibet

and His Holiness the DalaiLama

PREFACE

Dharamsala,home of the exiled Dalai Lama, was nothing like I had pictured. Crowded andcommercial, it was more like a third world tourist mecca than the magical LhasaI had imagined. But that didnt matter I was about to meet His Holiness, theDalai Lama, in a private audience arranged by my newly adopted Indian family.We were a motley eleven, grandparents, children, grandchildren, my son, andmyself, all huddled in a drab waiting room in the Dalai Lamas compound, eachlost in our own web of nervous anticipation for what was to come. My personalreverie went back to that world-changing day four years earlier that brought meto this extraordinary moment.

Itwas September 11, the day Americans experienced just how vulnerable the rest ofthe world had always been. We were no longer insulated from hostile aggression;we had been attacked in our own front yard. My son, Devin, was a freshman atWashington College. He had chosen to live at the universitys InternationalHouse, finding the array of foreigners far more fun and interesting than theusual dorm/frat house fare. The residents of this eclectic dorm were from allover the world and from all cultures; many were Muslim. After only two weeks ofcarefree acclimation, settling into their dreams of an American collegeexperience, their lives, like the rest of ours, were turned upside down. Awayfrom home, their families, and everything else familiar, the internationalstudents were particularly distraught.

Thenext day, feeling like most of us, so very feckless, my mom instincts kickedin, I baked some sweets, loaded them into my minivan, and, with my owntrepidation, drove, through the endless Eastern Shore cornfields toChestertown, Md to comfort my anxious son and anyone else who needed somematernal TLC.

Sinceorientation, Devin had been telling me about one particular dorm mate from NewDelhi, Ambika. He was intrigued with her exotic poise and directness, and Ilooked forward to meeting her. She stood out that mind-numbing day, so pretty,and with her self-assured, nonplussed, demeanor, she caught my attention. Ithought to myself this girl comes from interesting lineage; she has been, andwill go places.

Myrambling Victorian farmhouse house on the Chesapeake Bay was often second hometo a diverse array of international characters; the teenage Mexican savantmuralist, the whacky Canadian traveling drama troupe, the Norwegian exchangestudent with nothing to exchange, the diminutive Japanese coed who thoughtAlabama was the heart of the nation, the spirited Toltec shaman, the seductiveRussian scam artist, and now a Brahmin princess. Ambika was an instant fitcharming, articulate, fiercely opinionated. She quickly became a treasured partof our family, and a frequent guest for Thanksgiving, Christmas and all thoselazy weekends when she and Devin just wanted to be at home.

Onmany of these visits, Ambika would regale me with riveting stories of hercelebrated grandparents, KC and Sudha. KC was a career Indian Civil Servantswho followed a path less traveled. While most sought glamorous postings inplaces like Paris or Washington, they preferred to work in outlying states andcountries, including Tibet and Afghanistan. Aside from their ever-changingofficial duties, their personal mission had always been to represent localgovernments by respectfully introducing modern culture and offeringcompassionate protection. Ambikas Nana KCs persistent integrity was asource of both pride and sometimes chagrin to his beloved India; her NaniSudhas sense of familial duty, adventure and religious devotion wereinspirational to all.

Sophomoreyear, we mourned the loss of Bala, Ambikas beloved dad, to a sudden stroke. InDevin and Ambikas junior year, we led a madcap adventure, into Mexico. Whenher lovely mother Geeta first visited, the two moms hit it off immediately.With each visit thereafter, it became increasingly clear to all of us that wehad become a blended family.

Asgraduation drew near, I overheard Ambika telling Devin that her graduation giftfrom her grandparents was a trip to wherever she chose, and she could bringDevin along as her guest. Never one to miss out on an adventure, I prompted, Iwant to go to which she replied, Yes, of course, and my mother will cometoothis will be a family event. Remembering my favorite stories of hergrandparents posting in Tibet during the period of the Dalai Lamas exile, Iexpressed my reverence for His Holiness, to which Ambika promptly announced,Then you shall meet him. I, of course, thought her delusional. But thefollowing week, I received an email from her grandfather requesting my passportnumber, as a private audience with His Holiness had been arranged.

Ofcourse, Geeta returned to Maryland for graduation. Together we planned andhosted a celebratory party with an Indian food theme. We collaborated in thekitchen, creating the most savory Indian delicacies, samosas, curries, homemadepaneer, complemented with my specialty, pastries and cakes. The very next day,the four of us were off to Delhi on the trip that would change my life forever.

KCand Sudha were waiting up for us, irrepressibly proud and happy to see theirnew college graduate granddaughter, whom they had lovingly nicknamed Sunshine.I was instantly bowled over by KCs intense frenetic energy; it was and isdumbfounding. Sudhas tranquil presence was just as I had imagined. Thefamilial attraction I had experienced meeting Geeta was magnified. I felt trulyat home in this strange house halfway around the world.

Ibarely had time to adjust to jet lag and the extreme May heat, when two dayslater I found myself, an integral part of this humble, joyous family, travelingin a second-class train compartment to the base of the Himalayas where we weremet by His Holiness personal drivers. After a frightening three-hour ride up atreacherous mountain road through steep switchbacks, without a railing insight, we found ourselves in Dharamsala, a bustling mountain city and home tothe Tibetan government in exile. On the ride we broached the idea that someoneshould write a book about Sudha and KCs adventurous lives.

Thefollowing morning, before our audience with the Dalai Lama, we first toured theTibetan Medicine Museum, Men-Tsee-Khang, a virtual pharmacy resplendent withall the aromatic healing herbs, plants and minerals used in Tibetan Medicine.From there we visited the Tsuglagkhang complex, home to the Tsuglagkhang, thelargest Tibetan temple located outside Tibet. Inside was a huge meditation hallcovered in colorful thankas, and beautiful, ornate murals. In the garden, I wasdelighted to witness the much-heralded spectacle of the resident monksembroiled in one of their lively debates. And lastly we visited the TibetMuseum, dedicated to documenting the Chinese incursion in Tibet. As I was wanderingthrough the exhibits, across the room, I spied Sudha, decked out in her mostelegant silk salwar kameez, bending over an antique mahogany glass case. Icrossed the room and found her tearfully staring at the contents: charred, yetintact, ancient scrolls. A number of complex emotions washed over her face.Responding to my concern, she said, Susan, I cannot be sure, but its possibleI brought some of these items out of Tibet. I was honored to share thispoignant moment with her and curious to hear the rest of the story.