We arrived at the airport around 8:30 am and the flight was scheduled at 10 am and keeping to the tradition of Indian Airlines, it was cancelled. Since we were already at the airport and they had not been able to contact us, they were able to put us in a different flight which left Bagdora around 12:45 and we reached Guhati around 2pm.
The moment we reached Guhati, all our phone connections stopped working and we found out later that because of all the insurgency issues, Sim Cards bought in other regions of India will not work in the north eastern states of India. We had to borrow the cell-phone of the driver so that we could contact the organizers.
We reached Shillong around 6:30pm due to the heavy traffic and were received by Tashi la and Gompo la and other individual who had organized the meeting with the locals. We were put in a hotel right above the hall where TNT la was scheduled to speak the next morning.
Shillong had been experiencing some severe cold weather recently and when we were there, it was extremely cold with the temperature reaching the freezing point and on top of that, the hotel that we stayed in had marble floors to add to the cold. Though, the organizers arranged extra blankets, it was still extremely cold and I think for all of us, it was the coldest time that we have during the whole tour.
On the 19th, the individuals had organized a meeting with the local residents and we had the opportunity to show some video clips of TNT la such as the Support Video and the short biography of TNT la to the residents so that they were able to get a better idea about TNT la and the amount of contributions he has made to the Tibetan Community.
It was very encouraging to see two youngsters ask two very different questions in English. You can view both the videos below.
After the meeting, since we had some time, TNT la was able to visit the main market where a lot of local Tibetans have shops and most of the Tibetans seemed to be doing really well. The reason being most shoppers prefer buying from Tibetans as I guess we Tibetans have a sense of style??????
I have learned a lot while travelling with TNT la about all these Khador settlements and what their major concerns are. Even though they have their own concerns about their own well-being, education and other local concerns, but no matter where we were, their main concern was about His Holiness and how best to help the Tibetans inside Tibet.
The moment we reached Guhati, all our phone connections stopped working and we found out later that because of all the insurgency issues, Sim Cards bought in other regions of India will not work in the north eastern states of India. We had to borrow the cell-phone of the driver so that we could contact the organizers.
We reached Shillong around 6:30pm due to the heavy traffic and were received by Tashi la and Gompo la and other individual who had organized the meeting with the locals. We were put in a hotel right above the hall where TNT la was scheduled to speak the next morning.
Shillong had been experiencing some severe cold weather recently and when we were there, it was extremely cold with the temperature reaching the freezing point and on top of that, the hotel that we stayed in had marble floors to add to the cold. Though, the organizers arranged extra blankets, it was still extremely cold and I think for all of us, it was the coldest time that we have during the whole tour.
On the 19th, the individuals had organized a meeting with the local residents and we had the opportunity to show some video clips of TNT la such as the Support Video and the short biography of TNT la to the residents so that they were able to get a better idea about TNT la and the amount of contributions he has made to the Tibetan Community.
It was very encouraging to see two youngsters ask two very different questions in English. You can view both the videos below.
After the meeting, since we had some time, TNT la was able to visit the main market where a lot of local Tibetans have shops and most of the Tibetans seemed to be doing really well. The reason being most shoppers prefer buying from Tibetans as I guess we Tibetans have a sense of style??????
I have learned a lot while travelling with TNT la about all these Khador settlements and what their major concerns are. Even though they have their own concerns about their own well-being, education and other local concerns, but no matter where we were, their main concern was about His Holiness and how best to help the Tibetans inside Tibet.
