My sister, after she finished her studies in England, came back to India, and our parents felt that we should all serve the Tibetan government in some way or the other, so she took a job at the Library of Tibetan Works and Archives in Dharamsala. She was the editor of the Tibet Journal, you see, it was an intellectual obligation. So while she was there, Grandmother was also there, and Grandmother used to call her for meals, and look after her, like she used to look after all her children and grandchildren. So one day my sister came up with this great idea of recording my grandmother's life history because she felt that here was a very important woman, a mother who had 16 children, of whom seven survived. But basically because she was mother of the Dalai Lama. And when she went and approached her, our grandmother was very pleasantly surprised.

"I'd love to do it," she said "but nobody will ask me about my early years, you see, and what happened. I never really had a chance to talk about this in great detail."

And she was very enthusiastic. So my sister, over a period of two years, from '79 to '81, over meals and family get-togethers, asked her a whole bunch of questions and took all these notes. Then my grandmother passed away in 1981.

Then in 1982, my sister had a very tragic car accident in North Africa, where she went on a holiday. She died, in 1982. And then my mother was really heartbroken, this was her only daughter, and she felt that she should try and get this book published. She tried, but then she succumbed to cancer in 1986. So in 1997, looking through my sister's notes, I got an education myself. There was so much detail I didn't know of. So I sat down and prepared it for publication.

This book has taken 20 years to see light -- almost 20 years. I'm doing this because it is my sister's legacy. She gathered all the stories. And also because now days in America, a lot of Americans are interested in His Holiness the Dalai Lama, both as a spiritual and temporal leader. I remember in 1979, when I came with His Holiness on his first trip, very few people knew him. Everybody thought that maybe he was a count or something, you see, he was wearing these strange red robes and all. But then in 1989, His Holiness got the Nobel Peace Prize, and in the year 2000 a lot of Americans know what he does, what he represents. His teachings appeal to many Americans.

This is a story of a very strong woman, who felt that her traditions were very important to her, the traditions that were passed down to her from her parents and her grandparents.

So I felt that this book could give insights into His Holiness' mother, his upbringing, you see, about my grandmother's life. This book is actually a woman's story. This is a story of a very strong woman, who was a peasant lady. She felt that her traditions were very important to her, the traditions that were passed down to her from her parents and her grandparents. And she passed them down to us, grandchildren, and I, today, pass it down to my daughter.

This is the story of how she transited from being a peasant lady, traditions she carried, how her fifth son was recognized as the Dalai Lama, and how she coped with the Tibetan government, with the aristocracy, and with the problems with the Chinese. And that Tibet was going through a very terrible period. And how she coped with all that, how she coped with her family, how she coped with the recognition of His Holiness, the Dalai Lama. And then later on, her escape to India, her life in India. That part is not covered so much because my sister didn't cover that. And I decided to leave the original document as it was. So basically it's the story of my grandmother's early childhood, her life in Lhasa, and when she came to India.

Well, basically, I think twofold. One, if somebody wants to get an insight of how His Holiness' mother influenced His Holiness through what kind of a character she was. Likewise, His Holiness' mother had a great influence on him, on his thinking, on his perception, and that carries on to what he is today. And, two, is because as I told you earlier, this is a woman's story, it shows how strong she was, how independent she was, and how relevant it is today for today's woman. You see? Today's women not only have careers, but also have children, a family, and how all this complements in one life. I feel that this is a very important thing. That's why even though the book is very simple, it shows what my grandmother went through, the whole eclipse from a peasant lady to Lhasa, and then also, how she takes in stride the big changes in her life.

After the 13th Dalai Lama passed away, the Tibetan government instituted the search parties to go and look for His Holiness all over Tibet. The signs were that he would be born in Eastern Tibet. So the search party was passing through our village, and they knocked on my grandmother's house, and they asked for refuge for the night, they wanted to stay there for the night because they were travelers. So my grandmother, as a very warm and compassionate person said, 'Yeah, definitely.' And so she invited them in, and she didn't know who they were. She was a peasant woman who was basically only interested in her day-to-day life, of thinking of her farm and all that. The head of the search party was Khetsang Rinpoche, but he was dressed in disguise, he was dressed in servant's clothes, and the servant was dressed in his clothes. You see?

So she invited the servant who was dressed in the search party leader's clothes up to the house, and she took Khetsang Rinpoche, dressed as the servant, to the kitchen where she was working and preparing the tea and all that. His Holiness was a young boy at that time, and he walked up to Khetsang Rinpoche and looked at him, and put his hand into Khetsang Rinpoche's shirt and tugged at his vest. And apparently this vest was given to him by the 13th Dalai Lama, so he was very taken aback, but he didn't show anything. So he left the next day. They came back again, and then they started to do some test. All this while, my grandmother didn't know who these people were, what they were doing, had no idea, obviously, that they were looking for the 14th Dalai Lama. So that's how it started.

Never in her wildest dreams did she think that one of her children would become the 14th Dalai Lama.

Later on when Khetsang Rinpoche told her 'this is who we are,' she was really quite amazed. Never in her wildest dreams did she think that one of her children would become the 14th Dalai Lama. In every Tibetan family, if a reincarnate Lama is recognized among your children, it is a great honor. And she already had the honor of having her second child, a son, recognized as the Takster Rinpoche of Kumbum Monastery at that time. She already had that honor. So, even though she was a little confused, she realized that she was in control of herself, so she decided, 'I'll take everything in stride.'

My grandmother always felt that her roots were very important to her, her traditions. For instance the clothes which she wore were still of the village. She never changed the style. And she always wore the ornaments from that area. And people would ask her, 'Oh, now, you've become the mother of the Dalai Lama, you should change. You should powder your face, you should wear these clothes, you should have a different hair style.' She said, 'No, I want to remain who I am even though I'm the mother of the Dalai Lama.' And she made a great effort to show the Dalai Lama what was important for him to eat, she prepared all the native foods and breads for His Holiness in Lhasa, where she went to see him very often. And she always spoke about how she felt that even though she had become the mother of the Dalai Lama, that any day she would trade that back for her life and her religion. Because she was most happy there, and she didn't really think that, 'Oh, now, I've become the mother of His Holiness, and I've got to change my whole lifestyle.' No. She was a very plain, strict-thinking, very pragmatic and strong woman.

After my sister died, that part of the story I wrote because it filled a gap. I didn't want to write a lot, I wanted to leave the book as it was. I didn't want to adapt it to how I felt. The language which my sister would have written would have been very different from mine. So I left it as it is. But I just gave it a soft landing.

Yes, definitely. It reflects very much of what she felt. And I could tell you just a personal anecdote. Towards the end of her life, whenever I went to see her, she would ask me, 'Where is your father? Where is your mother? I would like to meet them.' And she always felt that family gatherings were very important. She liked to have all her children and grandchildren around her. Another instance, the day she died, she got up in the morning, it was early morning, and she called out to her son, Lobsang Samten, 'Please carry me to the bathroom.' And then when she came back, she said, 'Please put me up so that I can sit up. I feel I'm very weak and I might die.' And she said, 'I'm very sad because most of my children are not with me.' But then Lobsang Samten, her son, told her, 'Umala'--it means mother-- 'in your mind, please have peace because you should remember you gave birth to the 14th Dalai Lama, and as a mother you have really been a good mother to all your children and all your grandchildren.' And in that way, she died peacefully.

I came a day later, and then my uncle told me this. I didn't put this in the book because I felt that I would wait for my book to come out. It's just that I wanted to keep it as original as possible.

Well, he feels that this is a story of his mother, who he loved very much. He feels very good about it. So far all the people who have read this book and have seen this book feel that it's a very touching story.

I would say because people in the West think that, 'Oh, this was written by a peasant lady.' But even though my grandmother was a peasant, throughout her life she really was a very strong woman, and she really carried on traditions, they were the backbone of her life. I think that is the success of her life. So I really felt that I should share this with a wider audience. I want more people to be able to know what His Holiness' mother was like, and how it affected His Holiness when he was young, and later on, throughout his life. And how, even though she had so many children, she could give time to each one of her children, and visit them, some in America, some in Switzerland, and his Holiness in Dharamsala, and my father, us grandchildren in Darjeeling, where I live today. And how she could make time for all that, and still instill in us with a sense of security, and most important, a sense of fair play. I remember her as a very fair person. And to her grandchildren she would speak about tradition and she would speak about religion. And during our religious festivals and traditional festivals, she would teach us how to observe these and what they meant. This was very important -- it had a great impact on us. But then I was much younger, those days, and I hadn't thought much about it. But when I read through my sister's notes, it was like a revelation.

Yeah, now when I look back and I can think back and think of all the different episodes which I had with her, the meaning, of what she said, I can remember many things. So I like to share this with people, and people in the West are really interested.

Well, I think because Americans always like to support a moral and just cause. And the situation with the Chinese, we are the underdog, and Americans always like to support the underdog. For instance, I'll give you a very simple example. We have a campaign in Washington, D.C. called the International Campaign for Tibet. And we've had that for about 10 years. We have no money to lobby, but we have created one of the biggest support groups among senators and congressmen because our story, our cause, is a true and just cause. And because we are very lucky to have a much beloved leader like His Holiness, the Dalai Lama, who is both the temporal and spiritual leader of Tibet. Also because His Holiness teachings appeal to many people. This is one of the most important things throughout His Holiness' visits to America, where he is always invited by different universities and different support groups, and different religious groups to come here and speak out, not only on Tibet, but also in his capacity as a spiritual leader. He is not saying, 'Tibetan Buddhism is the only religion in the world.' He believes in tolerance of all religions. And people are interested to hear what he says, and he comes across -- as he always says -- as a simple Buddhist man. Right? So I think this is very important because it's good for anybody.

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