EDITORIAL : THE INDIAN EXPRESS, INDIA

Moving forward

The first shot in the battle for the control of Tibetan politics and Himalayan Buddhism after the Dalai Lama has been fired. The pre-emptive salvo came from none other than the Dalai Lama himself when he announced on Thursday his decision to step down as the political head of the Tibetan government-in-exile. For some time now, the Dalai Lama has been hinting at his political retirement. Reincarnated as the 14th Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso is both the temporal and spiritual head of the Tibetan people. Exiled in India for more than 50 years — he fled Chinese repression in 1959 — he has sustained the Tibetan struggle for its just rights in China, protected its culture and given it a credible international voice. While the Tibetan parliament meeting shortly might want to reject his decision, the Dalai Lama appears to have made up his mind, in the long-term interests of his people.
At 76, the Dalai Lama knows he has only a few active years left. In calling for an elected political leader, the Dalai Lama hopes to lay a strong democratic foundation for the movement so that it can survive internal division and external manipulation after his departure. Beijing has been waiting patiently for the death of the Dalai Lama to strike at the roots of the Tibetan movement. Organising an orderly political transition might be a lot easier for the Dalai Lama than ensuring there is no chaos in choosing his spiritual successor, the 15th Dalai Lama, which is traditionally done through a “discovery” of the “reincarnation”. Beijing will undoubtedly organise its own reincarnation. It has insisted that the Dalai Lama can’t choose his successor.

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Music moments

 Long before Twenty20 had altered the surround sound at a cricket match in India, visiting teams from the West Indies would prepare themselves for the silence between overs and during other hold-ups — say, when a wicket fell or during a drinks break. Ramnaresh Sarwan once said he would try to keep a soundtrack running in his mind, for fear that the lack of music would wreck his concentration. At the ongoing World Cup, men like Sarwan can now submit their requests to the ICC, so that key moments in their team’s outing can rock to the strains of songs of their choice. And the songs different teams have opted for make for ready sport sociology.

India, unsurprisingly, ask for “Chak De India”. It’s appropriation of an order only those familiar with the film of the same name can appreciate. “Chak De India” is the battle cry of a rag-tag team of women hockey players whose ultimate victory at a World Cup in Australia is really the icing on the cake for the little victories they pile up by digging deep within their resolve — over a patriarchal sport federation, over a dominant culture that privileges men’s cricket over all other sports, over the rivalries within the team, over the temptation to personally shine at the team’s expense. In a film that cautions against misplaced nationalism, the anthem marks the difference between vanity and wish-fulfilment. How Dhoni and his men have internalised that sentiment is an intriguing thought.