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PLATTSBURGH — A shrine to His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso, greets patrons inside the TibetAsian gift shop downtown at 82 Margaret St. in Plattsburgh.
The shop, which specializes in Himalayan gifts and handicrafts and is owned by Tenzin and Yangchen Dorjee, vibrates with a colorful array of jewelry, prayer flags, scarves, pillowcases and tapestries.
If not for the Dalai Lama, the Dorjees would not be here.
Specifically, if Yangchen's parents, Tsering Dhondup and Phurbu Dolma, had not fled from the Chinese with the Dalai Lama into Northern India in March 1959, Yangchen would not have been born and educated in India or elected as information secretary and first-ever female general secretary of the Tibetan Youth Congress. She would not have attended college on a German scholarship and majored in accounting, met Tenzin at a 1995 international conference or be interviewed by Amy Mountcastle, a Plattsburgh State anthropology professor doing doctoral work on Tibetan refugees in Dharamsala in 1992.
Because of her long friendship with Mountcastle, Yangchen visited Plattsburgh in 2000 and made subsequent visits with her husband, when they lived in New York City and, later, in New Jersey. Finally, the Dorjees relocated to Plattsburgh with their children.
Four years ago, Phurbu left India to live with them.
TIBETAN REFUGEES
Seated in the office area of TibetAsian, Phurbu spoke Tibetan to her daughter, recalling her life in Tibet.
"She grew up in Shigatse, the second largest city of Tibet," Yangchen said. "She was the eldest of eight children. She was born in a small town nearby. Her father died very early. The source of income was farming."
When Phurbu's father died, relatives encouraged her mother to leave the farm and move her children to Shigatse. Phurbu resided with a paternal aunt until she married Tsering Dhondup, a successful businessman who traded in salt and raw cotton material.
At their traditional wedding in Dzonga, Phurbu wore elaborate turquoise, gold and silver jewelry including a pagor, a traditional Shigatse headdress adorned with turquoise, coral and pearl beads.
In Dzonga, Phurbu assisted her husband in his business and became a mother. Eight of her 11 children were born in Tibet. Yangchen is among the three who were born in India.
"My mother said childbirth is nothing. It's easy. She had no doctor or midwife."
During the Chinese invasion, six of Phurbu's children died in Tibet.
"There were no medical facilities."
Phurbu, Tsering and three of their children were among the 160,000 Tibetan refugees who fled from the Chinese.
"She had seen a lot of people getting killed in front of their eyes. They were the lucky ones to escape. They left with nothing. Just the clothes on their back. A lot of people died on the way because of the change of weather, no food and no good clothing."
Phurbu is petite but her sturdy legs carried her through the harrowing, mountainous terrain they traversed for almost three weeks to reach Nepal.
"They were able to bring a little bit of money. My father was able to do a little business, which enabled them to survive two years on the border of Nepal."
Phurbu and Tsering were among 320 transported by bus to Pathankot, a refugee camp near Dharamsala, India.
"The Indian government gave them a tent, food and supplies. The Indian government was so generous, giving us free houses, free land and free education for the last 50 years."
Along with the other Tibetan refugees, Phurbu and Tsering hammered small boulders into gravel.
"Big rocks fell, and people died. My brother Ngodup Tsering got a problem with his back.
"They just had tents in that cold weather — that's why a lot of children got sick and died."
TIMES OF TRIAL
And so Phurbu couldn't work anymore. She had to attend her son. The family relocated to Dharamsala, where Ngodup Tsering had surgery. The family spent five years in Dharamsala and established a small business.
They were relocated to Bylakuppe, the largest Tibetan settlement. By this time Phurbu's husband's asthma prevented him from working. Their son Lodoe Sangpo, the most gifted student of his siblings, left school to assist Phurbu in the family's sweater business. This enabled his siblings to continue their education.
At 8, Yangchen took over her mother's duties — milking, making cheese and butter, cooking and cleaning, and taking care of her father. At first, the family lived in a bamboo hut with a mud exterior. Phurbu cleared jungle with the other refugees for wages.
"Finally, we were able to get a house from the Indian government."
On their farm, they raised maize, rice, cotton, peanuts and pineapple.
Yangchen contracted polio and was cured by the monks' prayers, she said. Her brother Loden, 9, died after he was bitten by a rabid dog.
"There were no facilities."
To supplement the farm income, Phurbu sold sweaters in the cities. After one successful venture, she returned and didn't bank her earnings right away. The family was robbed while they slept.
"We didn't have money to buy salt," Yangchen said. "We had no money for anything. (Phurbu) took loans from cousins and the government and started all over again. She lost her eyesight and hearing because of so much stress."
Phurbu's husband died in 1987.
Until she came to the United States, the woman divided her time in India between her two sons. At 88, she is content. Asked what kept her going, Phurbu said (as translated by Yangchen):
"It's all blessings from His Holiness, the Dalai Lama. All because of him."
E-mail Robin Caudell at: rcaudell@pressrepublican.com
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