Majnu Ka Tila is Delhi’s Little Tibet. When China invaded their country in 1959, Tibetans fled their homes and entered India via Nepal, Bhutan as well as Uttarakhand and Arunachal. They chose the borders that were closest to them, but they fled. The initial years were very difficult for the refugees—many fell sick and some even died.
Photo Essay: A Little Bit Of Tibet
Majnu Ka Tila in the capital has been home to Tibetan refugees for decades. But the younger generation is gradually moving out
“The local population stayed away from us because we looked different, our clothes were different. They thought that we would cut them up and eat them,” says Karma Dorjee, the president of the colony’s Resident’s Welfare Association.
The houses here were shanties till the Asian Games were held in Delhi in 1982. Some of the refugees opened small businesses and restaurants serving Tibetan food—momos, thukpa and Chang liquor—on the sly. It became a favorite meeting place for students.
Very few of the original refugees are left now. The younger ones have gone to other states or abroad. “Sometimes I miss my parents and my country, but I feel like India is my second home. We can’t learn our own language and practice our culture in Tibet anymore, so what we do here is very important. We have to preserve it till someday we can return to Tibet,” says Mengma Tsering, the headmaster of the lone Tibetan school.
Text and photographs by Vikram Sharma
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