It has been a strange month for the students at EST - for those who said farewell and left the school - their home of two years; and for those left behind, who suddenly found their school "family" shrunk to just a handful of people.
For everyone, the most important day of the month was 11th August, when the fourth intake of students graduated. There was huge excitement as a magnificent feast was prepared, and the school welcomed Phunba Tsering, the head of the Tibetan Parliament in Exile, and two of his colleagues, to present the certificates. Five students obtained FCE, and sixteen were awarded PET. After photographs, we sat down to a banquet, and in the evening, there was a party, Tibetan style. Some of the students stood up and spoke about how much the school meant to them, then burst into song, or performed a little dance. The party went on til the wee hours, and the meat left over from the banquet lasted for days.
Over the next two days, in dribs and drabs, they left. As we waved goodbye at the gate to yet another departing taxi, crammed with people and luggage, there were tears and a sense of emptiness. Suddenly, the school seemed very large and quiet.
But plenty of other things happened in August. On 4th and 5th August, there was an educational trip to the Tibetan Administration in Exile, to study the machine behind the democracy being implemented in exile. On 8th August, on a spectacularly wet day, we witnessed the new
Prime Minister of the Administration being sworn in. A young lawyer, a lecturer at Harvard University, he was voted for in overwhelming numbers by Tibetans all over the world, and he promises an injection of fresh air into the Tibetan administration.
While we attempted to resume normal classes for the seven remaining students, we also focussed on selecting the new batch to come. On 21st August we held the entrance exam, in the temple at the Norbulingka Institute. A massive golden Buddha fixed his beady eye upon the candidates as they sat on cushions on the floor in dim light, struggling with the exam. This was followed by feverish marking, a weeding out process and interviews for the short-listed candidates on 26th. Things move fast here. The new group has been chosen, and is arriving on 1st September.
What else have I missed? There was a mock FCE/PET exam for the seven, followed by a picnic in the hills to recover; an amazingly pink birthday cake for Choekyi at midnight, with pop and cards. Each person draped a traditional Tibetan scarf (Katak) round Choekyi's neck as they gave her their birthday wishes. And then there was Independence Day for India (not that you would notice in our little Tibetan enclave here).
And the month is ending with three days teaching from the Dalai Lama at McLeod Ganj. What a fitting start to the new era of Intake 5.
By Arnrid
