The Beijing Olympics is over, and the world seems to have forgotten Tibet and its exiled leader, the Dalai Lama. But not France. It recently witnessed an exotic event — “a mixture of religious service, saffron diplomacy and Woodstock-like happening. The venue: The Lerab Ling sanctuary, home of Europe’s biggest Tibetan temple.”
The French president Nicolas Sarkozy sent his supermodel wife, Carla Bruni, to meet the Dalai Lama (photo above) and join the Tibetan spiritual leader at the head of a procession where “hundreds of faithful joined in communion as the monks chanted, horns sounded and cymbals clashed,” reports The Times.
“Inside, arrayed before a 25-feet high golden Buddha, were a gathering of Parisian beautiful people and senior figures from Europe’s thriving Buddhist movement. Among them were Juliette Binoche, the film star, and Inès de la Fressange, the former Chanel égérie.
“Bruni, whose new pop album is near the top of the hit parade, carried off her mission flawlessly. Elegant in her white khata scarf — bestowed on honoured guests — , she smiled gracefully, clasped her hands reverently and said nothing in public.
“Bernard Kouchner, the Foreign Minister and Rama Yade, the Secretary for Human Rights, were also on hand yesterday to make the point that Sarko cares. Beijing warned Paris again on Thursday that it took a dim view of Sarko’s ‘operation karma’.
“His Holiness did his own bit to raise the stakes the same day. He dropped the pretense that his French trip was purely religious and publicly denounced Chinese repression in Tibet.” More here…
Swaraaj Chauhan describes his two-decade-long stint as a full-time journalist as eventful, purposeful, and full of joy and excitement. In 1993 he could foresee a different work culture appearing on the horizon, and decided to devote full time to teaching journalism (also, partly, with a desire to give back to the community from where he had enriched himself so much.)
Alongside, he worked for about a year in 1993 for the US State Department’s SPAN magazine, a nearly five-decade-old art and culture monthly magazine promoting US-India relations. It gave him an excellent opportunity to learn about things American, plus the pleasure of playing tennis in the lavish American embassy compound in the heart of New Delhi.
In !995 he joined WWF-India as a full-time media and environment education consultant and worked there for five years travelling a great deal, including to Husum in Germany as a part of the international team to formulate WWF’s Eco-tourism policy.
He taught journalism to honors students in a college affiliated to the University of Delhi, as also at the prestigious Indian Institute of Mass Communication where he lectured on “Development Journalism” to mid-career journalists/Information officers from the SAARC, African, East European and Latin American countries, for eight years.
In 2004 the BBC World Service Trust (BBC WST) selected him as a Trainer/Mentor for India under a European Union project. In 2008/09 He completed another European Union-funded project for the BBC WST related to Disaster Management and media coverage in two eastern States in India — West Bengal and Orissa.
Last year, he spent a couple of months in Australia and enjoyed trekking, and also taught for a while at the University of South Australia.
Recently, he was appointed as a Member of the Board of Studies at Chitkara University in Chandigarh, a beautiful city in North India designed by the famous Swiss/French architect Le Corbusier. He also teaches undergraduate and postgraduate students there.
He loves trekking, especially in the hills, and never misses an opportunity to play a game of tennis. The Western and Indian classical music are always within his reach for instant relaxation.
And last, but not least, is his firm belief in the power of the positive thought to heal oneself and others.