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"V I J A Y   C R I S H N A ' S   ' T I B E T   O F   O U R   M I N D S '   I N   B A N G A L O R E"
(Tibetan Youth Hostel, Bangalore | November 15, 2008)

Bangalore: Going beyond eyewitness accounts, historians' interpretations and tales of the western travellers, Vijay Crishna's audiovisual presentation, Tibet of our Minds: A Journey's End? offers a multi-faceted picture of Tibet today and why we need to respond to the issue. The introductory quote by Confucius - Study the past to define the future - was exemplified by the multiple areas that Mr Crishna managed to cover during his talk. Lawrence Liang, author and a researcher with Alternative Law Forum introduced Vijay Crishna at a function held at the Tibetan Youth Hostel in Bangalore on November 15, 2008 - jointly organised by Think Tibet and Friends of Tibet.

Lawrence Liang of Alternative Law Forum introduces Vijay Crishna

Mr Crishna's presentation comes with firsthand experiences in Tibet - he has made three trips - combined with an extensive study of articles, reports and books on Tibet. He offers an understanding of the events that have shaped Tibet's destiny and the consequences of it. Interspersed between his methodical unveiling of one facet after another are personal instances and descriptions of the country, people, and photographs of the breathtaking landscape. The Great Prayer festival at Drepung and Ganden are beautiful to see but when Mr Crishna follows it up with a picture of Ganden before the Cultural Revolution razed it to the ground, the extent of loss is almost unbearable.

Vijay Crishna runs light engineering and IT-related businesses in a separate company, Lawkim Ltd, within the Godrej Group, has practised theatre for many years and is a very keen trekker - a person of several facets who has also made several trips to Chinese-occupied Tibet exploring a fascination for the trade that sustained the entire area for centuries. In 1991 he established The Naoroji Godrej Centre for Plant Research at his factory site in Satara district to research and propagate rare and endangered species of medicinal plants endemic to the Western Ghats.

there were only four foreigners in all of Tibet. The imperialist is question was an American, a CIA trooper, Douglas Mackiernan, who was sent from Urumqi to Tibet to organise a rebellion against the PRC. Unfortunately, he was gunned down as he was entering Lhasa, by Tibetan soldiers who weren't aware of the plan, thereby changing the course of history. Mr Crishna then shifted to the present day activists, who continue to keep the fight going despite trials. The fight, as we can see, is so long drawn.

Going back and forth between the past and the present, Mr Crishna constantly draws our attention to how decisions impact the future. Be it politics and climate. There is more than one reason to look Tibet-wards and address the looming questions.

Over the past year, Vijay Crishna has delivered 13 lectures and presentations on Central Asia in Mumbai, Pune and Kolkata, and about 11 more on Tibet. On March 27, in the aftermath of violent protests in Lhasa, he delivered a lecture in Dharamsala, the seat of the Tibetan Government-in-Exile.

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Friends of Tibet is a people's movement to keep alive the issue of Tibet through direct action. Our activities are aimed at ending China's occupation of Tibet and the suffering of the Tibetan people. Friends of Tibet supports the continued struggle of the Tibetan people for independence.