(no subject)

The Dalai Lama had come to speak in the inaugural address of a seminar on Gandhi and Satyagraha, so I went to listen. And this may sound rather frivolous, but I can't put it in any other way: he was charming. Cute, even. He cracked jokes about his English ("My English very poor."), about imagining Martin Luther King in a dhoti (apparently his wife had told him that King sometimes tried to imitate Gandhi, even his costumes) and had us all in splits, all the while speaking about serious things like non-violence and religious tolerance. He was very gracious speaking about India's non-violent tradition, and was nice enough not to mention the defence budget or the arms race, and equally gracious talking about religious tolerance in India and among Hindus (not mentioning that Hindus only kill Muslims. and lower castes. and women. and oh, an occasional Christian missionary and his children).

The best line, however is this, in the Q&A session:

Woman: What is the best way to bring about world peace?
Dalai Lama: *thinks very hard* I don't know.

Outside, there were bookstalls selling Educational Books, so I went to take a look at that. And they were Expensive, so naturally I had to come back empty-handed, remembering the Bapu's words (on how the Englishmen want the entire world to be their marketplace) and cursing (in a very non-violent way) this cruel world where one has to buy books.

*

I have submitted one assignment. Four more to go. And... two weeks. Or is it three? I've lost all track of time these days. And there's this matter of studying for the end semesters. What is this fandom you speak of?