Prakash: Throwing light on Tibetan literature and culture

Guwahati: Prakash, the acclaimed Assamese literary monthly magazine,
has come with a special issue on  Tibetan (refugee) literature and
culture mesmerizing its vivid readers who otherwise had never
experienced the literary taste of neighboring Tibet (pronounced as
Tibbat in Assamese), which has been occupied by the Chinese Communist
regime in Beijing for decades.

Published by Pramod Kalita, secretary of Publication Board Assam, a
literary institution-established and run by Assam government since 2
May 1958 at Bamunimaidan in the city, the impressive July 2022 issue
of Prakash (literary meaning light, expression, manifestation, etc )
comprises a number of Tibetan literary pieces which are translated
into Assamese by a group of dedicated writers, a unique initiative
ever seen in any Indian regional literary magazine.

Literary piece authored by acclaimed Tibetan writer Tenzin Chundu,
which has been translated by popular Assamese writer & film critic
Utpal Dutta, an interview with Tibetan literary scholar Robert Barnet
(translated by Vivekananda Choudhury) and an article on the Tibetan
literary criticism by Tenzin Dicki, a seasoned Tibetan creative writer
& translator (translated by  Jintu Geetartha), etc attracted the
reader’s attention.

Moreover, a literary essay on contemporary Tibetan literature written
by Priyanka D’Roserio and Dr Shunil Kr Mishra (translated by Dr
Deepshikha Bhagawati), a Tibetan story penned by Pema Bhum, a well
known Tibetan author based in USA (translated by Juri Dutta) and a
number of selected Tibetan  poems (translated by Dr Dikshita Bhuyan,
Dr Simi Barman and Geet Baibhavi) also enriched the July issue of
Prakash.

Editor Mihir Deuri, while speaking to this correspondent, narrated
that the Tibetan literature has been referred to literature written in
the Tibetan language or arising out of Tibetan folk culture. Moreover,
the same term also applies to a literary work by an ethnic Tibetan.
The current issue has highlighted the Tibetan literature and culture
along with its society and politics which he hopes to provide the
readers a fair idea about Tibet and its treasured literature.

Tibetan was once recognised as a trans-regional literary language
which spread from Tibet to Mongolia, Russia, Bhutan, Nepal, Pakistan
and India. After the sovereign land, located in the Himalayas housing
the world’s highest glacier clad peak Mt Everest and many Asian rivers
including Brahmaputra (the lifeline of Assam), was gradually occupied
by the Chinese administration since 1949, the days of doom began for
Tibetan literature and its culture, which is strongly influenced by
Tibetan Buddhism.

The 14th Dalai Lama, Tibet’s highest spiritual leader, who along with
his aides escaped the Chinese persecution reaching Arunachal Pradesh
in 1959, still sticks to the demand of a genuine autonomy so that
Tibetan literature and culture can be preserved, even though the Nobel
peace laureate morally agreed to accept China as their country. From
his exile seat at Dharamsala in Himachal Pradesh, the most
influential Tibetan leader has repeatedly asked the Beijing
administration to ensure that Tibetan literature and culture would not
be harmed.

According to history, the Tibetan capital city of Lhasa continued to
be an autonomous region till 1951, but slowly the entire country was
grabbed by the Han Chinese and annexed it into the People's Republic
of China.  Modern Tibetan literature is often influenced by Chinese
and Indian literature. Needless to mention that, the first Tibetan
writer’s national conference was hosted by India in 1995, where a
number of freedom aspiring Tibetan English authors assembled.