Filed under: tibetan stuff | Tags: bloomington, food, HHDL, mcleod, nostalgia, snow lion
Today I finally got my gumption up and went to the Snow Lion, Bloomington’s own Tibetan restaurant. I’ve been meaning to go for the entire summer, and hence putting it off just as long, probably because I knew deep in my heart of hearts that it would not be as good as the fine establishment in McLeod Ganj by the same name. The Snow Lion in McLeod Ganj is a hotel on Jogibara Rd. with a great restaurant that has cheap and abundant Tibetan staples (tenthuk, momos, et al.), a wait-staff consisting of a Tibetan dude with a lazy eye and a Indian kid, and a kitchen full of local Indians. The Snow Lion in Bloomington is a restaurant established by (I think) HH the DL’s nephew that serves an eclectic mix of various Asian cuisines, with a few token Tibetan dishes (no tenthuk, and no steamed momos), a wait-staff consisting of an over-eager white kid in a Less Than Jake t-shirt (who pronounced my order of “thukpa ngopa” more like “thukpa en-go-pa”) and a kitchen full of people people chatting away in English. Snow Lion McLeod Ganj is patronized by a fifty-fifty mix of whiteys and Tibetans; Snow Lion Bloomington is patronized mostly by the IU Philosophy department, at least according to my professor.
I know it’s not fair to compare these two, since they are literally about as far apart as two restaurants can be. But I really miss greasy, wonderful Tibetan food and am generally feeling very nostalgic about McLeod Ganj (a feeling that is in no way related to that paper that’s due in like a week hahahaha), and a nice bowl of tenthuk is too much to ask, is it? I suppose I’ll have to wait until I’ve saved up enough to fly back to India and pay a visit to ol’ lazy-eye and the rest of the real Snow Lion crew.
Check out this short interview with Tendzin Choegyal, HHDL’s youngest brother, via Tokyomango via BoingBoing. He seems like a pretty cool guy, “a rebellious soul who dropped out of college, spent a couple of years as a paratrooper in the Tibetan contingency of the Indian army, survived alcoholism,and found peace through a blend of Buddhism, lithium, and reading the news on the Internet.” Sounds a lot like people I know. Except for the whole paratrooper thing, and the alcoholism. And the lithium. So, just reading the news online, and, sometimes, Buddhism.
Anyway. Here’s my favorite part of the interview. Should sound kind of familiar after a semester of making fun of Steven Seagal and going to culture class…
GR: Have you met a lot of the celebrities who stop through Dharamsala to meet the Dalai Lama?
TC: Celebrities? They’re all human beings, what’s the big deal? You sit down with them, you start talking, and it’s the same thing. Richard Gere is a wonderful person—very simple, modest, and natural with whomever he meets. He’s done a lot for the Tibetan community. And then, on the other side of the scale, there’s Steven Seagal. Oh my god. I met him when he came here. He was wearing a funny coat, a Chinese brocade, funny trousers, and funny shoes with that ponytail. I asked him, “Why do you dress in such a peculiar manner?” He didn’t say anything. He’s arrogant, and pretends to be a Tibetan reincarnate. But why? He’s a strange man.
GR: What do you think about the preservation of Tibetan culture in Dharamsala?
TC: I think we’re losing it. Culture is not about dancing; it’s not about the songs you sing. I think we are starting to go mainstream here—people are wearing baseball caps and baggy pants. Human culture keeps on changing—it’s constantly being modified. There’s no such thing as the “original culture”—we are always in a state of flux. So it depends on how you look at it. But no matter how you dress or what kind of song you sing, as long as you can relate with other people, I think it’s okay. Any trend that is based on the mistaken view that freedom under democracy is a license to do anything is dangerous. You’ll destroy yourself, your family, and your community, because it’s based on selfishness. Say somebody is very angry, and he just can’t listen to reason. That person’s reason for not restraining himself is, I’m free.I can to whatever I want. The restraining factor is becoming smaller and smaller. We are becoming noble savages.
Elizabeth, you will also probably appreciate this advice about how to How to Cure Constipation with the Push of a Finger, also via Tokyomango. Apparently it has something to do with a pressure point between the thumb and index finger of your right hand.
