Cricket World Cup: Young Tibetans of McLeodganj hooked to cricket and Team India | Cricket-world-cup News

Inside one of the shops at the Namgyal Monastery in McLeodganj, a priest lets his disagreement be known with a stern shake of the head. “No cricket, monk only do puja,” he adds with a laugh when asked if there was anyone watching the ongoing India-Bangladesh ODI World Cup game.On a cursory glance around the place, one wonders if he’s right before a security person adds context: most of the young ones who do watch it with passion are busy preparing for their upcoming exams.
Back at the shop, the priest’s voice transitions to that of deeper concern while recollecting his spiritual leader’s connection with the sport. “Earlier he used to watch. Now, bad knee,” he says of the 14th Dalai Lama, who has been one of the frequent visitors at cricket in Dharamsala since the early IPL days but is now facing health issues.
Situated some eight kms above the HPCA Stadium, the monastery in Mcleod Ganj has been a big tour attraction. Outside on a gray wall, a freshly painted text in green, yellow and red carves out a picture. “Tibet is my country, my people, my political hory.”
Tenzin Geche, who works at the Monastery office, tells this paper: “I was maybe four when my family came here. My father, who’s passed away, was in the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) before he came to Tibet and met my mother. He brought us all back here but my mother’s parents still live there.”
Geche speaks of the different influences among the Tibetans here.
“ culture, we’re Tibetan. But there’s a very deep influence. The young ones want to len to Bollywood songs,” he says. How can cricket be far behind?
For Passang, who works at Serkong House – a centre for the preservation of Tibetan arts and culture in Dharamsala – and has lived all his life in India, the bat-and-ball sport is a passion.
“I have been into it since my childhood. I used to play it in our locality in Chandigarh, Sector 22,” says the 57-year-old, who’s been to two of the three World Cup games at the HPCA Stadium.
Support for the home team
As the Indian bowlers start to make inroads into the Bangladesh innings, Passang starts looking ahead. “Now I think we need to beat New Zealand. South Africa, England, inse darr nahi hai. Pakan se bhi nahi hai (South Africa and England shouldn’t concern us, neither should Pakan). New Zealand will be tough,” he claims.

His father, who’d moved from Tibet in the late 50s, had little to do with Passang’s sporting obsession. He lets us in on the man responsible,
“First, I watched Kapil Dev. I loved his bowling action. We used to watch him on the black-and-white TV and whenever he used to bowl, there was a halla (noise) from the beginning. Almost like everyone knew he’d take a wicket.”
There is another memory, from 1984, of having watched an India-England match in Chandigarh. “Back then, the stadium wasn’t in Mohali, it was in Sector 16. I watched Kapil Dev, Yograj Singh – this was 83-84. Also, Allan Lamb,” Passang recalls before the conversation veers back to cricket in Dharamsala.
Do the young Tibetans, who grow up in the hill city, also have as strong a bond with the sport as he had with his early years in Punjab?Most Read
1
Leo box office collection Day 2 early reports: Vijay’s film witnesses significant drop

2
AR Rahman ‘totally changed’ after embracing new faith, changing name from Dilip Kumar: Sivamani

See More

“In Namgyal, the younger monks play it. I remember there was a tournament in Chandigarh some 10-15 years ago where one of the monastery teams from here won the entire thing. They had monks from Shimla, Dehradun and a couple of other places.”
Tenzin Phuntshok, who is among those at Namgyal preparing for upcoming exams, holds football above cricket. An ardent Indian national team fan, he shares his agony of having watched the men’s team go down 5-1 against China at the recent Asian Games.
“I didn’t think they would beat China three or four nil but I thought they would give them tough competition, like a draw. A miracle might happen. 1-0, I was hoping for that,” he says with a wry smile.