Taken Away

The firstborn of a nomadic couple in Tibet, the child had barely learnt to walk when he was identified as the third reincarnation of Doboom Tulku and taken away from his parents. Inheriting a hermitage and a retinue of office-bearers, this child grew up to become a revered Rinpoche in the Gelukpa tradition. ''I want to demystify the life of a monk,'' he declares. ''It was like that of any other.'' And yet it obviously was not.

In 1959 he had to wear his heaviest robes and leave Tibet by night across snow-capped mountains. He describes his entry into India and the camp where he stayed. From having a hermitage at his command with staff to manage his affairs, Doboom Tulku had to live with weekly food supplies in spartan accommodation. With catastrophic change thrust on him, the young monk has to decide on the course of the rest of his life in exile.

Told movingly but unsentimentally and with care and humour, Doboom Tulku''s life story is also the extraordinary story of Tibetans, especially those from monastic orders, finding their place and purpose in foreign lands.