SNOW LION PUBLICATIONS

Pabitra Lama of Boudha Stupa, Kathmandu
by Anahata Iradah

Pabitra Lama lives in a traditional Nepalese house overlooking the Boudha Stupa in Kathmandu. I met her in 1998 on my first visit to the ancient city of Kathmandu. As I was circumambulating the Stupa our eyes met and I felt compelled to stroll across to her

At this time she spoke only a few words of English. She made me a delicious cup of tea, the first of many. Her smiles were from her heart and I soon got to know her as someone who cared very deeply for the less fortunate people of her world. She herself is quite poor by western standards.

Before we started working together she was struggling to keep her own children in school. She had personally adopted" two other children that were found abandoned at the Stupa and is determined to help educate them so they can assist their impoverished families.

As our friendship deepened a strong wish to help her and her family developed. Pabitra Lama taught herself to both speak and write English. We decided to support and help develop her small cottage industry of Dharma items. She told us that with her sales profits she would help to feed the destitute children and try to find sponsors for the ones who were left at the Boudha Stupa by families who could not afford to take care of their young. She has found several Western sponsors to assist with school fees for very poor families. Pavitra also gives support to a home for the destitute and elderly in Pashupati Nath, taking food, supplies and money to them a few times a year.

Pabitra became most interested in our Tara Dance project, attending as many sessions as she could of both the training and the offerings when we were in town. She began making brocade items with Tara's Mantra, showing a real flair for design. On our last pilgrimage we were looking for Tara Prayer flags and she offered to print them herself if we would sponsor the printing blocks. She then found and introduced us to Ani Pashi, a Tibetan nun with severe physical disabilities, who has been trained in the art of carving the blocks for prayer flags. We immediately began sponsoring various sizes of Tara prayer flag blocks. We then bought Pabitra a sewing machine so that she could print the prayer flags and sew them together in strings of 10 and 25. Besides this she began to make Tara banners and other items for us. So in this way a small cottage industry was born! Now we have many items being produced by Pabitra and the business is steadily growing.

We asked Pabitra to share a little about herself in her own words.

Namaste...

This is something about me and my life history. As you know I am Pabitra Lama and in my family there are only 5 members. We are from the Tamang tradition. My husband is a priest of our Boudha Monastery. In our family we have two daughters and one son. Because my husband is involved in religion, I have to make most of the money to run the household.

For the last 6 years I've been adopting a boy and gave him a food to eat, a place to live and clothes to wear as well as I gave him an education which is really important in today's world. Right now he is studying in Class 6. Even there is a one girl too but it's been only 2 years since she is living with us. Right now she is studying in class 3. In her family she is the eldest child and she is from very very poor family as well as from poor village. So, that's why in her family there are lots of problems because of money.

My goal in my life is to make poor people happy and I just want to help them. Actually, whenever I see people having a problem I just feel the pain inside me. Well, in this world most of the people are dying because of poverty and illiteracy. And whenever I feel like I can do something for those people then I feel really very relieved. I look for those children whose family background is very poor and having great problems. Some children are very strange because they have no education. As well they even don't know about their religion. I believe that if we will help these children to give them a knowledge about religion and about education then no one will be illiterate and so the worst things of the world will be reduced. I believe that it's good to give birth to a child but the best thing in life is to give a bright future in his or her life. In a person there should be education about everything which is really precious in this world, which cannot be stolen, cannot be reduced, neither can it disappear.

Well, I forgot to write you about my children... So, in my family there is my eldest daughter and her name is Pooja Lama. She is studying in a school in Darjeeling in grade 7. She is studying very well over there and since she has joined the school level she has stood in 1st position. Her ambition is to be a doctor. My son's name is Poojan Lama. He is studying in grade 5 over here in Kathmandu. My youngest daughter's name is Preza and she is studying in Darjeeling in grade 3.

Actually, I am not that much of an educated person but I can read some of the words and even I can understand them. As well I know about religion too.

I appreciate the chance I have been given to better my family and those around me by expanding the small cottage industry my friends have helped me to develop.

With love and care,

Pabitra