Welcome to Kyinzom’s Corner!
I dedicate my first post to Tibetan women and how proud (and fashionable) we feel when we wear our chupa.
Tibetan women are hardworking, strong and practical. This at least was my perception of my mother, who had to drop out of school at 14 and cook for the family whilst my grandmother went to work on the farm. They have been living in Bylakuppe, the largest Tibetan refugee settlement in India, for 52 years.
Did my mother have time for fashion and vanity in her life? Of course not – there were far more basic necessities to worry about. But thankfully the chupa, our traditional dress, is both beautiful and versatile. We can wear chupas in various colours and fabrics with matching wonjus (blouses). We can dress up in a chupa or dress down. My mother went for the latter, as was dictated by a life mostly spent in hard physical labour.
I, on the other hand, have always worn chupa to dress myself up. Such as on Losar (Tibetan New Year) and on His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s Birthday, or while visiting lamas and attending weddings. So the excitement of these special occasions was associated with wearing a chupa.
As I grew older, I began to find a deeper meaning in wearing our traditional dress. As a Tibetan, it helps define who I am. And for a Tibetan, an expression of one’s identity is a strong political statement. Of course, I have to admit my love for the dress for its sheer elegance too. I think Tibetan women look most beautiful in our chupas.
So when I decided to take my Lhakar pledge a month ago, I couldn’t imagine doing anything else. Wearing a chupa every Wednesday (the soul day of His Holiness the Dalai Lama) seemed the most natural thing to do, and join the Tibetans inside Tibet in their spirit of resistance.
So here are some of my Lhakar moments in Sydney – feeling proud and fashionable in front of the Harbour Bridge on my way to a concert at Opera House, waiting for my train home and doing my grocery shopping.
*Lhakar is a homegrown people’s movement that has emerged in Tibet. In spite of China’s intensified crackdown, Tibetans have embraced the power of strategic nonviolent resistance. Every Wednesday, a growing number of Tibetans are making special effort to wear traditional clothes, speak Tibetan, eat in Tibetan restaurants and buy from Tibetan-owned businesses. They channel their spirit of resistance into social, cultural and economic activities that are self-constructive (promoting Tibetan language, culture and identity) and non-cooperative (refusing to support Chinese institutions and businesses). Though humble in scale, these noncooperation tactics hark back to the Indian boycott of British textile at a turning point in the Indian freedom struggle.
The Tibetan word “Lhakar” translates literally as “White Wednesday,” as Wednesday is considered special by Tibetans because it is the Dalai Lama’s soul day. (From lhakar.org)
21 comments
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Dhondup
November 16, 2011 at 5:13 pm (UTC 10) Link to this comment
Well done Acha La. It all adds up and you are definitely making a difference.
radha-yangchen gopalakrishnan
November 16, 2011 at 5:52 pm (UTC 10) Link to this comment
was so pleased to read this…and though I do not live in Tibet…..my home is in Chennai India….and I do not own a chuppa…I do wear a Free Tibet badge everyday…..and will in future direct my thoughts every Wednesday to Tibetan women
norbu
November 16, 2011 at 6:32 pm (UTC 10) Link to this comment
great page..please give my regards to all esp. to Vvironment.
cheers, T.Norbu
དབུབ་མའི་བུ།
November 16, 2011 at 6:44 pm (UTC 10) Link to this comment
i like those who practice their pledge for Lhakar… thank you all !!!!! keep carry on …it looks something very different!!!!!!!!!!
chungpo
November 16, 2011 at 8:01 pm (UTC 10) Link to this comment
Hi Kinzom la,
so proud of your lhakar action.keep it up.
chungs
Tsering dhondup
November 16, 2011 at 8:04 pm (UTC 10) Link to this comment
thank you kept this chupa……….and Tibetan
kelsang
November 16, 2011 at 11:47 pm (UTC 10) Link to this comment
Hi kyinzom la, this is awesome piece and great going through it. Best for the new features you have out here and Tashi Delek !!!
tenzin Sherab Badheytsang
November 17, 2011 at 12:36 am (UTC 10) Link to this comment
Lhakar means SELF RESPONSIBLITIES OF BEING TIBETAN. PROOF THAT WE’VE DIFFERENT BEAUTIFUL TRADITION AND CULTURE.
bhuti
November 17, 2011 at 12:40 am (UTC 10) Link to this comment
Hi Kyizom..You looked so elegant and beautiful in chupa on Lhakar days in Sydney. Your post is so interesting and I just loved it. Looks forward to see more of your interesting posts…much regards Bhuti/Dharamsala
choegyal kyab
November 17, 2011 at 1:03 am (UTC 10) Link to this comment
Hi good idea and keep ur spirit alive
tsering choephel
November 17, 2011 at 3:06 am (UTC 10) Link to this comment
this is great and thanks for ur incredible idea, looking forward
Namgyal Wangdu
November 17, 2011 at 3:12 am (UTC 10) Link to this comment
Dear Kyinzom la,
Am really proud of your work and effort – Your thought are big and I appreciate it. Of course a big thank you.
Hope all men and women living in the west follow your way.
Shine on for Tibet,
Namgyal Wangdu
tsebhutti
November 17, 2011 at 5:59 am (UTC 10) Link to this comment
hi Kyizom la
So proud of u. Keep up with ur lhakhar actions . I agree with what u say about chupa.
Chocho
November 17, 2011 at 9:38 am (UTC 10) Link to this comment
We are so proud of you and will always.
Beautiful page. Regards to Simon.
tendor
November 17, 2011 at 3:15 pm (UTC 10) Link to this comment
Kyinzom la, very inspiring and lovely post on the merits of the incomparable chupa!!! Thanks for sharing. Looking forward to more stories on Kyinzom’s Corner. By the way, it was great to see you although briefly in India!
Namgyal wangmo
November 17, 2011 at 3:41 pm (UTC 10) Link to this comment
Hi kyinzom la,
Very inspiring. Keep your traditional alive where ever you go! Good job.. Cheers!
Namgyal
Tamdin
November 17, 2011 at 5:08 pm (UTC 10) Link to this comment
Well done Acha,
Keep it up, appreciate it.
lodupgyatso
November 18, 2011 at 2:46 am (UTC 10) Link to this comment
རྒྱལ་ཁབ་དང་མི་རིགས་ཀྱི་ཆེད་དུ་འདི་ལྟར་ལྷག་དཀར་རྩི་སྲུང་ལ་་་་བོད་མི་ཡོངས་ཀྱིས་ཧུར་བརྩོན་གནང་རོགས་གནང་་་སྐུ་མཁྱེན །
David and Helen
November 18, 2011 at 8:43 am (UTC 10) Link to this comment
Well done Kyinzon. You are looking so elegant and stylish in your chupa. Hope to see you soon, and on a wednesday too! xx H&D
Sandup Tsering
November 21, 2011 at 8:50 am (UTC 10) Link to this comment
Congratulate Kyizom la, for your commitment to wear chupa specially on Lhakar day. Not only chupa makes Tibetan women more elegant but also more beautiful, I think. As from my side since His Holiness visit this year I have decided to be a pure vegetarian on Wednesday to show Non-violence/Ahimsa as the essence of our culture and nature of our struggle for freedom and justice. I like, though it may not be true, the story of the beginning of the Tibetan race as an offspring of Chenrezig, manifesting as a monkey and Jetsun Dolma as an orgress. Let us not forget ourselves who we are and let the world know who we are and that we have a unique rich history, language, culture and religion as old as over 2000 years to share with the rest of the world.
Nyima Tsering Bhutia
November 23, 2011 at 3:02 am (UTC 10) Link to this comment
Hats off to you Kyinzom. I m Proud to be a TIBETAN n our Traditional n Costumes r very UniQue….