by Diki Tsering, Khedroob Thondup (editor)
Viking/Arkana
April 27, 2000
ISBN #: 0-670-88905-9
$23.95, hardcover
189 pages, illustrations
Diki Tsering was considered the Grandmother of Tibet (the people called her Gyayum Chenmo, "Great Mother"). She was born in 1901 ("approximately in the first month of the Iron Ox year") in the village of Churkha in the Amdo province of eastern Tibet, daughter of peasant farmers. She died in 1980. Her birth name was Sonam Tsomo, and after she married at 16 she was given the name Diki Tsering, which means "ocean of luck"; she connected her name change with the twist in her life's path after she gave birth to the "ocean of wisdom," the Tibetan ruler and spiritual leader the Dalai Lama.
Until then, her life was fairly mundane, typical for a Tibetan girl, mostly revolving around social customs, chores, and festivals, rituals and tradition. Girls often weren't considered as important as boys in the farming family; they spent their childhoods preparing for arranged marriages, learning to cook, sew, and clean. Marriage changed everything. Diki left her family to serve her husband and his parents. She had 16 children, but only seven lived past infancy. She might have stayed a farmer's wife if not for the birth of her fifth living child in 1935, who at age two was discovered to be the reincarnation of the previous Dalai Lama.
Diki Tsering's grandson (and the Dalai Lama's nephew) Khedroob Thondup edited Dalai Lama, My Son and he wrote the introduction, revealing fond memories of his grandmother and why she was important to him. His sister, Yangzom Doma (who died in a car crash in 1982), had the idea to write about their grandmother's life. Thondup later took up where she left off.
Despite the impression some might get from the title, the book is more about the Dalai Lama's mother than the Dalai Lama, with an account of certain aspects of his life through her eyes. If you're looking for in-depth details of the Dalai Lama's life or his wisdom you won't find much; nevertheless, it's an interesting account of his family and how people lived in Tibet before and shortly after Chinese occupation. The glossary helps explain some of the Tibetan words mentioned in the book and their meanings; there's also a map of Tibet.
The Communist Chinese invaded Tibet in 1950. Throughout the decade, their power over the country strengthened and they took further control. The book ends in 1959 with the Dalai Lama, his mother, and their family's escape to India during the Tibetan people's unsuccessful uprising against the Chinese.
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