"Little Lhasa" of India

That’s me in the woods —

Every time I see it, it takes me back to a random school day when my teacher started a lesson called “The Little Lhasa of India.”

The name itself caught my attention. As she went on, I drifted away into my own head, imagining how India welcomed Dalai Lama during his exile, how he and his followers built a small Tibetan world up in the Himalayas. In my mind, it was all prayer flags, fresh mountain air, and monks walking quietly on narrow paths.

Fast forward a few years, and I was actually there. The same place I had pictured while staring out of a classroom window — McLeodganj. It felt unreal. Mcleodganj seems like hybrid of english and bihari name hehehe.......

I started from Delhi, full of excitement. Honestly, I couldn’t sleep the night before because of excitement. I took an overnight bus to Dharamshala and reached early in the morning, the air much cooler than Delhi’s. I checked into a small hotel, grabbed an hour’s nap, and went out for a walk.

While wandering, I kept looking up at the hills, and some local passing by noticed me.“That’s McLeodganj,” he said, pointing up. “Seven kilometers from here. Take the public bus, you’ll be there in no time.”

And just like that, my classroom daydream was only a short ride away.