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Article: Lessons from Ladakh, the "Little Tibet".(Essay)
- Article from:
- The World and I
- Article date:
- June 1, 2006
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2006 News World Communications, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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A version of "Little Tibet" was awarded First Prize in the 2004 Elie Wiesel Prize in Ethics Essay Contest, an annual essay contest sponsored by The Elie Wiesel Foundation for Humanity (http://www.eliewieselfoundation.org).
Prologue
It is strange to think that Jigmet is only thirteen. Yesterday, she invited me to go on a walk. Her perfectly bald head and delicate, bird-bone face gleamed in the sun. As always, she wore the standard deep red robes of a Tibetan Buddhist nun. We trekked up the rocky mountainside towards a distant monastery. I trudged purposefully, while Jigmet skipped from stone to stone, laughing and humming the tune of a mantra in praise ...