Book Excerpt: "Far From the Rooftop of the World" by Amy Yee
Forward by the Dalai Lama
Amy Yee's Far From the Rooftop of the World documents the stories of Tibetans in exile. While there are many books written about the Dalai Lama and Tibet, few focus on how ordinary Tibetans abroad are living and handling the extraordinary challenges of sustaining their identity and preserving culture even in exile and amid forced migration.
Yee's storytelling journey began with a hug and a request from the Dalai Lama in March 2008, when she was a Financial Times reporter in India. At the time, China was cracking down on Tibetan protesters after demonstrations in Tibet turned violent. The Dalai Lama recounts this interaction in this foreword written for Far From the Rooftop of the World.
On December 4, 2023 Amy Yee will be joined in conversation with Tsewang Rigzin, former deputy director of The Tibet Fund in Dharamsala, India and author of Exile Tibetan Community: Problems and Prospects. Click here to join us.
In light of the Tibetan demonstrations in many parts of Tibet, including in the capital, Lhasa, in 2008, quite many journalists came to talk to me in Dharamsala about the developments. Among them was Ms. Amy Yee, the author of this book, Far from the Rooftop of the World.
Since then, Ms. Yee has traveled to meet with the Tibetan diaspora community around the world. In her book, she reveals how Tibetans in the dias- pora have, even in the face of great adversity, managed to protect and preserve our distinct cultural heritage.
We Tibetans began arriving in India as refugees in 1959 after the failure of our sincere efforts for nine years at peaceful coexistence with the Communist Chinese authorities who took over our country.
In the period since then, Tibetans in Tibet have to endure unimaginable physical and mental challenges under the rigid Communist Chinese govern- ment. The Tibetan refugee community, although not having to go through the experience of their brethren inside Tibet, had to cope with difficult challenges, including having to adapt to a new environment. However, being a very resilient people, Tibetans’ spirit and unswerving courage remained rock solid even in the face of great adversity. Today, the Tibetan people in exile have been particularly able to make a mark in the world.
It is my belief that the fundamental principles of nonviolence and compassion that lie at the heart of our culture have been a strong support to the Tibetans through the vicissitudes in their lives. I feel that these values also have the potential to make an important contribution to peace and harmony throughout the world.
I am confident that through this book readers will gain greater awareness of the Tibetan people’s peaceful aspirations for freedom and dignity, and the values that have provided us succor.
Dalai Lama October 7, 2022
Excerpted from From Far from The Rooftop of the World: Travels among Tibetan Refugees on Four Continents. Copyright © 2023 by Amy Yee. All rights reserved. Used by permission of the University of North Carolina Press. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.