Alternately cosmopolitan and provincial, Dharamsala is bustling with monks, tourists, locals, buses, dogs and cows jostling for space in the narrow, steep streets and bazaars. Monkeys gambol in the trees above (stealing fruit from leisurely shoppers), and Tibetans, prayer wheels rotating, slowly circumnavigate the main monastery of His Holiness, the 14th Dalai Lama.

Most Tibetans look to the Dalai Lama as their community's protector and symbol of their nation's spirit. During a recent earthquake scare, it was rumoured that the Dalai Lama cancelled international tours in order to help avert the danger, which was soon "defusedquot;, through application of rigorous pujas (prayer ceremonies), diverting the earthquake to an unpopulated area.

Indians also hold His Holiness in high esteem, and in general, relations between the Tibetan and Indian communities are peaceful and harmonious. This is a testament to the two countries' longstanding friendship and mutual attitude of tolerance, a model that many other societies around the world would do well to follow.