Asserting that he was the longest guest of the Government of India, Tibetan spiritual leader and Nobel laureate the Dalai Lama on Sunday said now he is paying back for the gesture by becoming the messenger of Indian culture.
“Physically, for the last over 50 years, my body is surviving on Indian ‘dal’ and ‘chapati’. So, physically and mentally I am an Indian. I am the longest guest of government of India for the last 58 years and am now paying back for that gesture by becoming the messenger of Indian culture,” he said while delivering a lecture on ‘Ancient Indian Knowledge in Modern Times’ here.
He said, “For the last few years, I have started describing myself as the son of India. A few years ago, some Chinese media came and asked why I say so. I told them that each part of my brain is filled with Nalanda thoughts.”
The Nobel Peace prize winner said that women should take more pro-active role in social life.
“Women should take more active role for human compassion. My first teacher was my mother, not anyone else. Females are biologically stronger,” he added.
Meanwhile, the Tibetan government-in-exile has said that there was nothing new about the Dalai Lama visiting Arunachal Pradesh – a sensitive border region controlled by New Delhi but claimed by Beijing.
“Dalai Lama visited Tawang many times in the past so this is not a new issue,” Tibetan government in-exile spokesperson Sonam told ANI.
China claims the region in the eastern Himalayas as “South Tibet” and it has denounced foreign and even Indian leaders’ visits to the region as attempts to bolster New Delhi’s territorial claims.
