May 18, 1998
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Eternal
Frames Extraordinary century-old pictures which cast light on unknown aspects of Tibet. By Vijay Jung Thapa TIBET: CAUGHT IN TIME
Tibet: Caught in Time is an appropriately titled picture book that captures this window of time. These old, black-and-white pictures are mostly archival shots taken by two British officers at the frontier who slipped through the cracks of the fortress. The earliest photographs were taken by John Claude White who, as political officer in Sikkim, accompanied the first British military expedition to Lhasa in 1904. White was succeeded by Sir Charles Bell who, by befriending the 13th Dalai Lama, gained privileged access to Tibetan society. In fact, Bell helped shape British policy that promoted a strong and independent Tibet as a buffer for India to check China's ambitions. Of all the extraordinary and rare images that flash out of this book, a few linger in the mind's eye. One of them is of a group of four Tibetan boys and their guardian who, for the first time, are sent to school in England as part of the Dalai Lama's attempt to modernise Tibet. Sadly, on their return, the boys made little impact. Then there is a rare one on the practice of sky burials -- in which the flesh of the dead is cut off from the bones and fed to vultures, while the bones are crushed and mixed with barley flour. The pictures also beautifully capture the transition of the Tibetan army. The first shot shows a motley group of indisciplined renegades. The next, under British influence, portrays an orderly group carrying out a drill. What, perhaps, is missing in this fascinating book are personal accounts of Bell and White. But then, most Tibet lovers would be happy with this offering.
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Tibet, today, is chic. It exercises a
hypnotic grip on the imagination. Its enchanting stories have become Hollywood's favourite
themes. Its sufferings have become trendy causes to take up. Its religion is in vogue,
with celebrity Buddhists like Richard Gere and Steven Seagal espousing its cause. Yet, not
too long ago, more precisely the beginning of this century, things were completely
different. Tibet, then, was a place that epitomised what Pico Iyer classifies as
"lonely places of the world" -- places that in their psychic or geographical
isolation become strange and remote, giving them an air of haunted glamour. An
impenetrable and forbidden place where the people had slammed the door behind them,
keeping their blinds drawn round the clock. Alone, they were oblivious to the momentous
changes taking place outside. Yet they were happy in their solitary confinement -- living
life the only way they knew it was meant to be. 
