While the cottage industries were divested from the exile administration into individual Tibetan hands in 2001, the agriculture story too has unravelled in due course. Agriculture in Tibetan settlements is today acknowledged to not be adequately profitable, which is the reason provided for its shift to organic farming, but that too does not have a track record of proving sustained profitability.
Following the US closely are the European countries -- Norway, United Kingdom, France, The Netherlands, Denmark and Germany -- in backing the Tibetans. The Dalai Lama is expected to visit these countries regularly over the next few years, even though the toll these exertions will place on his ageing body are clear.
In addition to the funding by donors, simply tickets to listen to the Dalai Lama generate income -- a ticket to listen to him in Frankfurt in August will cost between Euro 130 and Euro 230. Sometimes charity dinners follow these public appearances to raise funds, an example being one held in Mumbai recently.
Image: A girl spins prayer wheels at a monastery. | Photograph: Guang Niu/Reuters
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