Every first Saturday of the month, as a part of its shout-out campaign, DIIR’s Social Media Desk will be profiling a civil servant of Central Tibetan Administration. This week we are pleased to profile Lhakpa Dolma, Media Coordinator at the Bureau of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, New Delhi.
Social Media Executive (SME): Could you briefly tell us about yourself?
Lhakpa Dolma (LD): Tashi Delek. My name is Lhakpa Dolma. I was born and brought up in Mundgod Tibetan Settlement. I did my schooling from Central School for Tibetans, Mundgod, and pursued my further education from Central Institute of Higher Tibetan Studies, Sarnath, Varanasi, and completed Acharya (equivalent to M.A.). I did B.Ed at the same University.
I joined CTA in the year 2012 and worked as a secretary for the Tibetan Local Justice Commission, Northern Region, and Southern Region for 5 years in total. I also got the opportunity to serve as a Tibetan Settlement Officer at Rabgayling Tibetan Settlement, Hunsur. Then I also served at the welfare section, Department of Home, CTA. Presently I am working as a media coordinator at the Bureau of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, New Delhi.
SME: Please explain your job description and how best does your work represent you or vice versa?
LD: As I mentioned above, being a media coordinator:-
- My job is to coordinate and correspond between Tibetan, Local Hindi, English, and National media with CTA.
- To organize and facilitate press conferences and press releases regarding the Tibetan issue.
- Ensuring wide coverage of Bureau of His Holiness the Dalai Lama (BDL), CTA, and Tibetan movement in the mainstream press.
- To update day to day news on our website and to forward Tibet related news, articles, and columns, etc. from different websites to Delhi based media personalities, Bureaucrats, Ambassadors, Indian Govt Bodies and NGOs, etc.
Though I don’t have a media background, by learning, gradually you will become familiarized with it. As the saying goes, “There is not a single thing which does not become easier with familiarization…”. (གོམས་ན་སླ་བར་མི་འགྱུར་བའི༎ དངོས་དེ་གང་ཡང་ཡོད་མ་ཡིན༎) most importantly if a problem arises, it is important to bring to the notice of higher authorities.
SME: What inspired you to serve the Central Tibetan Administration?
LD: Being a Tibetan, I believe it is my birth responsibility to serve the CTA. I got the opportunity to complete my education because of the visionary leadership and guidance of His Holiness the Dalai Lama and CTA. By serving CTA is a boon to me.
SME: What does it mean for you to be a CTA Servant?
LD: For me, it means a lot to be a civil servant of CTA. We all have different dreams, desires, perceptions, and satisfaction in our life. Working at CTA gives me immense pride and a lot of satisfaction. Our elders had worked so hard for our cause. It’s our responsibility to take it forward in the best way possible.
SME: How best do you think you could make a difference to CTA?
LD: Every individual can make a difference if one works with strong dedication, patience, and determination, by listening to your seniors, working with peers, and assisting new staff or colleagues.
SME: Who is your role model and why?
LD: Being a Tibetan, His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama is a great inspiration to all our Tibetan people for his love and kindness towards the well being of all sentient beings and I am no exception.
And I also have a great admiration to Kyabje Samdhong Rinpoche for his dedication towards education, political and lately on Buddhist philosophy and most importantly he follows the path of His Holiness the Dalai Lama. And last but not the least, my late Grandmother, who had worked so hard all her life for the welfare of our family. I am indebted to her especially because she advised me to choose education over money.
SME: What is your piece of advice for young Tibetan serving or wishing to serve at CTA?
LD: For the young Tibetans serving and wishing to serve at CTA, I would like to say that whatever you do, do it with full dedication, passion, and sincerely as long as you stay in CTA. It’s not about how long you serve, how well you serve is more important.
Lastly, thank you for the interview.