DHARAMSHALA: Sikyong Dr Lobsang Sangay yesterday launched a book by late Dr Tsewang Yishey Pemba, White Crane, Lend me your Wings with along Director Thubten Samphel, Tibet Policy Institute, Bhuchung D Sonam, Poet and Essayist, Diwo Lhamo Pemba, Montessori educator and Shelly Bhoil, Poet and Academic at the LTWA hall, Gangchen Kyishong.

Sikyong in his keynote address congratulated Diwo Lhamo Pemba, daughter of late Dr Pemba on his inspiring work.

“It is a great privilege for me to launch the book by Dr Pempa because he is, was and will continue to be a legend in Darjeeling area. He was a very humble, compassionate and a very down to earth person despite all his achievements in his field,” Sikyong said, while launching the book.

White Crane, Lend me your Wings is a historical fiction set in the breathtakingly beautiful Nyarong Valley in the Kham province of Eastern Tibet in the first half of the twentieth century. Dr Pemba skillfully weaves a dazzling tapestry of individual lives and sweeping events creating an epic vision of a country and people during a time of tremendous upheaval. The novel begins with a never-told-before story of a failed Christian mission in Tibet and takes one into the heartland of Eastern Tibet by capturing the zeitgeist of the fierce warrior tribes of Khampas ruled by their chieftains. This coming-of-age narrative is a riveting tale of vengeance, warfare and love unfolded through the life story of two young boys and their family and friends. The personal drama gets embroiled in a national catastrophe as China invades Tibet forcing it out of its isolation. Ultimately, the novel delves into themes such as tradition versus modernity, individual choice and freedom, the nature of governance, the role of religion in people’s lives, the inevitability of change, and the importance of human values such as loyalty and compassion.