Graciousness & Generosity

3 Dec 2020

With Lamu Tsering in 2011. She gave my brother and I khatas and I gave her my fleece jacket to whoever needed it that winter. Lamu feeds the little kitten each morning instead of shooing it away.

10 years ago, I met Lamu Tsering. She was the housekeeper of the inn that my brother and I stayed at in Kathmandu.

Even though she engaged in menial chores, she carried herself like a queen, or maybe even a goddess.

The morning before we left for the airport, she placed a khata over each of our necks, and said softly to my brother who was undergoing some work changes at that time, “Don’t be angry.”

I never met Lamu Tsering after that, despite my subsequent trips to Nepal.

But I started noticing women who keep their poise even if they are cleaning toilets at the malls. Those who make eye contact with me, I thank them.

With my former students in 2020. They have kept in touch long after our lessons ended.

I became conscious about how disappointments and unfulfilled dreams can harden the heart and justify unkindness to others.

Lamu Tsering taught me that people can take away your land and remove your titles by force, but they cannot take away your graciousness and generosity, without your permission.