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My Kind of Town Don Chapman |
LAMA ON THE LAM
Lama come home
>> Liliha
After Fon Du's prepared remarks about the Bank of Lhasa's new Tsong Khapa Fund, he took questions from the media awaiting the arrival of the second Lama Jey Tsong Khapa at his boyhood home. With his good looks, assured manner, stylish suit and slight British accent, Fon Du dazzled 'em.
"Look at it this way," he said in answer to a pointed query from Cruz MacKenzie. "If you are inclined to help the Tibetan people, as all of our Western clients are, there's no better way. Of course, to answer your question, well-intentioned people do sadly give money to the Dalai Lama. In fact, however, by doing so they are contributing to his political clique's divisive campaign against the motherland, and ultimately harming Tibetans.
By investing in the Tsong Khapa Fund, however, you directly help the people of Tibet -- to build more modern health clinics and preserve the ecology."
"Some people've said there's not much ecology left after 45 years of Chinese rule," MacKenzie said. "The Communists got pretty much everything there was to get."
"Such people," Fon Du said with a hard smile, "are not honest."
A shout went up then from the crowd that had gathered on the sidewalk and spilled out into the street, and all eyes turned to where the flashing blue lights of a motorcycle escort led a white limo up Mahalo Street and stopped in front of the Kharma residence.
An HPD security detail had already blocked off the street in front of the small woodframe house and cleared a path to the gate in the lava rock wall.
The young lama exited the limo in flowing gold and saffron robes, smiled beneficently, bowed.
"Hey, do your head trick!" a guy hollered from the crowd.
"Yeah," TV reporter Mina Minimoto said. "What's wrong with his head? Last night at the Blaisdell it was, like, glowing."
"Oh c'mon!" her cameraman said sarcastically. "Where's the sun? He's fighting overhead light!"
That made sense to Fon Du, who had also noticed his lack of glowability.
"Could be jet lag," said another newsie.
Idiots, thought extreme photographer Johnny B. Goo. Amazing how often reporters came out to cover a subject they knew nothing about, without at least doing a quick Google or two. MacKenzie had obviously done a little homework. Johnny B had too. The glowing head thing happened usually during meditation. It was not a turn-it-on-like-a-lightbulb Letterman trick.
How karmic then that Johnny B had been chosen the "pool" photographer whose images from inside the Kharma home would be shared with other print media.
Which is how he got the award-winning, often-published shot framed through the doorway, the lama's proud, tearful mother welcoming her baby home with a hug.
See the Columnists section for some past articles.
Don Chapman is editor of MidWeek. His serialized novel runs daily in the Star-Bulletin. He can be e-mailed at dchapman@midweek.com