Going through the pages of Exile, one is amazed by the generosity of India and how this generosity has enabled the Tibetan refugees to re-construct Tibet outside of Tibet. Lobsang Gyatso Sither, the compiler and editor of the photo journal, focuses on four key efforts of the Tibetan refugees in the re-construction of their community in exile. These efforts include the rehabilitation of the refugees in farming settlements, education of the refugee children, strengthening the exile administration and resurrecting the core elements of Tibet’s cultural heritage.
The early years were the most challenging. Many escaping Tibetans dropped like flies while negotiating the treacherous Himalayan passes. They also succumbed to malnutrition, tuberculosis, and the searing heat. Those who successfully escaped Tibet and safely landed in India felt they had not crossed one country to another but had left the medieval world of old Tibet behind and emerged in the bewildering complexity of the modern world. To them everything was new and strange except the selfsame earth and sky.[Source]