“Tibet As I Knew It” – New publication by my Late Uncle Dr. Tsewang Y. Pemba

At the end of 2022, a tweet of mine about the publication of my late Uncle’s book “Tibet As I Knew It” unexpectedly drew a lot of attention. At the last count, the tweet below had over 20,000 views, so I thought I’d take that as a sign that there might be interest in knowing a bit more about the book!

https://twitter.com/_DechenP/status/1608528650495791109

As is already quite well known, my late Uncle Dr. Tsewang Yishey Pemba was the first Tibetan to be trained as a western medical doctor. He was born on June 5, 1932 in Gyantse, Tibet and passed away on November 26, 2011 in Siliguri, India. 

“Tibet as I Knew It: The Memoir of Dr. Tsewang Yishey Pemba” is therefore a combination of his memories of his formative years growing up in Tibet and school in India, along with an overview of Tibetan history and society from his perspective. He wrote this book in the 1990s after he had formally retired as a surgeon and my cousin Acha Lhamo Pemba la discovered his unpublished manuscripts in their Darjeeling house several years after his passing. There is a short foreword to the book written by His Holiness the Dalai Lama.

Publications by Dr. Pemba: Young Days in Tibet (1957), Idols on the Path (1966), White Crane, Lend Me Your Wings (2017) and Tibet As I Knew It (2022)

Much credit has to go to Lhamo Pemba la and all the family members who have helped on the journey from getting the original typewritten manuscripts digitised, to seeing the project through to publication by Lexington Books. Special thanks must also go from my whole family to Shelly Bhoil, without whose help, guidance and advice, this publication would not have seen the light. Shelly has put in a countless number of hours working on both this and also “White Crane, Lend Me Your Wings”, so we are extremely grateful.

On a personal note, my father Tsewang Norbu Pemba and I made our contributions by helping to choose the family photographs published in the book. It was amazing to go through photographs of Tibet taken in the 1930s and 1940s and then the fun started identifying people and places. My father also was tasked with proofreading and made helpful suggestions for light edits. Included at the end of “Tibet as I Knew It” is a biographical note on my late Uncle which I put together.

Finally, another publication by my late Uncle to look forward to is “Journal of a Doctor to Tibetan Mystics and Masters” from Blackneck Books. It will be launched in Dharamsala on March 7, 2023 and my cousin Acha Lhamo Pemba la will be representing the family in person. 

“White Crane, Lend Me Your Wings” – My Late Uncle Dr Pemba’s Book Launches in Delhi and Dharamsala

On 26 November 2011, my Uncle Dr. Tsewang Yishey Pemba passed away at the age of 79 in Siliguri, India. It was a great loss to our family but his distinguished life and career was honoured all over the world by those who remembered him.

Even though we still feel his loss, it is heartening to be able to announce that his novel “White Crane, Lend Me Your Wings: A Tibetan Tale of Love and War” has been published posthumously in India by Niyogi Books and will be launched at an event in Delhi this coming Friday, 17 February 2017. For the full details of the launch, see this link to the Facebook Event Page: https://www.facebook.com/events/1220255771396207/

Even though my Uncle was a distinguished surgeon and had a long medical career, he had a huge passion for literature and the arts and spent a considerable amount of his free time furiously tapping away on his typewriter. His memoirs “Young Days in Tibet” were published in 1957 and Idols on the Path, the first Tibetan-English novel, came out in 1966.

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It was always his dream to publish more of his fiction so this makes the publication of “White Crane, Lend Me Your Wings”, after more than a 50 year gap since “Idols on the Path”, all the more special and poignant. The novel is a work of historical fiction set in the Nyarong Valley of Kham, Eastern Tibet, in the first half of the twentieth century.

As the book description says:

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.

For those who can’t make it to the Delhi book launch, there will also be a launch event in Dharamsala on 23 February 2017.

I’d like to take the chance to thank in particular my cousin Acha Lhamo Pemba La who has been working hard to see her father’s wish realised. Special thanks must also go to Shelly Bhoil for all her help and to Trisha De Niyogi and all at Niyogi Books too. I’d also like to take a moment to remember my dear Aunt, Dr Pemba’s wife Tsering Sangmo La, who passed away on 8 September, 2016 – they had been married for over 50 years.

For more information on the novel please visit: http://niyogibooksindia.com/portfolio-items/white-crane-lend-me-your-wings-a-tibetan-tale-of-love-and-war/

If anyone would like to get the ball for the book rolling over on GoodReads, please head to: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/34208098-white-crane-lend-me-your-wings

Finally, you can order the book from Amazon India – please feel free to rate and review it! Follow this link to Amazon: http://bit.ly/DrTYPemba