Women of Tibet

Women of Tibet by Namgyal Lhamo Taklha offers us windows into the lives of Tibetan women of various backgrounds and circumstances. In this intimate volume of eight biographies, Mrs. Taklha takes us into the lives of public figures (such as the mother of HH the Dalai Lama and Mrs. Taklha’s mother-in-law), religious women, peasant women, mothers and daughters. Mrs. Taklha’s access to such a range of Tibetan women is unparalleled as these women share with her the details of their lives.

Namgyal Lhamo Taklha was born in 1942 to Lhasa, Tibet to Dundul Namgyal Tsarong and Yanchen Dolker Tsarong. She is the granddaughter of Dasang Damdul Tsarong, Commander General of Tibet and one of the chief forces for modernization in old Tibet. One of her brothers is the current head of the Drikung Kagyu Lineage - HH Drikung Kyabgön Chetsang. Her deceased husband was a brother of HH the Dalai Lama.

Namgyal Lhamo Taklha has contributed greatly to the continued development of Tibetan society in exile through the various positions she has held. She has acted as translator and interpreter at the Bureau of His Holiness the Dalai Lama in New Delhi from 1962 to 1965. From 1966 to 1971, she worked at the Office of Tibet, Geneva, Switzerland. From 1980 to 1985, Mrs. Taklha was the translator and secretary to the Director of Tibetan Medical and Astrology Institute (Men-Tse-Khang) and she later served as the Director of Men-Tse-Khang from 1986 to 1988. Since then Mrs. Taklha has served in many capacities to numerous Tibetan causes including, published several books including Born in Lhasa: The Autobiobraphy of Namgyal Lhamo Taklha, was published by Snow Lion Publications in 2001. In this acclaimed autobiography she recounts her childhood in Tibet before the Chinese occupation and also shares stories from her life in India, Switzerland and the United States.