Citizen Namgyal

While the trip to Kerala was booked more than a month in advance,it turned celebratory after a High Court judgement on December 22,2010,made Dolkar the first Tibetan-Indian in the country,according to the Citizenship (Amendment) Act,1986. “I feasted on prawns in the South and went shopping for dozens of silver earrings. Now,I need to save my pocket money to treat all my friends,” says Dolkar with a chuckle.

Dressed in tight-fit denim jeans and a black Nike winter jacket,she saunters around Janpath. There is some representation of its street-wear in her wardrobe,otherwise filled with clothes sent by her siblings living in the US and Australia. “I surf the Net and tell them what I want,” says the Adidas and Nike freak,who rates Espirit as “just about OK”. “When I was studying English Honours in Delhi,I used to go wild during the shopping season,” she adds.

Kamla Nehru College was on top of her list,when she was filling up college application forms in her school,Tibetan Children’s Village,Dharamshala. “I was in a co-ed school and wanted the experience of studying in a girls’ college. It was fun,” she states,recalling the shopping sprees,when she scoured markets,from Sarojini Nagar to Saket,and stopped by Khan Market for Khan Chacha’s succulent chicken rolls or the Big Chill pasta.

It was during her college days that she applied for an Indian passport— possessed neither by her parents nor her three siblings. “Usually Tibetans are required to carry an identity certificate for travelling abroad but I was familiar with the citizenship rules in India,according to which I was supposed to be an Indian. I was born in Himachal Pradesh. I had the right to have an Indian passport,and when I was denied one,I decided to go to court,” she says.

During the two-year-long legal battle,Dolkar did not attend even one session in court. Fighting her case was Delhi-based Roxna Swamy. “When she called on December 22,I thought it was regarding another hearing but she informed me that we had won,” recalls Dolkar. She immediately made a jubilant phone call to her mother in New York. “She did not believe me at first,” says Dolkar. Now,during her next international trip,Dolkar will flash her navy blue Indian passport. “I hated the identity certificate,which is a bright yellow booklet,” she adds.

According to the report “Demographic Survey of Tibetans-in-Exile-2009’,published by Tibetan government in exile,there are 94,203 Tibetans in India. But Dolkar seems oblivious to the movement that her landmark judgement is set to create. The celebrations,too,have been postponed till the passport arrives at her home in Dehradun,where Dolkar is pursuing her post-graduation in English. Delhi is just a five-hour drive away for this foodie and Bollywood fan. Every time she misses the restaurants and multiplexes,she hits the road to the Capital. The tranquillity of the hill station,thus,balancing a hectic social life in Delhi.