Christmas is not Yeshi’s season. We’ve put some festive lights up at the restaurant and it’s definitely feeling cosy over at TT HQ, but back in our own home there’s always a fair bit of bah humbugging.
Remember this: Yeshi didn’t go to school when he was in Tibet, so the first he really heard of Jesus Christ was from the missionaries he met in English class in McLeod Ganj, the home of His Holiness XIV Dalai Lama in India.
Yeshi loves to recall big group dinners out at their expense, and how the Tibetan people found the experience so bewildering. Proselytisation is not a feature of Buddhism: His Holiness always says that it’s easier and better to stick to your own religion.
Probably the Christian missionaries doing their best in McLeod Ganj were equally baffled by the lack of uptake. Yeshi says that they viewed their mission as an act of charity.
The 18th century Jesuit missionary Ippolito Desideri, one of the earliest Europeans to establish a base for the Catholic Church inside Tibet, called it hundreds of years ago, noting that:
“Although the Tibetans are quite amenable to listening with good will, they are not superficial or credulous; they want to see, weigh and discuss everything in great detail, with logical reasoning. They want to be convinced and not to be instructed.”
And this is pretty much how Yeshi feels about Christmas. He’s not convinced yet, and not just from a religious standpoint. It’s the obligation, the expectation, the accumulation of yet more stuff that he struggles with. The time spent shopping for presents that many of us – especially now – can’t reasonably afford. The inevitable waste. And the pressure for this to be a happy time of year, when for so many it just can’t be.
We see lots of different kinds of people at the restaurant, and we know that the Christmas season can be hard. This week Magdalen Road Village is hosting the Magdalen Road Frost Fest. We’ll have the Tibetan tent out front again and momos will be on the pans all day long. If you or someone you know needs a pick-me-up, Yeshi will be manning the momos and will happily dispense boxes free of charge – just ask. Because isn’t this what Christmas is – or should be – about?
The restaurant is open all the usual hours week, opening times as follows:
Weds – Fri: 5-9.30pm (dinner only)
Saturday: 12-3 / 5-9.30pm
Sunday: 12-3 / 5-9pm
This week’s menu is up on the website – check it! Come by for take away or dine in, or you can order home delivery through Deliveroo.
And on the subject of Christmas, let’s make it easy for you. We think that our freezer food makes an excellent – if untraditional – gift. Otherwise we have plenty of signed cookbooks, chocolate tsampa truffles, chilli oil and hot mooli pickle (back in stock!). If you don’t live close to the restaurant, our Christmas bundle saves you £10 on the RRP of all the items we’ve got going at the moment. Or you can gift TT vouchers to someone nearby.
Finally, if you enjoy reading Postcards From Tibet, subscribe to our Substack for Postcards direct to your inbox – with a discount or freebie guaranteed every week. Click here to join the community.
We hope to see you for Frost Fest or any time Wednesday – Sunday.
Wishing you a happy week,
Julie and Yeshi
Opening hours this week:
Weds – Fri: 5-9.30pm
Saturday: 12-3pm 🥢 5-9.30pm
Sunday: 12-3pm 🥢 5-9pm
☏ 01865 499318
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