The Recent Dalai Lama Controversy

Dear Glorian,

I’d like to ask you what you think about the following quotes (the second quote is probably more specifically relevant) regarding the 14th Dalai Lama (sources posted at the end of these quotes):

“What the Dalai Lama said in English translates to "ngé ché lé jip" in
Tibetan. Tibetan parents and grandparents often tease their children by
holding them tight and saying these words, sticking out the tip of their
tongue almost touching the face, knowing well that the kids don't like it
and expect them to break their grip (for Tibetans unable to relate to
these experiences, I am sorry). There is nothing obscene from this
cultural perspective.”

And:

“Given that the Dalai Lama struggles with English, his use of the word 'suck' is also a mistranslation of what he'd meant to say - probably see my tongue, implying it's not black and not evil. If you see the complete video, you'll see the DL struggling to understand the meaning of the word 'hug' when the child asks him if he could hug him. And even in the video that is being used to vilify the Dalai Lama, you will notice how he takes a long pause searching for the English equivalent of probably the word 'see' before mistranslating it as 'suck'.

“Finally, let's use common sense, if this was a bad gesture in Tibetan community with sexual connotation, the Tibetan editor of VoA wouldn't have uploaded the video.“

Respective sources:

https://www.instagram.com/p/Cq5TrZEt28S/?utm_source=ig_embed&ig_rid=a18cf9cb-6553-416a-8de1-62bc64053ee5&ig_mid=F47900E9-C9A3-4C09-80BB-CB7F775EBC64

Shelly Bhoil, Indian Tibetologist working in Brazil.