Photo by Lobsang Wangyal
Lobsang Monlam begins a new era of electronic communication
in Tibetan; Tibetan World's Tenzin Nyima takes you
through Lobsang's arduous but successful journey
(May 2007):
Sending an Email or chatting with your loved ones in
Tibetan was unheard of until now, but one person is all
set to make that dream a reality — the person is none
other than Lobsang Monlam, a monk from Sera Monastery
in Bylakuppe.
The 31-year Amdo-born monk, who is already a familiar
name to most Tibetan computer users, began his journey
into the computer geek's world in 2002, when he, out of
sheer curiosity, bought his first computer. Lobsang, who
is currently pursuing his Geshe Degree studies at Sera
Monastic University, says the person who sold him the
computer taught him how to turn the machine on and off,
adding that he knew nothing else about the computer except
that it was an amazing technology.
Describing his journey, Lobsang says, with an almost
childlike excitement, "I had an extremely tough time
since I understood neither the computer nor a word of
English. Many a times, my computer would go blank and I
would wonder, 'Now what?' But even though they were
really difficult times, I still loved it since those were
learning experiences, helping me to eventually master all
the things I am working on right now."
For many, speaking about a monk may conjure up images of
monasteries or holy places with solemn monks religiously
following monastic studies and chanting prayers, but
Lobsang has gone beyond the stereotypical image. Never
losing a moment, Lobsang, who escaped to India in
1993, relentlessly worked on improving his knowledge
of the computer ever since he owned his first personal
machine. But perhaps, what is extraordinary is that the
monk has proved to be a genius in computer programming
even with barely knowing how to read and write English.
In 2005, he invented Monlam Bod Yig Version 1, which
although similar to the existing Tibetan fonts like TCRC
Bod Yig, had the additional U-Mey script version. Many
people from Tibet, especially those from his own hometown,
Amdo Ngawa, used the font, giving him relevant feedback
and suggestions to improve the font.
In 2006 Lobsang launched his latest invention, Monlam
Bod Yig Version 2, a Unicode font, [and in 2009, improved it again in
Version 3, now completely Unicode and with more fonts].
It is seen as a boon not only for computer professionals but also for ordinary people
interested in just emailing and chatting online.
"Until today, we write Tibetan in a Word document and
then attach the file with our email. Now people can chat and
write emails in Tibetan language directly," says an
enthusiastic Lobsang.
Even with so much already on his platter, Lobsang reveals
that he has a few more projects related to Monlam
Fonts lined up. The new-age Tibetan computer genius,
who believes in the importance of feedback from users,
says he is awaiting the response from users to his new
invention. Lobsang avers, "I received a lot of feedback
from users for Version 1 of my font and those suggestions
resulted in the creation of Version 2. So, I will wait
and see."
Lobsang hints that if people find his Version 2 font
useful, he just might start working on a dictionary for
the words as well as a spell check, similar to that found
in Microsoft Word.
[Aug 2010: The dictionary is close to release. See story at
Tibet.net]
While one must wait and ascertain how many Tibetans
around the world will join in this new era of electronic
communication in Tibetan language, one cannot help but
applaud the efforts of Lobsang Monlam for initiating
the era.
It is indeed an exceptional thing to come across a monk
who writes software programs especially in a society
as conservative as ours where the roles of monks and
laypersons are very well defined.
(Editing by Tephun Tenzin Shastri and Tenzin Pema Chashar)
More information about Lobsang Monlam
