Dalai Lama meets team New Zealand ahead of World Cup match in Dharamsala

Dharamsala, October 24

After Sunday’s match against India, the New Zealand cricket team and their families on Tuesday met the Dalai Lama at his residence in McLeodganj, a small and quaint hill station with the snow-clad Dhauladhar range in the background, on the suburbs of Dharamsala in Himachal Pradesh.

Dressed in traditional maroon robes, the Dalai Lama, the global face of the Tibetan exile movement, spent around an hour interacting with players and sharing notes, besides playfully tickling someone’s beard, or patting another gently on the cheek or nose, an expression of his genuine love for others.

Some players sought his blessings. The Dalai Lama enjoyed meeting them, a functionary in the Dalai Lama’s office told IANS.

His Holiness also obliged them by allowing them to get themselves photographed with him, he added.

The New Zealand team is scheduled to play against Australia at Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association stadium in Dharamsala in the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup on October 28.