Ani Lama Short Story

A personal narrative story of a rich teenager, one she is attracted to and the one she respects and admires is the general gist of “Ani Lama”. The story has an interesting background to it in with good descriptive phrases which allows one to visualize the happenings. A story of realisation and guilt: forgiveness and reminiscing, a story of a true companionship. The story explains the episodes of a girl from upper class family sceptical about living at a monastery which was initially suggested to her by her mother to which she grows fond of later. Interesting details manifests the daily life of a monk with various Buddhist terms and phrases which fascinate me as a Hindu reader. The hierarchy of monks within the monastery and their usual religious activities and few non-religious ones like watching WWE and bollywood movies is something I did not know of beforehand.

On one hand the story explains the relationship between Muna, the author and karma. Muna, 16 falls for a 19 year old boy, Karma. Their infatuation towards each other blossoms secretly as it is forbidden for a monk to have relationships in and out of wedlock. They have their moments of romances such as holding hands under the bed while studying. The relationship reminds the readers of all the immature flings one has had as a teenager. On the other hand, the story displays a relationship of a companionship between Muna and Lama Wangchuk, the “Ani Lama” himself. Lama Wangchuk portrays a character that is well