This article explores the lived realities of Tibetan exiles by examining how identity, resilience, and political mobilisation are built within the diaspora, shaped by the centrality of homeland relations. Drawing on autoethnographic narrative, it investigates how everyday practices in exile forge a sense of belonging and a connection to Tibet as both a symbolic and political homeland. The study highlights the pivotal roles of institutions such as the Central Tibetan Administration and Tibetan Children's Village schools in sustaining and performing collective identity through the transmission of cultural memory and national consciousness. It also underscores how the Dalai Lama's spiritual authority animates diasporic cohesion, uniting dispersed communities through shared rituals and aspirations. Ultimately, the article demonstrates how Tibetan exiles transform displacement into agency, negotiating between roots and routes, tradition and hybridity, to build a resilient, politically mobilised community committed to the vision of return.
Dhardon Sharling (Tue,) studied this question.