Hanging on the bookshelves in my office are two prayer flag garlands. They consist of five paper squares, 2½ by 2½ inches hung on a white string a little over three feet in length. The squares are blue, white, red, green, and orange. Printed on each in gold is a stylized picture of a horse with an elaborate chair-saddle surrounded by writing in a script I don’t recognize. According to the English-language label that came on the garlands, this decorative piece is called “Windhorse Prayer Flag Garland.” It was made in Nepal by the Tibetan Handicraft Industry for the International Campaign for Tibet (www.savetibet.org).
Curious, I visited the website. It says, “Inspired by the vision of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, the International Campaign for Tibet promotes human rights, democratic freedoms and self-determination for the Tibetan people.”
I have no memory of where or when I acquired the garlands. The best guess is that I picked them up during my travels for work before I retired thirty years ago. As readers of this blog are aware, I spent more time in Asia than elsewhere, though where I went and what I did there remains classified.
But websites were uncommon back then. So maybe I acquired the garlands more recently. I simply don’t recall.
Tom Glenn, Writer 