Tibet House Museum

Walking into the museum here on Lodhi Road feels different than being outside in the busy Institutional Area. It’s usually quiet inside. We spend a lot of time just keeping the dust off the cases and making sure the lights are working right. There are these old statues and paintings that have been around much longer than any of us working here. People come in from the street looking a bit frazzled by the Delhi traffic and they slowly walk through the halls. We don't have a lot of staff, so you might see the same person at the front desk and then later helping move some books in the library. The floors are stone and they stay cool even when it’s boiling outside. Sometimes students come in and sit for hours taking notes. We just let them be. It’s not like those big tourist places where everyone is rushing. It’s a bit tucked away, so people sometimes struggle to find the right gate at first. We’ve got a lot of old manuscripts that need careful handling, which takes up a lot of our afternoon. The building itself has a certain smell, like old paper and incense. It isn't a flashy place. We just open the doors in the morning, do the cleaning, and wait for whoever wants to see the history we have sitting on the shelves. The quiet is the best part of the job, really, because it lets you think while you're working on the inventory.