If you have ever visited a Tibetan household, you will know that its most important room is the chausham or prayer room. Even a Tibetan nomad whose house comprises of nothing more than a tent and a few utensils, its best corner will always be reserved for the gods.

So when my grandparents decided to undertake that dangerous journey from Tibet into India and could only carry so many things, they knew what was most important. Setting aside material possessions they had with great difficulty accrued over their lifetime, they took what they needed -- food that would last them the journey, and the statues of their gods that would stay with them and their generations forever. During this arduous journey, I am told, they often asked these gods for forgiveness -- for making them undergo such hardships.