His short, salt-and-pepper hair and thin-rim glasses make him look like a college professor – perhaps of sociology – rather than a store owner. Standing in the middle of a cramped tiny gift shop in north Berkeley and surrounded by an assortment of Tibetan crafts, jewelry, clothing and books, Migmar is humoring one of his spiritual-seeking clients. The client, a middle-aged white woman, is looking for something to ease her chronic health problems: fatigue, insomnia, indigestion and arthritis.
“I love this place,” she says. “It’s so… so healing.”
Migmar smiles. Instead of suggesting something particular to her, he motions her just to look around. “The wind carries peace,” he says, as if he were giving a lecture to both of us. “And peace is born out of five elements.” He points to the ceiling, and I notice prayer flags of five different colors, which represent the five elements: sky, air, fire, water, and earth.
It’s almost 6pm, and the store is quiet. Business has been slow, he says, but it’s much better than last year. While the client wanders to the book section, Migmar tells me his life story. Born in Nepal to Tibetan parents, he grew up in a shepherd community. As a youngster, he learned Tibetan medicine from his father, a practicing Tibetan doctor, by working with him. Later his parents sent him to India to go to school, and he won a scholarship to study business in college, in Bangalore – India’s Silicon Valley. Before he finished a Bachelor’s degree, however, his father summoned him home, because a French ambassador came to learn Tibetan medicine, and his father needed his help to teach the Frenchman. Back in Nepal, while teaching and practicing Tibetan medicine, Migmar started his own outdoor-equipment business.
“Just like REI,” he says. Nonetheless the business wasn’t doing very well. In 1997, he decided to immigrate to the US. By then, he was already married and had three children, and the whole family came along. He and his wife both did odd jobs at the beginning. They eventually opened the store on University Avenue in 2004.
I ask him if he would consider practicing Tibetan medicine again, adding that I think he would have no problem finding clients in a place like Berkeley. He pauses for a moment, and says: “Most likely no.”
Nowadays his major interest is business. He imports crafts and jewelry from Nepal, mostly made in Nepalese family workshops. He visits Nepal twice a year and knows most of the families personally. Many Nepalese learned handcrafts from Tibetan migrants, he says, exuding pride. When I ask if he has ever visited Tibet, he shakes his head, but says he does import some crafts made in Tibet, though it has to be done through Nepal.
The client finally settles on an incense burner with a figurine on top of it. After making the purchase, she lingers in the store and doesn’t want to leave. “So healing,” she keeps saying.
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