Dalai Lama cafe: Tibetan woman overwhelmed as Edinburgh cafe saved

A huge effort backed by the Dalai Lama to save a Scottish cafe that promotes Tibetan culture has succeeded after the £45,000 shortfall to buy it was raised.

Reka Gawa opened the Himalaya Cafe in Edinburgh after a chance meeting with the spiritual leader at the Scottish Parliament in 2004.

She said he urged her to stay in Scotland to promote their culture.

The landlord recently said he wanted to sell the cafe, which Reka rents, so the race was on to raise funds to buy it.

The 39-year-old said she was "overwhelmed" by the outpouring of messages and donations from across the world.

Indian-born Reka told BBC Scotland she had suffered sleepless nights worrying about how she was going to continue fulfilling her promise to the Dalai Lama.

She said: "I have worked so hard and put everything into the cafe, it's not just work but my service to the community so I'm so grateful I can carry it on now.

"Scotland is my home now and I'm going to work even harder.

"Everyone is celebrating in India and my family are so proud of me.

"I never thought growing up in Mussoorie that one day I would be living in Edinburgh, meeting His Holiness and then following his advice, it's very overwhelming."

Reka was brought up in Mussoorie in India and moved to Denmark when she was 13. When she was 22 she moved to Edinburgh and got a job at the Scottish Parliament.

In 2006, she left her catering position at the Scottish Parliament, and established Himalaya Cafe in South Clerk Street in 2007.

She added: "It's not just a cafe, we do so much more, we train people and give them work experience as I struggled to find a job when I arrived in Edinburgh as I didn't have much experience.

"The Tibetan culture represents human values of helping those in need, to show compassion to all people.

"If someone is homeless, I will give them food here or other customers pay for their meal.

"We accept everyone here no matter if they are rich or poor, we are all one big family."

The Dalai Lama is the head monk of Tibetan Buddhism and traditionally was responsible for the governing of Tibet, until the Chinese government took control in 1959. Before 1959, his official residence was Potala Palace in Lhasa, the capital of Tibet.

According to Buddhist belief, the current Dalai Lama is a reincarnation of a past lama who decided to be reborn again to continue his important work, instead of moving on from the wheel of life.

Reka has built up a strong community over the last 14 years at the cafe, which also has a meditation room downstairs which anyone can use for free.

Sonam Tsering Frasi, representative of the Dalai Lama in northern Europe, Baltic states and Poland, said he knew of the cafe and Reka's work to promote Tibetan culture.

He added: "I appreciate it very much that Reka has been promoting Tibetan culture in Scotland for many years and would like to see her cafe business uninterrupted, providing the taste of Tibetan food and tranquillity to the Scots in Edinburgh."

Reka added: "I feel amazing and so happy and so grateful. I've had messages of support from all corners of the world and even my hometown, which is so remote I had no idea they would know about Himalaya Cafe."