Ani Choying Drolma | Musician | Philanthropist | #32

Aha! Moments is an experimental show that is initiated in the HOPE and DREAM of serving a mirror for us to see ourselves in other’s STORIES by discussing and spreading IDEAS, HOPES and DREAMS.

Guest: Ani Choeying Drolma

From the age of five, Ani Choying had to struggle to survive. Not a day went by without a beating from her father, without her fearing for her mother's life or her own. The day her father nearly stabbed her to death, she decided it was time to run away.
Ani Chöying escaped her violent home for a monastery in Nepal, where a Buddhist monk offered her sanctuary and understanding, teaching her to embrace life again. Cheeky and mischievous by nature, she rebelled against the rules of the community at first and delighted in flouting convention by learning kung fu.

One day, an American jazz guitarist heard the young nun sing and was so enthralled by her voice that he invited her to record an album with him. The royalty cheque was an unexpected windfall that enabled her to fulfil a long-cherished dream: to set up a school for young girls like herself, in a country where 80 per cent of women are illiterate. In 2000 Ani Chöying opened Arya Tara School, just outside Kathmandu. She went on to adopt a little girl, then two, and then another followed - until they became sixty.
Ani Choying now tours the world giving concerts, driven by her desire to help her young Nepalese charges.

Video: ‪@dawabee2157‬