I can't help but laugh. The Dalai Lama used to live near me when I was in college and I often met him on the street. It's hard to imagine him drawing these types of crowds when I remember him as a very quiet, humble man always walking quietly about.
My uncle is a close friend of the Dalai Lama, and he would stay at my uncle's home frequently when visiting the Beltway. I think of him as his Holiness. My uncle thinks of him as that, and as a friend. Fortunate, I think.