python & Tkinter - library loading failure in linux

[Venky]

When I do 'import Tkinter', I get the
ImportError: "libtk.so.0: cannot open shared object file: No such file 
or directory"

I work around the issue by creating a softlink libtk.so.0 in the current 
directory to /usr/lib/libtk8.3.so and then updating env variable 
LD_LIBRARY_PATH to the current directory. After this, Tkinter module 
loads up fine.

Is there a better way to do this (from within the python script) ?

TIA

venky