Free Tibet!


Advertisement
India's flag
Asia » India » Himachal Pradesh » Dharamsala
March 25th 2006
Published: May 25th 2006
Edit Blog Post

Here we are at the bar with some of the first Tibeten friends that we met here in McLeod Ganj. I first noticed Shamba on the streets on his motorcyle. He stood out to me because of his dreadlocks (or crude attempt thereof). One night we were at the local tourist bar and Shamba and his friends came in. He and I made eye contact and I gave him the slight upward head nod to signal my solidarity as a fellow person with locks. He later came over to our table and we started a conversation from there. We learned a bit about their history, having arrived in India from Tibet a few years ago. They travelled on foot with a group of about 40 others. They walked through several feet of snow, and travelled mostly at night to avoid being seen by the Chinese military forces. In fact, as told to us by these three men, on their first attempt to leave Tibet they were captured and imprisoned for six months during which time they were brutally beaten. Their second attempt some time later was successful.
Many Tibetens come to this region as it is rich in Tibeten culture and spirituality. The official government in exile is headed from here and His Holiness himself (the Dalai Lama, that is) resides here. Many others go to the south of India were there are also many Buddhist monasteries. It's interesting to see the contrast of Tibeten monks and lay people. The non-monks tend to grow their hair long, wear western style clothes, and many of the men have motorcylces. They appear to be quite rebellious people, although most are humble and kind in my experiences.
As it turns out Chokten and Shamba were looking for more than friendship with Kripa and I (respectively) so we had to place some serious boundaries, and confine it to cordial and occassional meetings on the street. We sometimes see them hitting on other women tourists and we realize now that that seems to be apart of the game that these and many other guys play. We wish them well though, and especially we wish for a free Tibet some day, as that is their wish. They haven't seen their families since they left, and we hope for them that they will get this opportunity.
Learning from them about their experiences makes me want to do something more about the illegal Chinese occupation of Tibet, and the illegal American occupation of Iraq for that matter. Two world super powers exercising unjust occupation in smaller countries. This is just one story about three guys. Imagine the hundreds of thousands of others, dead and alive who've been stripped of their human rights and dignity. I hold much respect for the humble, patient souls without limited freedoms. They have faith in the Dalai Lama and Tibet will never use violence against their aggressors. Learning their stories, and others like them, coupled with reading some very interesting literature has kept my awareness at a heightened level and has reminded me to stick to my beleifs and to continue to consider what one person can do to exercise her freedoms of expression and beliefs against such political atrocities. It doesn't hurt to consider. And it might help to act.


Advertisement



Tot: 0.081s; Tpl: 0.01s; cc: 5; qc: 45; dbt: 0.0482s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1; ; mem: 1.1mb