The day Tibet spoke and the World had to listen....

Once when Buddha was alive, his opponents hired some people to curse him and Ananda when they were out on their alms round. Ananda got upset and asked Buddha to go to another city- a city where they would not get cursed, a city where they would not get criticized. Buddha asked him, “And what should we do, Ananda, if they curse us there?”

“Leave the city and go to another,” replied Ananda.

“And if they curse us there? Where are you going to go? This is why it is not right to run away from your enemies by escaping from one place to another. We’re like elephants going into battle. We don’t pay any heed to the arrows coming at us from all sides. We’re intent only on going into the front lines and crushing the enemy to bits with our own strength and ability. We can’t be shaken by the dangers coming in,” Buddha said.

And that’s what the Tibetans did. Separated by borders but joined by a purpose, Tibetans in India, China and Tibet, paid no concern to the possible arrows that were headed their way to protest against the oppression they had suffered for decades in the hands of the Chinese.

With the Himalayan backdrop, great river valleys and Buddhism as a way of life, Tibet is synonymous to tranquility and peace; after all the last uprising was in 1959 to protest against the presence of China in Tibet. The failure of this uprising ultimately resulted in a violent crackdown on Tibetan independence movements and the flight of the Dalai Lama into exile.

This day is observed on Mar 10 annually to commemorate the uprising.

This year Mar 10 started out like every other year, but eventually became a resurrection of 1959.

Monks clad in saffron robes, students brandishing swords, young women and children in bandanas took to the streets, in numbers, to ask for a necessity that was luxurious; Independence.

As we all know, independence comes with a price. And in this case, it seems like the Tibetans would never be able to afford it.

Like every other political observer, politician or analyst, I wish not to delve into the blame game of, So whose fault is it? Because there is no point in arguing which side is more justified, when there are innocent lives being lost. No justification can ever substantiate that.

Who started it? The monks who held their peaceful processions or the police who fired the tear gas at the protesters?

Who exacerbated it? The protesters who became increasingly violent and indulged in rash criminal acts or the Chinese government who squarely blamed it on the Dalai Lama?

Who is actually doing something about it? The Dalai Lama and his government who are in exile or the People’s Republic of China, which has kept its lips tight on the number of deaths?

What did the world do about it? Harped on China’s lackluster handling of the problem, threatened to boycott the Olympics because of their increasing disdain over China’s human rights policies, used Tibet as a flashpoint to gain political leverage and outrightly supported the Dalai Lama in his cause.

I realised almost all my questions above were answered with a, "I am not sure". Should I blame biased media reporting for my uncertainty or just simply my ignorance?

Or

Should I try to fathom the fact that the suppressed Tibetans decided enough was more than enough?

Suppression cannot be stashed in your attic to be revisited when your memories trigger a related incident. Its there, perpetually lurking, unable to confront your shadow and recognise it as a part of your own psyche and assimilate it into your consciousness. Consequently, you attempt to project this shadow image, be it secretly or publicly.

As Jung explains in Psyche and Symbol, the effect of projection is to isolate the subject from his environment, since instead of a real relation to it there is now only an illusory one. Projections, thus, change the world into the replica of one’s own unknown face.

The Tibetans intensified their projection, isolated themselves from familiar surroundings to confront an ‘alien’ enemy in a manner primitive to us but desperate to them. The greater the intensification, the more unrecognisable the face became. You are left struggling to see through the illusions and your purpose begins to lose focus. History will complement this theory. Major geopolitical conundrums start with a cause, continue with a variation and do not end because the purpose is so blurred; the fundamentality of the initial problem remains unaddressed and unresolved.

I do not wish this for Tibet. I do not want a group of disillusioned Tibetans looting, rioting and inciting violence. I do not want a foreign policy initiative that will satisfy the Chinese, appease the Dalai Lama and merely accommodate the Tibetans. I do not want to hear the international arena’s critical synthesis about the situation in a country they never really paid attention to before.

As I type this, the struggle in Tibet continues. One more life could have possibly been lost, one more child could have possibly lost its parents, one more parent could have possibly lost his/her child, one more individual could have possibly forgone the teachings of Buddha, one more family could possibly be in deep prayer, hoping for the nightmare to end, one more monk could have possibly gone out to fight for his cause and many more Tibetans could have possibly shed much more tears; in pain, desperation, sufferance and hope.

An autonomous Tibet seems within reaching proximity whereas an independent Tibet seems to recede further and further into the distance.

Autonomous or Independent, it’s not about the difference in meaning in anymore. It’s about the difference it makes in the meaning of Tibetans' lives.

Ideas may change the world but Aggression surely catches the world’s attention immediately.

The country has spoken agressively. I hope you were listening.

I have a Morning Song. I am not sure about the general populace, but yes I do have a particular song which I always listen to, first thing in the morning.

The song reminds me of my purpose in life.

The song rejuvenates my spirit which dies a natural death every morning at 6, when I wake up for work.

The song succeeds in keeping me alive/awake as I take my Mon-Fri morning walk to the bus stop.

The song is a non-visible alarm clock that wakes up my mental self.



BORN TO BE ALIVE BY PATRICK HERNANDEZ (1979)

I really like disco. And I really like this song...Its catchy. There are many video versions of this song. I have decided to upload the original as it is the most.... COCK (for the lack of a better anatomical part) one of them all!

P.S-Video could be a bit of a bore, His hair and cane are interesting though. Patrick Hernandez is French, if I am not wrong, so when he sings it DOES sound like, "Porn, Porn to be alive." The first time I heard the song, I was straining my ears so bad I could hear my brain thinking.