Self immolation and Tibetan identity

I often go to Majnu Ka Tila after college it’s quite and not crowded, very unlike most of Delhi. It feels good to be there, specially the café at the very heart of ‘MT’ as we fondly call it! Even after having innumerable cups of coffee and the street side treat laping, I had never thought that the same place would one day turn out to be the home of a hero who sacrificed his life for his people, for his country and most importantly for ‘Freedom’. I am talking about Jhampel Yeshi, a 27-year-old Tibetan living in exile in India, set himself aflame at a protest on 26^th March 2012 in New Delhi against the forthcoming arrival of Chinese President Hu Jintao. It was at least the 30^th time a Tibetan had self-immolated this year alone, a shocking statistic. But as Yeshi’s fiery protest took place in India - rather than in Tibetan areas of China, where most of the immolations have occurred - it received more coverage by the press.

Yeshi died from his injuries a day later, prompting more demonstrations by Tibetans in India against what they consider the brutal Chinese occupation of their homeland. The Indian government, nervous about upsetting China, engaged in a full-on crackdown, arresting close to 300 Tibetans on an archaic colonial law that wards against such dissent.

Yeshi before self immolating left a poignant hand written note. He wrote, ‘the fact that the Tibetan people are setting themselves on fire in this 21st Century is to let the world know about their suffering.’ The number of Tibetan self immolations in China has crossed over thirty. But is the world listening?

Soon after the incident as usual the Chinese authorities put the blame on the Dalai Lama. The Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hong Lei accused the Dalai Lama of ‘masterminding’ the series of self immolations. The Chinese officials also ‘complimented’ the Indian authorities for their ‘handling’ of the situation. Apart from officials, not many in India would be enthused to receive such a compliment!

And yet the Chinese refuse to take a second look at what is actually causing such unrest in Tibet. Areas inhabited by Tibetans are under harsh security cover. Many new road check points have been built and they are manned by heavily armed Para-Military Police. The Chinese have also instituted ‘monastic management’ plans in order to control religious life. About 21,000 Chinese officials have been deployed to ‘befriend’ Tibetan monks and dossiers have been created on most of the latter. In addition, over a million national flags and Mao portraits have been distributed; monasteries have to compulsorily hang Mao portraits. Such heavy handedness is causing great disaffection amongst the general Tibetan population.

Sadly for the Tibetans, apart from human rights activists, no country has spoken up for them or for their obvious suffering. When a Tunisian street vendor Mohamed Bouazizi self immolated in Tunis on 17 December 2010, he actually helped launch the so-called ‘Arab Spring’ which led to widespread changes in the Arab World. Unfortunately for Jamphel Yeshi, nothing similar seems to have happened in Tibet. Even when the Chinese occupied Tibet in 1950 and the Tibetans took their case to the UN, no major country including Nehru’s India supported their case. While most are demonstrably anxious about the goings on in Syria and critical of the killings of innocent civilians there, few if any are prepared to shed a tear for the hapless Tibetans.

The reasons are not far to seek. No one wishes to annoy the Chinese. The People’s Republic of China is a permanent member of the UN Security Council. It is the second largest economy in the world after the United States and of recent has also grown considerably in military might. Western countries which used to raise Tibet as an issue in their relations with China now also appear to overlook or bypass it when dealing with China.

On the eve of the anniversary of the failed 1959 Tibetan uprising, mass protests were launched by Tibetans and their support groups from their exiled capital Dharamsala, India. Hunger strikes, Candle light vigils, remonstrations and public anger were witnessed in every Tibetan community across the world.

Lobsang Wangyal, an exiled Tibetan entrepreneur living in India says, "Tibetans in Tibet have long said they are not happy under Chinese rule. The self-immolations are saying that they mean it. But the world is paying little attention. It gives a feeling that 30 Tibetans risking their lives is still not enough to make a point and as if more lives should be sacrificed." 

However, all is not lost for the Tibetans. With the evolution of the new media and social networking websites such as Twitter, Facebook, etc., the suffering of the Tibetans is now known worldwide. Millions all over the world who saw the self immolation of Jamphel Yeshi could not but have failed to be moved at the gruesome sight and at the plight of the hapless Tibetans. As more such self immolations take place, the revulsion for Chinese policies in Tibet will grow exponentially.

I for myself will continue going to Majnu Ka tila, to enjoy my cup of coffee and savour the spicy laping; but now MT will no t be the same old MT for me, from now on it is a sacred site where a benevolent soul like Jhampel Yeshi once resided. Bhod Rangzen!! *

* Bhod means TIBET, Rangzen means INDEPENDENCE, in Tibetan it means FREE TIBET.

(I had written this article exactly two years from now, and on the 2nd anniversary of the incident I am finally uploading it on my blog. MT will always have a special place in my heart, forever!)

Australian Film Festival at IIC – Film Review

The Tall Man

Written and Directed by Tony Krawitz, ‘The Tall Man’ is a documentary based on a book of the same name by Chloe Hooper. The documentary is a puzzle which takes the audience on a roller coaster ride to determine the truth behind the famous Cameroon Domadgee death in custody case.

An inebriated Cameroon was arrested one morning for swearing at Senior Sergeant Chris Hurley, and just an hour later he was found dead in the Palm Island police station. The police claimed that Domadgee died because he fell and slipped when entering the cell. Nobody cared to explain how he got such bad injuries by just falling: four broken ribs, a badly ruptured liver and condition as bad as after a car accident.

The documentary uses court transcripts, interviews with Doomadgee’s family and fellow residents and video footage of Hurley re-enacting his version of that day’s event. It also touches upon Palm Island’s colonial history where racism was widespread. 

The filmmaker plays fair by allotting almost the same time to Hurley’s supporters as he does to Domadgee’s. The local people of Palm Island would refer to Chris Hurley who was 6 ft 7 in. tall and weighed 115 kg as ‘The Tall Man’ (of the title) because of his giant physique. The documentary highlights the difficulty to bring him to trial, and his final acquittal makes us question the Judiciary. Krawitz couldn’t convince Chris Hurley to be in the film. The film ends with the results of the final investigation conducted in 2010, including an audio recording of Hurley’s statement.

Go Back to Where You Came From: Series 2

The documentary film shows us the lives of refugees and the difficulties they face trying to lead a normal life. The filmmaker tried a new genre of documentary film making i.e., a reality TV show format. This fresh approach makes us as an audience more interested, captivated and receptive. Refugees are vulnerable and prone to exploitation and violence. With no protection and no rights, they are completely helpless. This documentary does try and bring out the debate of asylum seekers in the open.

We were shown Episodes 2 and 3 from Season 1 of the documentary. It begins with a mini introduction of all the 6 participants – their names, ages, backgrounds and their opinion on the Australia's asylum seeker debate. Except one of the participants, all the rest shared a common hatred for refugees and this included an absolute racist (Raquel) and a complete Muslim hater (Adam). From being a part of  immigration raids in Malaysia, to living in a refugee camp in Kenya, from visiting slums in Jordan and going to war torn countries like Congo and Iraq – the participants do it all.

The film screening was followed by a discussion with filmmaker Rick McPhee. During which a woman said that the participants take more of our attention and sympathy than the refugees. Though she meant it otherwise, I felt that was the biggest advantage of the film. It worked well because, in order to win the asylum seekers debate in their favor, we need to convince people who are anti-refugees first. And the film does that easily, as it strikes a chord with especially such people and makes them think. They connect with participants who are challenged by the situations they are put in and change completely by the end of their journey. If the participants on the show could have a change of heart, so can other such people. The documentary gives us all a ray of hope.

The Shortest Poem

In July that year, when he first showed me emotions,
I saw a person who could cry for me,
Who felt pain if i was away. :)

But in April this year, when I saw him lie on my face,
It all came crashing down!
End of story. 


(Written at my Maasi's place while I was out with my parents, last piece written about my breakup. Will never write anything about it. Doesn't deserve that space in my head or heart anymore. And I thought he cared. :I )

27th May 2013, 05.04 pm. 

I bought your freedom

I bought your freedom my soft toy,

My green bunny, my cuddly boy

For this day, I saved my cash

So I could buy things and make it match,

Our expenses were almost the same,

He spent a little more, but he earned as well

I am still in college, so you can tell

How hard it must have been for me

Right in front my break up, I could see!

I could see it clearly coming my way,

So I did the best I could to pay,

Him somehow the money for my cute little baby,

Cause I knew that is something I could never give up, maybe

A clever decision, I am proud of it now

Decluttering my life, getting space to grow.

I bought your freedom my soft toy,

My green bunny, my cuddly boy!

Today when removing all those memory triggers from my life,

I am glad I literally ‘bought’my bunny back!

Leaving him would’ve be even more painful than the actual breakup,

It was love at first sight,

It was love at first sight,

His bright green fur, lights up my life! :D

(I know the last two lines are hilarious, but I wrote this poem in jest and it suited the mood and the flow, I was happy writing it, so didn’t change anything)  :)
written while preparing for exams on 12^th may 2013 at 12:45 pm

It’s very difficult for me

Look it’s very difficult for me

To pretend as if everything’s all right

When nothing is going right between us

It’s difficult to keep laughing

When all I want is to cry

 I like talking to you

But when we have to part

Talking everyday to you

Will only make it harder for me later

Having said that, do whatever you feel is right

You know better

I don’t want to hold any hard feelings or grudges towards you

Please don’t make it hard for me than it already is!

Written on 14^th February 2013 – Valentine’s Day bwahahahaha 

The curious case of the girl with a 'Pink' backpack

When I had read Virginia Woolf’s essay ‘A Room of One's Own’ I had not really understood what the hue and cry was all about… after all what difference could one room really make! I didn’t like the essay and quickly forgot about it…only to be reminded of it years later. I didn’t really want to attend my mama’s wedding, had my parents not forced I wouldn’t have gone. I like my mama a lot but Ii feel that shaadi as a function is not so much about emotions as it is about show-shaw! So grudgingly when I packed my blue and orange traveling bag, I thought if I should carry a backpack along. As I would obviously go with the baraat and would not be carrying my traveling bag with me then, I decided I should carry my cute pink backpack.

So after reaching Kanpur (the venue for shaadi), I realised that we were the second family from our long list of relatives to arrive at the place where all the guests were supposed to stay. For the next three days and even later guests kept trickling in, people hugged each other like long lost brothers and why wouldn’t they? I had seen so many people again after years, some had changed so much I couldn’t recognize them, some I couldn’t remember, and those who I had expected to change still were the same. And with the growing number of people, increased the amount of chatter and along with that came petty fights, bruised egos, and random gossip which sooner or later lead to the formation of small groups, this vs. that. These groups could be based on something as frivolous as - the preference of rice over chapatti, or the likeness of one time over the other for breakfast/ lunch/dinner! =I

So in this atmosphere for a person who is very fond of her relatives and is very social at such extended family get together’s (sarcasm intended) ;) I decided if I stayed in that house bustling with people for long I would go mad with the tittle-tattle or get in a fight with someone who is conservative or a misogynist. I have a flair for getting into fights for someone completely uninvolved. I secretly want to be Dabbang or Singham (take your pick) and often end up in a clash of thoughts and ‘words’ with elders trying to protect somebody else’s idea who at times is not even present during the conversation. :P

So with my bright pink backpack which screams ‘I am a girl’ I would every morning, which would be 11-12 pm, go and walk around the place on foot and discover new things and places. I even got some really nice clicks. :D I hate wasting time and I utilized that time fruitfully thanks to my pink backpack. But for some people that bag become an irritant, why would that bag be constantly strapped on me? For some it was amusing, and for some it was just a part of funny banters and jokes. Some people in fact opened it and ransacked through it to see what was that ‘secret’ something that I couldn’t live without and carried everywhere with me. But being the cool girl I am, I happily showed it to them. Yet there were people, who didn’t even take permission and went through the contents, forgetting in the hurry to keep things back in the right order.

After the shaadi got over, and we got back from Kanpur, the memories which stuck to my head for the longest time were the one’s surrounding my pink backpack. It opened my eyes and gave me a whole new perspective on the essay by Virginia Woolf – it didn’t seem as outdated now, people in general seem to have a problem with anything that a girl owns privately, the society at large has a difficulty accepting a girl who can be on her own, and in fact likes to be alone. ‘A Room of One's Own’ wasn’t only about owning a room, it was about any private space, including a bag which a girl, a woman owns and carries with her almost all the time. Those who are intrigued, interested or even intimated by such a woman want a peek inside her bag, to check if she is carrying weapons for destroying patriarchy, which they love so much. In my case my bag only had – a notepad, a pen, a book and a camera.

Sometimes I feel...

Sometimes I feel you mean so little to me,

Do I even love you?

Love you enough as to stay with you for long even if not forever!

Then I go back through all the memories we’ve shared,

Through all the stupid pranks and silly fights,

Our nicknames and code words,

My laughter that echoes through years that have passed,

Between you, me, between both of us.

Would I have it someone?

Would I like to have it with someone else?

I am unsure,

But when I have in you all that I need,

Why should I look for another you?

You mean a lot to me,

Yes I love you,

Love you enough to stay with you for long and maybe even forever!

written on 14 november 2012, 12:34 raat ko 

Use of light in the film ‘Brief Encounter’

The black and white film that I saw recently saw used a lot of light and shadows. Lighting was used to create bright and dark patches, which add meaning to the scene and also create the right kind of ambience to suit the mood of the scene. In a black and white film, light is used to make objects brighter or darker and thus becomes a very important agent in conveying messages and creating effects visually for the audience.

The first thing I noticed in the film was that the faces of all the main protagonists were lit, so as to draw our attention and show their expressions clearly to the viewer. This was evident from the first scene itself, where Mrs. Dolly, the Doctor, and Laura are sitting in the café at Milford station. There is bright light on all the characters faces.

There’s also use of the backlight in scenes, so as to make the characters stand out from the background, and not merge with the background especially in scenes where the clothes of the characters match the backdrop. One very good scene is when the Doctor and Laura walk down the subway, its dark and yet lit up perfectly enough to show them pass through it. Clever use of backlight and light coming through both the ends of the subway helps the scene immensely.

Also, in a lot of scenes when Laura is sitting in the train, we are shown the movement of the train not by things moving back outside her window; but by showing shadows move across the protagonists face as she sits and thinks and thoughts cross her mind. Shadows have also been used to depict moods in the film – long, dark shadows to depict broody, sad, melancholic state of mind, for e.g. in the scene where Laura is sitting in her house and thinking about her brief affair with the doctor – the mood is very gloomy and brooding. Similarly, in scenes of happiness the light is bright and without much shadows, making it bright and ‘clear’!

Why you so scared?

Why are you so scared?

So shit scared of all?

I know you are new,

But give it some time,

A lot of times happiness grew,

Out of sadness my friend!

Accepting that you are afraid,

Afraid of the dark, strange faces and all.

Acceptance, will lead you to overcoming that fear,

Help you stand tall and never make you fall.

I will still be there always to catch you in my arms,

Would always love you for who you are.

Don’t be so scared,

So shit scared of all,

I know you are new,

But give it some time,

A lot of times happiness grew,

Out of sadness my friend!

I know you so well,

I know you inside out,

I know you my friend,

You pour your heart out.

I don’t want to shout,

I don’t want to scold,

I want you to learn,

Just help you break out!

Don’t be so scared,

So shit scared of all,

Just give it a chance,

Just give it a try.

[this poem is dedicated to a friend of mine... :) ]