september12

A real ‘Tibethood’ was born from the

difficult passage in the long history of

Tibet. Centuries and centuries of

rootedness can make you forget that

feeling. The bonds with the earth seem

secure, untouchable. Then something

unexpected happens that calls those

bonds into question. You discover a

cynical brutality, the crushing use of

force, your own weakness. Finally you

leave, you never see your country

except from far away. It gets ravaged,

occupied, and still you realize that it

hasn’t disappeared, that it subsists in

you, that you still feel Tibetan. Then

you begin to wonder, what does being

Tibetan mean?