What a day it's been. I woke up this morning to the sounds of protests and they have continued all day long. I've been trying to think of what I can do to help. I think I might stay here a while longer after all. This is the first time in 50 years that demonstrations of this size and strength have been allowed to take place in Dharamsala. The air is simply electric. No shops or restaurants are open or have been for the last week- it's a ghost town compared to the shopping bustle that was taking place the week before my retreat, except now the streets are full of marchers and flags.
I went around to all of the various government and NGO offices today trying to find out what I could do to help. I didn't get many answers, so I'm trying to brainstorm on my own now. maybe a 24-hr vigil to keep the prayer wheels in the middle of town spinning for a day? I think I might also sit in a shift on the hunger strike tomorrow. Mom and Dad, rest assured that I would not be involved if the atmosphere did not feel safe. It is important to know that the Tibetan people in general are very non-violent people, and also that here in Dharamsala there is no direct threat to anyone's security (the threat lies across the border in China/Tibet).
This afternoon I joined the march down to the temple amidst hundreds of flags, painted faces, and cries of "LONG LIVE" "DALAI LAMA!", "what we want?!" "We want freedom!", "Release, Release!" "Panchen Lama!", "China, China, China!" "Out, Out, Out!"... once we got to the bottom the energy really picked up, and then just like that, the whole crowd sat down and was quiet. A few people collapsed from over-exertion, several women around me were crying, and I couldn't understand anything because some sort of directions were being yelled by the organizers of the Tibetan Woman's Association in Tibetan and no one around me spoke english. This went on for an hour or so- I couldn't move it was so packed with people around me, but the atmosphere was calm amidst high emotions. There was an incredibly strong sense of solidarity in the air- we were all sitting close together with no room to move our knees and the Tibetan woman behind me had both her hands on my waist the whole time. I haven't had any sort of real physical contact in the past two months, so I have to admit that I kind of enjoyed that feeling of togetherness. Eventually things started to move again and I found a seat on top of a pillar where I could watch things from the side. The protest picked back up and the shouts carried on for another hour.
This all took place outside the temple gate. As the sun was going down we filed inside and took seats in front of several large flat screen tv's (the Tibetans really have some nice technology when it comes to flat screen tv's in the temple- there are a lot of them) packed so tight that it was literally impossible to move. I felt bad because my knee was crammed up into the guy's back in front of me and even though I've gotten much better at sitting cross legged after an hour or so it's hard to keep from squirming. We watched a press release (probably a thousand or so people were there) that the Dalai Lama gave either earlier today or last night, i'm not sure. He delivered it in English, addressed to the global community, so every 15 seconds or so it was paused and translated into Tibetan. All in all, I think it lasted almost 4 hours, the press conference followed by prayers and then updates of the conditions in Lhasa. After it was all over everyone walked home up the hill very quietly.
What impressed me most today was how peaceful the whole crowd could turn at the drop of a hat. All it took at the height of emotion was one girl shouting from atop a little side wall to tell everyone to be quiet and sit down. And everyone did. If someone bumped into you while walking, they apologized. There was no mob mentality, it was a safe environment. I walked home with a girl my age who told me that her friend's entire family had been killed in Tibet in the last week. She said that in the last two days that many of the men and boys in Lhasa have been rounded up and imprisoned by the Chinese military. Tonight at midnight there is apparently an ultimatum for the demonstrations in Tibet to come to an end- The Chinese have said that their patience is up. If patience led them to kill so many people already, I fear what actions their lack of patience will inspire.
So I'm tired. It's late. I'm in an internet cafe now that's packed with other tourists updating their blogs and uploading pictures that they took during the demonstration. I am optimistic about the way that information seems to be spreading throughout the world. There are many news reporters around and I hope that the coverage of events here will remain strong. An NGO organizer told me tonight that the demonstrations are supposed to go on until the violence stops in Tibet. That could be a long time unless the global pressure on china is heavy enough.
So everyone, keep talking about Tibet! And thank you for your interest! Being interested can go a long way, awareness is what's important here!
Much love,
Jaye
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