beyond the border

Not long before the chinese invasion, my parents got married in their native village `dota` in u-tsang province in Tibet. Having born in exile, I could never imagine what the place is like. I was curious about their past life. I pacified my curiosity. I asked my mother if she could enlighten me about their life in Tibet. She agreed to lay bare her reminiscence before me. She claims she still has refreshing memories.
It is a accepted fact that life in Tibet was full of hardship. But people generally were happy and content. They are god fearing and peaceful people. There was nothing sort og ingenuity or craftiness about them. In contrast, they were naïve and gullible.
There food habit is simple and nutritious. Barley, meat, curd and butter were the main menu. They use cowdung and excrement of sheep and horse for cooking fuel.
The holy scriptures of Tibet forbade them from causing harm to any living thing, but the weather condition of Tibet requires them to consume meat to which they became habituated. Even in small villages more than 1000 yaks are butchered every year for consumption. Agriculture and pastoral were the only sustainable way to make their both ends meet. Whatever they eat are produced on their own. Sometimes they are forced to live on half empty stomach due to poor harvest. During harvest local occult practitioners come to collect their share of grains claiming they had protect their agricultural production from natural vagaries.
In this modern world one can meet his small needs in a matter of minute. But it wasn`t the same for people in Tibet then. They had to weave cloths and make shoes no their own. In remote areas there was no commerce or any service sector. Having no other avenues to exploit they spend most of their time grazing cattle and other manual labour.
Notwithstanding the hardship they face in sustaining family, they are not hesitant in having many children. They never realize the virtue of small family. Helpless as they were, the modern scientific products like contraceptive was long way beyond the horizon. In many houses there were couples having 15 to 20 children. Women conceive baby up till the age 45. the dalai lama himself had 10 siblings of which 2 died in their infancy. Having less than 2 children could be treated rare and 6 to 7 normal. Genereally children stared giving hands in household works at the of 7. sometimes they even go to graze cows. Age 15 to 20 qualifies them for marriage. At this age they are expected to be capable of handling day to day business. grazing animals over others land would often lead to trouble. One has to be careful not to encroach upon. Every proprietor of land had credentials duly signed by ministers with royal stamp. In rare cases dispute over land results in knife-fighting.
For any legal offence, the suspect is bound in handcuff and shackles and escorted to lhasa city which takes about a month long. There he is produced before the ministers and subsequently trialed and punished. Minor thieves and thugs receives number of lashes according to the seriousness of their crime. But whatever act of serious crime, one can safely infer - knowing the temperament of simpletons there who easily get carried away- that is was commited in the heat of the moment and not planned in advance.
While pragmatism and rationalism was entrenched in outside world, superstition and foolhardiness was still pervasive in Tibet. Any kind of natural phenomena was believed to be a handiwork of some supernatural power. They had their own set of make believe reaons to cite for any inexplicable occurrence.
For instance, there was a popular believe that any vibration of the earth is caused by the
movement of some mythical creature lurking beneath the earth.
While during solar eclipse, they believe the moon to be swallowed by a giant creature above. They beat drums and tins and make all kind of noises to coerce the giant to fee the moon. It never cross their mind that the sound they produce cannot travel that far.
Whatever their pain and travail, they were content and happy with the way they lead life.
The turning point in their life and in Tibets history came in 1949, when the peoples liberation army of peoples republic of china crossed into Tibet. By 1959, popular uprising culminated in massive demonstration in lhasa. More than 1.2 million Tibetans have died in Tibet since 1949 due to political persecution, imprisonment, torture and famine. Over 6000 of Tibets religious and cultural centres have been destroyed. The dalai lama was forced to leave Tibet in 1959 to seek asylum in India. Around 85,000 tibetan refugees followed him at that time and sought refuge primarily in India , Nepal, and Bhutan..
People in some parts of Tibet were under the impression that they would be back in few months. They collect their valuables and buried, so that they could recollect then when they are back.their flight to neighboring countries took place at night to avoid detection by Chinese soldiers.
Their real hour of trial and tribulation began when they reach beyond the border. Initially they work in the road construction sites. The new place began to take its toll on them as result of big change. With everything totally different from what they are accustomed to, they were like candle in the wind. After more than 45 years in this utilitarian world the flame of love and compassion is still flickering in their heart.