“I miss my mother. I remember seeing her 18 years ago,” says 26-year-old Tenzin, student at Madras Christian College, and also president of the Tibetan Students’ Association of Madras (TSAM).

Tenzin’s mother lives in Tibet and seeing her is impossible unless he succeeds in his struggle against the People's Republic of China.

From railway stations to streets, and college platforms to public spaces, Tenzin and his students’ group have been calling for non-violent protest against the Chinese leaders for more than a decade. “It’s hard to get people’s attention and support as we are non-violent activists, and it makes us feel depressed and demoralised,” said Tenzin. “However, thinking about our loss of identity and right to live as Tibetans in Tibet makes us stand and shout till the end. “Being true Buddhists our inborn morality doesn’t allow us to think of violent acts.”

Sharing his story with me, Tenzin said: “I am tired, I wanted to live like other modern youngsters, but I can’t, because I have to fight for my country’s freedom, no matter how long it takes or what compromises I have to make. Life has been a struggle for us since childhood.”

He was nine years old when his father passed away in 1989 after spending two years in prison as a political prisoner. “Back then,” he said, “I couldn't understand much about the conditions in Tibet. I didn't even know that Tibet was a separate country. I used to be in a school where Tibetan youths were made to honour the Chinese flag. Today I realise that that was one of the strategies the Chinese government used to brainwash Tibetans.” When news of his father's death reached Tenzin’s elder brother, he fled to India. This was in the 1980s. Tenzin’s uncle then persuaded his mother to send him also to India. “In 1993 my mother sent me off and in early 1994 I reached India,” said Tenzin.

Crossing the China-Tibet-Nepal border at a place called Dahm was specially problematic. “We had to stay indoors, hide during the daytime and creep out at night,” said Tenzin. He quoted a line from a poem by renowned activist Tenzin Tsundue: “Creeping in the nights and hiding in the days, we reached Nepal.”

Reminiscing on that flight from Tibet, he said, “Walking during the daytime wasn’t safe, so every journey had to be at night. We even climbed high mountains without knowing how high they were and where we were reaching. Some local people helped us cross a river by cutting trees and making small bridges. It was the most terrible and scary journey.”

Three weeks after reaching Nepal, Tenzin was was sent to Dharamsala along with other refugees. It was – and still is – the seat of the Tibetan government-in-exile and His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama. “In India I stayed at the Norbulingka Institute with my uncle who worked as a Thangka painting master. Later I moved to a school in Mussoorie.”The journey of education has now brought him to Chennai. “From schools to colleges and even today as an activist, problems like housing, education and travel permits are day-to-day affairs for us,” said Tenzin. “But since we are born to struggle, I will struggle with others till the end.”

(Dawa Gyelmo is a student of the Asian College of Journalism, Chennai.)

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