Toxic Tongue

Free Tibet

Traveling to India not only allowed me to see another set of values and lifestyle but i also gained a life long friend who i now consider my family. I met my friend kalsang in the strangest way.  i was walking through mcleod ganj with mike looking for a hairdryer. This has been a mission of mine for 3 previous days already but i was having no luck.  The air in the himilayas in august is muggy and thinck with fog.  It is monsoon season then as well so it rains alot. I have naturally curly hair and without a brush or hairdryer my hair is in knots that slightly resemble dredlocks.  It was becoming an emergency for me to have this hairdryer… (im joking.. alittle) .  I guess me and mike looked lost because we meet Kalsang, a buddhist monk and he says “are you lost? do you need help? ”  

Well, me and mike looked at him like he was God.  I mean we both knew close to nothing about buddhism and to be in a monks presence felt like meeting the pope to me.  I didnt think he would understand why i was looking for a hairdryer and i was also embarassed to admit that i was looking for one there, because most people are there on voluntary missions to help with the refugees and here i am, this stupid little girl, worried about her hair. So i lied. I said we are looking for the Chonor house hotel.  I thought he would just point us in the direction but he insisted on walking us and showing us the hotel.  then he offered to show us this sacred waterfall that is a common spot for people to go and meditate.  We were estatic and agreed without any questions.  As it turned out, this waterfall was about a 6 mile walk up in the mountains, on  very very slippery rocks.  Kalsang held my hand the entire time both because at first he sensed i was scared and also i began to hyperventilate as we got higher up.I almost turned around a dozen times but i was embarassed to say how scared i was.  Finally  we  made it.  We got to the top of the waterfall and there was a huge group of israeli’s up on top screaming and hugging us, excited to great whoever made it to the top, as it was a rare thing.  They were drinking, smoking hashish and people were lining up to take turns posing in pictures with me. lol. 

It was the most beautiful day of my life being on that mountain under the waterfall *and that water you could actually drink since it came from the snowstops. Me,  Kalsang, and Mike just layed around for hours while Kalsang sang buddisht hyms to us.  

When we left the waterfall we wanted to take Kalsang to eat. So he brought us to a restaurant hidden up top in a building that was someones house. He said when the dalai lama visits that was a place he eats at.   After we left the restaurant there was a peace rally going on.  The entire village closed shop early and walked through town carrying candles in protest for the murders in china of tibetans.  We ended up at the d. lama temple watching a video that brought me to tears.  It showed all the horrible deaths that are happening in Tibet right now.  

As you read my entry, people are being murdered and arrested for their religious beliefs.  Men, Women,and  children are being arrested for showing any support for the dalai lama.  Any mention of his name can result in death.  Even foreigners handing out pictures of the dalai lama can result in either the foreigner being arrested or the family with the picture being killed.  The Chinese government has cameras everywhere in Tibet and the conflict is getting worse as the Tibetans are now trying to fight back after all these years.   There are numerous ways to make a contribution.  Even just getting the word out to friends is one way as many people dont realize the seriousness of the Chinese power over Tibet.  You can also check out freetibet.org, tibethouse.org,  dalailama.com/