Tibetan kids tell tales of woe

dharamshala: forty years on, the agony of the more than 130,000-strong tibetan exiled community is still piling on as over 2,500 new refugees flee to india every year ``to escape the ever-tightening grip of the chinese''. of these, about 400 are young students seeking education opportunities in india, says ms tenzin cheoky dralnang of the tibetan women's association.``last year, we had 2,319 refugees joining us. among these were 397 minors who walked for days to reach here. some came directly and others came via nepal.'' and every young refugee has heart-rending tales of woe to tell. on the way, they get shot by the chinese. many succumb to frostbites. others die of exhaustion. ``cases of molestation and rape are very many each year,'' says dralnang. says 10-year-old dolma, who reached dharamshala in august, ``my poor parents in amdo paid a (tibetan) traveller to get me across the border into india so that i could get a good education. we went through a terrible ordeal on the way. we spent days without food or water. the chinese are denying us formal education. there i was taught chinese, english and maths. we walked for days to nepal where i was taken to the tibetan reception centre, which then arranged my trip to delhi.'' narrating the stories of chinese terror in tibetan territory, another student named shui, 13, said, ``the chinese asked my parents not to keep the picture of the dalai lama. there is always a scare when the chinese come to search your house. we are being decimated culturally and educationally.'' she says she would go back to tibet once her education is over.``i want to teach my brothers and sisters to fight for our cultural survival.'' most of the students, who are lodged at tibetan children's village school, say they stay in touch with their parents through messengers who shuttle across the border on the sly. richin, a 10-year-old girl, says, ``back home, the chinese tell us not to do mantras. they teach us to call his holiness the dalai lama a splittist.'' thirteen-year-old tin, who came to india with a group of 12 young students, says, ``it took us 20 days to reach dharamshala. luckily, all of us survived the elements and frostbites. i am determined to go back after finishing my studies. it is a battle for our cultural survival.'' tin's elder brother had english education in south india. he went back to serve as a tourist guide in lhasa. ``his success persuaded my parents to take the risk of sending me to india. the path is littered with risk.'' still, more and more tibetans are courting the risk for a better life.