A long story cut short
“Bang!... Bang!...” the sound of the guns were going off. Soldiers from mainland China were marching into the country people were screaming, shouting and crying all day long. Everywhere you go, you could see dead bodies lying around and you could hear the cries of their spirit calling for help.
It is the year 1949, and a disastrous war was about to hit Tibet. Ever since the Yuan Dynasty, the Republic of China has been in control of my beloved country, Tibet. The Chinese government saw that taking control of Tibet is a way of gaining land and power and hope that this makes life more comfortable for the Chinese people. But we despise the idea of our land and people being used and controlled by others. Therefore, we want to be an independent country.
On my 10th birthday, my father had just come back after a long day of work along with my 18 year old brother, Dojie. That night, to celebrate the occasion, my mother had cooked up a feast that we only ate once a year. We had Thenthuk with fresh meat, which cost my father’s entire week salary. We also had Tibetan Sausages (yak meat, yak blood and flour) and Salted Yak Butter Tea. Halfway through this dinner, one of my father old friends knocks on the door and asks to speak to my father. As they were taking a good long time to talk, I went to the open the door to eavesdrop on my father’s conversation. I could not hear anything, but I saw that my father’s face was turning very serious.
The next morning, my father and brother went out to work as usual, or at least that’s what we thought. During midday, my 12 year old sister, Dechen, and I followed my mother to the nearby markets to seel some of my mother’s handmade clothing. While we were no the way to the market, I saw some strange looking people carrying guns and other weapons in their hands. After seeing this, my mother whisper into my sister’s ear, “Quick, bring Dawa home.” Upon hearing this, we knew that something was not right. My sister held my hands and we hurried home.
Soon we could hear lots of screaming, shouting and the sounds of guns going off. Out of curiosity, I went to the window to see what was happening. Dead bodies were lying around and blood spilt everywhere, on the ground and even on the walls. That night, my brother and father did not come back. The next morning, one of our neighbours came knocking on the door. After she left, my mother went to her room, broke down and cried. And that next thing I know is that my mother was lying on the ground motionless and there was a cut around her neck, with blood oozing out. There was a note in her hand saying that my both my father and brother had joined an insurgent group. They had been caught yesterday and my father got killed while me brother is nowhere to be found. She also asked her to go and find our grandparents. Tears filled our eyes as we did not want to leave, we still decided to leave in obedience to our mother’s last words.
After packing some of our stuff, my sister and I left as quietly as possible. We sneak out through the back door and head towards our grandparents house. Waking for about one hour so far, I could hear footsteps coming towards us. I turn back and look to see the there were soldiers with guns behind us. My sister shouted, “Run Dawa run.” And we run as fast as we could. But soon the soldiers caught up with us and brought us to labour camp. In the labour camp, we were very to see our brother there. He was cover with wound and could hardly talk. Not long after, he was brought into a room. Little did we know that that was the last time we will see him. At the labour camp, we were force to go to the farms everyday and had to work all day long. We were only given a small piece of man tou and a cup of water each meal. And if we were caught being lazy and not doing the work, we were being beaten badly or not getting any food for the day. Once, I sat down for a rest as I thought that there were no soldiers looking, I got caught and was being lock in a room alone with no food for an entire day. Feeling hungry and lost, I started to think that how live might be if my father had not joined the insurgent group and if China was not so greedy. Life would be so much better and happier, and so many lives will not be sacrifice at the cost of this horrendous war. As the day past, my sister and I struggle to survive each day with little food and a day of hard work. About a year or more had past and we were release from the camp and we continued our journey to find our grandparents
Although there is no longer any war going in Tibet now, I still live each day of my live in fear. Fear that another war might happen anytime, a fear that my sister may leave me like my parents and brother. One day, after a long decision, I ask my sister if she wants to leave the country with me, as looking at the land will remind me of what happen years ago. She said that she is still not ready to go and said that I could go alone and just remember to keep in contact with her. A few weeks later, I tool a boat, heading for a Australia. And about a month later, I arrived in Australia, to start a new life again, hoping to leave all my fears behind.