‘MIGRATION TO WEST MY ONLY HOPE’

Nineteen years ago, when Tsering Yangzom (in photo left) clutched a stranger’s hand to flee Tibet, she never imagined she would ever want to do this. But, for months now, she had been trying to find ways to go back to Tibet. Her brother was constantly asking her to return. The 28-yearold doesn’t remember the last time she saw him in the flesh.

When Yangzom left Tibet, she was escaping more than the Chinese invasion. Orphaned when she was a few months old, Yangzom lived with her aunt and her husband. “I was treated as a maidservant.” A neighbour took her to Lhasa, a journey that took 15 days on foot. From there, she escaped to Nepal and ultimately, reached India.

Currently, she handles Public Relations for the National Democratic Party of Tibet, the primary political party of the Tibetans in exile. What she enjoys the most at work is the ‘atmosphere.’ And the support and solidarity of colleagues who have become close friends.

This won’t hold her back, though. Till a week ago, she had been desperately trying to go back to Tibet. Then, she got an unexpected phone call from her sister back home. Her brother, 42, had died. Her family tells her he passed away in his sleep. “I don’t know if that is a fact.”

His death has robbed her of the reason to go back to Tibet. But it has given her the reason to move out of Mcleodganj nonetheless. “My brother has five children. The only hope for them is if I could migrate to the West and send them money to go to school,” she reasons.

Having worked in non-governmental organisations for seven years now, Yangzom knows that the money she earns is not enough to sustain her family. She can’t be content with friends and the good ‘atmosphere’ any more. She hopes to recreate it again, though. “Of the 14 friends I had here, 13 have migrated to the West; most of them to the US.” Nineteen years after her escape, Yangzom now prepares to start her life afresh all over again.