Rangzen

Tashi is a little boy from Tibet who lives in the Indian town of Dharamshala. On his way home from school he is surprised by a peaceful demonstration. Everyone is waving flags and monks are carrying banners and pictures of the Dalai Lama. Others are banging on drums and shouting slogans: ‘We want freedom!’ The roads are lined with police officers with serious-looking faces. It is the anniversary of the Tibetan Uprising of 1959. At the time many people had to flee from Tibet and found refuge in Dharamshala. But little Tashi doesn’t really understand any of that. He knows that he is a refugee, but what does that mean? Later, on the outskirts of town recovering from the hurly burly, a friend explains: refugees are people forced by others to leave their home. The English word ‘refugee’ begins with an ‘r’ – just like the Tibetan word for freedom: ‘rangzen’.