As the world celebrated Mother’s Day, on Sunday, it sharpened the agonies of separation of mother and motherland for the Tibetan Refugees, in India. Eswar profiles their pain, in the regular column, exclusively in Different Truths.
How does one feel when one hears about the loss of a loved one and not able to do anything, leave alone see the person for one last time. How does one feel if the loved one was one’s mother? How does on one feel, when it’s more than a decade since one is forced to be away from one’s mother, hoping one day they could unite again. But it never happened.
The other day I felt helpless, angry, sad, and I felt blank. I was not able to think of such a situation. I was not able to come to terms with what I had just heard from a friend. It was a couple of months since he replied to my messages and he apologised and told me that he was going through a tough time and told about the sad demise of his mother.
I did not know what to say. A loss can only be felt never expressed or consoled. This being a peculiar situation, it’s harder to express. Fifteen years is a long time, and I can never come to terms with the accompanying thought of how he would feel lifelong about this loss, or how he could ever come to terms with the thought that the hope that one day they could be together again is never going to happen.
We consider our nation, our motherland. We love our nation just like we love our mother. Just like we proudly relate to our mother as our own, we have a similar feeling towards our nation. It’s ours, the pride speaks out even when one thinks about it in mind.
It’s 70 years since we got freedom and India became independent. The 70 years saw the birth and freedom of 100 nations. There are very few nations which were never occupied by a foreign force, but one such nation which was guarded from the foreign forces, by nature, became illegally occupied in the name of liberation. Nature walled this roof of the world, ‘Shambala’, as it’s often lovingly cited.
Over time, many Tibetans followed the path of their leader, His Holiness the XIV Dalai Lama and sought refuge in India. Many leaving their family behind, their land confiscated, never able to return again, and hoping one day they would.
A combined loss of one’s motherland and one’s mother is something one can never imagine or comprehend. There are millions who are facing this in their day to day life, and it’s saddening that millions including yours truly knowingly close our eyes to this fact.
When the world celebrated Mother’s Day, on Sunday, I am reminded of a son who can only live the memories of a life lived. I am reminded of a son who was forced to be separated from his mother and mother land. I am reminded of stories of forced separations.
I hope one day the families could unite. I hope no son undergoes such an experience which none of us could ever imagine!
©Eswar Anandan
Photos sourced by the author.
#TibetanRights #motherland #MothersDay #Independant #Separation #Sorrow #DifferentTruths
Eswar Anandan’s mother’s traverse with Cancer opened his eyes and thoughts about the life outside the glass cubicles. In his own words: “Strong emotions gave way to words, words took poetic form, and I found a new purpose…” His first book, ‘Seasons’ is a dedication to her. He is currently working on ‘Thoughts in Silence’ and ‘Story of a Nation’. Eswar is an entrepreneur and Friends of Tibet Campaigner.
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