Story: The New Start

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The New Start

Tenzin, a boy from Tibet was forced to out of his country. He writes about his experience in his journal. Let us read about his experience.

My name is Tenzin. I am from Tibet. From Tibet, we first migrated to Himachal Pradesh in India. While we lived in a refugee camp in India, I learnt a few words of English. From Himachal Pradesh, we moved to Karnataka.

My family had a hard time adjusting to this new country. We moved many times. We first lived in McLeod Ganj, and then we moved to Mysore. And from Mysore, we went to Gurupura and then to Kollegal. I was tired and homesick. Finally, we decided to come back and settle in Gurupura.

Beginning a new life in a new place was not easy. We didn't understand the system in India. We didn't know how to get a house. Shopping for food was the most difficult job. We didn't know the names of the items we wanted to buy.

We asked the Refugee Relief Group to help us. They arranged a house for us and showed us where to buy what we needed. They even helped us get admission to the school close to our house. I started going to school. In the beginning, I didn't understand anything. I often thought of my friends in Tibet. I would cry every day after I returned from school. I wanted to go back to my school and my friends.

Every year we need to go to the government office and get our book signed. Mother says that, if we miss getting it signed then we will have to leave India too.

Now, I have made friends here. There is Julie, my art and craft teacher. She is a very nice person. She helps me learn English words. Miss Malliga is also a wonderful teacher. She teaches me computers. I have a friend whose name is Binsa. She is from Nepal. She didn't know English either when she came here. Now we learn and practise English together. There is Nimmi who fights with everyone who teases us. And I must not forget to mention Charles, who taught me how to play baseball.

I often wonder, how would it be if I had lived in the same place all my life? I miss my home in Tibet. But that does not mean that I am not grateful to India, its people and the government. While many people are my friends, there are still many who look at us as though we were aliens. Sometimes, I want to tell them that we are humans too. We live on Earth too, just a different part of Earth.

Our history teacher tells us that is people who made the boundaries of the countries. We drew the lines before, we draw the lines now, and we will continue to draw new lines. I think we would not stop braving likes unless we realise that we are all one! We all are humans, and we live together on Earth. We need to share and grow with each other.

Now, that I think of this. I wonder if we did not have the boundaries, will we need weapons? Will we need protection from our own people? Does an eagle ever need to be saved from another eagle? Then, why do people have to be saved from other people?

Which quality makes 'world is one and human is one'?

I want to help people realise that we are all one.And that, it is up to us to see beyond the boundaries and connect as people.Only then we can fight the real evil of greed and injustice in the world, together.

I want to end by saying that I am happy now. My mother says we can be happy anywhere. I enjoy being here. Many people are very nice and helpful. I still remember my friends and my school in Tibet. I want to visit them when I grow up to tell them that we live in a wonderful world. To tell them that the world can be united only by its people.

Come, join me on this journey to make this world better.

A safer place. A happier place. A place with no boundaries.